I was a bit nervous this morning as I took my first 50 rounds of reloads to the range. I am shooting a S&W SD9VE, 9mm. Ammo is range brass that I picked up, cleaned and loaded with 145 gr lead round nose in front of 3.2 gr Titegroup, COL 1.130.

The very first shot was a misfire. Not a good sign. I ejected it and there was a very small dent in the primer. The rest of the magazine (4 shots) were OK. I put the misfire back in the mag and it fired OK. Shot 5 more magazines each loaded with 5 rounds each and had one more misfire, which also failed to fire on the 2nd try so I discarded it in a designated spot.

Velocities ranged from a low of 952fps to a high of 990fps (had one flyer at 1012fps which might have been just a bad read on the chrono). Most of them were in the 960 to 985fps range. Is that a typical spread? For comparison, I shot a magazine of factory Blazer 115gr and the 5 shots varied by over 30fps which makes me think my loads were OK. I just expected the speeds to be a little closer. I was shooting for somewhere in the 900 to 925fps range but was a little high. Next batch, I will probably drop the charge a bit and see what velocities I get with that.

All of the shells loaded and ejected OK and the action stayed open after the last shot. I took the chrono down and shot another 25 rounds and was able to keep most of them inside a 3” circle at 30 feet. At least I still have all my fingers, came home uninjured and I think the morning was successful for the first time. Can't wait to get back and will be at the bench in the morning putting some more togerher. Any advice from anyone would be appreciated.

The misfires may be caused by not enough pressure when seating the primer.
Some use the thin skinned federal 100 primer to help prevent this.

First go round was 50 loads of a single loading?

I will not load over 20 rounds, unless it is a proven, seasoned loading, to keep problems to a minimum.
Nothing worse than having to dismantle 50 rounds or more if they don't work out.

Welcome to the club..........
and enjoy those new loads.

PS;
you might be able to get down to 790fps with that powder
with the lead bullet....... if the slide will work.

" Next batch, I will probably drop the charge a bit and see what velocities I get with that."


I wouldn't. You are into the good functional zone, but much lighter and you will have functional problems.
Check that you are getting the primers fully seated; high primers can cause misfires.

__________________
Science plus Art

I'll put up a second vote for: you didn't use enough force to fully seat the primers. What happens is that the first whack (misfire) helps to better seat the primer and the second try sets it off.

While I agree for certain that Federal primers ARE absolutely easier to detonate, I don't agree at all that moving to a Federal primer is your answer.

I don't know which tools or technique you use to prime cases, but here is my suggestion:

Remove all primers from any feed or tray so we are working with just a single primer. Now, grab a bath towel, fold it over and drape the towel totally over whatever priming tool you are using. (the idea here being a blast shield) With protective eyewear on (always!) prime a case and with due purpose... GO OVERBOARD and slowly give it FAR more pressure to seat than anybody ever would typically.

You should find that even going gorilla -- slowly and with PROPER priming tools simply will not accidentally set off a primer.

This exercise is designed to teach you that your tools and techniques are safe, so that you won't be afraid to use leverage and some force to ensure that you are indeed seating them surely.

Best way to check is to feel with very end of index finger or thumb, properly done should feel slightly concave.

^^^^^^^^^
What he says.

Primers not only need to bottom out in the primer pocket, the priming compound pellet must be compressed a bit to sensitize it. When you hit the primer with the firing pin and you don't get ignition, it is because the firing pin must seat the primer. The next hit ignites the primer. However, sometimes the primer pellet shatters from the first strike and you will never get ignition.

--NOTE--

Do not attempt to "further" seat primers on already charged/loaded ammo. Only do my test on sized brass.

Thanks all for the advice. How about velocities? What kind of range would be good in the same batch. The factory stuff was 30fps difference between high and low.

"don't you just love it when a plan comes together"

Walk before you run. You should be doing a load workup, not just plug in a max load & load 50. Lyman says 2.8gr with their 147gr is max. Lead bullets need less powder to achiev sim pressures & vel. Plated fall between the two.
Proper load dev goes in steps. Most say use starting & workup. I choose average middle data from 3 vetted sources & work it up or down, deoending on what i want to achieve. Load no more than 5rds, then increase/decrease the charge 1/10gr, repeat to avg max or the approx vel you think you are aiming for. Shoot the loads in order of powder charge & note functioning, accuracy & if using a chrono, plot the vel gains/losses. It can save you a ton of bullet pulling if something goes wrong.
Not a fan of TG, but it generally gives small vel spreads. If you are using mixed brass, you will have a great vel spread than using all the same head stamp. Internal volume & case neck tension play a big roll with uniformity.

__________________
NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

With 9mm, and 124 gr JHP I load to right over 1000 fps for good reliable functioning and accuracy.

With 147 gr JHP I load to about 950 fps.

I find both these bullet weights more accurate, and cleaner shooting than lead.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have done a bad job with primers on rifle, shotgun and pistols in the past.

When starting a "New" project I will take a few loaded rounds and set them on the table, primer down.
If I have any load that wobbles or leans, I know that the primers are not set enough and the machine needs to be adjusted to fix the problem.

Make sure that there is no "Crud" in your dies, also.
A clean die, is a good thing, as well as shell holders etc.

Congratulations.

The load sounds good based on what I see in my reloading manuals.

That is the classic description of a primer that was not fully seated. The primer must be fully seated for the firing pin strike to crush the primer compound under the primer's anvil. When the primer is not seated fully, the first strike by the firing pin will often "finish" seating the primer so the second strike ignites it.

I don't think you necessarily need to switch to "softer" or "more sensitive" primers, just need to develop a feel for when the primer is fully seated.

And in regard to when a primer is fully seated, don't worry about igniting a primer while seating it. If you go slowly and in smooth motions you will be okay.

You can put a primer in the jaws of a vice and slowly, smoothly, crush it into a pancake and it will not go off. Strike the vice with a hammer and your pancaked primer will ignite. It is shock, not pressure, that sets off a primer.

952 to 990 is 38 fps or 4% which is real good.

About the only way you're going to be able to tighten that up very much would be to throw each charge into the pan of your scale/balance and then use a powder trickler to get up to a precise weight and even doing that minor differences in charge weight, bullet weight, bullet diameter and case capacity are still going to result in variations.

You're already on the low end of the range from the manuals I have, so dropping the charge more may result in function problems. Do so carefully and since you're only wanting to drop your average velocity by 30 ot 40 fps, go down in 1/10 grain increment.

It is a good feeling to come back from the range with all your fingers and eyes!

I would count this trip as a success.

Pay a little more attention to seating the primers all the way and you should be on your way to a flawless range trip.

What manual do you have that shows 3.2gr of TG is starting for a lead bullet??? Then what 145gr LRN?? Bullets are not plug & play. One lube groove, two, no lube groove, pure RN or RNFP, you can see, a lot of variables to be just plugging a bullet into a powder charge.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Congrats! Are you going to frame the 15' cord you used to pull the trigger the first time ? Seriously, we've all been there for that first trigger pull.

You know by now the primers were likely not seated deep enough. I'd add what can cause this in pistol rounds (besides not enough seating pressure) is crud built up in the primer pocket.

Guess I have a lot to learn. Hodgdon shows a starting load of 3.2 tg for a 147gr, but the bullet was an xtp, not lead (big difference?). I assumed since it was the recommended starting load that it would be ok for a lead bullet. Yes, I know what assumed means. I'll be more careful with the next batch. Thanks

Don't over think it. Follow established data and all will be well.