Pistol Reloading Question

CalCoyote

New member
I realize this may be a dumb question so please be kind in your responses:

I have been reloading for 11 years and consider myself intermediate. I reload for the 222, 22-250, 243, 257 Roy, 260 Rem, 270 Win, 308, and a few others. I am FAR from being and expert but feel I have a pretty good grasp of the reloading process. BUT, having said that I know almost NOTHING about reloading pistol cartridges.

Due to the current civil unrest here in Oregon I am bit uncomfortable with the small amount of 9mm ammo self defense I have on hand and there is none available, but I do have a several boxes of 124 grain practice FMJ ammo. I also have brass, bullets, and powder, but no primers and no source to buy any.

Here is my question:
My factory loaded Remington green box practice ammo is not loaded very hot. If I were to pull the 124g FMJ bullets while leaving the existing factory loaded powder in the case, would it be safe for me to just seat some Hornady 124g hollow point bullets and just re-crimp and be ready to shoot? I would basically be replacing the 124g FMJ a hollow point of equal weight. Would that be safe or not a good idea?
 
It would likely work, but to be safe, I would reduce the powder charge 10%.. The reason is the replacement bullets bearing surface could cause you problems with pressure Which will cause cycling problems. If you have a way to measure bearing surface that would be ideal.
 
I seem to recall doing the same thing many years ago and if I recall correctly, it didn't work for [beeep].
A good option for you is to pull the bullet and dump the factory powder. You don't know what it is anyway.
Remove the decapping pin from the sizing die and resize the case without punching out that precious primer. Them proceed to load with your own charge and bullet choice.

I assume you have a carbide sizer die and a taper crimp die, right?
 
I think you would be fine. Ever notice that Hornady loading manuals list to or three or five bulets of the same weight and sometimes + or - and the load data doesn't vary? On 9 MM they show three different profiled bullets.

To increase your level of success dump all the powder. Get an average and load that back in to the cases. Mexican Match for a pistol. I do it in 7.62X39 on occasion. The military use to do it using better bullets in their match rifles years ago and that's where the term came from.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: KenlguyI seem to recall doing the same thing many years ago and if I recall correctly, it didn't work for [beeep].
A good option for you is to pull the bullet and dump the factory powder. You don't know what it is anyway.
Remove the decapping pin from the sizing die and resize the case without punching out that precious primer. Them proceed to load with your own charge and bullet choice.

I assume you have a carbide sizer die and a taper crimp die, right?

Yes I acquired a die set. I really had a hard time finding some dies. Everything has been sold out. For Rifle I use mostly to the Hornady dies, but still use a few Redding dies for some calibers. Hornady and Redding are my preference, but Lee was the only set I could find available. While Lee is not my preference I have used Lee to reload 243 and not had any problems. The set came with 4 dies (Sizing, Expander, Seating, and Crimp). They are carbide dies so lube will not be be necessary which is something new for me.
 
Even if you had to lube them Hornady One Shot is inert to primers. Sizing of the new case will be so minimal you could probably do it in a steel die without any lube.

Greg
 
I’m of the practical mindset, you already have the factory loaded 124 grain FMJ. I would leave them be and continue your search for the pistol primers.

I also believe, if someone needs shooting, you can do so with FMJ bullets. Where is it written one NEEDS a HP for defense?

Back to your question, it would ‘likely’ be fine, I may want to back off the powder charge just a tad. Then we end up back at the ‘is it worth it’ question.

Some more food for thought; not the best for self defense until tested, but there’s lots of web info on substituting small rifle primers into pistol reloads. The next time I load 9mm I may do my own testing. Just an idea should you find sp primers for sale.
 
Originally Posted By: muskrat30 I’m of the practical mindset, you already have the factory loaded 124 grain FMJ. I would leave them be and continue your search for the pistol primers.

I also believe, if someone needs shooting, you can do so with FMJ bullets. Where is it written one NEEDS a HP for defense?



this is a very valid point. i often carry (backup, like in the truck) mags with mixed self defense grade HP/Tipped (ie: hornady critical defense) type ammo and load those FMJ every other round.

it may not be ideal, but it allows me to expand my carry capacity without needing an unlimited ammo budget/availability. my in-firearm magazine is always loaded with premium personal defense grade ammo, and so is the spare mag on my person. but those extras that are just in the console, etc.... no need to have $1/rd grade stuff in every position there.



i'd also like to point out that you have lots of other - way more effective - calibers to help make two legged predators achieve room temperature with if the situation demanded that you need to take such drastic action to defend yourself/family. i know we're probably having this discussion for on-body carry type ammo, but our handguns - in theory anyway - are there primarily to get us to our vehicle. then we can escape the situation and/or access our legally transported long guns.

the number of folks who like yourself are concerned about personal safety that have a "truck gun" might truly surprise you. especially in this day and age.

i've had one for quite some time (a 9" barreled 300 blk, side folding, ar-pistol) and when all the nonsense started a few months ago... many of my friends suddenly had all kinds of questions about it. i chose that peticular firearm for my "truck gun" because it allowed kind of the best of both worlds... a pistol with intermediate rifle caliber capabilities, able to be carried under my CPL (Michigan has a 26" OAL max rule to carry with our CPL) fully loaded, concealed - in my case in side a generic backpack - and reasonably accessible inside my vehicle passenger compartment.

just some other food for thought.

