I have some question on reloading

[psharon97]

If you're trying to get into reloading to load standard 308, 223, 9mm, 45, ect, I completely agree, it's far cheaper to run into a store or order your cartridges online than it is to reload. Some of us on this forum can't do that. For example one of my bench guns is a 284 winchester, another one is a 260 remington. There aren't many commercial loadings to choose from to start with.

I also shoot the 44 magnum, which will drive you into the poor house if you intend on buying factory ammo. Match grade 7mm rem mag is also very pricey.

[Danatkins8605]

Psharon 44 is expensive even reloading unless you pud load it with cast lol

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[19trax95]

I'm not really doing to be able to shoot for less $$ per round. Although it would be nice haha.

I'm doing it for more or less a hobby and something to do when I'm bored. And it's something I've always wanted to try since I started shooting.

I ordered the kit I posted, some dies, brass trimmer, a bullet hammer, and some reading material.

I'm going to wait on the powder and such until I give some of the reloading manuals a good read.

They are running a rebate as well so if I fill it out and pay shipping, i can get either $50, or 500 speer bullets of my choice (from their list). To me the obvious choice is the bullets since that's a better value price wise.

[Danatkins8605]

Even if a person gets a progressive press to start with, eventually they will own a single stage as well. Hard, if not impossible to perform some specialty tasks on a Progressive but those same tasks are a piece of cake on a Single Stage. Especially if it's a Rock Chucker.

If you're just getting started take baby steps. When getting the progressive the old press won't be obsolete. And people often change their minds on progressives after starting out with single stages.
Like what? Nothing I can think of that would be done on a press couldn't be accomplished on a solid progressive unless you want to set a single up for nothing but depriming, which to me is just a waste

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[RC20]

The problem with advise is its almost impossible to say what you need when you don't know for sure where you wind up.

What I will say is get the best stuff out there to start with, don't hink and jink your way up to the stuff that works.

My view is not always shared by others, but I am pretty serious about it and my brother and I bounce this stuff around a lot and its all based on what really works.

And that is a issue, there is a lot of Urban Legand stuff.

In my case I started out very basic (with a Lee hand kit, piece of junk, 3 loads and the cases were gone and those were straight wall)

Next up was a RCBS Junior, it worked at the time for pistol just fine and fit in what little space I had (ahh the good old days, tiny trailer at construction jobs, shooting on the day off)

I got into rifle latter, as I was hunting it turned out to be a waste to reload. The gun I had did not care what was in it, 1.5 inches and that did perfectly fine for hunting. But I got a RCBS Rockchucker and the accessories.

The straw that broke the back was I thought I had rounds and did not and did not have time to re-load, get the trip pulled together and do the sight in.

So I grabbed a couple of boxes of Federal Premium from the store, spot on and 1.5 inches (hmmm) and off I went.

So I quit for a lot of years, then got back into shooting but target only.

Then it all came into use and the money started to flow out as the hard lessons on extended reloading began.

Case break at the base, yep, have to learn to do minimum bump and you need a .001 micrometer to check the minimum bump back.

Split necks? Yep, you need to anneal to stop and that regardless of what folks say, is a dark art that I can bring light to, I found a post by one guy who advocated you could heat brass up to 1300 degrees and not damage it. By the way, that is insane! You have to know the difference between damaging metal where it not longer is metal and what heat treatment is and does (hint, 800 maximum for a fraction of a second, 750 is more better and NEVER head the case down to the base over 450, the case will blow up.

So, one thing, no press is ever wasted. I use the Junior now down at the range, I load some COAL spot on and the rest long and I play with COAL to tune a load that way. Works a treat.

My other brother gave up his reloading and I got his Rockchucker as well.

I reloaded in a 2 foot closet (width ) with a bench high floor) and did ok, but I was loading one caliber. You can go small but its a pain.

5 feet works if its a dedicated bench. You want shelves above and not real wide ones (not cabinets) Things get to the back of a cabinet and you never find them again.
I just got up two shelves above my prep bench (my other one is a combo work and reloading). I am finally seeing light in brass organization (3 calibers)

So, for the serious re-loader.

Case Trimmers: Nothing works as well as an off the shoulder trimmers for fast and consistent and no fuss. , if you have more than 5 calibers then the Gerard motorized unit is by far the best.
My other brother gave me his RCBS trimmer. . Lengths were never the same, latch in, turn, measure, too short, too long, too - total pain. It has do with length below the shoulder and base depth.

For a couple I of calibers I have the drill chuck upside down in a vice and Gerard tri trimmers (saves steps, length, chamfer and debur)

This last time it was start over or modify for the drill (which I put upside down and clamp in a vice and lock it on) and it works great.

I am trying the Trim it II with inserts, sort of a poor mans Gerard. I should have gone with Gerard it, but got lured in to thinking only two cases to load (remember the thing about getting the best?)

