Reloading 101 - info please

[KSB209]

When you start buying remember
Buy once cry once

I typically agree with this too but is there a real big difference in the equipment if I am loading 1 at a time? I don't plan on reloading a lot of handgun or 223/556 ammo for "fun shooting" I want it for my larger caliber rifles. What presses, dies, equipment manufacturers should I look at? Seems that Hornady and RCBS are pretty popular brands.

 

[sturner]

Redding and Forster

 

[LongRangeFever]

Don't skimp on the scale and don't forget case measuring tools. A decent caliper is gunna be your friend. Attention to detail is super important not only for safety, but to produce the best ammo u can.

 

[Duhawk]

I agree with the comment "buy once, cry once". Good set of calipers (don't have to spend big $$$), powder scale, dies (I like dies with bushings for neck tension), case trimmer and associated tools for case prep and an OAL Gage for starters.....don't know if I forgot something or not....but after you get set-up and used to a routine, quick load to help with tweaking your loads.
For me anyway, quick load showed me that going for maximum velocities wasn't the most accurate way to go. Balancing the load to the barrel MS helped me a lot, and also showed where I was at pressure wise as not to blow myself up.
JMO....everybody's different.....just start with the basics and it'll eventually grow into an obsession. You've got time to look reviews over on components....may as well take advantage of it till you're actually able to buy powder that's in stock.

 

[30BR]

Thanks guys. I'm making a list of books and have been spending some time on YouTube vids. I'm a few months away from investing on equipment so I want to get some knowledge before I start spending more money. You'll gave me some good info and starting points and I appreciate it.

What ctgs will you be focused on?
Sometimes there are specific items that relate to one or a few ctgs. Let us know and what the intended application is. My guess would be a 7mm for moose might get a different response than say 300BO for hogs... lots of very experienced guys here can get you tailored info for your specific needs.

 

[Vettepilot]

Well, I've got to say, when I started re-loading, (Hand-loading actually), two things stood out. One, there was WAY more to it than I ever imagined, and two, it is absolutely fascinating and fun!! It really opened a whole new and extremely interesting area to me, and increased my interest and enjoyment of my guns in general. It also makes for much cheaper shooting, once the cost of your equipment is amortized out.

For a rank beginner, I also strongly recommend the LEE and Lyman reloading books. Get them and read them both cover to cover before buying anything. Then, if it still sounds like something you want to do, I recommend the Lee Precision complete re-loading kit. I know I'll catch some flack here for this recommendation, but it my experience the Lee kit is a good start. You can always buy higher quality dies for your pet cartridge, which are always sold separately in any case. Lee equipment is very resonably priced, and it works well. About the only thing that doesn't come in the kit that you need is calipers, and I would pick up a digital scale to check your charges as compared to the Lee balance scale.

One thing is worrisome in your situation.... time, space, and 3 kids. Hand loading requires utmost concentration with NO distractions nor interruptions. If you can't set up a small dedicated, quiet area to work with virtually no distractions, and a stern family agreement about no interruptions, you would be better off, (and much safer), waiting until you can arrange things better.

And the area doesn't have to be huge, nor a separate room even. I know people whom have set up shop in a large closet!! But the "no distractions/no interruptions" thing is non-negotiable.

Good luck! It's a wonderful, eye opening hobby. You will gain very valuable information from those two books, even if you decide to wait on actually reloading.

Vettepilot

 

[skipglo]

I would like to get into reloading but don't have anyone to mentor me on this. What is a good place to start? Looking for books, websites, articles, etc......

my time is somewhat limited (running 2 businesses and 3 kids under 10 yrs old) so I'm wondering if this new hobby of reloading is really feasible right now. I don't have a bunch of room either but hopefully in the next 2-3 years my businesses pay off and I have more time and money to play with.

been reading a lot of you guys have excellent results reloading and I want to play with "the big boys" so reloading my own ammo seems like a good place to start.
Any help is appreciated!

Best place to start is You Tube! Enjoy

 

[Starlite]

I would like to get into reloading but don't have anyone to mentor me on this. What is a good place to start? Looking for books, websites, articles, etc......

my time is somewhat limited (running 2 businesses and 3 kids under 10 yrs old) so I'm wondering if this new hobby of reloading is really feasible right now. I don't have a bunch of room either but hopefully in the next 2-3 years my businesses pay off and I have more time and money to play with.

been reading a lot of you guys have excellent results reloading and I want to play with "the big boys" so reloading my own ammo seems like a good place to start.
Any help is appreciated!

There are two trains of thought on getting started. First is the buy an all in One kit including a loading manual. Hornady for an example includes everything to get started. I personally feel this is the proper way to go. The other is to get a manual and get on this site and on YouTube and see what others are using and buy it piece by piece. This is doable but it's their opinions of which you have no bases to agree or disagree. As you get more experience and continue you can then make a decision based something concrete. However in these uncertain times you might have difficulty proceeding either way. If you have a local shooting club then that is a great resource for getting started.
Good luck.
Stay safe America.

 

[Vettepilot]

Yes, I forgot YouTube in my personal answer. Lot's of good info there, and sometimes seeing something done helps with understanding.

I do still stand by my recommendation to buy those two books and read them however. You are unsure about whether you want to do this, so I recommend researching more before dropping coin on equipment...

And yes, this is an unfortunate time. Virtually every component you will need; brass, bullets, powder, primers, are nearly impossible to find.

