I have some question on reloading

[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.

[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.

[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/68...let-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.

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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[LoneWolf]

I started with the Lee Anniversary Kit myself, I now use the press for all my depriming/priming and picked up an RCBS Summit press for all the other work. Also added a Charge Master to my bench and now am looking to get an annealer and Giraud Power trimmer pretty soon. But I've continued to improve my bench from where I started as my knowledge and experience of reloading has improved. Starting with a budget friendly kit is nice as it let's you choose where you want to invest in a more efficient/consistent method within your reloading processes. I'm now to a point where I'm happy with the outcome of my work at the bench, but want to improve my brass prep efficiency. Starting on the low end makes you truly appreciate your upgrades as you've already done it the hard way and learned plenty of lessons while doing so!

[bowhntr62a]

How good of a crimp are you using ? A crimp can mean a lot for semi auto pistols !


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[19trax95]

It's crimping it just enough to leave a slight mark on the bullet.

[19trax95]

I just got home from the range. I brought my father along and asked that he bring his kimber micro 380.

I shot the 10 new rounds I made up through my pistol (Glock 42) and they fed and cycled flawlessly and had what id say is similar felt recoil as some factory ammo.

I also brought along some of the original rounds I made. I loaded one into his micro 380 and shot it. It cycled the slide and locked it back no problem. So loaded up a mag of 6 and it shot all of them without a hiccup.

One thing I did note was that it seems like they don't feed as nice as factory ammo. They still feed, but it just seems like they hit something and slow the slide down on the first round.

Perhaps the coal is a bit too long? I'm using .975" as that's what the book said they tested them at. I see some guys are running .970, which is the minimum if I recall. And .980 is the max.

I am running a 100 grain bullet so those are longer I'd imagine than a 90 grain.

If I wanted to shorten the coal to say .972, I would think I would then need to reduce the powder charge since if I understand, the less space between the powder and the bullet, the higher the case pressure.

[RC20]

I started with the Lee Anniversary Kit myself, I now use the press for all my depriming/priming and picked up an RCBS Summit press for all the other work. Also added a Charge Master to my bench and now am looking to get an annealer and Giraud Power trimmer pretty soon. But I've continued to improve my bench from where I started as my knowledge and experience of reloading has improved. Starting with a budget friendly kit is nice as it let's you choose where you want to invest in a more efficient/consistent method within your reloading processes. I'm now to a point where I'm happy with the outcome of my work at the bench, but want to improve my brass prep efficiency. Starting on the low end makes you truly appreciate your upgrades as you've already done it the hard way and learned plenty of lessons while doing so!

I will recommend the ANNIE annealer (with the Ferrite bars). Not cheap, but it works well. You do need to be very careful with your initial testing, I would get the 750 and 800 deg Tempilag. (cant get the crayons to stick).


A couple of items have come up. Using the bars with a wider opening makes for more uniform annealing (neck down to shoulder)

Clean brass (stainless pins in a solution) anneals slower than carboned brass. That is nice as you don't get the puff of smoke.

I have to re-test mine as the 800 was melting before the750 so there was an error in one or the other.

I just got it in (comp[any in town so not tested). I just under annealed till I could resolve it.

As for Trimmers, I would suggest looking at the Trim It II.

I do have two of the Gerard Tri Trimmers and love them.

They did not make one in my most recent cartridge so I started looking.

Trim it II runs about $140 (trimmer and the insert, its a shame, you used to get two or three insets with it)

However, each new insert is only about $25. You do have to adjust the blades again.

My brother has the motorized Gerard and it works with pre setup blades and inserts (and also more calibers)

I started with the hammer Lee loader, what a disaster (1973?) Then got the RCBS Ju8nior (just pistol at the time, worked fine)

When I went to rifle I got the kit with the Rock Chucker. I am set for life as my brother gave me his.

I got the Lyman Auto Charger, I like it a lot, pretty much all good though I would like a few more buttons over the screen (screen is too small, I got the screen thingy to input commands)

I am about set. I will get the stainless pin setup eventually. It really does complete clean a case, primers pockets as well.

My brother got one, its pretty costly at $350 as I recall (don't remember the name). Its solid and well done though and its a life time investment as is the Annealer.

He just bought Wal Mart drying system for food to dry the cases and works perfectly.

[rjtfroggy]

Wow if you bought everything on one of these guys list you would be better off buying match ammo by the case and have a life time supply.

[LoneWolf]

Wow if you bought everything on one of these guys list you would be better off buying match ammo by the case and have a life time supply.

I do sometimes think about it.... Just shoot 308 and buy a ton of FGMM lol. If I was just an average shooter I would be perfectly content with my set up. But I spend a lot of time at the bench and both efficiency and quality are high on my list! You'll never actually come out positive because you'll continue to find a "better" way lol.

[rjtfroggy]

I do sometimes think about it.... Just shoot 308 and buy a ton of FGMM lol. If I was just an average shooter I would be perfectly content with my set up. But I spend a lot of time at the bench and both efficiency and quality are high on my list! You'll never actually come out positive because you'll continue to find a "better" way lol.

Been there and doing that. But I gathered most of my stuff over forty years of reloading, not when I was just starting out.

[LoneWolf]

Been there and doing that. But I gathered most of my stuff over forty years of reloading, not when I was just starting out.

I'm up to 3yrs.... gotta get it in while I'm still young


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[RC20]

Mine is a mix of 40 years ago and newly acquired as I got going and realized ammo quality had to up its game to match the gun quality.

So while not required, a match set die by RCBS or Forsterr with Micrometer seaters is a large improvement but the cost is great. (over $100 each and you might as well get the sizer die to go with it!)

Then I bust my Forester sizer pin with an unintended mix in of some HXP that had the crimp out but not gone enough. sheeese.

Unlike RCBS who will send you parts even if you goof , I had to buy the pin - grrr