Reloading for hunters?

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huntingfish

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Hi!
I'm not really a paper puncher. I practice to be able to hunt!

I wish there were more offerings for factory ammo different bullet combinations...eg: accubond 200's in 300 WM from factory ammo that's actually available in my neck of the woods. So, I'm turning to maybe trying out reloading in the future (just bought a new rifle, so maybe next year!).

I had a black powder rifle and I was terrified of the thing. Always thought the rod would shoot through my hand while pushing down the bullets. Got rid of it. Hope the same thing won't happen with reloaded ammo.

What suggestions would you give to someone in my situation? Don't think I'll be doing any mass production and once I get a good recipe with the bullet I want, I most probably will stay with it for a LONG time. So, maybe 40-80 bullets per year (enough for hunting season and practice) that I would need to make for myself?

I would go with a used press if presented the opporunity for it.

Cheers,

David
 
With such small numbers to reload, just keep it simple: Lee trimmer pilots for your caliber, used press/dies. Just get a decent balance beam and use Lee powder scoops and manual trickler to measure charge. Most presses come with priming component: I used the one on my RCBS until I started shooting more and upgraded to make things quicker in steps where possible without sacrificing consistency.

As to advice with regards to not shooting a bullet seating stem into your face or bursting primers: use simple caution and common sense. Nothing needs forcing in reloading ... the most forceful step is full length resizing and there are no explosive/combustible components involved in that step. Get a good reloading manual.

Follow consistent, habitual steps especially with the priming, powder measuring and bullet seating without distractions. Put powders back in their containers and only have one type on the bench at a time.

I started reloading for accuracy and options. But cost eventually comes in to play: 300wm and larger rounds (and rare/obsolete also unavailable) are expensive to purchase and this cost is cut substantially by reloading. I have a blackpowder rifle and still am a bit uneasy stuffing that rod down the barrel...
 
Neglecting equipment costs (press,scale, dies,etc.), you won't save much, if any money reloading. You will, however, shoot more.
You'll also be shooting ammo that's optimized for your rifle.

If I were in your shoes, a couple of reloading manuals would be on my shopping list.
As long as any used press you contemplate isn't worn out, you could save some cash that way.
 
One thing to remember when loading for hunting. Before leaving the house for the hunt, put on the rifle safety, load the mag and run all the ammo through the chamber.

You want to weed out any round that is too long for the mag or too fat for the chamber.

One of many lessons I learned the hard way. Cost me a nice deer at 10 yards. Round would not chamber.
 
Any friends reload? If shooting that small of volume, you could always see if they would help you out or even do it for you if you buy the components and case of beer or something... Back in the day my dad, uncle, and a couple family friends all only shot 1 or 2 rifles each and only shot enough to check zero and take 1 or 2 animals each year so they shared a set of reloading equipment and would get together every few years and have a reloading session. Each would perform 1 part of the process (lubing, resizing, priming, charging, seating etc). They'd do up 50 to 100 rounds for each guy and BS. Then repeat every few years when they started running low again.
 
Honestly, a Lee press kit, die set, and trimmer pilot should get you going and do everything you need. Literally it's what I did years ago and don't really feel a need to upgrade. I'm sort of the same, I dislike punching Paper at the range so I like to set and forgot my loadings. It's not hard to be sub MOA using this equipment.

Actually I lied. Digital scale, worth every penny. Make your own loading block out of a piece of wood and a drill.
 
russm86 said:
Any friends reload? If shooting that small of volume, you could always see if they would help you out or even do it for you if you buy the components and case of beer or something... Back in the day my dad, uncle, and a couple family friends all only shot 1 or 2 rifles each and only shot enough to check zero and take 1 or 2 animals each year so they shared a set of reloading equipment and would get together every few years and have a reloading session. Each would perform 1 part of the process (lubing, resizing, priming, charging, seating etc). They'd do up 50 to 100 rounds for each guy and BS. Then repeat every few years when they started running low again.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, few of my friends hunt and zero handload ;-(

David
 
Ganderite said:
One thing to remember when loading for hunting. Before leaving the house for the hunt, put on the rifle safety, load the mag and run all the ammo through the chamber.

