Thinking of reloading.

MilitaryCollectorMark

MilitaryCollectorMark

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Hey all! Noob here. What is good advice for starting reloading? What are the supplies you need? What would be like to have and must have? I have a 270 and want reduced recoil loads. My dad is thinking of buying a rilfe in 6mm remington and doing reloading also.


Any help would be most appreciated!
 
You're a couple years late for wanting to start. There are virtually no supplies out there now. What you need is an old RCBS press and scale and powder throw. Some dies for you caliber and a shell holder for the press. The RCBS units have primer arms on them so you can prime while sizing. Buy some 4831 for your 270 and some 130 grain bullets and large rifle primers. Thats all you need to reload. There are a lot of other things that you can involve in the process later but aren't needed right yet.
 
Find a friend who reloads and ask if you can watch and learn from them. Watch the EE for semi-local deals on someone upgrading their equipment and surplus-ing off their old gear. You'll need, at a minimum:
Press (for low round count rifle reloading, any single stage press will work to get started), scale (beam scale is cheaper and accurate), priming tool if not built into the press, trimmer, calipers, and a set of dies for each calibre you want to reload for. Oh, and I should have put, firstly a reloading manual. The manual is key. The first third of each manual is the how to's and the Do Not's of reloading followed by load data. Read that, then go buy powder and bullets that are available (can be very limited currently) that work based on published load data

I can't recommend enough sitting next to someone to learn. Even seeing how others set up their bench for comfort and natural "flow" of reloading is good. Trust in published data and be VERY cautious of internet advice... including this post :p
 
DiMP said:
Find a friend who reloads and ask if you can watch and learn from them. Watch the EE for semi-local deals on someone upgrading their equipment and surplus-ing off their old gear. You'll need, at a minimum:
Press (for low round count rifle reloading, any single stage press will work to get started), scale (beam scale is cheaper and accurate), priming tool if not built into the press, trimmer, calipers, and a set of dies for each calibre you want to reload for. Oh, and I should have put, firstly a reloading manual. The manual is key. The first third of each manual is the how to's and the Do Not's of reloading followed by load data. Read that, then go buy powder and bullets that are available (can be very limited currently) that work based on published load data

I can't recommend enough sitting next to someone to learn. Even seeing how others set up their bench for comfort and natural "flow" of reloading is good. Trust in published data and be VERY cautious of internet advice... including this post :p
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Good advice :)
 
MilitaryCollectorMark said:
What is good advice for starting reloading?
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Consider thoroughly why you want to reload. Basic tools for loading can be acquired easily and at reasonable cost (in normal times; sporadic shortages come and go for any number of reasons). With a basic setup you will be able to load functional ammo at a slow pace. If this is good enough for what you do, great. If you want something more, such as faster production or better accuracy, that requires specialization, and comes at a cost.
 
BattleRife said:
Consider thoroughly why you want to reload. Basic tools for loading can be acquired easily and at reasonable cost (in normal times; sporadic shortages come and go for any number of reasons). With a basic setup you will be able to load functional ammo at a slow pace. If this is good enough for what you do, great. If you want something more, such as faster production or better accuracy, that requires specialization, and comes at a cost.
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Well for reloading, 6mm remington is very hard to come by, 270 because I want reduced recoil. I'm not going to be reloading for high consumption match/long range shooting.
Just reloading to do some practice and hunt a bit.

I have a .223 so I'm covered in longer range target/small varmits.
 
DiMP said:
Find a friend who reloads and ask if you can watch and learn from them. Watch the EE for semi-local deals on someone upgrading their equipment and surplus-ing off their old gear. You'll need, at a minimum:
Press (for low round count rifle reloading, any single stage press will work to get started), scale (beam scale is cheaper and accurate), priming tool if not built into the press, trimmer, calipers, and a set of dies for each calibre you want to reload for. Oh, and I should have put, firstly a reloading manual. The manual is key. The first third of each manual is the how to's and the Do Not's of reloading followed by load data. Read that, then go buy powder and bullets that are available (can be very limited currently) that work based on published load data

I can't recommend enough sitting next to someone to learn. Even seeing how others set up their bench for comfort and natural "flow" of reloading is good. Trust in published data and be VERY cautious of internet advice... including this post :p
Click to expand...

Very good advice here - leads to one of many intricacies getting started - shell holders for your press - so buy Lee Die sets and many come including a shell holder - worth to verify before you buy. Most other brands like Lyman, RCBS, Hornady - the shell holder is extra. Same shell holder exactly among some cases - your 6mm Rem and 270 Win will likely use exact same shell holder, but your 223 Rem will be a different one.

For dies, I have most all brands - they all work fine - have to actually read the instructions that come with them - not all brands set up exactly the same way. I assume you are loading for a bolt action rifles - many combinations avaialble - for most starting and general purposes, you will want a set that has a Full Length Sizing die and a Bullet Seating die. Lets you take brass fired in any other rifle and re-size to fit into yours. As you get fussier / more demanding, you can buy several other types that do some things better. If you have a pump action or a semi-auto, is common to recommend a Small Base Die, instead of a Full Length Die - does same thing, except makes the base end of the case a smidgeon smaller - much closer to factory spec than does a Full Length Die - often results in smoother, easier chambering - likely will never notice with a bolt action rifle.

