Basics to reloading? HOW TO?

NickVR

NickVR

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Hey guys, im pretty new to CGN here, I am 18 and just recently got my PAL and just ordered my first shotgun, and I got a weird stockpiling fever.. I just want to start storing rounds and rounds of ammo! I'm interested in stockpiling and making my own either .223 or 22-250 or .243 (when i decide which rifle I want, might as well start stockpiling ammo now)
But i have been looking around at reloading kits and stuff.. not positive how it all works.. like can i buy some empty cases(shells) to reload with if i dont have any? cause yah i dont own those rifles
So you buy the lead seperate (expensive??) and the gun powder(expensive??)
and any suggestions on a cheeeap reloading kit?
is it really worth realoading?

Sorry if i used the wrong words, still learning the jargon

Thanks alot guys!
 
stock piling, an error

Large waste of money
Now if you want to store some powder, primers, bullets and brass that would be a good idea.
You might store up a bunch of ammo that don't shoot worth a darn in your rifle. FS
 
Fassteel said:
Large waste of money
Now if you want to store some powder, primers, bullets and brass that would be a good idea.
You might store up a bunch of ammo that don't shoot worth a darn in your rifle. FS
Click to expand...

thanks for your 2 cents, doesn't exactly help me at all hah but okay..

what do you mean? 'You might store up a bunch of ammo that don't shoot worth a darn in your rifle. FS' ??
 
Well Nick VR, I can give you some sage advice.
No reloader ever loads ammo for guns they don't yet own.
Reloading is all about customizing your ammo to one particular firearm.

For example I own several .223's and each rifle performs differently depending on bullet type, bullet weight, powder charge and bullet seating depth.
So I have four rifles chambered in the same caliber and none will shoot ammo made for the other worth a damn, Yet matched with their own ammo they blow the doors off of the factory ammo accuracy.

Factory Ammo is rather generic and it's potential has been nullified in favor of safety. It typically performs average in all areas and GENERALLY functions in most firearms. That being said, you might buy a huge lot of ammo only to find out that it dosen't work worth a damn in your firearm.

I stock pile factory ammo too, but only after I have run a box through my gun to prove it will be worth it.
 
Agree with weldboss. The whole point of reloading is to make loads that work well in YOUR gun. If you don't have one, don't reload for it.
 
Weldboss has hit it on the head.

Some basic points - just my call.

I rarely buy new, empty brass. Brass comes with bullets, primer and powder already in place. That's the joy of reloading; brass is the most expensive part, generally.

There's no point in buying dies, bullets, powder and such if you don't already have the piece (or intend to get it, which amounts to the same thing). Beware - reloaders are worse gear wh*res than fishermen, and that says something scary! It's easy to buy stuff just in case you might someday need it - bad call.

Essentially, reloading consists of five basic steps:

  • popping out the old primer
  • resizing the brass (it expands every time it's fired)
  • putting in a new primer
  • adding propellent
  • adding a bullet

If you are just starting, consider a Lee Loader, which uses a hammer to do the same thing as a reloading press' compound leverage. You can buy them for $40-50 and they make ammo as good as anything you can make with $5K worth of high-speed, low-drag kit. The tradeoff is time and sweat, but it gives you a good introduction to reloading.

Powder, primers and bullets are not that expensive. Some rounds (7.62x39mm in particular) are available very, very cheap and there's no point in reloading. With most however, you can save 25-50% per round (of course, you have to factor in the cost of equipment).
 
ATOM said:
Weldboss has hit it on the head.

Some basic points - just my call.

I rarely buy new, empty brass. Brass comes with bullets, primer and powder already in place. That's the joy of reloading; brass is the most expensive part, generally.

There's no point in buying dies, bullets, powder and such if you don't already have the piece (or intend to get it, which amounts to the same thing). Beware - reloaders are worse gear wh*res than fishermen, and that says something scary! It's easy to buy stuff just in case you might someday need it - bad call.

Essentially, reloading consists of five basic steps:

  • popping out the old primer
  • resizing the brass (it expands every time it's fired)
  • putting in a new primer
  • adding propellent
  • adding a bullet

If you are just starting, consider a Lee Loader, which uses a hammer to do the same thing as a reloading press' compound leverage. You can buy them for $40-50 and they make ammo as good as anything you can make with $5K worth of high-speed, low-drag kit. The tradeoff is time and sweat, but it gives you a good introduction to reloading.

Powder, primers and bullets are not that expensive. Some rounds (7.62x39mm in particular) are available very, very cheap and there's no point in reloading. With most however, you can save 25-50% per round (of course, you have to factor in the cost of equipment).
Click to expand...

Yup what he and weld said good advice. Buy your rifle first if not might as well buy factory ammo for the rifle you think you want and then when you change your mind several times over you might get close to full price on the EE for the wrong caliber of factory ammo you thought you might get at the time but since changed your mind.
Cheers
Geoff
 
NickVr good to see a young man interessted in reloading, imo the best thing you should do before buying any kind of equipment would be to aquire and read a reloading manual.

Then talk to the guys in the reloading forum for advice on equipment.
Btw rcbs has a nice kit to start with for the price of a cheap rifle and the quality is good .

Reloading is worth it if you want premium ammunition and in the long run cheaper for sure, dont buy cheap equipment just so you can load I think getting decent equipment is worth it also.
 
I would buy Lymans 49th edition reloading manual and have a read. Even if you never reload it will be very imformative.
 
okay thanks alot everyone! I think I'm gonna hold off for a little, get more used to CGN and firearms in general, as well as research reloading a little more and read up on it before making any committements, thanks alot everyone!
 
best advice?

while the advice from lots of guys on cgn is great, nothing replaces first hand experience, be sociable at the range, gun store, ect and guys are usually more then happy to talk reloading, and so on

and make sure you do things SLOW there is no rush... the world isnt gonna end tommorow

reloading is the #1 thing to never rush... i started with a simple lee loader set for my calibers, since its only 30$ (very slow, but SIMPLE, and it works, and teaches you the basics in a step by step manner, also very compact)

this way, I was able to jump straight into progressive loading without such a steep learning curve since

now on the progressive press I put out ammo almost as fast as i can shoot it.
 
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