New Reloader Needing Tips/Reassurance

The caliper is for measuring case length, trimming cases to proper length is very important, or get a lee case trimmer no measuring needed. I've been reloading for 40+ years and still don't have a tumbler.
 
Like some others have stated. A good investment would be a Lee case length trimmer, I use mine in a cordless drill and it works well. Also a decent set of calipers is almost a must.
http://leeprecision.com/case-conditioning-tools/case-trimming-tools/

Things you should Google/Utube search.
-Partial full length case sizing.
-Cleaning brass without a tumbler.
-Finding max COAL of your chamber

I used very simple techniques as pointed out by Boomer and H4831 to do my reloading at first. You have a great reloading set up right now. Don't go buying all the bells and whistles until you know you will need them.
 
Of the 2 manuals you are thinking about, grab the hornady one. Nosler data can be found online, where as some hornady data can only be found in their book. Case length for cannelures and some seating depths come to mind.

Hornady also makes tools that I'm sure would also be covered in their manual. Don't worry, you never stop learning when reloading, that's at least half the fun!
 
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Don't forget to give the inside of the neck a cleaning before depriming. A nylon bore rush or brass bore brush works fine. A Tiny bit of lube doesn't hurt either. Prefferably a dry lube like graphite
 
hunter-4-life said:
So if I were to order a primer pocket cleaner, case gauge (to make sure your case isnt to long or short), and a set of calipers I should be set? Or should i ignore the case gauge and just go with a tumbler? I will order a trimmer once I get a little more set up.

For those who say "you dont have a caliper and your reloading?" On the hornady sst bullets theres a little ring around the bullets, and thats how far we have been seating them as that is a good length for this rifle so we stuck to it.
Click to expand...

If you get a caliper, you don't need a case gauge... You just set the caliper to the max case (not cartridge overall) length, and use that to sort / identify cases that need to be trimmed...
As far as a tumbler goes, I only just got one 5 years ago, and I've been reloading since the early '80s.... Sure a tumbler makes nice shiny brass, but it isn't essential. An accurate measuring device (Princess Auto or Can Tire, on special will suffice) will help you out more than a tumbler. I personally prefer the dial (non-electronic) calipers, even though I have one of each.

Stan
 
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