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November 7, 2015
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I love my morning walks but my neighbors’ driving “skills” are scary on a clear morning. Cool enough for my casting PPE so I killed some time in my loading room. I wanted to test a mould modification, check shank was a few thousandths undersize. Perfect snap fit! Was also running low on bullets for my 38-55 project. Fresh bullets quicker than Amazon!
Mike
April 15, 2005
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The weather has been rather grim and foreboding out here in western Washington (lots of strong wind & rain the past few days), so I too spent some time in my “Man Cave” loading. Late last night I loaded (200) fresh (once fired) 9 MM cartridges… 5.0 grains of bullseye under a 115-gr Speer FMJ. I have another 2,800 empties to prep and load (it will be my winter project). After I finish that, I have (300) 38 ACP cases that need to be loaded (for my Colt Model 1902 Military).
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
March 31, 2009
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TXGunNut said
I love my morning walks but my neighbors’ driving “skills” are scary on a clear morning. Cool enough for my casting PPE so I killed some time in my loading room. I wanted to test a mould modification, check shank was a few thousandths undersize. Perfect snap fit! Was also running low on bullets for my 38-55 project. Fresh bullets quicker than Amazon!
Mike
What diameter are your bullets? I need some 38 cal bullets that are .380″ or very close to that.
March 31, 2009
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Bert H. said
The weather has been rather grim and foreboding out here in western Washington (lots of strong wind & rain the past few days), so I too spent some time in my “Man Cave” loading. Late last night I loaded (200) fresh (once fired) 9 MM cartridges… 5.0 grains of bullseye under a 115-gr Speer FMJ. I have another 2,800 empties to prep and load (it will be my winter project). After I finish that, I have (300) 38 ACP cases that need to be loaded (for my Colt Model 1902 Military).
Bert
Nice pistol. My favorite Model of the early Colt semi autos.
November 7, 2015
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Bert-
If you had a Dillon (or Bill’s Star) you’d be done loading pistol ammo in a weekend and ready to load the fun stuff. I don’t think he has dies for that 38, tho. Thanks for the reminder, I need to pour a few thousand H&G 68 clone 45ACP bullets to feed my social equipment. I don’t have anything in 9mm or 38 ACP but I seem to recall the magic machine under the blue cover is currently set up for 380ACP. Might as well load a couple hundred, at least I don’t need to cast anything to feed the little hideout gun. Even taking it slow I can turn out over 300 rounds an hour. Pistol ammo is a chore, rifle ammo for my old Winchesters is therapy.
Mike
April 15, 2005
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Chuck said
Bert H. said
The weather has been rather grim and foreboding out here in western Washington (lots of strong wind & rain the past few days), so I too spent some time in my “Man Cave” loading. Late last night I loaded (200) fresh (once fired) 9 MM cartridges… 5.0 grains of bullseye under a 115-gr Speer FMJ. I have another 2,800 empties to prep and load (it will be my winter project). After I finish that, I have (300) 38 ACP cases that need to be loaded (for my Colt Model 1902 Military).
Bert
Nice pistol. My favorite Model of the early Colt semi autos.
Thanks, it is the only Colt auto I own that is not a Model 1911/1911A1. I load for it using an original Lyman Ideal 310 tool & dies. It is a bit time consuming, but it allows me to mentally unwind and do something constructive with my spare time.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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Chuck-
My NOE mould drops at just over .380″ with WW alloy, my Accurate mould drops at .384″. I size them to .381″. Both shoot pretty well in a .380″ bore.
Mike
April 15, 2005
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TXGunNut said
Bert-
If you had a Dillon (or Bill’s Star) you’d be done loading pistol ammo in a weekend and ready to load the fun stuff. I don’t think he has dies for that 38, tho. Thanks for the reminder, I need to pour a few thousand H&G 68 clone 45ACP bullets to feed my social equipment. I don’t have anything in 9mm or 38 ACP but I seem to recall the magic machine under the blue cover is currently set up for 380ACP. Might as well load a couple hundred, at least I don’t need to cast anything to feed the little hideout gun. Even taking it slow I can turn out over 300 hundred rounds an hour. Pistol ammo is a chore, rifle ammo for my old Winchesters is therapy.
Mike
It is the prep work on the empties that takes most of the time. Many years ago (while still on active duty in the U.S. Navy), I scavenged 3,000 empties after a small arms qualifying session with my security personnel. All of the brass is WCC 96 and WCC 97 head stamped. I tumble it in batches of (200), deprime it and clean the pockets, then run it all through the resizing die. Priming is done with a hand tool, then reloading goes fairly fast. The 5.0 grains of Bullseye is about an 80% full case, and it gives me 1,200 fps out of my Beretta M92.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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WCC is good brass, never had a 9mm that was picky so I just tumble the brass and load in my Dillon. Haven’t had a wondernine in quite some time, should probably buy one just to shoot the ammo I have around here. I loaded the 9 with Unique, a rather snappy defense load that I won’t post here. At that pressure Unique is actually not terribly dirty.
