[Ni3Frontier]

I was wondering if any of you hand load 9x19 for your P99s. I am thinking about getting into handloading to save money on ammunition. But I've read here about some sort of chamber shortness on the P99 and was wondering if it will become problematic with handloading.

I also would like to handload .223 Remington which is about .20c a shot to buy from a store.

 

[dgallegos]

I would really like to get into reloading, but the experience I had with reloads is awful. Unless you reload your own, and you know EXACTLY what you did to each round, I stay away from reloads completely. (I say this at risk of hacking off you reloaders out there, no offense!).
There is a lot of excellent factory ammo out there at reasonable prices esp in 9mm. I have heard about P-99 sensitive to reloads, I think this comes from bullet seating depth and the tight tolerances of the Walther.

 

[Ni3Frontier]

dgallegos,
Thank you for your reply. How hard is it to reload ammunition? I have heard all this talk about differences of thousandths of an inch making a lot of difference in performance and reliability. But the human hand/eye is not precise enough to make changes in such small increments, so I am assuming that the reloading press does that once it is calibrated?

It seems like an interesting and fulfilling hobby, but I want to be sure that it is not terribly difficult to fabricate safe and reliable ammunition before I look into it further.

 

[acrashb]

Not hard.  RCBS has a good online guide, and you can buy a reloading manual from Lyman or Sierra (my two favourites) to find out what's involved before diving in.  Of course, Lyman extols Lyman products.  And I'm featured in the Sierra guide (.308 target) so I'm biased there.

It helps to have a mentor when starting, but you can certainly do it on your own.

The issue is: 9mm is cheap.  You have to shoot a lot to make up the capital investment in equipment.  Having said that: you can tailor your load to suit yourself, and it's fun.

All of the manufacturers are "good enough" - but if you ask which brand to use, you'll start a religious war.  The middle ground would be RCBS, and don't discount the Lee tools - cheap and effective.  Start with a single-stage.  You'll need one anyway, and it's a lot easier and less expensive to learn on.

Enjoy.

 

[Ni3Frontier]

acrashb,
Thank you for your reply. I have heard good things about RCBS. I will defnitely look into it with my local gunshop when I go back home this winter. Even if I don't make up the initial investment with 9mm, I probably will reloading .223 Rem. It is at the point now where I don't shoot my RRA carbine all that much because the ammunition can be expensive.
And although 9mm is cheaper than .223, I find that at the range, it makes no difference because I shoot 150-200 rounds per trip (about $17-$22 worth). While on the other hand, I'll shoot 60 to 80 .223 Rem at most (about $12 to $16). I will have to look into how much reloading actually saves and see if it is worth the investment and time.

 

[banddr2]

I used to reload for my 1911 and could work some accurate loads, I also loaded 9mm and 380. Loading .45 acp isn't too bad, but the smaller calibers were more of a problem when came to seating the bullets and i had more jams with the small stuff. If you are consistent though it shouldn't be a problem shooting them, i had good luck. I finally got fed up with the reloader jamming and needing cleaned up all the time so it would function properly. I think the bottom line in reloading is if you like tinkering with mechanical things, then it is good therapy. If you expect things to work all the time, you will driver yourself crazy. I did, and sold it and buy Winchester white box, and am happy. The only problem i have now is i don't know what to do with all the brass left over when i shoot. Any ideas what to do with brass if you dont' reload??

 

[Ni3Frontier]

At the gunshows in my area, there is a group that sells reloaded ammunition. You get a substantial discount if you hand in an number of casings equal to the number of reloaded rounds you are using. You might want to visit a local gunshow and see if there's somebody that is doing this.

 

[Chip00]

If you do reload, please consider the Dillon 550B press. The guarantee is unconditional and the reloaders generally agree it is the best to use for multiple round reloading. Precise target reloading is a hands on each- round- slow- deal and different.
And it is best to have a mentor but not required.
Just know what you are doing and if you do not, do not do it.
If you cannot maintain focus and follow directions precisely, do not do it.

 

[bybon]

I must agree with Chip00. For an all around machine you will never regret buying a Dillon. I own a SBD and it has loaded many thousands of rounds in a number of calibers. I also own a three Lee machines that I think do a wonderful job. Heck, I also own a Corbin.
I think if I were to do it all over again I would go with Chip00 suggestion and never feel I made a wrong choice. You can load both pistol and rifle in that machine. And when they say a life time guarantee, they mean exactly that. Anything gets broken or becomes faulty, they replace without any question.

 

[9 and 10 mm Fan]

I have been reloading 9 mm for years. You may not save any money compared to low cost new ammunition, but if you compare at equal accuracy, then reloading is a good deal. With premium hand loaded ammunition a P99 can consistantly hit a 1 inch (25 mm) dot at 30 feet (10 m). I can't find any commercial ammunition that will do this. The best commercial ammunition that I have found for accuracy is the Fiocchi 123 grain.

The suggestion to look at Dillon equipment is good. I have loaded over 20K rounds in different calibers with a few self inflicted breakages. Each time Dillon promptly shipped repair parts after making sure they understood what happened and everything that needed to be replaced.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[adobewalls]

There is nothing magical about reloading - just realize that an autoloading pistol is not a revolver and don't try to load it as such. I'll second what 9 and 10mm Fan says, you probably won't save any money, but you will be able to customize your ammo to your preferences. (for me that's 8.0 grains of Blue Dot under a Hornaday 115 XTP, or 6.0 grains of Blue Dot under a 147 Hornaday XTP.)

Reloading to me is just part of the shooting experience.

 

[Jake Starr]

Quote[/b] ]It seems like an interesting and fulfilling hobby, but I want to be sure that it is not terribly difficult to fabricate safe and reliable ammunition before I look into it further.

For me reloading is part of shooting...this may sound crude but for me reloading is to shooting what foreplay is to making love...it is all part of the package...I use a Dillon progressive, as well as, a single stage press...I NEVER shoot anyone else's reloads...I shoot mine all the time...I can buy 9mm's fairly cheap but I can reload more shells for the buck when I reload.