Need Advice, From an Exprienced Re-loader

[Eddie O]

Hi Guys,
Retired a year back and finally have some time to myself. I'm an ex police Sergeant and over the years have done a bit of reloading. Had to stop when MOSHA closed our indoor Ranges for Lead.

Anyway I have several weapons I own and love to Shoot my .38S&W, my Snub .38 Colt, Glock 19 and P38.

Purchased a used Lee and set up tp Reload for my 9MM and .38, even have a .38 SWC and 9mm RN Mold as well as about 50lbs of Lead, mostly old Wheel Weights.

Question, If I'm correct both the .38 and 9mm take the same Small Pistol Primer (All the Brass is Boxer) considering the variety of Weapons I'll be reloading for is there a single brand of Primer and Powder I can choose to give me consistent performance in all the Weapons. (I know I may need to tweak for the best load to cycle the Glock and P38. (Staying in safe limits of course). Yes I checked the Book, but this one is not in there. I'm hoping to tap the experience of knowledgeable re-loaders, no book can beat that.

I would however like to stay with a single Primer and Powder. All Weapons will be pushing Hand Cast and Sized Lead Bullets,

Not to worry I removed Lead Fouling from my .38 for 20 Years, we used round nose lead ammo all those years, they would Charge and Terminate you if they caught you loading Hollow Points, could have hurt someone that way you know.

Thanks,
Eddie O

[knight0334]

Yes, both the 9mm and 38spl are small pistol primers. Just about everything under 41mag is small pistol with exception of a few oddballs.

As for powders, their are countless pistol powders that will work in 9mm and 38spl. Bullseye, Reddot, Unique, Power Pistol from Alliant can be found in both the 9mm and 38spl charts on Alliant's site. Bluedot can be used too. I use it for just about all my handgun loads, and have tinkered with some light .222rem and .223rem loads as well.

There is Accurate Arms #2 and #5 for both 9mm and 38spl on their site(.pdf file).

Not to mention Hodgdon's, IMR's, Winchester's, and a few others powders.

Not every possible use of powder is in the books. There is plenty of data at the powder manufacturer's and bullet manufacturer's websites. Plus a few websites where folks like us post recipes.

Keep in mind the Glock and it's polygonal rifling and lead bullet thing..

[Posit]

Yes... small pistol primers for both.

A single brand of powder will ignite and fire both pistols, but may not give you consistent performance in them. In fact, its unlikely one powder will give you performance in several pistols. Its just the nature of firearms... they like different loads.

[markshere2]

In the current market, your choice of supplies may well be drive by availability.

Buy lots , shoot lots, reload lots!
Have fun!

[dewalt-2]

I use CCI primers and Win231 for .38spcl, .357mag, 9mm, and .45acp. I keep to lighter loads for safety concerns. I also cast some of my own bullets, but I watch Midway for specials on bullets and once fired brass-there are good deals to be had there on occcasion.
My local dealer has had primers and powder on a regular basis, but you have get there before it's gone. I've had some luck finding supplies at small town shops as well.
Good luck!

[max384]

Eddie O,
Check out www.handloads.com
That website has more loads listed than I've ever seen in one reloading manual. You can do a search by caliber and bullet weight, and it will give you all the powders. And there are many listed. Also, buy several reloading manuals (I know you've probably heard that before, but it is really invaluable to have several). I like the lyman, lee, and hornady manuals the best.

[justashooter]

ball powders like win 231 may feed better in powder measures, but i prefer unique or green dot hercules (alliant) for both 38 and 9mm. you need to run both at near max velocity or they will burn a bit dirty, especially the unique.

[Plain Old Bill]

Bullseye, 700X, 231.....

[Brick]

Everyone has favorites. But for primers, until the market straightens out you're going to be forced to use what you can get. Personally I like Federal, but there is nothing wrong with CCI, Remington or Winchester. Not do disparage Wolf, Fiocchi, or Magtech (are there any others?) but I've never used them.

Powders aren't quite as big a supply issue as primers but I suggest you buy 4 lbs. canisters as a minimum, 'cause you just never know. Winchester 231 is good and you'll find lots of data on it. Accurate Arms AA# 5 is good also but your .45 ACP loads will be a little stiff. Lots of guys swear by Clays and Red Dot and Titegroup can be used for a very wide spectrum of calibers.

But before you take our word for anything, go buy a couple reloading manuals like Speer #14, Lyman, Hodgden, Lee, whatever and seriously I do suggest two. Go through them and decide based on what you see there. See some of us always load to the highest velocity possible, some of us always load to target velocities (light loads) and some of us are somewhere in the middle. Personally I like the middle because I can throw a load a little heavy or a little light and it still won't be a "bad" load. But, when you ask our opinions, you'll really get our prejudices.

[Jim_Fleming]

Eddie... Good questions, and to the folk's that've replied, even better answers. I liked this whole short thread.

The main reason I'm posting is so as to be sure that I'm subscribed, LOL!

Eddie, that 50 lbs. of lead will yield about 2300 bullets at about 158 gr. each. Not a lot of ammo, if you think about it, from several handguns...

Two points that I don't think that've been made is, either get more lead, or perhaps a better solution would be to capture your bullets and recycle the lead...? Nothing fancy, nothing expensive... Just a 24x24x24 box with sand in it would capture all your handgun bullets, all day long.

(Hint, use a rubber membrane of some kind on the impact side to keep the sand from trickling out!)

But the sandbox might be an idea for down the road...

Jim