Getting started with reloading?

[cyh1830]

Well, the title pretty much sums it up ...

I've been thinking about reloading for several months and now I think it's time to get started.

Got any suggestions on getting started? I could pour through these posts, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for.

9mm, .45 ACP, 5.56x 45mm.

Thanks in advanced.

[gsbell]

Buy blue, cry once and enjoy the quality.

[Guest UberDuper]

Don't let anyone talk you into a single stage press.

[herr.baer]

Read the ABC's of Reloading before you buy anything. Read and research about all the different presses and make your decision on your needs.

Be safe and ask lots of questions.

I use a single stage for my precision rifle loads to better control the quality. I use a turret for my pistol loads. Presses are like car and guns, everyone has their favorite but it might not be right for you.

Once you choose your press and dies

At a minimum you will need-

powder scale

powder drop or scoops

set of calipers

bullet puller

powder funnel

hand primer ( should your press not prime cases )

tumbler

shell case tray

Edited June 17, 2011 by herr.baer

[Schadenfreude]

I have a single stage & a progressive, I use both unless you are very mechanically enclined or have a buddy allready running a progressive I would recomend starting with a single just to learn on, & upgrage once you get the hang of it. Its not like a single stage press is going to break the bank, but some progressives get pricey.

[enfield]

I've been using a single stage RCBS press since 1982 and have no thoughts of changing.

[dlm37015]

if you are going to buy a progressave go gray get a camdex forget about dillon if you want to learn how to reload give me a call david 615-497-4205i live near nashville have several presses set up including at least 1 of all the dillons including a 330 his first but most people are better served learning how to load on a single stane press the biggest thing about reloading is to not get in a hurry or you will forget something also the nra has a very good book on reloading

[Jonnin]

Ive been at it about a year now and still havent needed a bullet puller. Im sure they are handy, but from my experience its low priority unless you totally mess up a mass production effort. I botch a round here and there, toss it in the misfire bucket.

Shell trays: I just grab the plastic holders from commercial ammo for free. Not that the official ones are pricy, but free and easily available is a winner.

Let me recommend a turret press: those can function as a single stage press, so its a win-win. I can make a box of 50 handgun rounds in about 10-15 min with it, for 9mm or 45 or other simple (tube case, no neck etc) ammo types. To go that fast you want to have an automatic powder device and prime in the press. Speed is not the ultimate goal however, as you learn it focus on getting it right each time first, speed comes with practice and over time. At first a box took me an hour.

Choose what you buy carefully. Slick salesmen can sell you a lot of stuff you won't need, the basic setup can be quite small. You may want a case trimmer for that 556 round. The handheld one that works with a drill is what I use, and its is more than fine.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Jonnin

[JAB]

If someone is planning on only reloading revolver rounds (.38/.357 and .44 in my case) would that person still need a tumbler? Or is a tumbler intended more to polish up semiauto casings so that they won't be 'sticky' and cause a jam?

[enfield]

I use a tumbler on all my brass; rifle, revolver and pistol. It'll clean dirt and corrosion off of cases, and makes it easier to spot case defects.

[Guest UberDuper]

The best way to burn someone out on reloading is to have them start on a single stage press. I'd guess 90% of people getting into reloading just want to shoot more. I can't think of anything that motivates me more to head over to walmart for a couple boxes of WWB then hand priming a few hundres .45 cases.

Start on a progressive and when you start loading a caliber where you care about quality over quantity then consider a single stage.

For starting out, go visit someone that reloads the calibers you initially care about. See what they use and see the process. You'll get an idea of all the little things you'll need. I'd take David up on his offer but still wouldn't let him talk you into single stage.

[Jonnin]

If someone is planning on only reloading revolver rounds (.38/.357 and .44 in my case) would that person still need a tumbler? Or is a tumbler intended more to polish up semiauto casings so that they won't be 'sticky' and cause a jam?