You can use just a table spoon and get loads to weight on that beam scale, but much easier to scoop on some powder to be a bit light, and then have a tickler tool to dribble on some more powder and come up right to exact weight. For years, I used an RCBS trickler until I gave that to my brother - I now have and use a Hornady one. Some sort of powder funnel to pour from the scale pan into a case is very handy, as are reloading blocks to stand your cases in will going through the process.

Can become a "chore" or a hobby in its own right - what you make of it...
 
MilitaryCollectorMark said:
Well for reloading, 6mm remington is very hard to come by, 270 because I want reduced recoil. I'm not going to be reloading for high consumption match/long range shooting.
Just reloading to do some practice and hunt a bit.

I have a .223 so I'm covered in longer range target/small varmits.
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Reloading for 6mm Remington is easier than most realize.

Just use 7x57 Mauser brass, which is the parent case. One pass in the sizing die and maybe a trim to true the case mouth.

6mmRem cases can be hard to find these days, 7x57 is still readily available.

Present conditions are not conducive to getting into reloading, without some difficulty in aquiring desired components.
 
Here's my list of required reloading gear for your purpose;

1) Reloading handbook
2) Single stage press
3) Set of dies for calibres you'll be reloading for (I like lee dies, as they are easy to use and come with the required shellholder)
4) Manual scale and powder trickler (rcbs 10-10, would be my recommendation) (upgrade to an electronic powder dispenser at a later stage)
5) Basic case prep tools (rcbs lube pad & lube, lee case length gauge and cutters, lee chamfer & deburr tool)
6) loading tray
7) Powder funnel

and obviously your components (brass, primers, powder, bullets)

Welcome to the rabbit hole.
 
bearhunter said:
Reloading for 6mm Remington is easier than most realize.

Just use 7x57 Mauser brass, which is the parent case. One pass in the sizing die and maybe a trim to true the case mouth.

6mmRem cases can be hard to find these days, 7x57 is still readily available.

Present conditions are not conducive to getting into reloading, without some difficulty in aquiring desired components.
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Pretty much classic example of what "reloading" can be about - a bit of history knowledge and some tooling - nobody can find 6mm ammo to buy, and you are blazing away happily because you can make your own!!! Can get as creative as you want - make your 6mm from 30-06 cases, if you have a mind to do that (and then likely need know how to thin case necks - but that is just a hand loading "thing", to know how to do...)
 
Donkin said:
Here's my list of required reloading gear for your purpose;

1) Reloading handbook
2) Single stage press
3) Set of dies for calibres you'll be reloading for (I like lee dies, as they are easy to use and come with the required shellholder)
4) Manual scale and powder trickler (rcbs 10-10, would be my recommendation) (upgrade to an electronic powder dispenser at a later stage)
5) Basic case prep tools (rcbs lube pad & lube, lee case length gauge and cutters, lee chamfer & deburr tool)
6) loading tray
7) Powder funnel

and obviously your components (brass, primers, powder, bullets)

Welcome to the rabbit hole.
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Thanks,

Yes, I guess I'll be joining the dark side, thought it isn't soo bad there, you'all have cookie from what I've read. :)
 
bearhunter said:
Reloading for 6mm Remington is easier than most realize.

Just use 7x57 Mauser brass, which is the parent case. One pass in the sizing die and maybe a trim to true the case mouth.

6mmRem cases can be hard to find these days, 7x57 is still readily available.

Present conditions are not conducive to getting into reloading, without some difficulty in aquiring desired components.
Click to expand...
That's good to know.
 
They are all bolt action rifles.

The .223 is a cz 527, the 270 is a savage 110 CL and the 6mm is going to be a 788.

From the very limited reading on here what type of press would you recommend? Used would be preferable.
 
What type of press? For 30 (?) plus years, I used a single lever RCBS RS type press (Reloader Special). I changed that out to a RCBS Rockchucker with compound leverage about 5 or 6 years ago. I have an RCBS Partner press on the shelf - have used it for depriming only - I never sized or seated anything with it - I am sure it would work for that, just fine. I wanted a compound leverage press for playing games about changing one case into another case - I did use a snipe on my RS press and bent the handle doing that...
 
Potashminer said:
What type of press? For 30 (?) plus years, I used a single lever RCBS RS type press (Reloader Special). I changed that out to a RCBS Rockchucker with compound leverage about 5 or 6 years ago. I have an RCBS Partner press on the shelf - have used it for depriming only - I never sized or seated anything with it - I am sure it would work for that, just fine. I wanted a compound leverage press for playing games about changing one case into another case - I did use a snipe on my RS press and bent the handle doing that...
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That's good to know.
 
Do it!! If you have the time and attention to detail.

For used I'd try to find a complete setup from someone getting out of it.
Most of the quality brand stuff will pretty much never wear out. 95% of my reloading stuff i bought used.
 
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