Before I start reloading

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gmartinqc

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Greetings fellow nutterz

I will soon be ready to start reloading my own ammo, problem is I am scared ####less of something going wrong. I got reloading tools, manuals etc. to start on 44 and 357 magnums. I was thinking of starting at half the suggested powder loads and go up from there.
Or I also considered using the amount of powder in 38 and 44 specials accordingly.

I would appreciate the input of people with more experience then I.

Thank you
 
Your first idea might end up damaging your gun. Until you understand reloading better and know how your guns act with reloads compared to published data begin with the starting load in your manual. You shouldn't go below that unless you know what your doing. And read a few manuals.
 
there's a STARTING load in your manual- - that's the load you START with, not some conjuecture on your part- too little powder could give give you a SQUIB load or a detonation- a squib is when the bullet doesn't have enough power to exit the barrel, the detonation is self-explanatory- it's really no harder than baking- FOLLOW THE RECIPE, make NO SUBSTITUTIONS , and you'll be fine- it's when you make variances that you get into trouble- and yes you can use special data in magnums, but be prepared to clean out the crud ring at the end of the chamber unless you use magnum cases
 
Get yourself a couple reloading manuals. Sit down and read them, learn about the specs your going to need to know as far as powder charges for different bullets, powders etc. .357 and .44 are fairly straight forward and with the straight wall caes a little easier than necked cases.
There's a ton of info in this section and on youtube. Spend the next little bit learning as much as you can to overcome your apprehension.As long as you go slow and safe, following safe load data and practices you should be fine. A single stage press will be easier to control than a progressive to start
If your still apprehensive about it, maybe its not for you, you have to remember it will take awhile to pay for the equipment. So if your not shooting a bunch maybe stick with factory ammo.
 
I felt the same fear when I started reloading. I wanted to build some accurate .308 rifle rounds so I started there. The first time I shot my reloads I was a little nervous but I was certain I had done everything properly, read everything I could find, started with the starting load, measured and checked everything more than twice and generally was quite anal about the whole process. Now, I am still careful, but have learned to be safely efficient in my reloading and expanded to other calibres.
Just take your time, double check everything, use good data, and you will be fine.
 
1/2 loads could be dangerous. Start at starting loads.
I heard once, and I'm not sure if it's true, that more people blow up guns from using far too light of a load than too hot of a load.
 
Using too light a load could result in a bullet lodged part way down the barrel. When I was a teenager, I wanted to shoot .44 mag but couldn't stand
the recoil and tried to come up with my own half powered loads. Fortunately, the first bullet didn't quite make it all the way out of the chamber so that
the cylinder would not rotate to the next chamber, otherwise, I would have gotten a hell of a surprise on the next pull of the trigger.
 
gmartinqc said:
Greetings fellow nutterz

I will soon be ready to start reloading my own ammo, problem is I am scared ####less of something going wrong. I got reloading tools, manuals etc. to start on 44 and 357 magnums. I was thinking of starting at half the suggested powder loads and go up from there.
Or I also considered using the amount of powder in 38 and 44 specials accordingly.

I would appreciate the input of people with more experience then I.

Thank you
Click to expand...

We all started reloading at one time or another and ......YES .....it can be quite intimidating when you first start....Perhaps there is someone local to you that reloads and is willing to for lack of a better word be your "mentor". Over the years I have had several people that wanted to get into reloading, but were hesitant and I have offered to let them use my equipment in my home under my guidance until they felt comfortable enough reloading to buy their own equipment.. Almost all once having seen the process and learning what to do and what not to do were confident enough to start reloading on their own in a very short time...Its really not that hard if you pay attention to the details
 
Get Lyman reloading manual or any other manual and stick to the data, do not go under the minimum amount or more than the maximum amount because in both cases you can damage your rifle and hurt yourself.

As everyone does, just start with the minimum & go up incremental by .5 G till the maximum to identify your best load. Safety first.
 
OP, handloading is simple. Follow the instructions, like the others have said, don't reduce powder charges below book STARTING values, and go for it!

.357 and .44 are both easy cartridges to load for. There are lots of variables, lots of opportunities to make little boo boo's but really, unless you OD on stupid, little boo boo's won't hurt you.

Don't get imaginative interpolating data between different bullet weights, different bullet styles, similar but different powder burn rates, and all will be good. Don't obsess about hundredths of a grain of powder. Long before electronic digital scales, gazzillions of rounds were safely reloaded using scoops!

To start, don't load up hundreds at a go, and then discover they won't chamber, are too long for the cylinder, don't have enough crimp so you get bullet creep, or just don't hit s@@t. A box of 50 is lots. Load them at starting charge, seat them to book COL, crimp them as illustrated in any of several manuals - comparing your crimp to factory works - (as does comparing your finished product to an identical factory bullet weight and style) and go shoot. Worst come to worse, you might have to pull a few dozen bullets, or re-crimp them but it is better to pull a few dozen bullets than to pull hundreds, or waste hundreds of unsatisfactory loads by popping them off at a range.

Really, just go for it. Take it slow, do what a proper manual tells you, and all will be good.

