Well it's finally come to this, I've decided to start reloading. With the price of ammo, all my new toys and the fact that I live 10 minutes from the range it's time to roll my own. I need advice though, I want a set up that will allow reloading rifle and pistol calibers. I'm totally new to this so any advise would be great!
Oh boy, here I go!
- Thread starter mattie_k
- Start date
You'll enjoy reloading mattie. Its a far broader dimension of our sport than most non reloaders realize. Cruise this forum. There is already a wealth of information here for you.
Of all the good reasons to start reloading, cost saving is the aspect you're most likely to be disappointed in. I won't get into my usual diatribe about this, its all posted elsewhere. Just keep in mind that as the cost of ammo goes up so does the cost of components so, for common calibers, recouping your outlay for the gear, manuals and tools you'll need may not necessarily be possible. The good news is you won't care so much about this. Reloading in itself is a reasonably economical hobby and worth doing for various good reasons you're about to discover. Enjoy!
Of all the good reasons to start reloading, cost saving is the aspect you're most likely to be disappointed in. I won't get into my usual diatribe about this, its all posted elsewhere. Just keep in mind that as the cost of ammo goes up so does the cost of components so, for common calibers, recouping your outlay for the gear, manuals and tools you'll need may not necessarily be possible. The good news is you won't care so much about this. Reloading in itself is a reasonably economical hobby and worth doing for various good reasons you're about to discover. Enjoy!
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Your first step should be to get all the loading manuals you can afford to buy, I would recommend a minimum of three. This is important because each manual comes to its data from a slightly different direction, and it is useful to be able to make comparisons. Occasionally there are mistakes that you might encounter, so it is valuable to have more than one source of information.
The press is the center of the handloading process and to start I think you are best to choose a single stage press. If you wish to upgrade to a progressive later you decide to do that when loading with the single stage press becomes tedious. After several decades I have not come to the point that I would be be happy with a progressive, although a turret press could be a time saver when loading pistol ammo.
A good balance beam scale and a powder trickler which allows you to carefully approach your target weight are essential, and I also believe that a scale check weight set is as well. When you zero the scale, the farther your sliders move along the beam from zero the greater the potential for error. Again, everyone should have a balance beam scale, but you may wish to upgrade to digital powder measure/scale combination at some time. In the meantime a manual powder measure is certainly useful for ball powder, but it can be less precise and rough to use with extruded powders which tend to be cut off by the rotating drum. Flake powders tend to hang up in it. For extruded and flake powders I prefer the Lee spoon measures. These are quick and easy for rough measurements which are then uniformed on the scale with the trickler.
I don't know if it is possible to buy poor dies anymore, but everyone has their favorites. My favorite dies are RCBS and Redding, and I prefer to have shell holders made by the same manufacturer as the die set. When purchasing straight wall pistol dies make sure you choose carbide so as to avoid having to use case lube. A Lee factory crimp die should be purchased for each pistol die set you own. This die ensures that the case is properly sized and produces a very nice uniform crimp. If you intend to shoot cast bullets in rifle cartridges, the Lee Universal Neck Expander is useful and cheaper for flaring case mouths than is a cartridge specific M die.
You will need a tool to trim case necks because after a couple of firings bottle neck cases lengthen which can result in high pressure situations. The RCBS trimmer is a high quality manual tool that produces uniform results. A chamfer tool must also be purchased to de-burr the inside and outside of trimmed brass. It is also useful to put a chamfer on new brass to make bullet seating easier. A power trimmer, like the excellent Giraud, can be purchased later if you find that trimming becomes a real bottle neck in your procedure.
A linear dial caliper will look after your measuring need for the immediate future. I suggest you get a good stainless steel one rather than one of the cheap plastic examples.
This covers the basics. There are no end of tools you can buy for measuring and case prep from outfits like Sinclair International or K&M. Hope this helps.
Edited to add . . .
I forgot about case lube. Nothing is better than Imperial sizing wax. A little goes a long way. Even so, sooner or later you will get a case stuck in a sizing die, so you might as well purchase a stuck case remover, or make one, right out of the gate. Dipping the case neck in Imperial Dry Neck Lube will prevent the expander button on the decapping stem from dragging without making the powder stick to the inside of the neck.
The press is the center of the handloading process and to start I think you are best to choose a single stage press. If you wish to upgrade to a progressive later you decide to do that when loading with the single stage press becomes tedious. After several decades I have not come to the point that I would be be happy with a progressive, although a turret press could be a time saver when loading pistol ammo.
