Reloading Newb

MoLaird16, and may I call you Mo……a lot easier to type?

Perhaps I missed it, but what are your future desires/dreams/expectations?

If you merely want a good hunting load, a good quality rifle and decent reloading equipment and practices can easily get you to, let's say 500 yards or so.

If you're looking for longer ranges, now we're getting into much better and much more reloading equipment more specialized for "bench rest type" performance, a higher degree of skills and attention to intimate details…..and a rifle/scope capable of utilizing this equipment/and hand loading skill-set!

As others have mentioned……the "rabbit hole" can indeed get deep very quickly!

Just some more, likely unwanted, thoughts from the "peanut gallery"! memtb

memtb said:

MoLaird16, and may I call you Mo……a lot easier to type?

Perhaps I missed it, but what are your future desires/dreams/expectations?

If you merely want a good hunting load, a good quality rifle and decent reloading equipment and practices can easily get you to, let's say 500 yards or so.

If you're looking for longer ranges, now we're getting into much better and much more reloading equipment more specialized for "bench rest type" performance, a higher degree of skills and attention to intimate details…..and a rifle/scope capable of utilizing this equipment/and hand loading skill-set!

As others have mentioned……the "rabbit hole" can indeed get deep very quickly!

Just some more, likely unwanted, thoughts from the "peanut gallery"! memtb

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This is where the rubber meets the road. It's relatively simple to make loads to kill deer sized game and bigger out to 300 yards which was considered maximum by many when I was learning deer and big game hunting. Now 500 is a long shot, but very attainable with simple equipment. I did it for a long time with all RCBS gear, press, scales, powder dispenser, trickler, priming tool and everything else I needed to make 1" at 100 capable ammo. No telling how many loads your rifle will print really close to that group which is all you need to hunt. 7-800 and beyond will test your ability on every level, but still very doable, but you'll have to get those groups as tight as possible to overcome all the obstacles at that distance.

Just a suggestion you mentioned that in the future you may want to load several other calibers. SAC-Short Actions Customs makes a Modular Sizing Die and seating go to there site and read about them!
No they are not cheap but for what you spend on a couple sets of dies you will spend less in the long run. Especially if you ever decide to get into competitive shooting.

I started off reloading in a closet during the winter months for a couple pistol calibers and 223 rifle for feeding my mini-14 when it was cheap to reload.
But most of all have fun at reloading.

There are so many knowledgeable people here on this site. They have helped me and many others. LOL Stick to your guns!
But absolutely Get A Reloading Manual and read and re-read. So you don't hurt yourself or your gun. Never Ever start at a maximum powder charge because someone on the internet said it's ok.

memtb said:

MoLaird16, and may I call you Mo……a lot easier to type?

Perhaps I missed it, but what are your future desires/dreams/expectations?

If you merely want a good hunting load, a good quality rifle and decent reloading equipment and practices can easily get you to, let's say 500 yards or so.

If you're looking for longer ranges, now we're getting into much better and much more reloading equipment more specialized for "bench rest type" performance, a higher degree of skills and attention to intimate details…..and a rifle/scope capable of utilizing this equipment/and hand loading skill-set!

As others have mentioned……the "rabbit hole" can indeed get deep very quickly!

Just some more, likely unwanted, thoughts from the "peanut gallery"! memtb

Click to expand...

Mo works great!

I'd like to work to a point where I can shoot ELR with my rifles. Short term goal is to be able to load one round that safely maximizes the ability of my cartridge.

6.5x300 WBY said:

Now I absolutely love brass prep. Don't know how that happened but it did. Funny how things change when you reload for some 40 years.

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For me it changed when I got a brass prep station and cut my prep time probably 75%

Stang66 said:

I started off reloading in a closet

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It's safe to come out. Think of us as your support group!

birddog 68 said:

For me it changed when I got a brass prep station and cut my prep time probably 75%

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Okay…now you have to tell what prep station you bought. I've been toying with this idea. I've got a couple of Wilson trimmers, but still using hand tools for chamfer/de-burring and primer pocket prep.

Reloading is a great hobby second to shooting in my opinion. You will not save money but will have the satisfaction of producing the most accurate rounds your rifle likes. In addition, you will learn to be an expert
In what works best. Equipment recommendations have already been presented by others. I reload for more than 20 calibers going on 60 years now.
Have fun and enjoy the experience. Being precise is habit forming!

Mark37082 said:

Okay…now you have to tell what prep station you bought. I've been toying with this idea. I've got a couple of Wilson trimmers, but still using hand tools for chamfer/de-burring and primer pocket prep.

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After doing a search on here I found a thread quite few years old and many were recommending the Lyman. I PM'd a couple of the members that were still active on here (they all replied back ) and they were still using it and happy. So that's what I got.
I really dislike brass prep especially when doing a couple hundred 223 but now it's so much faster that I wonder why I waited so long to buy it.
To the OP: I am not saying that you need one of these. Until you are familiar with the process you should not be worried about speed. Be slow and meticulous until you are comfortable with going slightly faster.

@MoLaird16 - I didn't mean to derail your thread. I agree with Birddog 68. As you can see there are seemingly endless things to make reloading fit your needs. Starting slow with quality equipment will make your journey easier and also avoid shelves and drawers full of items you don't use anymore.

MoLaird16 said:

Gents, new to the forum (so go gentle). I want to get into handloading, but am having a little paralysis by analysis. I saw BackFire TV has a good list to start out with. I don't want to go cheap initially and then upgrade and pay more in the end. But I'm also not going to pretend to know what I'm doing and buy the most gucci gear. So any tender hearts that care to toss a list of really good, not the best reloading kit/combos - fire away!

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I went with RCBS, seems to be available everywhere in brick and mortar and the online sites.
I deal with Midway USA, Graf and sons, Powder Valley etc.
Sometimes you can get free shipping with orders over a certain amount and you can combine items needed.
Hope this helps!
Also, get a good reloading manual for the bullets you want to use and read, read, read, you can't read enough!!!

Mark37082 said:

@MoLaird16 - I didn't mean to derail your thread. I agree with Birddog 68. As you can see there are seemingly endless things to make reloading fit your needs. Starting slow with quality equipment will make your journey easier and also avoid shelves and drawers full of items you don't use anymore.

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All good! I'm just soaking it all in. Some of it will stick, most won't. The banter is quite hilarious. So no issues on my end!

Just my opinion, but using simple math: The cartridges you mentioned X even a modest amount of shooting = You'll make the money you spend on reloading equipment back fairly quickly.

Fullbore92 said:

Great cartridge. My personal choice for brand of dies is Redding. Their type S dies are what I use mostly but they aren't required. Any brand die is fine. Especially if you're using the 280AI for hunting only which I assume you are. I recommend getting a single stage press. Simple to use and produce great ammo. RCBS Rock chucker is a great press to start with. You don't need to spend a lot of money on the most expensive equipment to achieve the same results with the basics. Get yourself a published load data book before anything and read it. You will learn a ton of valuable and important information.

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Ditto on everything Fullbore92 said. I would add recipients books from sierra, Hornady & from whichever brand of bullet you plan to use. Different bullet designs have different bearing surfaces and their metal's friction going thru the barrel.
Lastly, the fastest isn't always the most accurate.
Good Luck

HockeyDad said:

Just my opinion, but using simple math: The cartridges you mentioned X even a modest amount of shooting = You'll make the money you spend on reloading equipment back fairly quickly.

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And…….you simply can't put a $ dollar value on the personal satisfaction of building your own! memtb


Addendum: we're not all LR shooters……I'd much prefer my shots to be measured in feet! In spite of my personal "leanings"……this is a great site with some great folks!