Here is another newbie reloading question. How much space is required for storage and usage of the components and equipment. Just trying to figure out how much room I have and where I would do it. thanks
You can also buy some already reloaded rounds from some dealers at decent prices.
beet.
Have you got a desk that has a locable file storage drawer? If so you can set up for reloading at the desk. Mount the press to a hunk of 2x10 and use a couple of clamps to clamp it to the front edge. Bullets, primers and powder can be kept in your file drawer.
You'll want a cheapie digital scale from Ebay for measuring the powder charges. And you'll want a progressive press for handgun ammo. In exchange for a favour that cost me a bit of work I was given a Lee 1000 progressive already set up for .45. The self indexing sucked and was so problematic even when it seemed OK that I took out the self advancing junk and indexed it by hand. Once I did that I was soon into the swing of things and finished off about 150 rounds the first night in about 2 hours. Things took longer due to the first 40 minutes being a trial of frustration from the indexing issues. The next evening I finished off the other 200 bullets in about an hour and a half.
There's a few things you want to watch for. Double charging or no charging the cases is a biggie. I just put a little halogen table lamp by the press so it shone directly into the charged cases just before the bullet went in. A quick check spoted a charge that looked about right and the bullet went on. If the primer didn't take and the powder dribbled out through the hole it was immediately apparent by the time it was looked at before putting the bullet in place. Turns out I had some small primer cases mixed in (Blazer, set it aside). I soon got the feel of that and spotted the rest of them before I went too far. You should go slow and triple check each stage at first. As things move on and you've got a few cartridges loaded switch to "only" double checking. Once you have the flow the case and charge check before placing the bullet and you're good to go. A cartridge for each pull of the lever once you get going even with the extra caution. I was getting a round out every 5 to 6 seconds by the end of the second night.
It's really not as bad as it seems. You soon fall into the flow but you don't want to be watching TV or talking to anyone while you're doing this. Some music in the background seems to be OK as long as you don't suddenly want to sing along...
The Lee presses come set up ready to go. Or there's the Dillon Square Deal for a little more. The Dillon doesn't have the auto index so I suspect they knew something. But the auto indexing shaft of the Lee is easily removed to make it hand indexed. And I heartily recomend the hand indexing. At the very least until you get all the stations working smoothly and predictably. Something I couldn't seem to get.
Cost for reloading? A .45 FMJ bullet is around 19 cents each. Primer is 4.5cents and the powder about 2.5 if you're using something like W231 like I'm using at the moment. That's 26 cents a round or $13 a box. So you're saving around $12 a box even if find some bulk ammo. At around $300 to get into the reloading press and powder scale setup that's only 25 boxes of ammo until you're shooting for less than 1/2 the price. Sooner if you can find some used equipment.
Locally I'm lucky enough to have a commercial reloader. Last I checked he was charging $18 for a box of reloads. But I heard this went up a little recently so I'm guessing $20 a box now. If you can match this then there's no big rush but even at this you can see there's a $7 a box saving if you're loading your own.
And you can save a even more if you shoot cast lead bullets instead of copper jacketed. Likely another nickel to 7 cents less. And if you go even more crazy later on and get into casting your own bullets you can reload for under a dime a shot if you dig up waste lead from backstops at the range during cleaning days. It's a HELLUVA lot of work but it's an option if shooting is your only activity so you have some extra time.