Vettepilot

 

[Tyler Kee]

The reloading books are very helpful - highly recommend

Things to buy:
RCBS Rockchucker
Chargemaster
OAL kit
MagnetoSpeed
RCBS basic dies
Decent Calipers (more is the merrier)
RCBS prep station including VLD chamfer bit
A trimmer you can put in your drill
A Hand primer
Delrin reloading trays
SS pin tumbler

Do not buy a "kit" - most of it will get binned immediately

Most importantly, be realistic about your expectations. There's a lot of info on the internet to indicate that if you're not checking each round for concentricity and shooting in the .200's, you're wasting your time. That's dumb.

Start by interpreting how your factory ammo performs. Measure it with your calipers and OAL tools. Shoot with your MagnetoSpeed, and collect data on groups.

Next, take all the brass from your shooting and process it according to the procedures laid out in the reloading manuals. This is where kids become very useful. Figure out your workflow for processing things. Get your brass sized, trimmed, chamfered, primed. Use the manuals to identify what powders and charges you need. Work up a load workup based on some methodology. Shoot it and interpret the results.

Reloading is a lot of fun. I've made a lot of ****** loads, turned a lot of money into noise, and become a better shooter and scientist for it. I haven't bought factory ammo in years. And now my 3 year old pulls the ram and shouts DEPRIMED!

And let me tell you, nothing beats your first successful hunt or competition using ammo you rolled.

 

[ntsqd]

What part of the PRK are you located in? If anywhere close to Upper So CA I'm willing to do what I can although I do not consider myself an expert. Just someone who has reloaded, on and off, since 1988. PM me if that works better.

When it comes to equipment it can get pretty spendy really fast and the temptation is to buy a kit that has everything to get you started. Depending on your goals (both short and long range) that may or may not be a good idea. The "Buy once, cry once" saying is a good one even if the goals are simple.

If you are a ways off from being ready to start it seems to me that you can start buying equipment now and not be anxious about wanting to reload and not having all of the tools to do so.

I found this video to be very helpful about the various single stage presses available:


Vettepilot's point about no distractions is a nuance that isn't talked about with the weight that it deserves, and is very important.
I'll add that when I first started working on Vintage vehicles my boss had a rule: "Never leave something partly done." If you had to leave, even just to go to the can, you either finished it before you left or you un-did what you were working on. IT was either on and torqued or it was on the shop shop floor. If you're part way through dispensing powder and you have to stop for some reason, you either finish dispensing the powder (& should seat the bullets) or you dump them all back and start over when you can return. Short breaks to go to the can have a habit of becoming much longer than you intended. Think of this as Mr. Murphy looking for an opportunity to screw something up and this is dangerous stuff that you're opening the door to.

 

[jdyoung]

Information is invaluable .....one can never get enough. I have purchased a lot of reloading instruction books/manuals over the years. But the first book that helped me put it all together is Precision Handloading by John Withers, pub 1986. I just looked , and it is available on Amazon in paperback at a reasonable price. correction, there is only one left. Ebay has a bunch , used , reasonable.

 

[30BR]

My suggestion, whatever equipment you get, is to start the first 30 rounds with junk brass. This way you make all the mistakes you want up front and see what happens to the brass without tossing 30 pristine $1.30 cases in the trash. (You could even try priming with spent primers if you were so inclined.). You WILL ruin some brass. Junk brass can also be more challenging to try and make usable.
2 cents in.

 

[jeb405]

Lots of great info in this thread on quality videos and books, very important. I would suggest you think hard if you really want to do this. I have been reloading for about 20 years. You need to decide why you want to do it. The current ammo crisis is an issue and in my opinion it is easier to find components than factory ammo. Today. But prior to COVID and other US issues I totally stopped reloading 9mm and 223 except for precision rounds, too cheap to buy. But also I already have highest quality dies, plenty of brass and around 5 presses and a lot of the gadgets. When prices return to pre-2020 levels you have to shoot a lot of rounds to save much money if that is the goal. And if precision is your goal you will likely not find better than current high quality factory ammo performance without the best of the best in tools so don't overestimate how much you really shoot.

But I enjoy reloading. If you for sure want to do this I think the Forster Coax is a press you will never be sorry to have, it is one of my most used presses and depending on use will last multiple lifetimes. If you want progressive I think Dillon 550 is very high quality and one of the most flexible. But now you need conversion kits etc so costs add up. But I started with all Lee stuff. Cheap buy in, can re-sell to get some money back if you want to upgrade later. I still have a lot of Lee equipment in the rotation (in my testing the Perfect Powder measure is stupid repeatable with most powders when put up against much more expensive measures) and even in my 550 I still use a lot of Lee carbide pistol dies. If you want to seat primers off press Lee tool is great, but you also need special shell holders. One of my 4 presses is also a cheap Lee aluminum O frame and a hand press, very versatile.

Remember you will need a way to clean brass too. If low enough volume you can wipe and polish 1 at a time. From there it goes to virbratory cleaners, wet steel pin tumblers, ultrasonic, etc.

It's really not that hard to make safe ammo that goes bang and shoots good. If you are loading rifle brass at low volume no reason to not use the best lube, Imperial. If you want to go in bulk One Shot is very popular. Good news is a decent reliable scale is not hard to find nor expensive, for sure you want this. If precision is the goal realize that unless you have a high quality test setup including a decent chrono like Magnetospeed you won't be able to diagnose results. And a good caliper for bullet seating depth at a minimum, make sure you use some standard to check it especially if you go with off or cheaper brands, Mitutoyo is gold. I've spent my lifetime in the quality field in manufacturing a variety of stuff and this is a known and trusted brand.

My $0.02.

JB