I think them bullets have cooled enough to size! More importantly the casting furnace has cooled enough to set it off the bench. Takes awhile for 20+ pounds of lead to cool down from 700 degrees.
Mike
November 7, 2015
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I think I make a pretty sexy bullet. Or maybe I need to get out more.😉
Mike
April 15, 2005
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TXGunNut said
I think I make a pretty sexy bullet. Or maybe I need to get out more.😉
Mike
You most definitely need to get out more often!
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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You most definitely need to get out more often! -Bert
Duly noted.
Mike
July 17, 2012
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Bert H. said
All of the brass is WCC 96 and WCC 97 head stamped. I tumble it in batches of (200), deprime it and clean the pockets, then run it all through the resizing die. The 5.0 grains of Bullseye is about an 80% full case, and it gives me 1,200 fps out of my Beretta M92.
Well my Brother, we FINALLY disagree!
MY once-fired milsurp WCC 92 brass gets me 1208 fps with 5.0 grains of Bullseye (my favorite, and cheapest 9mm load) on the chronograph in my Beretta M9 (NOT a civvy 92FS), but I prime it by “feel” on my Lyman Spartan turret press that I have had since I was 14 years old (almost 50 years). Maybe that is the difference? But, then again big Brother, you are “old” school
Just in case anyone was wondering how different we are, this should explain the vast chasm between us…..
P.S. I do 500 hundred at a time for a full day of shooting, I have more stamina at my younger age. 
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
April 15, 2005
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JWA said
Bert H. said
All of the brass is WCC 96 and WCC 97 head stamped. I tumble it in batches of (200), deprime it and clean the pockets, then run it all through the resizing die. The 5.0 grains of Bullseye is about an 80% full case, and it gives me 1,200 fps out of my Beretta M92.
Well my Brother, we FINALLY disagree!
MY once-fired milsurp WCC 92 brass gets me 1208 fps with 5.0 grains of Bullseye (my favorite, and cheapest 9mm load) on the chronograph in my Beretta M9 (NOT a civvy 92FS), but I prime it by “feel” on my Lyman Spartan turret press that I have had since I was 14 years old (almost 50 years). Maybe that is the difference? But, then again big Brother, you are “old” school
Just in case anyone was wondering how different we are, this should explain the vast chasm between us…..
P.S. I do 500 hundred at a time for a full day of shooting, I have more stamina at my younger age.
OK, it took me 5-minutes to stop chortling out load (annoying the heck out of my wife). She finally told me to go down to my “cave” and load some more 9 MM cartridges
p.s. my priming tool is a Lyman Ideal 310 tool with the No. 12 priming die… it seats the primers perfectly in the same position every time.
p.p.s. My 92FS has very nice walnut and high polish blue… 
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
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If you gentlemen care to look up a max load of Unique you’ll both see my old load assembled on my 40+ year old Dillon 550 (that’s right, one of the first) will more than keep up with your BE loads…from a press that can crank out 9mm rounds in excess of 500 per hour…or rounds at a similar rate for a full size handgun, the 1911 in 45ACP, as God and John Moses Browning intended. It may only do 950 fps but it makes up for lost time with a solid smackdown. Last time I pushed a 9mm bullet hard the little potbellied case was marked “357Sig”. Not much fun to load for but it was pretty snappy. I’d like a 1911 in 9mm but the magazines are a pain. Maybe someone will invite me to a Tupperware party.
Mike
March 31, 2009
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TXGunNut said
Chuck-
My NOE mould drops at just over .380″ with WW alloy, my Accurate mould drops at .384″. I size them to .381″. Both shoot pretty well in a .380″ bore.
Mike
I see that Bear creek has a .380″ diameter bullet. It’s a bit heavy but I can cut off some of the bottom. I slugged the barrel and it is .380″ in the grooves and .374″ at the lands.
November 7, 2015
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Chuck-
Bear Creek lists a 255gr bullet. The problem with bullets over bore diameter for the 38-55 is they often won’t chamber. I suspect original factory loading used bullets of about .377″. .380″ is about as big a bullet as you can get into a Starline case and get it to chamber without applying a very slight “taper crimp” with your sizing die.
Mike
February 17, 2022
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Bert that is a beautiful Colt. I have pined for one for a long time. I just never seem to get lucky. BTW, you have spare time???? When?
April 15, 2005
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oldcrankyyankee said
BTW, you have spare time???? When?
Actually, I don’t, but I make up for it by not sleeping very much. Old habits (life on a submerged submarine) caused me to develop strange sleeping habits.
I have just two Colts in my collection… the Model 1902 Military 38 ACP and this one…
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
