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TaurusCPO
11-10-2010, 06:35 PM
I recently purchased a Lee reloading set and I have dies for the 9mm and .45acp. I purchased 125 gr lead round nose 9mm bullets and 225 gr flat nose .45 bullets from a gun show along with some Clays powder. I need a bit of help with the conversion from the powder volume to the amount of grains reloading data would call out. I understand that if Hodgdon's calls out 2.9 grains of Clay's as a starting load that I don't measure out 2.9 grains in my powder scale. I take the conversion factor for the powder and multiply it by the recommened load. Correct?
I've reloaded 100 rounds of 9mm using 125 gr lead round nose bullets and the conversion for weighing out powder is around .5 grains (I'm at work so I don't have the data). Am I doing this right? I'm sort of antsy about shooting these rounds.

TaurusCPO
11-12-2010, 06:24 PM
I went to the range today and fired off about 20 rounds each of my first attempts at reloading 9mm and .45acp ammo. I'm guessing my charge was a little light because I had some stovepiping and failure to lock the slide on the last round. My 1911 also didn't toss brass 10 feet behind me like it usually does. Actually had one go down the front of my shirt and that has never happened. There also seemed to be a lot more smoke than what I'm used to. I'm not sure if Clay's just produces more smoke or not. I used Remington primers, would they make a difference? Maybe they don't burn as hot or fast therefore the powder burns slower?
One thing I'm glad of is that I didn't load them too hot and damage my pistols or burn my eyebrows off.

Walt
11-12-2010, 11:58 PM
Clays is not a powder I would call smokey. Lead boolits and lube make smoke and that is probably what you are seeing especially if you are used to factory ball ammo. The primers wouldn't have any effect on the smokey thing. I don't have any volumetric powder scoups and never will, although I suppose they have their place. From what I gather, for safety reasons, they generally put out lighter than speced charges. If you have a scale use it, if you don't have one get one! When a manual specs a charge weight it is expressed in grains here in the states. There are 7000 grains in a pound. Most reloading scales show weight in grains. Some older scales and electronic scales give you a choice of grains or grams. Clays can be a bit spooky at higher pressures. Watch how you increase your charges. It is a good powder for light loads with lead boolits in the 45 Auto and not so good for the 9 m/m. A slower powder would be much better for use in your 9m/m loads. I hope this helps with your questions. Remember there are no stupid questins when you are starting out. Be careful and follow your manuals recommendations. Have fun. :smile:
Walt

versifier
11-13-2010, 01:10 AM
You don't say which Lee powder measure you're using. They have different disc/cavity setups, but all work the same way. Sometimes you have to stack two discs for both cavities to add up to the volume you need. There are volume/weight (cc/grain) tables that come with the measures and are also listed in the Lee manual. The idea is to match the cavity size to the charge you want to drop. It is not possible to hit the exact charges you want with every powder, but the next higher and lower ones will generally within .3 - .4 grains, certainly adequate for most common powders to come up with usable and safe loads. While you do have to be very careful with handguns and extremely fast powders and with any loads approaching MAX, generally .5gr of powder more or (hopefully) less than your planned charge isn't going to get you into serious trouble from a safety standpoint. Accuracy? Maybe, maybe not, you'll have to check the increments for which you have the correct cavities, and if still curious borrow an adjustable measure to check the "in-between" levels.

A very instructive experiment is to take a box of any match ammo and pull all the bullets. Weigh the bullets individually, the charge in each case, and the primed cases themselves. You will discover that neither bullets, cases, nor charges are exactly the same weights. That match ammo was machine loaded and charged with a volumetric meter operated in a manner more consistant than any human ever could, but even those charge differences aren't enough to have a serious effect on the accuracy or trajectory of the individual rounds.

With Clays it looks like you get lucky this time. :) According to my manual, 2.9gr Clays needs a .43cc cavity, but that charge is way below the START level for that powder/bullet weight combination. My Lyman manual shows the working range of Clays with 125gr 9mm bullet to be 3.1-3.6grMAX, so I think your loads were more than a bit on the light side. .46cc (3.1), .49cc (3.4), and .53cc (3.6MAX) cavities are what you should be playing with. If your setup has the proper size cavity capability, you are good to go. That should be exactly what your scale reads (if you zero'd it properly) when you drop a test charge. They are not my favorite brand of powder measures, but they work OK with most powders except fine ball and large extruded. I think you will find that the cavities are VERY accurate when you operate the measure with a repeatable and consistant motion, especially with flake powders. Lee's scale is accurate enough to do the job, too. I would expect that much of the smoke you saw was due to the low charge, Clays is usually a very clean burning powder.

It would not be unusual for a long range varmint or match shooter to dump a knowingly slightly light charge into the scale pan with any powder measure, trickle each round up to the exact charge weight, and then dump each charge into its case individually through a powder funnel. NOT what you want to be doing with hundreds of handgun rounds at a bench session.

RCBS has a similar cavity measure called the Little Dandy with interchangable rotors for dropping many handgun charges directly into a loading block of cases by hand. I have never bought one, but I often unhook my Lyman #55 from the bench when I have to fill 50-blocks of cases, but the Lyman is adjustable and much heavier/bulkier, as is my fixed Uniflow. Lee measures are designed to be stand or press mounted.

BTW, it's MUZZLE LOADERS that will get your eyebrows. Don't ask. ;)

TaurusCPO
11-18-2010, 01:52 PM
Walt and Versifier,
Thanks for the response and the information. The Lee powder measure I'm using is the "Perfect Powder Measure". I also have the graduated powder dippers that come with the dies. I'm also using, or trying to use, the Lee Safety Scale. I'll keep plugging away at it. The downside of all of this is that I loaded up a bunch of rounds instead of 5 or 10 and now I have to unload them.

Walt
11-18-2010, 02:12 PM
Pulling bullets from questionable loads isn't all bad. Remembering what a pain it is will help you make sure you do it right the first time. Have fun, be safe.