Hello all. Been a long time since I posted on the forums here, but I just recently picked up some reloading equipment and started learning how to reload. When I ran into an issue this morning, figured here would be a good place to get some advice.
I bought a Lee Classic Turret Press kit, came with auto powder drum, scale, safety prime, Modern Reloading 2nd Ed, etc. The works.
I figured I would start with some 38 special, for a couple of reasons.
1) Straight walled case, so as far as I had read, slightly easier
2) I have a .357, so I'm a little less likely to accidentally blow up my gun if I screw up REALLY badly
I figured it would be a good place to start and do some learning, figuring out how it all works in relative safety. Well everything came in yesterday and the day before, and I got it all mounted to the bench and setup. I had picked up some HP38 from the local shop, after doing some research and seeing that being one of the most-mentioned brands used for reloading 38 specials. I would've preferred Unique, just based on the number of people mentioning it, but I couldn't find any locally. Also grabbed a box of Hornady XTP bullets, again they were what the shop had available, and I knew that there was a load specifically for those in 125gr weight with HP38 powder in the reloading book that came with the press.
So after getting everything setup and installing my 38 dies, I took the time to go through and decap and size all of my cases at one time, so that I could get a feel for how that stage worked. Then I primed them all. Then I calibrated the scale that came with the kit, zeroed it out with the pan attached. I started throwing powder charges through the powder drum, and weighing them. I tuned it down to exactly the weight mentioned in the manual; 4.3 grains of HP38, for a 125gr XTP bullet. I verified and re-verified at this point. I think I spent about an hour last night just throwing charges and weighing them repeatedly, alternating with checking the zero on the scale, to make absolutely sure that I had everything configured properly.
That was last night. Got up this morning and threw 5 or 6 charges through the powder drum and verified them, along with re-verifying the zero on the scale, and they looked good. Finally charged a case, and set a bullet in it, then crimped. Did 5 rounds total that way, one cylinder worth for my little 2" 357. I looked into each case as I charged them, and verified that I did indeed have a powder charge in them, and that it wasn't a double charge.
Once I had all 5 done, I went outside. Gloves, shooting glasses, hearing protection, etc.
Fired one round; recoil seemed light, but the target did have a hole in it. I opened the cylinder and checked the bore from the rear. It's a 2" barrel, so you can see all the way through it from the back. Found no obstructions.
Fired next round. Recoil seemed more normal, another hole in the target. Opened the cylinder and checked the bore from the rear, still no obstructions.
Third round, same as above. Normal recoil, hole in target. Checked the bore, no obstructions.
Fourth round, VERY light recoil, and I felt a fleck of something hit my cheek. No new hole in target. Checked bore, found my projectile.
Unloaded the 1 remaining round, as well as the empty cases. Found a few flakes of partially burnt powder in one or two of the chambers. Used a dowel and mallet to remove stuck bullet, didn't see anything unusual about it.
I went ahead and pulled the bullet from the one remaining live round so that I wouldn't lose it and then "find" it later and fire it.
So, I'm looking for opinions; what do you think I did wrong? I verified the powder measure was throwing the correct charge obsessively, and visually inspected each case. Was there just not enough powder in the case to get a complete burn? I did some quick reading, and most people seem to say that the manual has the "starting load" set perhaps slightly TOO low, for liability reasons, which may result in unburnt powder and low pressures. As a reminder, the load was:
CCI small pistol primer
4.3gr of HP38
125gr Hornady XTP
Thanks for all advice and opinions, look forward to seeing what everyone says. For the time being, I'm holding off on reloading anything else until I get more opinions and do more research.
I bought a Lee Classic Turret Press kit, came with auto powder drum, scale, safety prime, Modern Reloading 2nd Ed, etc. The works.
I figured I would start with some 38 special, for a couple of reasons.
1) Straight walled case, so as far as I had read, slightly easier
2) I have a .357, so I'm a little less likely to accidentally blow up my gun if I screw up REALLY badly
I figured it would be a good place to start and do some learning, figuring out how it all works in relative safety. Well everything came in yesterday and the day before, and I got it all mounted to the bench and setup. I had picked up some HP38 from the local shop, after doing some research and seeing that being one of the most-mentioned brands used for reloading 38 specials. I would've preferred Unique, just based on the number of people mentioning it, but I couldn't find any locally. Also grabbed a box of Hornady XTP bullets, again they were what the shop had available, and I knew that there was a load specifically for those in 125gr weight with HP38 powder in the reloading book that came with the press.
So after getting everything setup and installing my 38 dies, I took the time to go through and decap and size all of my cases at one time, so that I could get a feel for how that stage worked. Then I primed them all. Then I calibrated the scale that came with the kit, zeroed it out with the pan attached. I started throwing powder charges through the powder drum, and weighing them. I tuned it down to exactly the weight mentioned in the manual; 4.3 grains of HP38, for a 125gr XTP bullet. I verified and re-verified at this point. I think I spent about an hour last night just throwing charges and weighing them repeatedly, alternating with checking the zero on the scale, to make absolutely sure that I had everything configured properly.
That was last night. Got up this morning and threw 5 or 6 charges through the powder drum and verified them, along with re-verifying the zero on the scale, and they looked good. Finally charged a case, and set a bullet in it, then crimped. Did 5 rounds total that way, one cylinder worth for my little 2" 357. I looked into each case as I charged them, and verified that I did indeed have a powder charge in them, and that it wasn't a double charge.
Once I had all 5 done, I went outside. Gloves, shooting glasses, hearing protection, etc.
Fired one round; recoil seemed light, but the target did have a hole in it. I opened the cylinder and checked the bore from the rear. It's a 2" barrel, so you can see all the way through it from the back. Found no obstructions.
Fired next round. Recoil seemed more normal, another hole in the target. Opened the cylinder and checked the bore from the rear, still no obstructions.
Third round, same as above. Normal recoil, hole in target. Checked the bore, no obstructions.
Fourth round, VERY light recoil, and I felt a fleck of something hit my cheek. No new hole in target. Checked bore, found my projectile.
Unloaded the 1 remaining round, as well as the empty cases. Found a few flakes of partially burnt powder in one or two of the chambers. Used a dowel and mallet to remove stuck bullet, didn't see anything unusual about it.
I went ahead and pulled the bullet from the one remaining live round so that I wouldn't lose it and then "find" it later and fire it.
So, I'm looking for opinions; what do you think I did wrong? I verified the powder measure was throwing the correct charge obsessively, and visually inspected each case. Was there just not enough powder in the case to get a complete burn? I did some quick reading, and most people seem to say that the manual has the "starting load" set perhaps slightly TOO low, for liability reasons, which may result in unburnt powder and low pressures. As a reminder, the load was:
CCI small pistol primer
4.3gr of HP38
125gr Hornady XTP
Thanks for all advice and opinions, look forward to seeing what everyone says. For the time being, I'm holding off on reloading anything else until I get more opinions and do more research.