Quote Originally Posted by NFATrustGuy View Post
Finally joined a range and went shooting. Ran about 40 rounds of Winchester white box through a previously-unfired 9mm gun (XDM 5.25) and then started trying out my reloads.

Short story is that I did 30 rounds of 124gr round nose and 30 rounds of 115gr bullets changing powder load by 0.1gr every 10 rounds. In both cases, I really found no difference in accuracy so I'll probably stick with the lightest loads that cycle the gun properly.

I started at the lowest powder suggested in the reloading data. Is there any reason I shouldn't experiment with even lighter loads? I'm just putting holes in paper, after all. My theory is that the lighter load will give less recoil and will allow me to get back on target quicker/easier.

i loaded up 200 rounds of the 124gr bullets when I returned home from the range last night. I felt like I was moving at a snail's pace and it still only took me 22 minutes on the Dillon 650. This included the time needed to clear an upside-down primer jam and the time needed to refill the primer feeder (already had a tube of primers loaded up--just pulled the cotter pin).

I feel like a little kid with all this stuff. I need to get my chores done today (playing lawyer) so I have time to get to the range again this afternoon.
IMO, unless you have a super fast powder, or if you have a powder like H110 where min and max are 1 grain apart, just start in the middle of the data and work up. If you want a softer recoiling load, get a heavier bullet and use a faster powder. Going lighter than start loads can cause problems. It will be dirty, for one, and as mentioned, the potential for a squib goes up.