Reloading tips, tricks, techniques from the old hands ?

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RobSmith

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I don't reload, yet, hoping to save up enough for a basic setup this year. So far this forum has been mostly Q&A and or FAQ.

Seems to me like there's something missing here.

The way I look at it there has to be at least a couple hundred, if not a couple thousand, combined years of experience in the art of reloading on this board alone. So let me be the first to start a thread about, well, nothing specific.

There just must be a whole lot of knowledge not covered in the basic manuals which every reloading has read and pretty much learned by heart locked in your collective brains that no book has ever bothered to publish.

So .... Here goes ... Experienced reloaders, have at it, what tricks have YOU developped over the years ? What extra piece of gear have proven useful to you yet there is either little or even no mention that it may come in handy in the books ?

Have you improvised and come up with a piece of gear of a working technique that you would like to share with the newbies or us wannabe reloaders ?

If there's one thing in life I learned the hard way, it's that readin' ain't doin' !
 
OK, I'm in. You can use a #2 pencil to lubricate the inside of case necks; the graphite works fine. If you use a 'hammer' type of bullet puller, put an arrowhead pencil eraser (the kind you stick on the end of a pencil when the original eraser wears out) 'mouth up' in the recepticle end of the puller. It will keep the pulled bullet tip from deforming. Media for your brass cleaning tumbler is best purchased from a pet store; much cheaper than gun shops. Empty fabric shot bags make great rifle benchrest bags when filled with kitty litter. Clear nail polish can be used as a primer sealer against moisture; just use a tiny amount. Don't throw away your used/damaged brass. I deprime it and sell it at a local recycling center.
 
PAM cooking spray works as case lube. Extra fine corn cob media does not get stuck in flash holes. Extra bowls for a vibrating tumbler can be made from bundt cake tins/jello moulds.
 
I use a rubber O ring in place of the retaining spring that holds the shell holder in place on the ram. By doing so, I ensure that my cases are always centered with the die and are more concentric as a result. O rings can also be used between the die bodies and lock rings of the decapping pins and seater stems.

Do not use a wet lube for the inside of your case mouths. Powdered graphite is cheap, but Shootshellz's idea of using a pencil is also good.

Use check weight sets to set your scales, not only for zero, but also for the weight you intend to weigh.

Keep the ram and linkages of your press clean and lubricated.

Get rid of odd ball shell holders. Just becasue the shell holder fits the rim of a cartridge does not mean it will allow the proper amount of shoulder set back when full length resizing. Make sure the number on the shell holder is consistent with the cartridge you are reloading.

When seating primers or seating bullets, press the primer or bullet part way in, then turn the cartridge half a turn then finish the operation. Feel each seated primer to ensure it is below the surface of the case head or stand each case on a hard flat surface to see if it rocks on the raised primer. If crimping bullets, crimp as a second operation to seating the bullet, and as above crimp, turn the cartridge half a turn a crimp again. When I crimp with an RCBS or Redding seating die, I adjust the die for each individual cartridge and leave the lock ring loose.

If you can weigh it or if you can measure it, it matters.
 
I just started myself. And literally, when everyone says read the manuals . . . well, read the manuals. Read at least two but the more the merrier. They literally give you everything you need to know.

The only peice of advice I would give from one newb to another is that when you read the manuals, have the exploded diagram/parts list of your equipment nearby for quick reference. Because while the manuals explain everything, they don't necessarily explain the parts they are referring to in terms a beginner would understand.

For example, instead of "that silver thing that sticks up next to the black thing" they'll call it a primer arm and you won't have a clue (at least I didn't).
 
