New here and new to pistol bullet reloading

[Chancey47]

Hello All, I have reloaded and shot thousands of shotgun loads. I have shot skeet, trap, sporting clays, waterfowl, upland, well, you get the picture. I love scattergunning. I always stick to the recipes, in fact, when loading duplex steel, I have been known to weigh each charge and shot individually. I always use high class firearms as an added safety. I recently acquired an interest in reloading pistol rounds. There are some things that have me confused: when a recipe calls for a specific (brand) bullet, how critical is that? In a shotgun, it doesn't care what you feed it in lead shot size (#9 to #4) or manufacturer, as long as you get the shot weight to powder right, and use the specified shot cup (generics available.) Plus the shot cups have those accordion pleats to take up any discrepancy in load length. A 109 primer is a 109 primer, doesn't matter who made it. AA shot cups comes from many sources, they all shoot the same. So, it seems like a solid cast lead bullet at 125 gr, shouldn't make any difference if it is round point, wad cutter, plated or jacketed, it should all fit a recipe calling for a solid 125 gr cast lead bullet. Hollow bullets would probably be a different situation in that they will expand differently and engage the barrel differently probably varying pressures. Is any hollow lead bullet interchangeable with any other of the same weight? Is a brass casing for 38 Spl, interchangeable with any other brass case in 38 Spl. (assuming brand name quality: Federal, Winchester, etc.)? Do solid 38 Spl cast lead bullets that weigh 125 gr from various manufactures all shoot (reload) the same (safety)? After you load and shoot many rounds, you get a feel for what you can safely substitute in reloading shotgun shells. You learn what variables are important and which ones you can safely substitute. I assume the same is true of bullet reloading. I am not asking if I should follow good recipes, Only an idiot would not follow a reputable recipe. I am asking what are the general rules of substituting, what seem to be, components of industry-wide standard dimensions. In 2 3/4" 12 ga you are loading 13 to 17 gr of powder. A half a grain makes little difference. However, when you are loading 3-5 grains of powder, a half a grain is a significant amount of the total charge, and will change how deeply you can set the bullet. Bullets don't have those nice accordion pleats on the bottom. Components have to fit exactly to be safe and work properly. It appears that bullets, cases, and primers (oranges to oranges) are pretty much equal (substituteable) among various manufacturers. Powder bulk varies among brands and types so no substituting here. OAL of the finished bullet is not negotiable and appears to be based almost entirely on the powder being dropped. I have not loaded bullet one yet, and I don't want to have to go back and pull some apart because I didn't make a safe product. Does it seem like I have a decent handle on how to do this? I shoot revolvers, so that is an additional "fudge factor." They will eat stuff a semi-auto might puke on. Thanks for your thougthful judgement! Regards

 

[powderbrake]

I assume that you have a reloading manual like Sierra, Speer, or Hornady. It will give a range of loads for each caliber and bullet weight. Buy one and read it.
You can substitute different bullets, like your 125 gr 38 special example, and safety dictates you don't start with a max load , particularly when substituting.

Seating depth is generally set by the groove in the bullet, crimp the case in at that point. Many jacketed bullets do not have a groove, so you taper crimp those.

Powder seldom fills the case in pistol rounds, unless you are shooting max loads.

For example my favorite 38 special load is a 148 grain Hollow Base Wadcutter over 2.9 grains of Bullseye. It is very accurate in revolvers and my Model 52 S&W pistol. I use it for bullseye shooting at paper targets, and for all my plinking needs. A 158gr Semi Wadcutter lead bullet at about 700 fps is also a good load for accuracy and plinking.

You have not mentioned other calibers , but the reloading manual will have loads for all of them. I seldom shoot "full house" loads anymore, I I am looking for more recoil, I shoot my 44mag, and then I still shoot loads in the 900 to 1000 fps range with a 240 g lead SWC.

The loading manual is your friend, stay inside it's recommendations.

 

[Tommie]

Pistol generally refers to autoloading handguns. Revolver cartridges (like .38 Special) are somewhat easier to deal with due to the rimmed headspacing.

Don’t substitute any components at this point.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Chancey, just a friendly suggestion.....when posting, it's much easier to read when proper paragraph formatting is used vs a solid wall of text that turns off many folks and will not read as a result. I'm not trying to be a grammar Nazi, just a friendly suggestion.

You've been given good recommendations so far, and has already been said, the loading manual is your friend. Best of luck with your venture into revolver handloading.

 

[std7mag]

There is a huge difference between bullet types and the COAL for them. Examples would be wadcutter, semi wadcutter, round nose and hollow points.
Almost all have a different COAL.

Even with that, not all of the same type of bullet is the same.
The nose shape of a Hornady XTP is different from the shape of a Sierra JHP.

You also need to watch bullet construction. Be it lead, plated, or jacketed.

Small differences in COAL can have significant differences in pressure.
It's common for people that reload rifle to get closer to the lands (increase the COAL, Cartridge Over All Length).
Doing so with pistol cartridges can lead to problems.
In a semi auto pistol the slide might not go forward enough.

If you have someone local to you that reloads, you might want to get hold of them to be a tutor.