You want to weed out any round that is too long for the mag or too fat for the chamber.

One of many lessons I learned the hard way. Cost me a nice deer at 10 yards. Round would not chamber.
Click to expand...

So true !!!!

And make sure you have your trigger lock key lol
 
I've seen those little spoon powder mesure that come with lee dies. Are those even usable?

I find it hard to believe that you check in the reloading manual and it says 54.3 grains of powder X and you go: Yup, that's exactly a spoon full.

The uncertainty on that mesure would probably widen groups at 400m, no? If I can't attain minute of moose vitals, then a particular reloading way is simply not for me hehe.
 
huntingfish said:
I've seen those little spoon powder mesure that come with lee dies. Are those even usable?

I find it hard to believe that you check in the reloading manual and it says 54.3 grains of powder X and you go: Yup, that's exactly a spoon full.

The uncertainty on that mesure would probably widen groups at 400m, no? If I can't attain minute of moose vitals, then a particular reloading way is simply not for me hehe.
Click to expand...

They certainly are useable and probably have been tested to some degree. I do not believe they were ever intended for 400 yard shots. more than likely good enough for under 200 yards for minute of pie plate which should be fine for most hunting applications.
 
yomomma said:
They certainly are useable and probably have been tested to some degree. I do not believe they were ever intended for 400 yard shots. more than likely good enough for under 200 yards for minute of pie plate which should be fine for most hunting applications.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'm impressed. Didn't think you'd get that level of accuracy from these mesuring tools.

So, if I want to have consistent ammo with a decent level of accuracy up to 400 yards (like 10" groups at that range would be ok, but obviously, smaller the better), is it that hard to do? If I size the brass to length, mesure powder with electronic scale and seat bullets consistently at the same length and crimp them, albeit all with simple lee dies, would that do it? Or do I need to do much more than that to achieve a decent group at 400 yards (strictly speaking about just the ammo, not shooter)?

David
 
Ganderite said:
One thing to remember when loading for hunting. Before leaving the house for the hunt, put on the rifle safety, load the mag and run all the ammo through the chamber.

You want to weed out any round that is too long for the mag or too fat for the chamber.

One of many lessons I learned the hard way. Cost me a nice deer at 10 yards. Round would not chamber.
Click to expand...

Smart advice, first time I ever went deer hunting at around age 15, my 30-30 jammed on the first chambered round and it wouldn't extract either. Turns out the ammo was given to my Dad by his friend who reloaded it. Deer walked right past me as I tried in frustration to close the bolt or extract the round.

I recently purchased Lyman chamber gauges for a couple of the cartridges I reload for. They are sized similar to a chamber and assist in spotting problems with case length and sizing. Cost around $20 each.
 
huntingfish said:
I've seen those little spoon powder mesure that come with lee dies. Are those even usable?

I find it hard to believe that you check in the reloading manual and it says 54.3 grains of powder X and you go: Yup, that's exactly a spoon full.

The uncertainty on that mesure would probably widen groups at 400m, no? If I can't attain minute of moose vitals, then a particular reloading way is simply not for me hehe.
Click to expand...

I've tried them at the range, and the difference at 100 yards between variations in the scoop fill made no appreciable difference for hunting at 100 yards. It wouldn't suffice for shooting under minute of angle if that's what your gun is capable of and you wanted to optimize accuracy, but for general hunting, they actually work just fine. I used to use scoops for reloading 6.5x55 and at 200 yards it was still deadly accurate. You would have no problem putting it to within 3-4 inches at 200 yards.
 
huntingfish said:
I've seen those little spoon powder mesure that come with lee dies. Are those even usable?

I find it hard to believe that you check in the reloading manual and it says 54.3 grains of powder X and you go: Yup, that's exactly a spoon full.

The uncertainty on that mesure would probably widen groups at 400m, no? If I can't attain minute of moose vitals, then a particular reloading way is simply not for me hehe.
Click to expand...

Even if they were, there are tons of different bullets or powders that will require different measures.. Just looking at my Lee manual, 300WM would go from 16 grains to 86 grains depending on the powder, bullet and velocity. Of course they're measures by weight, not volume. If all of those extruded powders were to magically align you'd fit a whole lot more in that spoon!
 
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