Yea a Gerard sets you back $500 or so, inserts are like $30. Right now I have about $200 into Tir Timmers and another $150 into the Trim it II (but I can add calibers now at about $20) though I have to adjust the cutter, its setup for that and I do keep a lot of brass and it only gets sized about 1 in 5 times. Still the Gerard is swap and play. I am pretty close to it now.

Powder Charging: Got straight to the mechanized disperse with electronic scales, Lyman has a nice one out (y0u need a touch pen if you have fat finger like I do. Hornady one is a lot bigger but easy to use, RCBS is a great one. Beams? Nothing beats an electronics scale for ease of use and versatility. Ever try to sort bullets on a beam? Is it 168 or 175. Hmmm, adjust, slide adjust slide, ok now for 175, repeat adjust slide thing. Ok if its wrestlers weighting in, not for reloading. $157 for the lowest cost one (and its good to have second scale, Lyman makes a nice one, its the wrigh only use and backup to the other one as it has a built in trickler I can load fairly fast with.

Dies? I found the Micrometer type are really nice, those are not cheap, $100+ for an RCBS or Forster.

Anneal: I tried the torch. Saw how iffy that is quality control wise. I used my brothers Annie until I got my own (induction heating). Even then it takes some work to get right (hint, heat low until you are sure, then move up, complete cleaned brass heats slower (odd) than brass not cleaned inside. $484 (shipped and life time warranty)

Brass Polishing: That is the next step. Stainless pins and the right tumbler clean out the brass and the primer pockets. The right tumble is $350. Still not there yet but that's what I will get.

I will probably not do it each time, just when I anneal, but you8 will need to anneal by 5 rounds, 8 if you are lucky. 5 is a good number./

How much have I run you up through?

Oh yea, forgot the primer. Again opinions vary. I fell in love with the RCBS universal. Why? I don't' have to put in shell holders! One for large and one for small base (primers0

And I broke it and RCBS sent me almost an entirely new assembly (with the broken part)> I think that is only $50.

RCBS prep station, always handy. I had to resize 7.5 Swiss primer pockets that were too small (one source of Brass for that these days though its good stuff, its size for European large primers and those are a shade smaller than US)

Also has the primer pocket brush and de-burr and chamber and those are handy for all sorts of things. That's only another $100 something.

I think I have you up through $1500 (I had the presses to start with) and we haven't bought the stainless pin unit yet! ($350 and a fruit dryer rot dry the brass off afterwards)

[Haiku_Rodney]

I got into reloading because where I live you cannot consistently get factory ammo. I shoot a 30-30, 30-06 and 7mm-08. The 7mm-08 factory ammo has to be special ordered. The 30-30 and 30-06 was usually available but the never in the bullet weights that I wanted.

My setup is a budget setup where cost was a consideration. I believe I have less than $400 invested in my reloading equipment. I am however a hunter so 1" at 100 yds is all I really want.

I suggest you pick up a bullet comparator. I shoot Nosler, Speer and Sierra bullets so I use the comparator and a dummy round instead of the published COAL.

Have fun!!!

[19trax95]

My equipment showed up today. I got the reloading table sort of setup. I still need to organize the other half, but at least I got the press mounted. For now I have my powder measure mounted on a board so I can move it around until I find where it works best.

I'm going to study my manuals and then pick up some powder, primers and some new, clean brass. And of course some bullets. I have the rebate for the free 500 bullets but I don't want to wait 4-8 weeks. So I'll buy a small box of them.

Also, this may sound dumb, but can you break down a factory round then "reload" it without actually firing the cartridge? I would assume you can, but the primer would just be the skipped step. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170629/b449ca264644dd2e52302c374c879877.jpg

[19trax95]

First batch of loads are done. I did 50 rounds of 380acp, and 20 rounds of .308.

It took a while to do but I wanted to make sure all my measurements and weights were exact. I went with the middle of the road grains as far as powder charge. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170701/a98caa48c73fe2d718fd7af5e32283d6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170701/55efb9255d7cf940a2df91c0d4b5b0e3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170701/268cb9906a632c27aab3256d4b9dcd5a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170701/6ba78a87da97232bfee84b663ef2d2bd.jpg

[psharon97]

If you want to break down factory ammo to reload, yes you can. You can use a tool like this: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/685703/rcbs-powr-pull-impact-bullet-puller-kit

For pistol, especially for plinking purposes, middle of the road is fun.

[Mozella]

You ask about cost so you should be warned that unless you plan on shooting thousands of rounds per year, it's cheaper to buy factory ammo. But cost is not what drives shooters to get into hand loading,............. snip...............Good luck, have fun, and try not to hit the sides as you fall down the rabbit hole of hand loading.....LOL.

