Getting started in reloading!

[ares338]

Getting Started with reloading!
« on: Today at 10:52:55 PM »
I am a complete noob to reloading. I have been researching various systems for function, ease of operation, safety and of course price. I had just about settled on a Lee turret press kit after watching about 100 Utube vids and decided that for the price Lee looked like a good starting point.
* * Then came a sudden epiphany.....my dad was a reloader and when he passed away last year my brother gave me his boxed up reloading equipment which was up in the attic. Now me being disabled getting up into the attic was a real fun time...lol. Anyway I managed to get up there without killing my silly self (and as you may have figured out...down too). I could barely reach the box and just managed to open the top to see what kind of equipment it contained and low and behold there was an RCBS single stage press and a bunch of other stuff.
* * As soon as I get this downstairs and unpacked I will probably have a lot of questions for the good folks of this forum. I want to reload 9mm, 38/357, .40 S&W and .45 ACP because I shoot a lot and it's somewhat expensive....besides the little woman threatened to strangle me if I didn't quit buying so many boolits...lol.

 

[Etkini]

Very nice you happened to have all the equipment needed right in your attic. If I may make a suggestion, I would start with one caliber until you get used to it, either the one you use the most or the most expensive one (probably 357 Mag or 45ACP). That way you can decide if it's really for you, and you won't be stuck with $500 in dies, powders, primers and bullet if it's not.

Smart you decided to reload to save money, but I think you're going to realize you'll be spending as much if not more because you'll be shooting a lot more. :smile:

 

[nraynes]

Do not just start reloading!
Just because you have watched some "utube" vids does not mean you can just start reloading.
There are a lot of thing that you will not know of. I took a class and a year later went "that's how you do that...."
2 years after I started reloading and I'm still learning.

Where you have a rcbs go buy their newest reloading manual and read up. After that find some reloading classes.

Research your powder and bullets.
Some powders are better with some bullets. Some powders you have to compress and others you should use magnum primers.
A full RCBS manual will have most major loads listed.
If you have an old manual good
Go buy a new one.
Powder changes. Load data changes.
I have a lee manual from 1994. It helped me with loading straight wall pistol cases like the 44-40. I still use the RCBS load data.

The old Lee manual says to use 4.9 grains of powder.
The new RCBS says to use 5.4 grains of the same powder.
5.2 was a slow under powered shot.
5.4 was perfect.

Please do not take this as a down grading of you.
I am just saying for safety's sakes. Do it right.
I had a primer explode during loading once. Scary as hell. You could lose fingers. Go blind. Or worse.
Best of luck. Happy shooting.

 

[sourdough44]

It doesn't get any easier than the 38 spcl, if you want to start there. I'd do some reading 1st. You can break reloading down into a series of steps. You may have a little trial & error along the way, best to keep them minor.

 

[1funvet]

You are now hooked. I started with the same set up you have years ago. I now have a Dillon XL650 with case feed. I consider this set up-the best buy you get dollar for dollar.Like Etkini said, you not gonna save any money, just get more bangs for the bucks.Enjoy the new addiction.

 

[Kalamity023]

I too just started reloading my own ammo. I would highly suggest the Speer Reloading manual volume 14. It has step by step breakdown and explanation of the process. Also the YouTube videos are helpful, however, go to the RCBS website, their instructions and videos are better. If you have someone who is knowledgeable, keep them on speed dial, otherwise I'd second the "take a class" idea. I relied heavily on a friend who is experienced to help me with things that were right but didn't look it. More to note, get more than just the one manual as things may work differently in your firearms than others. Log everything down and take it slow. I am proud to say that after my first 100 rounds of .223 ever, I did not have one FTF, FTE, or any other jams or malfunctions. You will find that this is very rewarding.

 

[Shoobee]

Since you already have the equipment, and if you have time on your hands, you can save a lot of money by reloading, sure.

It is tedious and time consuming, but if you can get over that, then it is as good as any hobby.

Hobbies are what we do with our time when we are not working and do not want to be doing more work.

Make sure you get your hands on a manual somewhere, so you can read all the steps involved in your reloading press.

You need to get the dies for the cartridge you want to make.

Starting with fresh or fired brass, your first step is to lube it, which is done with a certain grease on a lubing pad, which looks like an ink pad.

Next you run the neck spreading die thru the brass casings, which at the same time punches out the old primers, if it is fired brass.

Depending on the power of the cartridge, brass can be fired and re-fired for a total of anywhere from two to ten times.

Next you need to seat the primers in the sized brass. That's the most dangerous part and when most of the fires occur.

Next after that you fill the primed casings with powder. The more precisely this is done, the more consistent your bullets will impact on target. Ideally you should weigh every powder charge with the scale, but that is really tedious.

After "charging" the casings with powder, you then need to "seat" the bullets with another die.

The final step is to "crimp" the neck around the bullets, which requires a special die.

If you did a good job, then all your bullets look exactly the same. If not, then some will be longer or shorter than others, and have more or less powder in them.

The shooting range will finally tell you, one way or the other. You can compare your results with factory loads, in terms of precision.

As far as cost goes, since you already have the press, then assuming you don't burn your house down, you will surely save money by reloading.

 

[Etkini]

Since it looks like all of his cartridges are straight-walled cases, if he purchases carbide dies he won't have to worry about lubing them. And I could be wrong, but I don't think they make neck sizing dies for straight walled cases, as there is no neck. Oh, and unless you're using super high powered loads, you can easily get 20-50 reloads+ out of your brass. I've got some lower-powered plinking .223 brass that's going on it's 19th reload. You'll probably lose your brass before it gets to the point it's unsafe to load, but every loading check for split necks and loose primer pockets regardless.

But most of the other information was good. :yes4: