Put the bench together and got the press mounted. Have the 9mm dies loaded and set according to the factory guide I decapped about 150 spent cases and then cleaned the primer pockets. I am going to tumble the cases and then tomorrow plan on doing some inital loading practice.

During the decap the depriming pin would "ting" once in a while, is that normal or do I need to adjust the turret? (I removed the indexing rod and used in as a stationary press for decapping.)

Mike

It's "Normal" to ting or twang. You may want to tumble the cases before depriming as sometimes the media gets stick in the primer pocket or flash hole.
You really do not need to clean the primer cases with the little tool. I and others never do for pistol ammo. Sometimes it helps on big rifle cartridges. Doesn't hurt but takes a lot of time.

Have fun, be safe and ask any questions.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Way to go Mike!
You are really about to get hooked!

The twang is pretty normal. Make sure you aren't trying to deprime Berdan primed cases though! They are the ones with two flash holes instead of one. If the die is adjusted right, should you encounter a problem with a primer, the pin should just ride up in it's collet.

As for cleaning primer pockets, nope, don't on handgun stuff.


Tumbling before decapping is a better idea, friend. That way you are putting clean cases in you dies rather than those with hardened bits of crud. Even though your dies may be carbide, you can still scratch them and cause some real problems later.

It does sound like you are off to a good start. The single stage usage of the press is a great idea when starting out.

Have fun, be safe.

If you want to decap your cases before putting them in the tumbler (which I do as well), then might I recommend the Lee Universal Decapping Die? Works very well for me (better than the RCBS version) and is cheap insurance against scratching your more-expensive sizing die.

Also, I know a lot of reloaders don't clean their primer pockets, but some of us do, and it certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Congratulations on your progress! You're well on your way to a real obsession...

Oh, just ordered a Beta Chronograph. $108.00 with shipping and Tax (Georgia) from WalMart. Be careful, they wanted $120.00 for this or more on Ebay!

Well, back to work to pay for my new stuff!

I agree, it's a better idea to tumble the brass before you resize.

You can take the suggestion above of using a Lee Universal Decapping Die, it works quite well.

__________________
Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Loaded up about 92 rounds of 124 grain JHP using HP38 4.4 grains with Winchester standard primers (it would have been 100 but there is a learning curve after all.) Validated the charge every 5 shells. Weighed all of the final product and they where all +/- 0.6 grains in weight from each other. This is based on the minimum load from Modern Reloading, 2nd Edition by Richard Lee.

I figure to start with the minimum load to learn on then move into hotter loads as I get more confidence. Should have my Beta Chronograph by this weekend and will hopefully be able to do some testing between my XD 9mm CD with its short barrel and the carbine with its 16 inch barrel.

Whoa! +/- .6 grains? I hope you mean the "loaded rounds." The differences in case weight, bullet weight, etc. could acount for that much, and really, weighing loaded rounds isn't something necessary. That's quite a bit of variance if you meant the powder. HP-38 usually measures much better than that. I get less than .1 variance in 100 drops with it in my old Herter's powder dropper (which I think is more accurate than the "automeasures").

As small as a 9mm case is, it's subject to large pressure changes with small differences in powder loads.

Yes the completed rounds is what I meant, sorry if I confused anyone! Weights went from 188.8 to 190.2 grains with most being at around 189.8 grains. I figured since the powder charge is 4.4 grains if the deviance from average is less than 1 grain the chances of a double charge or no charge is pretty small to infinitesimal.

Here is my setup:


Here are my first 92 rounds:

Nice setup. If I may, I'm new to reloading as well and found I need all the light I can get. Just an unsolicited suggestion: Do you think you would benefit from one of those under cabinet fluorescent light fixtures under your shelf?
Amazon.com: Undercabinet Fluorescent Light Fixture, 18" White: Home Improvement

I have one in the garage, just haven't mounted it yet, on the list to do tonight