There has been a tremendous change in attitude about reloading, since I started forty-four years ago. I think most of it has come about because of the great rise in law suits. The loading companies, and the writers of the manuals, are doing everything in their power to keep from being blamed for any mishap a reloader may have.
An example is that none of the old loading charts showed the exact type of bullet a load listed was using. The old charts, for example, would show a 30-06 with the usual starting, medium and full loads of powder for a 180 grain bullet. Thus, when you worked up a load in your rifle for that powder, you used any 308 180 grain bullet you had. The same went for the primers. It was seldon listed what primer they were using, unless the list was by a primer manufacturer, then of course, they would say to use their primers. For all my years of reloading in many different calibres, I have always treated any bullet of a given weight, the same as any other bullet of that weight. Likewise, I have always treated a primer as a primer, and never changed the loading because of a different primer. Also, I have never changed a load because of using the same powder, only a different lot number. The big powder makers are extemely careful to be sure all is well in the powder they sell for reloaders.
Brass cases are a concern because of the different weights of different brands. I go by weights of the case, rather than by brand, because if the cases are close to the same weight, it doesn't matter who made them.
Old time loaders used common sense and experimented much more. Ever read books by such people as Elmer Keith? Jack O'Connor credits himself as creating the load of 60, or even 62, grains of H4831 with 130 grain bullets in the 270. He wrote these loads up in his columns, then later wrote that he was surprised to see the loading companies had used his figures in their loading books! STOP- I did not quote this load with the intention that you follow it. I merely quoted what I have read and you must get your own loads from reliable sources and you must be satisfied they are safe before you use them!!!
If any old time loader wanted a light load, he/she just experimented until the found a load they liked, usually with the powder they had on hand.
What hasn't changed is the difference in rifles. Because one 243 rifle is comfortable with a given load doesn't mean another 243 will handle the same load. Loads must be built up for each individual rifle. This is one of the reasons why you should not use other peoples reloads, or reload for other people.
These are a few of the noted changes we have seen over the years.
 
If you are reloading for rifle, I use to lee resizing lubricant.About 50 rounds in a icecream bucket. the lubricant comes in a squesse tube. about a 2 inch shot of the paste and swiel around until all the rounds are coated. About every tenth round, take a qtip and swap the inside of the neck. the stuff is greaseless, and tumblers up nice and clean:)
 
Jaffray said:
If you are reloading for rifle, I use to lee resizing lubricant.About 50 rounds in a icecream bucket. the lubricant comes in a squesse tube. about a 2 inch shot of the paste and swiel around until all the rounds are coated. About every tenth round, take a qtip and swap the inside of the neck. the stuff is greaseless, and tumblers up nice and clean:)
Click to expand...

So if I understand correctly you just put fifty casings into the ice cream tub, squirt in two inches of lube, and mix?

Question: shaken or stirred :D?
 
and yes read the manuals. I started out with the lee handloaders. I once was pounding a primer in and the dam thing went off:eek:. the cat left the room. and the exwife was not impressed.:rolleyes:. But go for it . Its fun reloading your own.
 
Triple check your OAL. Don't ask me how I know.

Collect used fabric softener sheets. One or two cut into strips and tumbled along with the brass do a perfect job of cleaning. The brass is clean and the softener sheets are all black. Pick them out and throw them away. They also collect all the static charge, so no media or dust sticks to the brass.
 
I'm kind of surprised that this thread hasn't done better, but I've got a few more things that might help out the beginner.

If you are tempted to save money by using the spoon powder measure sets from Lee rather than a bench mounted powder measure, you should still invest in a good scale. I'll save you some time here and tell you up front that Lee's scale is not good. It is not repeatable, it is not accurate, and as far as I'm concerned it's dangerous. I have found that powder measures in general are more useful with ball powder than with extruded or flake powders. The extruded powders get cut by the drum of the powder measure, and due to their shape the throws are seldom repeatable. Flake powder tends to be light and fluffy and hangs up in the powder measure drop tube.

Speaking of drop tubes, you don't need to use commercial ones, and any sort of tube can work, usually the longer the better. As a rule I try to avoid loads that require them, but there are times. The barrel of a Bic pen works, aluminum RCBS primer tubes work, your imagination is the only limitation.

It is useful to have a second smaller press on your loading bench should you have room. This second press could be used for priming, expanding case mouths, and seating bullets. For this purpose Lee's little aluminum "C" press is excellent.

Again if room permits, and you use a balance beam powder scale, try to have your scale on a shelf at eye level rather than on the work level of your bench. This makes reading the scale much easier. Try to control the amount of air movement in the room while you are loading as this will effect both balance beam and digital scales.

Make or purchase loading blocks for your cartridges. I use the commercial MTM ones and find that they serve my purposes.

I find it advantagous to load in batches of 100 rounds, once my load development is complete. This is handy as primers and bullets most often are packaged by the hundred.

Keep good records. These records should include as much information as possible, not only information pertinent to the load information, but also including your observations when shooting the rounds you have made.
 
rdelliott said:
So if I understand correctly you just put fifty casings into the ice cream tub, squirt in two inches of lube, and mix?

Question: shaken or stirred :D?
Click to expand...

2" of the Lee lube for 50 cases is WAAAY too much. I use a large Ziploc Freezer bag, 200 .223 cases and about 3/4" to 1" of the lube. Then just massage the bag for a minute or two to get the Lube distributed evenly.
 
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