Ive put 1000 or so rounds of cheap S&B 10mill through my G20 and loving every shot.
So my buddy and I went halves on a new Dillon 550C , and now we have slugs, dies, primers, micrometer, etc.... allready to go. He will be mostly loading 40SW, me 10mill.
Our only confusion comes to recipes. We have a Hornady manual and download plenty, but still scratching our heads a bit due to the massive amount of reloading info available.
Safe to say we havent reloaded before.
I notice a lot of you fellas like bluedot, and powder is the only thing I havent bought yet. Also BD is impossible (so far) to find where i live, and shipping things to alaska can be pricey.
So here is my general question, based on experience, what is a good starting point with recipes? Is there another powder I should start with, or have a buddy in another state arrange to send me some BD...legally of course.
Thanks for helping out a newb reloader.
long live the 10!
Well, my first choice would be Blue Dot 10.2-10.4grs over an Xtreme 180 gr heavy plated (hpfp)
For me it's very accurate mid warm load, runs about 15+cents to produce (not counting case).
see what powders you can get , work from there
But I've used other powers too...
Went thru 4 lbs of 2400, not a bad powder, but not great.( uses over 12gr IIRR )
Unique as a good target round and Power pistol for a bit more speed.
There's a pretty good choice of other powders too that would work well like #7/#9 but don't use them
Prob the only powder I wouldn't use is 800x... Never meter well for me, so I hand weigh when used
Good luck , move slow, research and read, start low and test
i really appreciate the input!
sounds like i will be sourcing some BD, starting out by loading on the mild side and continued reading.
Any differing or similar opinions are most welcome.
The 10 is so incredibly versatile, and there are quite a few powders that work well. What weight / type bullet do you have, and how hard do you intend to push them?
What powders are available in your area?
Knowing the purpose of your intended 10mm load might help narrow the range of suggestions on what powder to use relative to bullet-weight and desired velocity ...
For example, are you looking for a target/competition load? Or are you wanting a hard-hitting, fast-moving woods load using a heavy hard-cast boolit (such as for "critter-defense" in the wilds of the Alaskan boonies)?
My favorites are Power Pistol, BE-86 and Lovex Heavy Pistol. The Heavy Pistol is comparable to AA #9 and really gets the 200 grain XTP moving :)
to answer the question about my intended purpose for shooting... i plan to shoot as much as possible, general having fun shooting. in alaska there is no shortage of opportunity to plink. i have hot ammo for bear defense, and will have cast loads once i can pull the trigger on a aftermarket barrel. so i just need any help on reloading advice for loading up a few thousand rounds of "practice" ammo. ive got another case of ammo to go through before reloading becomes a necessity.
a friend of mine is looking for bluedot for me and will send. theres a variety of powder available retail, but i havent seen any blue, red, clay etc... i will make a trip in to town today and list what is easy to get and reply again later on. thanks fellas!
The best solution is to source some Longshot and buy cheap mixed federal FMJ pulls from American Reloading.
https://www.americanreloading.com/en/home/701-40-sw-155gr-165gr-180gr-fmj-500-ct.html (https://www.americanreloading.com/en/home/701-40-sw-155gr-165gr-180gr-fmj-500-ct.html)
They sell their 155/165/180 gr FMJ pulls for $70/k shipped and occasionally you can get a 15% code to get the price down to $59.5/k shipped. Use a micrometer set at the 165 gr length to sort the 180 gr, then lower it to the 155 gr length to sort the 165 gr out. I bought 8k and got 6k 180 gr, 1k 165 gr and 1k 155 gr. Sold the 155 & 165 gr for more than I paid. Win.
They shoot pretty good with 9 gr of LS out of my stock G29. Nice an snappy (~1200 fps), better than your typical factory 10mm at about $120/k (not counting brass). My MechTech 16" carbine shoots 3 MOA with these too. Not bad.
The mix weight bag is a good idea, otherwise look at Rocky Mountain or Everglades for jacketed.
Haven't shot a lot of coated out of my stock barrel, but through the AF I love em'. Can't go wrong with any of the major players (Bayou, ACME, MBC, BBI, etc), and most offer sample paks.
I've loaded everything from e3 to STEEL (as a disclaimer I recommend sticking to published loads), and for practice fodder it's amazing how many powders work well in the 10.
Slightly off-topic.
Hope you have dedicated tool heads for each set of dies. Or you will be adjusting dies everytime you switch between .40 SW and 10mm. Just saying since you are a self-professed newbie to reloading. :)
I use Power Pistol and Accurate #7. I actually believe both of them have recipes for 10mm and .40 SW.
Enjoy the 10!
AlaskaWill, You need to see what is available to you up there...There can be working loads with almost all the pistol powders for 40 S&W and 10mm. You may want to buy bulk to help your mission for both of you... powders come in 1 pound, 4 pound, 5 pound and 8 pound jugs depending on which powder you chose. Go to the powder makers web sites to see how they are sold and various loadings shown to get an idea how many rounds you will get for a pound which equals 7000 grains of powder. You use less powder with faster burning powders and use more powder with slower powders.
If you want to shoot a lot of ammo you make, powders like Alliant BE-86 or Power Pistol can be your friend for mid to higher velocity loads with economical value in mind. Powders like Blue Dot, LongShot, AA#7, AA#9, with yield higher velocities but you use more powder to get those results.
Mid range powders like Hodgdon CFE Pistol, Winchester AutoComp can make good loads just like BE-86 or Power Pistol.
You may want to say away from the uber fast powders like Bullseye, Titegroup because they are so easy to double charge a casing with the slightest distraction while loading especially using a progressive press.
When you get your press and start setting things up, you may want to load on it like a single stage press, to get a good feel for each step in the process...
Good luck, if you have questions be sure to stop and ask about any and everything till you gain a full understanding...