Jamie Jackson

I concur. Availability is the best it's been for several years now, but we can't count on that lasting very much longer. And Musicman is 100% correct "It never gets cheaper".   I'm concentrating on components at this time myself. If you haven't started casting and handloading...well, What the heck are you waiting for? :cool:

Prayers out David. God Bless you and yours.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  :pleased:   Done.   Thanks.

  I've read this and it,of course, is a concern. Good advice. Thank you.     I wish the was a Cabela's around these parts. I checked Cabela's for stores in East TN...but found them wanting. :pleased:

Thanks for the input folks.   Comms; S&B brass is a PIA,,,especially in 9mm. I sort it into a separate box and if I really need some brass, then open up the primer pocket a bit...otherwise it's a no-go on my Dillon. :squint:   peejman; I have a bud that picked up a K of 9mm a few years back and your experience seems to mimic his. Not very positive.   jonathon; There's the rub. The cost is attractive, especially when you consider a 20K purchase or so. I'm just hesitant to jump in that deep at this point.   I need to find some locally and pick up a thousand to try...just not that easy to do these days. :pleased:

I have never used S&B primers before and wanted to see if anyone here at TGO had first hand experience with them.   We've gone through quite a few thousand Tula primers (small pistol) over the past year. And I've used thousands of Wolf, Winchester, Federal and CCI in the past. While I would prefer to stick with a known (Tula...which have worked very well for us), most vendors either list "Out of Stock" or "Discontinued".   I'm not yelling Doom & Gloom, but with election year coming up, and it not taking much of anything to cause a mad run on ammo or components these days, I don't want to be behind the curve if things get stupid yet again.   The S&B are running about $20.00 less per 5K than Wolf or Winchester currently...but I don't want to waste my time nor money.   From what I read the S&B are relatively hard primers and sensitive to "improper seating" or "not being seated well enough"...issues in the countless thousands of rounds I've handloaded that I've never experienced.   Any experiences? Thoughts?    

Thank you jlw and Welcome to TGO.   Excellent review Sir. And great photos as well. Beautiful place to train!   Tom Givens is a remarkable individual, a true "Teacher", and always a wealth of knowledge.   Thank you again for sharing your experiences.

LOL Maybe a little, but I like the heck out of the concept. :pleased:   I'm looking forward to seeing the pics after the wrap.

A 147 gr 9mm at 1200 fps sounds pretty darn good to me!   Were these some of your own cast bullets Dolo?   We were discussing casting some hollowpoints and powder coating them...still in the "thinking/discussing" stages at this point.   I'll be on the lookout for some VV3N38. A quick search and it looks like a favored powder for high velocity 9mm's. Sweet!

Very nice powder!   It meters very well through my Dillon powder measure.   We chronoed several loads today and especially like the 6.5 gr loading. It ran 1219 fps with a 130 gr RN Powder Coated 9mm bullet in my Glock 19 and 1309 fps through Brasil's G 34.   It has a very nice recoil impulse to it. I've fired many rounds with a more harsh recoil impulse and 100 fps less velocity in the same bullet weight.   I think this powder has the potential to make some quality self-defense rounds...for those "just in case" times that may be down the road.   Thanks for the guidance and input folks! :up:

I don't know if you pressure can or not, but venison is an excellent meat for such. You can take some of the less choice cuts, pressure can them (pints for 75 minutes ans quarts for 90 minutes iirc)...it will make the toughest cuts incredibly tender. We enjoy the tenderloins and backstraps grilled of course and usually cook the roasts in a dutch oven, but canning the venison gives you some delicious and tender meat for various soups and stews. Canning preserves the meat for several years, quite safely, as well. We ate a quart jar of home canned smoked sausage (from 2010) earlier this week...canned with sliced jalapenos...very tasty! :up:

Thanks for the info folks.   I hope to have some loads chronoed by midweek and see how they run.   As far as what I'm looking for, hoping to achieve? Reliability & essentially match grade accuracy in a practice ammo that is close in recoil and POA/POI to my carry ammo... My main carry ammo is Black Hills 9mm +P using a Gold Dot 124 gr bullet.

  My friend, you just described Randy Harris aka Cruel Hand Luke.   Dolomite's recommendation is spot on. I've known Randy for a pretty long time and train with him a few times each year. He's a great guy (I'm proud to call him a friend) and gifted instructor. You'll not find better imho.   Tom Givens (Rangemaster) is another instructor I hold in high regard. Great guy, excellent instructor, and incredible track record for students surviving real world encounters.   I've not had the opportunity to train with Reid, yet, but hope to do so. He comes across as a solid guy.   I too have trained with James Yeager. It's been more than a decade ago, but I found him, at that time, to be much different than his YouTube persona and a really good instructor.   I stay way out of the "politics" of that industry...way too much drama for my likes.   Congrats to you for looking for professional training. You won't be sorry that you decided to go down that road. Keep us posted on your training experiences.     TMF..very funny vid . Good satire. :up:   Best of luck to you Sir.

Thank you DWARREN. What powder charge range do get the best results with? If you don't mind me asking.

