9mm Reloading Advice

[kent36]

Just bought some reloading equipment to go with the brass I have been saving for awhile. Anyone got any suggestions on primers and powder? Not sure where to start. Not looking for hot loads, just want to put some holes in paper.

[Frontier Owner]

wolf primers are probably gonna be the cheapest. I run Winchester primer because its readily available locally.
powder, Im running Unique for my .40 and .45
I haven't started loading 9mm yet, I dont shoot much 9mm because my 9mm pistol is a cheap POS.

[Silver02ex]

I use CCI since I an get it for $28/1,000 (local). You can order online in bulk and split the haz-mat fee with someone to cut back on the cost. Grafs, Powder valley, Widener, are a good place to start looking. You will get many opinions on what powder and primers are the best. You should buy about 100 primers and a pound of powder, test them out and see how you like it before buying in big bulk.

[yoteman]

Get yourself at least two good reloading manuals. There is so much good info in those just about reloading in general that it is well worth the money.

[willy3]

I've been using Bullseye Powder for 40+ years. You can't go wrong with CCI or Winchester primers. If you are casting bullets use Lee liquid lube.

[fredj338]

Primers are not all that big a variable, as long as they are reliable & affordable. I shy away from Wolf, but that is from personal bad experience. Powders for noobs & 9mm do NOT start w/ Bullseye or other uberfast powder. A quick look at a reloading manual or two shows lower pressures w/ any give vel using slower powders. The higher volume also help revent a double charge or see a squib. So Unique, WSF, Universal, PowerPistol or HS6 are all good medium burners that work great in high pressure 9mm rounds.

[SmokedBMW]

Originally Posted by Silver02ex

You should buy about 100 primers and a pound of powder, test them out and see how you like it before buying in big bulk.

Originally Posted by yoteman

Get yourself at least two good reloading manuals. There is so much good info in those just about reloading in general that it is well worth the money.

This is some solid advice. I personally have had issues with Tula primers and now use winchester small pistol with zero problems. Also primers and powder are not the place to save money, the margins will be about a penny per bullet difference. Just find some powder locally (if possible) that has plenty of data in your manuals. For me that was winchester 231.

[Keltyke]

Ditto on the manuals. Two good ones are "Lyman's #49" and "The ABC's of Reloading".

[Mercmar]

I checked PV a few days ago, and they no longer listed Wolf primers. I've been using AA#5 and Wolf small rifle primers for loading 9mm for several years now.

[Mike1388]

I just started reloading myself. Went to a gun show and found a used Lee Pro 1000 for about half of retail. I knew I needed powder so I asked a guy what he recommended and he said Hodgdon TiteGroup, which I bought. The only issue I have with it is it seems very "dirty" - with every shot I see a lot of smoke from the barrel and can even feel it hitting my hands and sometimes face. Not enough to hurt, but it's noticeable. I asked a guy at the range if that meant I was overloading and he said not necessarily. The rounds fire OK - no noticeable difference than store-bought practice rounds - but definitely dirty. I plan to try another type of powder; not sure what yet. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Regarding primers - Federal primers come in a box where they are placed sideways in their case, meaning you can't just dump them out in your primer tool. Winchester primers come flat and I can dump them straight into the Lee hand primer I use (I could not get the auto-primer on the Lee Pro 1000 to work).