If your brass was clean, new ammo and it went from the revolver into your bag for re-use, you can probably hand clean it just fine with, say, gun solvent (hoppes etc) on a paper towel. 44s at least often get 1/2 black on the outside with soot, you want to wipe that off but its not too hard to accomplish that. It does not have to be shiny new polished but you dont want any crud to get into your dies or gun. Take a look at your spent brass, or wipe one off by hand to see if you want to do that or not. I think it would be a lot of trouble unless you do not shoot many rounds.

Where the tumbler shines the most (haha) is range pickup brass, which I grab a fair amount of. If you decide to reload some 9x18 from 9x19 for example, you may find yourself picking up nasty 9x19s and they are too small to hand clean and too dirty to not clean somehow.

Youll want a tumbler for sure if you start making a lot of ammo. For 20 rounds of 44 here and there in a 6 gun, its your call.

[JAB]

I have been building up a small 'supply' of brass for a couple of years. I basically remove the spent brass from the revolver and put it back into the box (in the plastic or styrofoam 'tray' it came out of.) I haven't done any range pick-up and probably won't. I already shoot about as much as I have time for so I am not looking to increase my shooting volume so much as I am looking to shoot the same amount of these calibers for less $$$. If I can reload 50 to 100 of each a week I'll be content.

So it sounds like, in my case, a tumbler doesn't have to be on the list of 'things essential for getting started' but probably is on the list of, 'things I can start without but will want before too long.' Thanks!

[Jonnin]

maybe. Give it a try before you decide... old brass is harder to clean. Again, try to wipe a case or 2 off, see how hard it is, then decide. "for years" may mean its corroded, which needs to be polished pretty well as it can be rather sticky or rough. You will figure it out if you can or cannot skip a tumbler pretty quickly =)

[Caster]

DON'T buy a single stage? That's not only ridiculous but pitiful as well. Walk before you fly. I load anywhere between 3 & 5 thousand 9x19's a year and more than that, .223. I've loaded 4K .223's already this year. All on a single stage. I had a progressive a few years ago, it was fast sure, but you have less control over a few things because of your tendency to crank out high volume. Just 3 weeks ago I saw a revolver lock up from a bullet stuck half in the cylinder, half in the forcing cone. The man told me he loaded the ammo on a progressive press and somehow he missed this one that did not get charged with powder. One could argue that he should have been more observant but the fact remains that NOTHING trumps visual inspection. I load in trays of 50 at a time.

Progressive presses certainly have their place and if you hammer away thousands and thousands of rounds a year, sure go for it, but to tell a newbie who admittedly knows little about it to dive head first into something like a progressive, right off the bat, is some of the worst advice I've heard in a while. He wants to load for 9mm, 45 & .223 so he'll have a hefty investment in shell plates or long setup times. Progressive is not always faster BTW. What if you want to see how a certain bullet in 45 performs and you want to see how that same style of bullet perform on 9mm, all the while wanting to change your 223 powder charge by a grain or two. For just a simple test he may only want to load 50 of each. That's either a BIG investment or a lot of time spent. NOT to mention one thing to the OP, what if you get bit by the reloaders bug? A real handloader loves to experiment. Lets see you convert 243, 270, 25/06 and a few others into .308 Winchester. I do, all the time. Anything I find on the ground I convert to 308. I like doing it, on top of it being cheap. Maybe he buys a Mauser and wants to make some 8mm Brass from LC Match 30/06. (Where you at there MIKE?) You're not doing that on a progressive.

Get yourself a good solid single stage and learn the basics. Learn to do it RIGHT, and SAFE. Then, if progressive is right for you, DO IT.

....Don't learn to reload on a single stage press first? Sure and while you're at it, teach a teenager the basics of driving in a Mclaren F1.

[Guest UberDuper]

Progressives aren't a pass to not pay attention to what you're doing. If you think it is then the problem is with you, not the setup. Loading a squib is just as possible with a single stage and happens because of the same negligence. You're not going to learn any more or less by starting with a single stage.