Texas10 has written a great post. Reloading is the single most expensive thing related to the sport of shooting. But if you want the best ammo, you must do it. I will add this to what Texas10 says.
Read his post again. It has the best recommendations in this thread.
You'll need a sturdy bench. I use a Harbor Freight bench. When I put it together I used yellow glue on every joint and it is as solid as a rock; cheap too.
Some say start with a single stage press. I didn't and I'm very happy with my Hornady Lock N Load progressive. The cam lock die holders are great. I often use it like a single stage, but just yesterday I loaded a batch of plinking ammo in the progressive mode which takes me about 1/4 the time. I built my own DIY case feeder for a few dollars. I'm glad I didn't try to save money by buying a Lee.
Realize, as some have said, that this CAN be dangerous. So read a lot, start slowly, be extra careful. If you think there is ANY chance you made a mistake (and you will) pull the bullet, empty the case, and start over.

[RC20]

On small cases like 380 I would start at low not mid.

There is not a lot of room in there and the power width is narrow.

One small variation (brass, bullet seated deeper, primer) can throw it up over the edge.

[19trax95]

I went to the range today and tried my loads.

The .308 loads worked great. Seemed to have a slightly different point of impact than the factory PMC I was using. But very consistent so I assume that is a good thing.

The .380 rounds on the other hand did not fair as well. They didn't have enough punch to cycle the slide. The pistol is a Glock 42. I was able to get a couple to cycle but for the most part, they wouldn't eject, or would stove pipe.

From my research (after the fact unfortunately) it seems like the unique needs a little more than the nosler book says. It lists 3.3 as the max, but other books say different and from what I read, the max that the powder manufacure says is 4.6 grains.

I loaded up 10 rounds at 3.8 grains as opposed to 3.0 grains. I will give those a try and if those don't work, I will keep going up slowly until I find the point where the pistol cycles as long as it's under the 4.6 that unique lists.

Unfortunately I wasn't thinking ahead and loaded 100 .380 rounds with the 3.0 grain charge. So I got some work ahead of me to break those down and do them over once I find a good charge for my application.

Next thing I need is a tumbler.

[Phranque]

I went to the range today and tried my loads.

The .308 loads worked great. Seemed to have a slightly different point of impact than the factory PMC I was using. But very consistent so I assume that is a good thing.

Consistency is the key... if your rounds are better than factory, you're on the right track. :thumb:







The .380 rounds on the other hand did not fair as well. They didn't have enough punch to cycle the slide. The pistol is a Glock 42. I was able to get a couple to cycle but for the most part, they wouldn't eject, or would stove pipe.

From my research (after the fact unfortunately) it seems like the unique needs a little more than the nosler book says. It lists 3.3 as the max, but other books say different and from what I read, the max that the powder manufacure says is 4.6 grains.

I loaded up 10 rounds at 3.8 grains as opposed to 3.0 grains. I will give those a try and if those don't work, I will keep going up slowly until I find the point where the pistol cycles as long as it's under the 4.6 that unique lists.

Unfortunately I wasn't thinking ahead and loaded 100 .380 rounds with the 3.0 grain charge. So I got some work ahead of me to break those down and do them over once I find a good charge for my application.



I like Unique for my slower revolver lead-head plinkers like 38 special & 45LC cowboy loads, etc. I use Bullseye for my semi-auto rounds... much snappier powder for cycling actions & burns a bit cleaner.

One of many lessons learned... never load up a high quantity without testing first.

[19trax95]

Yup. And I even thought to myself, I should probably test these first. And then proceeded to load them all.

Oh well. It'll give me something to do after work tomorrow.

[Danatkins8605]

I usually load up 5 or so then test them when running semi auto

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[19trax95]

Yeah I did 10 for this test batch. Figured that would give me a good enough idea of they will cycle or not.

If this doesn't do it then i may try some different powder. It seems like not too many guys use unique for semi autos. Probably a reason for that id imagine.

I just got it because it was one of the powders with a higher case volume, and my thinking was it would be good to have something that you can't really double charge and is easy to look at it and tell if it's been charged like the rest of them.

[Danatkins8605]

I run titegroup in my g17 cycles on the lightest load with 147s

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[bowhntr62a]

Also a Lee anniversary kit is a good starter kit if money is an issue !


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[Phranque]

Also a Lee anniversary kit is a good starter kit if money is an issue !

Lee is decent beginner equipment, so long as you step into it with the knowledge that it will need replaced with better if you get serious. I started off with a Lee kit in the late 80's, and it worked great for pistol and small rifle, but as soon as I stepped up to the likes of 308 & 45-70, the torque required to resize caused the press to eventually tear itself apart. And, with doing precision rifle loading, the cheap powder throw and balance beam went out the window not far after....

[bowhntr62a]

Believe me your right about replacing it but sometimes you got to start somewhere! I've had 2 RCBS Rockchuckers now and could still get some decent accuracy out of my Lee cause it was a cast frame not the aluminum one that can wear out ! I still have it beside my RCBS to do decapping and other odd jobs !


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