Thread: curious about pistol shooting

My $0.02

Think twice before blowing $1000 on a press. A second hand Dillon 550 can be had for significantly less if you are patient and look hard. But go find someone who uses one first and see it in action. Doubly important if anyone is talking you into a Lee Pro1000. Good presses in the right hands but lots of beginners frustrated right out of reloading. On a tight budget? Pick up an old Lee 3 or 4 hole turret press for well under $200, maybe even with a set of dies. They are clunky and slower than a Dillon but have loaded many millions of Pistol (and rifle) rounds and are still going strong. And they are foolproof. Well, nearly... I have Dillons but I still hold on to and use my old Lee turrets..

A single stage press is just too slow for the quantities of Pistol ammo you will need.

In Pistol calibres, don't go buying new brass. 9mm brass will go 100 plus reloads, as will 38sp and 45 acp. While you are learning, mixed headstamps and multi-fired brass will make no difference to anything. You will get the occasional split case and loose primer pocket and you chuck those ones out. Otherwise pay as little as possible or scrounge it for free.

If cast bullets are all you can get they will shoot just fine albeit a bit smokier from the lube. Watch for leading of the barrel but this should not be an issue if you are not maxing the powder out.

Plastic coated are excellent, especially the BlackHawkes from Delta Mike which are good value. As are the copper washed Frontier projectiles from Rusa and others. Cheapest bulk buys are bestest! At the ranges your shooting at projectile choice is only a question of weight and profile. For steel round nose will give you best feeding experience in most guns. If punching paper a flat nose will cut neater and be better for scoring. Leave the wadcutters for the Olympics. Some guns are fussy about semi-wadcutters, often sorted by getting the seating depth correct for that gun. 1911A 45acp pistols in any make are known for fussy feeding of semi-wadcutters. Some more so than others.

There are many powders that can be used to load pistol ammo with published data. If there is published data for a powder and its available at a reasonable price don't be fussy. It will shoot better than you can. Plenty of time to settle on "the one powder to rule them all" when you start knocking the club top-gun offa their perch. Go with whats available and affordable and buy plenty of it.

If you want least cost pistol calibre reloading for volume shooting start scrounging lead and buy moulds and cast your own.