A good balance beam scale and a powder trickler which allows you to carefully approach your target weight are essential, and I also believe that a scale check weight set is as well. When you zero the scale, the farther your sliders move along the beam from zero the greater the potential for error. Again, everyone should have a balance beam scale, but you may wish to upgrade to digital powder measure/scale combination at some time. In the meantime a manual powder measure is certainly useful for ball powder, but it can be less precise and rough to use with extruded powders which tend to be cut off by the rotating drum. Flake powders tend to hang up in it. For extruded and flake powders I prefer the Lee spoon measures. These are quick and easy for rough measurements which are then uniformed on the scale with the trickler.
I don't know if it is possible to buy poor dies anymore, but everyone has their favorites. My favorite dies are RCBS and Redding, and I prefer to have shell holders made by the same manufacturer as the die set. When purchasing straight wall pistol dies make sure you choose carbide so as to avoid having to use case lube. A Lee factory crimp die should be purchased for each pistol die set you own. This die ensures that the case is properly sized and produces a very nice uniform crimp. If you intend to shoot cast bullets in rifle cartridges, the Lee Universal Neck Expander is useful and cheaper for flaring case mouths than is a cartridge specific M die.
You will need a tool to trim case necks because after a couple of firings bottle neck cases lengthen which can result in high pressure situations. The RCBS trimmer is a high quality manual tool that produces uniform results. A chamfer tool must also be purchased to de-burr the inside and outside of trimmed brass. It is also useful to put a chamfer on new brass to make bullet seating easier. A power trimmer, like the excellent Giraud, can be purchased later if you find that trimming becomes a real bottle neck in your procedure.
A linear dial caliper will look after your measuring need for the immediate future. I suggest you get a good stainless steel one rather than one of the cheap plastic examples.
This covers the basics. There are no end of tools you can buy for measuring and case prep from outfits like Sinclair International or K&M. Hope this helps.
Edited to add . . .
I forgot about case lube. Nothing is better than Imperial sizing wax. A little goes a long way. Even so, sooner or later you will get a case stuck in a sizing die, so you might as well purchase a stuck case remover, or make one, right out of the gate. Dipping the case neck in Imperial Dry Neck Lube will prevent the expander button on the decapping stem from dragging without making the powder stick to the inside of the neck.
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Start with a copy of The ABC's of Reloading. Your local gun shop or Amazon. Then look into an RCBS Beginner's Kit. Gives you every thing you need less dies and shell holder. (Some cartridges share the shell holder. Any case based on the .308/.30-06, for example, use the same one.) Come with a Speer manual, but buy a Lyman book too. It's more versatile than any bullet or powder maker's book.
- Location
- Dah Soo,ON
Just digging this thread up from the grave to warn newbie reloaders to spend the 20$ on an RCBS chamfer tool. I just cheaped out and bought a LEE for 3.50$ and it actually makes bullet seating HARDER (ie; the bullet is getting scratched as it gets seated) than when i reloaded WITHOUT chamfering....
Go to the library and borrow the reloading books. Photocopy the pages with loads for your calibre. This isn't like buying a vacuum cleaner, you actually have to read and figure this out before you start putting explosive devices into your gun (like I did).
Don't bother with the Lee reloading manual, it's just an advertorial for Lee products written by some rambling old man. Lee seems to only make a few good products, but the ones they do are cheap and awesome. Their pistol carbides dies, factory crimp dies, single stage presses, priming tools, and turret presses are fantastic but everything else I find sucks. My Lee equipment started RUSTING (I'm dead serious) a week after I got it. I have a lot of other tools in my gun room, along with rifles / pistols etc and none of them seem to have problems. I'm really close to sanding my press and painting it because it's turning brown.
Don't bother with the Lee reloading manual, it's just an advertorial for Lee products written by some rambling old man. Lee seems to only make a few good products, but the ones they do are cheap and awesome. Their pistol carbides dies, factory crimp dies, single stage presses, priming tools, and turret presses are fantastic but everything else I find sucks. My Lee equipment started RUSTING (I'm dead serious) a week after I got it. I have a lot of other tools in my gun room, along with rifles / pistols etc and none of them seem to have problems. I'm really close to sanding my press and painting it because it's turning brown.
easyrider604
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Greater Vancouver, BC
You are right about the mentioned Lee products being fantastic but allow me to add that I do not have a corrosion problem with my Classic Cast Single Stage and Loadmaster (Vancouver, BC) and all the Lee reloading stuff I have now works fine, including 10 and 20 lb Lead Melting pot, various 6 cavity bullet molds in single groove and TL designs.
I do not have rifle dies, however but I don't see how Lee rifle dies would be problematic.
Twenty years ago, my first reloader a Lee Pro-1000 gave me problems at first but produced decent enough ammo in enough quantity to pay for itself many times over. That is one Lee product, however, I will not recommend because of the learning curve required to operate and maintain it well.
For the great low price of Lee products and the way they work great for me, I wouldn't mind a little annoying rust which can be prevented with a little WD40.
