Reloading

Rojam... Thanks. I think being new to this is making me a bit OCD. Unfortunately last week when I stopped in my LGS for the 3 calibers of case gauges I needed they only had .45acp and .40S&W so I had to order the 9mm from another store. It should arrive this week I hope.
 
SIngle stage press $150-250 LEE
Lee dies 4 carbide $65
RCBS beam scale $60
RCBS Powder drop $70
Trim tools $30-50 up to $200 Auto station
1 pd of powder $30-40
brass free from range
Primer $65 per 1000 primers
Brass tumbler $75 - 100
good reloading book $30-50
Much of this you can get used on EE or local web sales - no tax

I dont reload to save money, but for the same cost of factory ammo I can shoot 2-3 times as many rounds with, a say 9mm Campro 124gr bullet $95-110 per 1000.

I cast and powder coat 9mm, 45, lots of rifle and shotgun ammo (been doing it for 10 yrs now) so my cost per round of 9MM is .08 cents per round. Cheap factory Police 9mm 124gr is .41 cents per shot, if use Campro bullet heads that cost rises to .21 per round for reloads.

Like others have said, if you have the time an like monotonous repetitive processes - like me

I enjoy over winter months when I do most of reloading for spring, fall and summer shooting.
 
enefgee said:
In lieu of buying a case gauge, use the one that you have - take the barrel out of the pistol, drop the rounds in. Guaranteed to be the right size, every time.
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Yes on the advise of others I did remove the barrel from my 1911 to use as a gauge but it will be convenient to have the simple separate gauge. UCF
 
dearslayer said:
Hello... I shoot 9mm...40S&W...45ACP. I don't get to the range as much as I would like but when I do I usually shoot 100-250 rounds of what every caliber I take along and that may be 2 or all 3. I'm wondering about learning to reload. I have no idea where to start or even if it would be cost effective and I have absolutely no experience, but aside from the cost I think it would be more of a hobby more than anything else. Is it worth it in the long run even for a hobby considering components that would be needed plus the equipment required to do so? What would be the price of admission just to start out on one of the caliber's? I'm not looking for exact figures here but more like ball park?

Regards.
G.T.
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I shoot and reload the same calibers plus .38/.357. I also reload 6.5 x 55 and 7 x 57 for rifle. If you are doing multi caliber, with one press, keep it simple for change overs; if you can, find .45 brass with small primers (most .45 use large pistol primers), again for ease of change over. I have three presses. One is set up almost all the time for .45 large primers; they other one i change over but do large runs of over 1000 to minimize change overs. I use an old Lyman Turret press for Rifle. It is relaxing, and you can tailor your ammo to your needs. Great addition to the hobby. Do your research, watch the EE and you should be able to get going for a few hundred bucks. Start with a single stage press until you learn. Besides the press and dies, you will also need a powder Measure, a powder/bullet scale, a few reloading manuals, and if your press does not have a priming system, a hand primer.
 
tbhupe said:
Unless you are doing things like skydiving, defusing bombs or reloading ammunition.
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I would hope nobody learns skydiving from a forum taking advice from strangers of unknown experience and ability without spending some time checking it out on their own. Just saying.
 
I was afraid this might go sideways. What I meant was that asking questions is a part of the learning/research process and I just wanted to encourage it.
When it comes to the actual reloading, researching published materials, working with a mentor, videos and asking questions are all part of the learning. Using all these available resources is the key to figuring it out for yourself. There is many a time in the past that I wish I had stopped and asked a question when I was not sure, would have saved a lot of trouble.
 
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i picked a really bad time to start learning to reload me thinks!!

Lots of talk about near future hand gun bans kind of has me thinking what's the point of spending lots of money on reloading equipment and components if they take all our guns away! Covid shutting down most indoor ranges ( mine is one ) I can't even try the 10 rounds of 9mm that I have reloaded. Until I try them to see if they cycle properly in my pistols I'm at a stand still and can go no further correct? I'd love to go ahead and reload hundreds of rounds but according to the advise from everyone it wouldn't be a good idea to do that.

I'm always hesitant to ask a bunch of rookie questions but it's the only way I know how to learn a hobby that I have no experience with. We all have to start somewhere right.
Ultimately I'd love nothing more then to observe someone in my neck of the woods doing some actual reloading. I've watched a ton of YouTube videos on reloading with the Lee Classic Turret but I believe there is no comparison to seeing the real deal up close and personal and asking questions at the same time.
 
dearslayer said:
i picked a really bad time to start learning to reload me thinks!!

Lots of talk about near future hand gun bans kind of has me thinking what's the point of spending lots of money on reloading equipment and components if they take all our guns away! Covid shutting down most indoor ranges ( mine is one ) I can't even try the 10 rounds of 9mm that I have reloaded. Until I try them to see if they cycle properly in my pistols I'm at a stand still and can go no further correct? I'd love to go ahead and reload hundreds of rounds but according to the advise from everyone it wouldn't be a good idea to do that.

I'm always hesitant to ask a bunch of rookie questions but it's the only way I know how to learn a hobby that I have no experience with. We all have to start somewhere right.
Ultimately I'd love nothing more then to observe someone in my neck of the woods doing some actual reloading. I've watched a ton of YouTube videos on reloading with the Lee Classic Turret but I believe there is no comparison to seeing the real deal up close and personal and asking questions at the same time.
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It's never a bad time to start.

The only drawback right now, is lack of availability and pricing increases. Canadian prices aren't to bad, yet.

As far as "rookie questions" don't sweat it. It's the rookie answers that will get you into trouble. Most of the folks on this site are great people and will do their best to give you good information. Let them do it, no matter how ridiculous your question seems.

There are a lot of people that have been handloading for multiple decades on the site and if they know, they will chime in, if no one else already has.

The best advice I can give you, if you haven't already done it, is to find a hands/eyes on trusted mentor to help you out. Videos and books are fine, but they aren't for everyone.

When you're at the bench, turn off the TV and Puter, avoid distractions if possible.

If you've loaded ten rounds, load up a couple of dummy rounds, without primers or powder. Just the bullet and case sized, with the bullet seated to its desired depth and cycle your pistols by hand. You'll know soon enough if they're to long or if the cases need to be trimmed etc. Add a bit of rubber eraser or fill the primer pocket with a soft epoxy, so that you can use the dummies as snap caps.
 
If you've loaded ten rounds, load up a couple of dummy rounds, without primers or powder. Just the bullet and case sized, with the bullet seated to its desired depth and cycle your pistols by hand. You'll know soon enough if they're to long or if the cases need to be trimmed etc. Add a bit of rubber eraser or fill the primer pocket with a soft epoxy, so that you can use the dummies as snap caps.[/QUOTE]

See it's the simple things that are sometimes overlooked... this a good suggestion that I simply would not have thought about but makes perfect sense. Thanks Bearhunter.
 
So on Bearhunters advise I tried the dummy rounds in my pistols. The 9mm cycles easily in all three of my 9mm pistols and the .40 and .45 also cycle smoothly. If this is the case is there something else I should be observing?
Also when I purchased bullets I bought Campro Copper Plated Round Nose for all three calibers. Was this a wise choice or is there a better choice for bullet shape for a particular caliber??

GT
 
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