 
Since the only component you are missing are primers, if you decide you need hp ammo. Then when you pull to use the primed brass, I would load the hp to a plus+ level. Then the hp can function as designed, and hopefully 100% functionality of the handgun. Keep in mind to some people(on a jury) this could appear as "planning".
 
Short answer: Probably

Long answer: It may not. Pistol cartridges are very delicate in the sense that .1 or .2 gr can make a big difference. Likewise, a Copper plated 124 gr RN will have a different range of recommended powder charges compared to a jacketed 124 gr HP that likely has a different ojive, different bearing surface and more drag resistance going down the barrel since it is a thicker jacket instead of plating.

My $0.02, its not really worth the hassle. Shoot the factory and locate or barter for primers. If you happen to be close to Harrisburg, ill help you out with a couple hundred primers.
 
Originally Posted By: Coyote#1It would likely work, but to be safe, I would reduce the powder charge 10%.. The reason is the replacement bullets bearing surface could cause you problems with pressure Which will cause cycling problems. If you have a way to measure bearing surface that would be ideal.

Agreed. As mentioned above as well, jacket thickness will come
into play as far as pressure goes, also making it a good idea
to reduce the powder charge. Load up 4-5 rounds and try them. If
that gives good results, then load up the rest.

P.S. If you have or come across Rem 6 1/2 primers, they work
well, at least in my 9mm Springfield Arms XDS.
 
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I am going to land in the middle of the road on this one. I think that a lot of the guys have given some very valid information.

First off, as hunters, we tend to use HP's because they transfer their energy into the target quite effectively and that can anchor the animals in one shot. So your idea to switch out to HP's isn't bad. You should be able to switch out an FMJ to a jacketed HP with no problem, as Gary said, many manufacturers list multiple bullet designs in their load data in the same weights and powder charges.

I would weigh the powder after you have broken them down, don't take the chance that you lost some powder.

If you want to leave them alone, do it. The military has used FMJ's in their firearms for decades. No, FMJ's are not ideal, but you are NOT going to rely on ONY one shot. Many times, we as hunters only get one shot, so it has to count or the animal could escape. And as ethical hunters that bothers us. But in a defensive situation, you are going to shoot and assess. If the target is doing ANYTHING other than falling, you are going to send in a follow up shot.

There are some company's that have some stock of self defense ammo, I just got some Speer Gold Dot's from Cheaper Than Dirt. There were also some on Lucky Gunner. Or you could find what you need on Ammoseek.
 
Calcoyote, I am not sure about the laws in Oregon about how a prosecutor would deal with Reloads for self defense...might be worth some investigation.

Do you have any kind of castle doctrine? Does the Castle Doctrine include your vehicle?

You may want to find out what kind of ammo the local cops are using, and at least buy that type of bullet if you can find any.

I have had excellent results with GT bullets, and these 130g HP expand to 69 caliber with 7.8g of AA#7 with incredible accuracy in all of my 9mm pistols. I prefer the 130g GT HP vs Hornady 124g XTP when it comes to expansion and shock.

https://www.gtbullets.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=4

 
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The ammo you have on hand is probably fine. The powder in the factory loads is likely a proprietary type for which you will have no data and if you use a kinetic hammer there is no way you won’t lose powder. My thought would be to raise the primer pin, resize, expand and use something like Power Pistol behind the HPs and firmly taper crimp.
Good luck!
 
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If the OP "self defense" is of the EDC nature, few rounds, then factory ammo is best for legal reasons.

If the OP "self defense" is of preper boogaloo nature, bulk ammo,
then loading to high/max/+P pressure for reliable & safe firing means careful control of all variables,
including powder and seating depth.

To amp up with the original powder to high/max/+P pressure,
means careful gradual chronograph work relating the muzzle fps back to expected pressure.
The relating back to expected pressure falls apart not knowing the original powder characteristics.
Not a process to guess at, IMO.

Again, I would only reuse original case with primer for OP purpose.

Also, how confident is the OP of his reloaded cartridges vs factory FMJ,
in light of inexperience with pistol cartridge reloading, where every shot counts ?
 
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