And if you feel like you have to cut your teeth by loading one stage at a time, only setup a single station on the progressive and remove the primer pusher. Then you can enjoy the simple pleasure of spending more time making bullets then shooting them. Just don't forget to pat yourself on the back.

[Dolomite_supafly]

To clean brass use Lemishine. It is available in Walmart for less than $2 a container. A container will do thousands of pieces of brass. It works well if you don't want the expense or hassle of a tumbler. I have a tumbler and use it but I have also used Lemishine.

Dump your dirty, corroded brass in a bucket. Heat up enough water to cover the brass. Add a few tablespoons of Lemishine to the water and shake to disolve. Pour it over the brass and shake well. Let it sit for about 24 hours, shaking the container every time you think of it.

Brass will come out clean enough to reload. Some cases will be pink from the reaction. This doesn't hurt anything.

Dolomite

[dlm37015]

i have several progessave presses i sell several hundred presses a year i teach several people each month how to reload.if someone is getting into reloading for speed alone thats the wrong reason .to realy understand reloading you have to load on a single stage .if you are loading rifle ammo you can load it faster on a single stage loading machine gun fodder is fine on a progressave but i think you load better ammo on a single stage press .my typeing skills are not too good but i have most progressave presses from a lee 100 to a camdex and ammo load with all the dillons in between if you want to try them just ask i have found with most progressave presses it takes to long to change cal. and primers sizes so if you are not loading several 100 rounds i can load them on my lyman before you can get set up if you want to load fast get a camdex comes set up for 1 size round will load 6000 rounds an hour thats work i reload for fun

[Grunt67]

I've been using a single stage RCBS press since 1982 and have no thoughts of changing.

Same setup here...except mid 60's. Works for me.

[cyh1830]

All,

This thread is just to d**n fun. You guys are all way cool and I apprecdiate all the input!

I've ordered the ABCs of Reloading today and am heavily researching everyone's advice. Articles, YouTube and threads ... oh my!

[dlm37015]

been using the same lyman for 40 years have others but still have the lyman

utube is also a great place to learn about reloading

[SonnyCrockett]

Buy blue, cry once and enjoy the quality.

It has lots of room for improvement,I am not a fan of my Dillon 550B

Powder charger awful,primer feed system (that silly rod and pully) is really lame

I pretty much have to tear it down regularly to keep the primer feeder slide clean and free

Wish I bought a Hornaday

[gsbell]

I started on a Dillon 650 as my first reloader. I don't subscribe to the notion that one needs to start on a single stage.

I don't think any of the presses are perfect and one needs to have some mechanical aptitude regardless which one you pick. I read a fair amount of bitching about the 550 priming system and I wanted auto-index so that pushed me toward a 650.

People complain about the Hornady too. LOL

[William_Munny]

I started on a Dillon 650 as my first reloader. I don't subscribe to the notion that one needs to start on a single stage.

Nothing wrong with starting from the basics and gaining proficiency... the complexity of a progressive IS a factor especially since the TS has never reloaded a single round of ammo before. Reloading is safe but it is methodical and the method to the madness can be best understood by going through ALL the steps and using a single stage press... IMO

[BigK]

I started reloading 9mm and now .38/.357 on a Lee 4-hole turret press and I'm VERY glad I didn't waste my money on a single. I'd probably have lost interest in a month or two.

Setting it up initially was the hardest part for me. That has nothing to do with it being a turret. In fact, with a turret once get the right flare, OAL, and crimp you leave the dies in the turret, buy another $10 turret per set of dies and swap turrets between calibers.

I've not been reloading long, but IMO auto-indexing turrets are no different than using a single stage press. You still do one task at a time (per pull), but you get a finished bullet after 4 pulls (3 if you skip the factory crimp for revolvers). You are far less likely to skip a charge or double a charge, since the turret indexes to the next die. If you are using a funnel and scoops this might not be true, but the Lee auto-disk practically eliminates the chance.

I think if you can count to 4 you can use a turret press just as easliy. One: deprime and shape the case, two: flare and drop powder, three: place a bullet on the flared mouth then seat it, and four: crimp it.