There is probably one safety rule that keeps most of us out of serious doo-doo, and many on this forum admit to getting into the doo-doo when they ignored it. That is, only ONE container of powder on the bench at one time - the powder you are planning to use, or are in fact using. Just one. If you are planning to compare the performance of two powders, get out powder #1, charge those cases you are using powder #1 in, seat the bullets, put powder #1 away. Get out powder #2, set scale/powder measure -(re-check book values, just to be sure) then charge and seat bullets using the second powder. Done doing that, put powder #2 away. If you are not charging cases with powder, you should have no powder on your bench nor open in the reloading room.

It should go without saying, but I'll say it. Wait until AFTER you are done before breaking out the wobbly pops, or indulging in any other mind-altering substances. Me, I find tunes distracting, as I do other people. Try to give what you are doing your best attention. We all make little screw-ups, but it is nice if we catch most of them because we are not chattering away with a buddy or bobbing our heads to a tune. Interruptions can lead to brainfa#$%, so if you are interrupted, take a moment to figure out where you were in a sequence before you dive right back in.

All the doom and gloom advice notwithstanding, it is simple, and far safer than almost any other recreational activity know to man.
 
If you look at the loading data for the Specials and Magnums you'll see that there are some powders that can be used in both. Those powders can be used to span from light Special loads to Magnum loads. But you need to do so with a degree of thought. You need to consider the effect of the change in case volume between the shorter Specials and longer Magnum cases. You do NOT want to use Magnum date in Special casings due to the lower volume. But if you avoid the very lowest minimum charges you can load up Special data loads in Magnum casings.

The cowboy action group has been doing this for years now. My rifle needs .357Mag casings to cycle correctly. But I load a mid power .38Spl load recipe in those cases.

The reason you want to avoid the very lowest starting loads from the .38Spl or .44Special data is that the larger volume of the Magnum cases can result in too low a peak pressure. And with some powders that can result in inconsistent ignition and often not burning all the powder and a weak "bang" as a result. But if you use a mid power load from the Special data in a magnum casing you avoid this problem. The larger volume of the Magnum casing means that the mid power load from the 38Spl data shoots like a slightly lower power load.

But this same volume issue can be a problem if you go the other way. Say you can't find any Magnum casings and want some big boomers. You do NOT want to load up the .38Spl casings with a full Magnum load of powder. The smaller volume means that the peak pressure will be higher than the pressure listed in the Magnum data. Perhaps too high and there goes a perfectly good gun.

With full power loads the bullet seating makes a difference too. If you seat it further than the data indicates you reduce the volume and up goes the peak pressure by some amount. A few thou of an inch or a tenth of a millimeter won't be the end of the world. But do try to not be much more out than that. For example when I was doing some chrono testing with 9mm ammo I played with the bullet seating depth to see which worked best in my gun. Over a range of .020" in three steps I got about 40fps difference from the first .010" and another 40fps for the second .010" for a total change of the average velocity of 80fps from a change in seating depth of roughly 3 business card thickness worth of change.
 
If you're that nervous I strongly suggest not using a powder that won't fill the case such as Titegroup. If you're not paying attention you could accidentally triple charge a 38 special before it overflows the case.
 
Light loads - no problem (so long as you don't come back at me if something goes wrong) ;)

I started-out like you; wanted light loads for a .303 and went down as low as 2.5 gr of 2400 - they didn't work too well and left the chamber full of unburnt powder; made an awful mess. At least they always shoved the bullet out the end of the barrel - I shudder to think what would've happened if they didn't.

In general, the lower the velocity, the faster the powder you want - the heavier, slower powders won't generate enough pressure to ignite, and they'll fill your cylinder and barrel with crud. A suggestion here is handloads(dot)com - they have lotsa loads from lotsa people, a lot of which aren't found in the manuals.

An example - my range load for .357 is 3.3gr Titewad behind a 125gr LRN (lead round nose) Lee bullet sized to .358. CAUTION - Titewad is a very fast shotgun powder; Hodgdon does not even list it as a pistol powder, and I only started using it out of desperation because it was the only powder I could get at the time. DO NOT go any heavier on this powder - the gun you save may be your own! The Vihtavuori site (great site) lists Titewad as the fastest powder of all, and when I started working up loads, I went as low as 2.5gr (in .38 Spl cases). 3.3gr is just what I'm looking for; mild, quiet, clean, works well in 9mm and .38 with light, small lead bullets and no signs of overpressure.

{ - Incidentally, you DO know the signs of overpressure? LEARN THESE before you start experimenting! - }

And it all appears to burn - no crud left behind, which is an issue in revolvers with great big cases, itty little powder loads and the flash gap bleeding-off the pressure so the powder doesn't get hot enough to burn. I initially settled-on 3.2gr but my Hi-Power was shooting atrociously; wide spread, yeah I hit the target but that was about it. Then I noticed that one or two bullets of every string would keyhole; which means it went through the target sideways-on, so the bullet is not spinning fast enough to stabilise, and it wobbles once it leaves the muzzle. Only one way to spin the bullet faster - drive it down the barrel faster. I added - literally - one tenth of a grain, bringing the load up to 3.3gr - and the Hi-Power started shooting like a champ.

