I use clays under lead. Its not that smokey. My .40 with clays smokes more. If you chamfer your cases the lead will slide right in and you won't end up shaving lead off the side of some bullets. I sort .45 brass seperating large primers from the small ones.
I sort brass minimally. There are some brands I trash (A-Merc), and I inspect them for cracks/bulges. I don't care about headstamp other than that.
A couple of things for the FYI category.
1) Small primer brass will piss you off real quick on a progressive as will .45GAP brass.
2) You will learn to sort out military brass due to the crimped primer pocket. It's good brass after you swage that crimp out but that will piss you off too.
Watch the military brass if you are running real hot +P type loads. It has thicker case walls and web leaving less internal volume and will weigh around 7 grains heavier than commercial though thats not set in stone, I have seen commercial Winchester that weighed heavier than military. So if you work up hot loads do it in commercial or military and stick with that. Like said, beyond this there's not much reason to sort with normal loads.
And for those wondering, yes I have a nice +P 230 grain XTP load. They sound like artillery compared to hardball.
1) Small primer brass will piss you off real quick on a progressive as will .45GAP brass.
2) You will learn to sort out military brass due to the crimped primer pocket. It's good brass after you swage that crimp out but that will piss you off too.
Watch the military brass if you are running real hot +P type loads. It has thicker case walls and web leaving less internal volume and will weigh around 7 grains heavier than commercial though thats not set in stone, I have seen commercial Winchester that weighed heavier than military. So if you work up hot loads do it in commercial or military and stick with that. Like said, beyond this there's not much reason to sort with normal loads.
And for those wondering, yes I have a nice +P 230 grain XTP load. They sound like artillery compared to hardball.
Ug!! Crimped primer handgun brass is a pain. I have about 300 9mm wcc brass I need to "fix".
Like has been said, straight wall pistol rounds are the most simple to load.
For competition, I use WST and 200 grain SWC. When I run out of the 200 grain, I'll probably go with 230 grain round nose, and Unique, since I scored an 8 pound jug for a little more than $100.
Unique is the most universal powder there is for pistol and shotgun rounds. It may run in some rifle, but I haven't checked it out.
It had a bad reputation for being a dirty powder, and I can back that up, but its been reformulated, and it runs really good.
For competition, I use WST and 200 grain SWC. When I run out of the 200 grain, I'll probably go with 230 grain round nose, and Unique, since I scored an 8 pound jug for a little more than $100.
Unique is the most universal powder there is for pistol and shotgun rounds. It may run in some rifle, but I haven't checked it out.
It had a bad reputation for being a dirty powder, and I can back that up, but its been reformulated, and it runs really good.
Used to you didn't really have to sort through .45 brass...but then that small primer crap came out.
HP-38/231 is my standard powder for .45.
J&K's RN and SWC feed equally well through my .45, with absolutely no leading at all, even on the hotter side of the scale.
I enjoy loading .45 as the bullets are larger and easier to handle.
I use a Lee 1000 Progressive.
HP-38/231 is my standard powder for .45.
J&K's RN and SWC feed equally well through my .45, with absolutely no leading at all, even on the hotter side of the scale.
I enjoy loading .45 as the bullets are larger and easier to handle.
I use a Lee 1000 Progressive.
If you haven't bought your dies yet, try to buy the Lee 4 die set that comes with the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It sure seems to help with feed issues; I just started loading pistol rounds earlier this year, and I had to crimp pretty good to get them to feed good in my 1911. I have also shot the cast bullets from J&K and had no problems with them, although I have since switched to plated bullets (which they sell as well now). As far as powder, I've shot Universal Clays, Unique, and right now on Power Pistol since its kinda been buy what's available market lately. And you may already know this, but you will go from what's usually a two step process in reloading rifle shells to a four step process with pistol shells, if you use the factory crimp die. Good luck, its good fun and get to shoot more and cheaper!
