Originally Posted by Hammerman (Post 180974)

"I have a WWII luger that I've been shooting winchester white box in. Now I'm starting to reload the brass using 115 fmj with CCI 500 primers.

"In that article, it states that a slow burning powder is best for the luger and it recommends a load of 4.1grs. of Red Dot.

Red Dot is nowhere near the original powder, but will shoot nicely in a Luger, anyway. With 115 grain bullets, your load should be between 3.8 to 4.1 grains. Load up a full magazine of 8, each, of these and test for function and accuracy. Getting your pistol to function properly and accurately is your goal and somewhere in this range you will find the "correct" load that your pistol prefers.

"It say that Red Dot is the closest to the original German loads. The part I don't understand is that when you look at the powder burn charts, Red Dot is in the top 5 for one of the fastest burning powders??? So is Red Dot really good to use, or was the magazine wrong?

"Experts" come and go in the magazine world, but a really excellent article, on making the Luger shoot accurately, was written in Handloader Magazine, No 41, January-Feburary 1973, page 32, by Ken Waters. (Private Message me for a copy).

The two best powders I have found for a 9mm Luger, after years of study, are:
SR4756 and Power Pistol. These two are, indeed, near to the original DWM powder. Each is capable of both excellent accuracy and perfect function in a Luger (X ring for eight rounds fired with perfect function).

Ken had just about everything down perfectly except the proper OAL issue. In fact, his loads were so short that he could only fire five in a magazine without jamming his Luger. When loaded to proper OAL, you can easily shoot a full eight rounds without an issue.

"Also, I'm using rcbs dies and it's had to get the bullet to seat straight. I know you want the bullet to be seated out farther with the luger, but the farther you seat it out, the harder it is to get the bullet seated straight.

You need to, ever so slightly, bell the mouths of your cases. This should eliminate this issue.

With a round nose bullet, your OAL should be 1.173 inches. I know, this seems very long, but the pistol was designed to shoot cartridges of this length.

"Thanks for any help.

Originally Posted by Hammerman (Post 181017)

"I appreciate the info.

"I am belling the case so that about 1/16" of the bullet goes into the case easy.

When seating your bullets, make sure there is no crimp applied. In fact, the seating die should be set to just "kiss" the mouth of the casing. This will eliminate your bell, but not crimp in your bullet. You will know when you get this right.

"The other powders I use for different calibers are HS-6, Longshot, and Universal. How would these work for the luger?

HS-6 looks like the best choice to me. This is the old Winchester 540 shotgun powder pulling double duty as a pistol powder.

Now, here is the trick. With eight rounds loaded to the same charge (for each charge tested) start very low, even to the point where the pistol will not function, and move upward 1/10 of a grain until the pistol just functions. This is your baseline load. Proceed upward again until your load just starts to outrun your springs and back off 1/10th. This is your maximum load. Somewhere between these two extremes you will find your pistol's perfect, most accurate load. Usually, it will be on the lighter side of your two extremes. With the above tests, you must shoot all eight rounds, per charge being tested, to get an accurate read on how the pistol is responding to the charge being tested. .

Don't forget about the proper OAL of 1.173 inches, or all of your work may become frustrating.

"Does anyone know what powder winchester loads their white box ammo with? That seems like a good load to duplicate.

Im sure the white box will function your Luger, but is it accurate? Find just the right load for HS-6 and you should have 8 in the X ring after some practice, and, with perfect function.

"My springs in the mags are all good. The gun has never had any problems with the white box stuff.

What year is your Pistol?

Originally Posted by Sieger (Post 180975)

Private message me for more details on loading a Luger with modern components, etc.

Also, I hope that the springs in your Luger are in good shape, as a Luger with its springs out of spec., can be almost a hopeless case as to fuction.

Sieger

Originally Posted by Hammerman (Post 181017)

"The other powders I use for different calibers are HS-6, Longshot, and Universal. How would these work for the luger?

Hodgdon's Universal also looks like a good choice, as it is only one step faster than my favorite Alliant Power Pistol powder. My reference chart doesn't list a Longshot powder, but is probably a few years old.

Remember, start low and work up.

Originally Posted by postino (Post 180978)

I use W231, HS6, or AA #7...when I can find them...