AGAIN, CAUTION - Titewad gave me the only failed case I've ever had; I loaded-up some 9mm 147gr Speer JTC's with this powder load; all but one shot normally, but one of them blew-out the primer and peeled-back a chunk of the case wall. I'm playing with fire here - that bullet was 'WAY too heavy for a fast powder like that - if it were me, I'd use that load (or any fast powder; Bullseye, Vihtavuori N310, Red Dot &c) ONLY in the .357 and ONLY with 125gr-ish lubed lead bullets; DON'T use Titewad in your .44 with heavier bullets. Indeed, don't use my load-data at all, please... "DISCLAIMER- This load data is posted for comparison purposes only, etc etc etc..."

My go-to load for .45 ACP is 3.3 - 3.6gr VV N310 with a 200 - 230gr lead bullet; but VV N310 doesn't meter all that well in the slide bar on the Dillon Square Deal - Titewad is dead-nuts consistent out of that slide bar.

If you want to work with light - mid-range loads, consider Trail Boss. It advertises itself as optimised for mid-range lead loads, cowboy action shooting and the like. Again, 3.6gr is what I worked-up to; and Trail Boss is so big you'll have a hard time putting a double-load in anything. I don't use Trail Boss anymore, it's dirty, but I used a lot of it. For heavier, you might move into the second tier of speed, VV N320, Unique etc; but you'll need more of it, or it won't burn well in a revolver.

I recently worked-up Win 231 for .45 ACP; started at 3.2gr, which was no good - action wouldn't cycle. I ended-up at 3.6gr, which would cycle, but over the space of ~70 rds it made a gummy mess of the gun and mag's; I ultimately took it up to 4.2gr, which was better; but then I said "heck with it", went out, bought some more VV N310 and I'm selling the rest of the 231 - don't like using that much fast powder. I'm told it's the kitten's spats in 9mm, but I have a 9mm load I like already and I couldn't be bothered working-up 231 loads for 9mm.

But to carry-on the 231 story, I had ~40 rds loaded with 3.2 and 3.4gr of 231, that wouldn't cycle a .45 - how to burn them off without having to pull all those bullets, empty the cases, and so on, and so on... Simple - just put the shaved cylinder in the Webley! So I did that - and you'd've thought I was shooting shot out if it; so much unburned powder spraying out the muzzle, it looked like it was raining! Dirty mess to clean too.

In sum, read the manuals, don't be afraid to try-out new stuff, but err on the side of caution - especially with fast powders!
 
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Thank you for the inputs.

I did buy a reloading manual, there is also tons of loading data available online on the powder manufacturers websites.
I'll fore go the half-load/assed idea and stick to the Lyman manual data.
Had no one put in their input, I would've loaded 5 rounds with the special loading data in the magnum cases (read before that lots of CAS shooters did it already) and loaded/fire em 1 at a time doing a full case/weapon inspection between each shot. Then only shooting the next one if everything looked good. I will do this regardless.

Thanks everyone.
 
A further to my last; get yourself a chronograph, it helps you figger-out what sort of velocity - hence power - your load is putting-out, then you can compare with the loading manuals to determine how close you are to their listed loads.

As an example, my .45 loads (listed above; they go where I point them) are ~625 feet/second; the .45 ACP was initially loaded to 800+ f/s with Bullseye, also a very fast powder, so a load at 625 f/s is not overly worrying. I load ALL my .45 very soft - 1) how much +P power do I need to kill a piece of paper, and 2) don't want a gamy load to find its way into the Webley, they're known to explode. If it has enough oomph to cycle the action (two-piece recoil springs/rods are your friend), and is ~200 f/s less than the factory load ( - even the Webley's stock loads were 100 f/s faster than my handloads), I can have a quick look at the primers for overload indications and, finding none, I have little to worry-about.

Bought my Chrony on ePay for ~$150; get the second-step one, the one with the remote read-out, because you'll have to put it 6' away from you or the gunsmoke will obscure the reading and it'll error-code, and (unless you've got 'WAY better eyes than mine - which is distinctly possible), you won't be able to read the numbers when they're 6' away, especially in bright sunlight. I think the remote-readout one was ~$25 more.

And remember, if you're using lead loads, keep the velocities under 1,200 f/s or they'll lead your barrel. That Titewad load runs <1,100 f/s - still real slow for a 9mm so I don't worry about overpressure, and fits in the tiny little case - and that load also works a treat with jacketed 115gr / 124gr bullets. Just don't use the 147gr JTC's - for another thing, they hang-up on the feed ramp unless you load them short, and there's little enough room for powder in a 9mm case.
 
Like others have said, go slow and if you're not sure about something, stop and find out. When I’m at the putting things together stage, no distractions, only the powder in use is anywhere near the bench and no booze.

For non-critical stages of prep like decapping or cleaning, I've been known to have a drink while listening to music but for the important things, different story.

With a consistent logical approach, reloading your own ammo is as safe as anything else and provides another level of satisfaction, enjoy.
 
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