Very pleased with the first full batch of reloads

[stev32k]

In spite of having a lot of press problems I reloaded 100 -9mm and 100 -.40 S&W and shot them yesterday. There were no problems at all. Every shell chambered, fired, and ejected just like it should.

The 9mm were loaded with 115 grain Hornady XTP, 4.8 grains of power pistol powder, and Winchester wsp primers. The 40 calibers were loaded with 180 grain Hornady XTP, 4.8 grains of power pistol powder, and Winchester wsp primers. The 9mm loads are the minimum listed in the Hornady manual and the 40's are 0.2 grains higher than minimum.

I was checking them out by alternating hand loads with factory loads. For the 40 caliber I put 14 rounds in the magazine and alternated Speer 165 grain Gold Dot Duty Ammo, federal 180 grain factory loads and hand loads. The hand loads had significantly less recoil and no flame came out the barrel. I fired one 14 round magazine of hand loads as fast as I could pull the trigger and there were no problems. The gun was a S&W Sigma with a 4.25" barrel.

I did the same test with 9mm and there was no recoil difference I could feel between factory loaded Federal 115 grain and my 115 grain loads. The gun is a S&W M&P 9c with a 3.5" barrel.

[garydude]

Nice job Stev!

You may want to consider some of the other FMJ or HP bullets available at much cheaper rates than the XTP's. Don't get me wrong, the XTP's are top notch bullets, but are on the upper end of the cost spectrum. If you are just punching paper there are adequate bullets at about 30-40% cheaper. I usually save the XTP's for upper end "hot" loads for hunting, or target practice for hunting.

[ozo]

I'm glad to hear you got the red one running.....
They can be frustrating, but now you've been rewarded.

[stev32k]

Originally Posted by garydude

Nice job Stev!

You may want to consider some of the other FMJ or HP bullets available at much cheaper rates than the XTP's. Don't get me wrong, the XTP's are top notch bullets, but are on the upper end of the cost spectrum. If you are just punching paper there are adequate bullets at about 30-40% cheaper. I usually save the XTP's for upper end "hot" loads for hunting, or target practice for hunting.

The only reason I'm shooting the XTP's is because they were free. I got 500 9mm and 200 40's when I bought the press and dies. I haven't decided exactly which ones I'll get for normal use, but I'm looking at Berrys, Precision Delta, and Montana Gold.

The free bullet offer from Hornady said to allow 6 - 8 weeks for delivery, but they showed up 9 days after I sent in the coupons. That was a pleasant surprise.

[stev32k]

Originally Posted by ozo

I'm glad to hear you got the red one running.....
They can be frustrating, but now you've been rewarded.

Yeah, it's running but just barely. It's going back to the factory on Monday. The indexing function will not stay adjusted and that causes the cases to hit the side of the sizing die and the primers will not seat. I've spent several hours on the phone with Hornady and just cannot get the press to stay adjusted. I can tweak the pawls until the shell plate lines up perfectly then 5 to 15 strokes later it's out of adjustment again. It will get out of alinement by about 1/16" and that causes all kinds of problems.

To make it work I have to check the shell plate position with every stroke up and down because I can't trust it to stay alined. I may as well have manual indexing.