In an effort to expand my options I picked up a pound of Hodgdon HS-6 over at Proneshooter in West Knoxville. While powder is being more readily available, I don't want to get caught up short when the next round of shortages hit...like after the upcoming Presidential election... :down:   Hodgdon lists the burn rate at 42, between AA5 and Winchester Autocomp powder. (There sure is a lot of variation in burn rate charts! :shrug: ). link:https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Burn%20Rates%20-%202014-2015.pdf   I plan to load 9mm lead bullets in 147 gr and our own powder coated cast 9mm bullets that weigh right at 130 grs. For the 130 gr I generally extrapolate off of data for 124 gr plated bullets and have done quite well thus far using Green Dot, Unique, AA#2, American Select and Winchester 231.   HS-6, from what I have found online, seems to be the same powder as the older Winchester 540 fwiw. (from Hodgdon's website:"HS-6 is identical to Winchester's discontinued 540".)   HS-6, from the Hodgdon load data site list the 9mm 130 gr plated bullet at 5.9-6.5 grs...that should be a pretty full 9mm case, if not a compressed load.   Have any of you had experience with this powder in 9mm?   I will also be loading some .38 spl and probably some .357 with this as well...so please chime in on these as well.   I will start at a 10% reduction and work up and chronograph my work as is my norm. But I always appreciate the knowledge and experience of the handloaders found here.   Thanks in advance for any suggestions or shared experiences.

I am glad the "change" is meaningful to some folks. I am thoroughly underwhelmed...

I'm glad you had the opportunity to check out his shop Wardor.   It's obviously been a well kept secret! :pleased:

I definitely understand that LawVol. It's hidden way back behind Biker Rags in an area that looks like industrial storage or offices...down what looks like a drive between Biker Rags and Christmas Lumber.   They actually been there for more than a year and I didn't have a clue. Phil told me they would be putting a sign up near the road relatively soon. It's needed.

I know gunsane had a thread that mentioned this business a short time back, but I thought I'd give the good folks at Proneshooter in West Knoxville a thumbs up. :up:   Phil Hendra is the proprietor and is a genuinely nice guy. Phil is very knowledgeable and a good resource for beginning handloaders and seasoned rifle shooters.    They have a very good in-store selection of powder for rifle and pistols at very reasonable prices. (I picked up the last couple of pounds of Unique and 4 pounds of Titegroup and some other powders yesterday.), along with a wide selection of primers, ammo, and a growing selection of quality firearms. The prices are very competitive.   And Phil can get some darn good deals on items he may not have in store in short order. And his inventory has expanded quite a bit over the past couple of months.   I like supporting local business whenever possible...and not having to pay HazMat fees on my reloading components and being able to purchase them at Proneshooter prices? It's a No Brainer for me!   I have no business interest in Proneshooter at all, but thought I'd encourage anyone in our area looking for a good home town gunstore to give these nice folks a try.     Link: http://www.proneshooter.com/index.php?   They are located behind Biker Rags near the juncture of KIngston Pike and Lovell road...almost 4 miles from my house. :pleased:

Awesome story guys and very well told! LOL.   I'm certain you both were in total control and all events were actually planned and handled with expertise. :pleased:   I've had "sticky" Dillon primer tubes in the past, but hadn't had that particular issue before...thankfully! And my 550 is approaching 30 years of age. Dillon mailed me replacement tubes, at no charge, withing a couple of days of me e-mailing them about it. Their customer service is second to none in my book.     Comms...e-mail Dillon and they will no doubt get you fixed up.

I'm intrigued. Darn well made commercial imho.

Welcome Sir. Glad to have you aboard. :hat:

  And this^^^   You pretty much need private property...

Caster. I appreciate your frustration.   I am blessed in that there are several of us that do get together frequently. We mostly work on armed skills. I wish we could do more...and will keep trying to nudge in that direction. And believe me I understand that life certainly will place demands on all of us. I totally believe that the priorities for most of us, at least for me, are: God-Family-Work...   But being able and capable of defending yourself and those entrusted to your care are a priority as well. Those skills are perishable, and more often than not an integration of various skills are required. A fella can't just shoot someone that's being a PIA...but you gotta be able to recognize pre-assault cues, act on them, and have some other tricks in your bag besides a bang-stick.   But honestly, so many people "don't know,what they don't know"...   As I said, I know it's frustrating Caster...but there are folks out there that are like minded and share your priorities and willingness to learn. Keep looking my friend.

To the best of my knowledge as long as you have the certifications, like ASP or Monadnock you are GTG in TN.   I took (actually hosted) a Monadnock class several years back just for this reason. I extrapolated on this a bit and carry a sap. I find them much more useful than a collapsible baton...although I see no problem with an ASP. Personal choice based on previous training and experiences is all.   TN State Law 39-17-1308   (9)  By any person possessing a club or baton who holds a certificate that the person has had training in the use of a club or baton for self-defense that is valid and issued by a certified person authorized to give training in the use of clubs or batons, and is not prohibited from purchasing a firearm under any local, state or federal laws; or   link to that section of law: http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-39/chapter-17/part-13/39-17-1308