Reloading ammunition for the R51

[Texas-Mark]

It sucks that if I want to take advantage of it, I have to buy a new die set.  I already spring for the 9mm Luger FCD. 

Do you have a link?

No need for a complete new set and you can still use the FCD

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/386755/lee-undersized-carbide-sizing-die-9mm-luger

[lklawson]

Thanks. 

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

[DanOh]

I was surprised to see the dimensions that you use to load your ammo to, especially the case mouth dimension.  I know the .380 spec is within the acceptable tolerance but is the maximum diameter acceptable.  The reloading manual I read before starting reloading told how to set the taper crimp on the cartridge this way:  First they recommend sorting brass since case wall thickness varies, and I do that.  Next is to measure the case wall thickness, and the bullet's diameter.  So, if you are using a .356 bullet and the case wall thickness is .010, the outside diameter of the crimp should be .375.  That is the bullet diameter added to two times the wall thickness since you are measuring two walls and crimping the round .001 results in the total of .375. Try loading a dummy round without primer or powder and then pull the bullet out of the case to see how much indentation is shown on the bullet to ensure you are not over crimping. You should be able to see only very slight evidence of bullet compression.  I do this for every set of ammo I load, especially when different case manufactures are being used.  The crimp does nothing to hold the bullet, case tension does that and is determined by case resizing. Over belling the case mouth too much will cause problems seating or crimping the bullet or too deep will lose the tension.  I have used this method for all my reloads and they work in every gun I have.  The only problem I ever had was with some coated RN bullets that were .358 diameter and the quality sucked.  The bullets were very inconsistent in size and weight, had slag on the bases of some, and the ogive was so fat that I had to seat them deeper than recommended.  I loaded these to shoot in Beretta pistols since the bore size in about all of them is .3575 and the plated bullets, cast bullets, or lead bullets should be at least .001 larger than bore size. 

I hope this will help with the chambering problems with your reloads.

DanOh

[Texas-Mark]

First they recommend sorting brass since case wall thickness varies, and I do that.  Next is to measure the case wall thickness, and the bullet's diameter.  So, if you are using a .356 bullet and the case wall thickness is .010, the outside diameter of the crimp should be .375.  That is the bullet diameter added to two times the wall thickness since you are measuring two walls and crimping the round .001 results in the total of .375.

I personally don't try to overcomplicate things like some reloading manuals do. When I started reloading, I basically measured a bunch of factory ammo and came up with an average of .377 for the case mouth. I just don't have time do be sorting brass. As I noted earlier, when I chrono my reloads I typically get a ES of 47 and SD of 12 or less in a string of 25-30. They are all pretty accurate too. I just don't think the extra work is worth the minimal return. Now if I was shooting completion or something, then I might be more picky. And as I mentioned I use factory crimp dies because IMO it just makes things a lot easier and more consistent.

I do use a case gauge on every one of my reloads instead of plunking in the barrel. I have yet to have one that fits the gauge, that does not also plunk in the barrel of any of my guns.

[Rog54]

Much like Texas I use the book plus use factory loads as "not to exceed"
I've ran approx. 250 reloads thru my new 51 without incident.
I use the case gauge twice, once after depriming/resizing and then after factory crimp.  Not that is should matter but I use Lee dies.  I load 4.6 of HP38 (medium load per the book).  115 plated round nose. Actually, I was amazed, as I am new to reloading and the gun was new as well.  Only 50 factory shot before the reloads.
Rog 

[Texas-Mark]

One thing I have seen on several gun forums is some people who think that a slew of  reloading manual is a must. I actually bought one only to find out it did not even have the particular bullet or powder that I was using. And I have seen different information in different manuals.

Nearly every powder manufacturer (and even bullet manufacturer) lists load data on their web site now, so no real need for a book. Plus there are plenty of youtube videos to get people started. Of course one should not just watch just one, as they are not always correct. But if you watch enough of them, it becomes more obvious how to do things the right way.

The same goes for load weights. I would not go with just one recipe that I found randomly with Google, but if I look for let's say Berry's 115 gr plated RN and Bullseye powder and find 20 different people using 4.1 to 4.3 grains, then I think it's a fair assessment to start with 4.1 and go from there. Maybe even 4.0 if one wants to play it extra safe. But yet some people will say it's foolish to use any load data found that way.

The only thing I would recommend to anyone starting out with reloading is to plan to invest in a chronograph. IMO, its the best way to evaluate things. Not absolutely necessary if you are loading on the light side, but if you start pushing things it is.

 

[russc2542]

Having more than one manual, I agree that having one when the Mfrs post stuff themselves is kind of redundant because, yes, they tend to have holes in the data for what I have on hand 

I also got around to measuring and my R51's also right at the spec for 9mm like others have said.

[Rog54]

late reply,

I have shot about 200 reloads thru my R51 without issue.  Used brass, 115RN-plated FMP bullets (Frontier Metal Processing)(double struck).  4.6 of HP38. I was holding my breath but every round went down range and ejected.

[R51Fan2017]

I had some pressure problems with the first few I did. It seemed like the slide was reciprocating harder than normal. I narrowed it down to crimping. Turns out, my die was over crimping causing excess pressure. Something pretty simple, but maybe not so obvious. Ever since I got that fixed, I have had great success.

[plunkster]

Just to add my 2 cents... I load Xtreme plated 115 gr bullets over 4.7 gr of W231 and a COAL of 1.15" and get about 1070 fps. Haven't had any malfunctions with this combo... I also use the same load in my other 9mms (Luger, Walther P1, and Kahr CM9).