Powder and reloading questions

woodchopper said:
now we're really talking

those odd calibers are not only cool to have but the ammo cost so much more then the boring old 30-06, this way you are saving way more money per round as well, you are paying off your investment in reloading equipment faster.

I think at last count I had over 40 sets of dies :) and at least 6 different powders... I'm saving money at a very high rates now.....
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Way back when I decided to go with 3 main calibers. 12G, 308win and yep 22. Then 357/38 happened. Think I'm good with those. So 3 sets of dies and 2 types of powder and 3 different primers?
 
OK - Rather than ask these very novice questions, suggest you buy a reloading manual. The Lee manual is good because it covers both shotgun and rifle/pistol. If you get the Lee Anniversary Reloading Kit (~200$) you get the manual. The manual gives you recipes to follow for rifle and pistol.
Then you can buy the Lee Loadall in 12 g (~100$). It has recipes for reloading. Once you bone up on the specifics you can start buying components. You may as well start with shotgun, because there is an extreme shortage of large rifle primers (for 308).
 
cosmic said:
OK - Rather than ask these very novice questions, suggest you buy a reloading manual. The Lee manual is good because it covers both shotgun and rifle/pistol. If you get the Lee Anniversary Reloading Kit (~200$) you get the manual. The manual gives you recipes to follow for rifle and pistol.
Then you can buy the Lee Loadall in 12 g (~100$). It has recipes for reloading. Once you bone up on the specifics you can start buying components. You may as well start with shotgun, because there is an extreme shortage of large rifle primers (for 308).
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Jumping in with both feet lol. One thing I'm missing is a mould for buck shot and slugs. What size buck shot. Whats too big for Turkey and bunnies. Got Lymans manual coming for shot. Already have the 49th edition
 
bearhunter said:
Umm is suspect that you're being facetious when referring to handloading as ''rocket science'' ?????

It's alchemy 001.

Handloading is pretty basic if the reloader is following instructions from a manual for a hunting/plinking rifle.

If the reloader is building cartridges for a ''match'' rifle then there are tombs of books and articles written on the subject, most of which are designed to give maximum consistency between shots.

I hate it but there are firearms out there, both new and old that just aren't capable of good accuracy, no matter how hard you try to fit your handloads.

There are all sorts of issues, such as oversize/undersize bores, chambers and off center bores/chambers. Then there are bedding issues, soft stocks, sloppy receivers, uneven bolt lug seating, etc.

Thin barrels and a million other issues, real or imagined.

Handloading is not a cure all but it can help a rifle to become consistently accurate enough to fulfill its capabilities
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The science part, not the rocket part. Maybe, you could be right. The words black magic come to mind.chuckle.

Shovel, there are some very good threads here on getting started. If you use the search engine you might find them. They go on forever. But out of them you can distill an excellent kit without breaking the bank . No company makes the best of everything.
 
yep this site is a gold mine both for information and equipment. Bought most of the gear from the EE. Almost ready to roll the first 308. Stuck on one of the last steps. seating the gas check. I might need a bullet sizer. Still looking at different ways of doing it. Got the brass cleaned up and de primed. Shell holder for the priming tool is coming next week. And I need to weigh the bullets. Can you tell by the length? Almost there

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Went up to the clearing and gathered up some hulls. The target hulls have little brass compared to the other. Make any difference?
 
Shovel said:
Went up to the clearing and gathered up some hulls. The target hulls have little brass compared to the other. Make any difference?
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Depends who you talk to. I have reloaded the cheapest of shells, mind you only once.

Just google best hulls to reload. The old Win AA are usually at the top of the list. Pressed cardboard webs are usually at the bottom.

When I started shotgun reloading I spent some time cutting shells apart to learn how each manufacture were put together apart.

Not neccessary, but I needed to know.
 
Shotgun shell recipes are very specific compared to rifle recipes. To boot, some hulls are better than others, as far as longevity/integrity is concerned. Brass height has nothing to do with quality. The chosen hull dictates the type of wad, then within that type of wad you pick the capacity (eg 1 oz, 1 1/8, etc). Then you choose a primer and powder combination. Then you hope the stack height is correct for crimping.
Back to shortages, shotgun powder is limited these days, as are primers. To save the inevitable barrage of questions:
- buy powder and primers from True North Arms (buy lots, shipping is a minimum 50$.)
- buy Claybuster wads from Lawry's
- for shot, buy 25 lb bag locally as shipping is prohibitive.
- for hulls, buy loaded shells from anybody, Challenger are most available. (Challenger use straight-wall Cheddite hulls - for load data). Avoid pickup hulls unless you as see them hit the ground.

Report back.
 
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Just going to reload stuff I shoot. I have a tiny stockpile of all my calibers. I have sourced enough powder and primers and equipment for 308 and 12g. Just a couple of things missing famous last words lol
 
yomomma said:
Depends who you talk to. I have reloaded the cheapest of shells, mind you only once.

Just google best hulls to reload. The old Win AA are usually at the top of the list. Pressed cardboard webs are usually at the bottom.

When I started shotgun reloading I spent some time cutting shells apart to learn how each manufacture were put together apart.

Not neccessary, but I needed to know.
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Ill look into it maybe Ill discard the skinny target load brass for now. Planning on loading slug, buckshot and #4. Still have to get the molds
 
Shovel said:
yep this site is a gold mine both for information and equipment. Bought most of the gear from the EE. Almost ready to roll the first 308. Stuck on one of the last steps. seating the gas check. I might need a bullet sizer. Still looking at different ways of doing it. Got the brass cleaned up and de primed. Shell holder for the priming tool is coming next week. And I need to weigh the bullets. Can you tell by the length? Almost there
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Put some thought into how you chose your tooling - if you need a separate shell holder or not, for example - press versus priming tool versus case trimmer - etc. You are starting like I did - a .308 Win. Then I got a 243 Win for my wife to hunt with. Then a 30-30 because everyone needs one! Then had to have a 22-250. And it just did not quit - 30-06, 7x57, 8x57, 338 Win Mag, and so on - 23 or 24 cartridges later, I realize now I made some dumb choices about tooling when I started - could have easily bought really top end tools for the amount that I spent on various shell holders over the years - did not seem like a big deal when they were $3 or $4 - but many are $25 to $30, each, today. After a time, you discover that you already have the appropriate size shell holder from a different cartridge - but I am stubborn enough about that, that I want to have all the correct tooling for reloading that cartridge, in that die box - so I have many multiples of shell holder duplicates.

For example, I have an RCBS Bench priming tool that uses the same shell holder as the RCBS RockChucker press does, and I used to have a Lyman (?) - maybe it was Ideal (?) trimmer that also used that same shell holder - so if you have those, need just one shell holder for that size of case head - versus potentially need three separate of them.

For me, it has become a "matter-of course" that a new-to-me cartridge is also a set of reloading dies, shell holders, brass and bullets, besides the rifle, scope bases, rings and a scope. Along the way I picked up inch-pound torque wrench, Hornady beam scale and dribbler, RCBS ChargeMaster Lite and so on. Those last items tend to get used on most every rifle or hand load that I do up.
 
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wasn't expecting 3 different shell holders for different jobs same caliber but I am learning. Bit of a learning curve. A bit of a challenge sourcing them here. Almost there
 
Shovel said:
Went up to the clearing and gathered up some hulls. The target hulls have little brass compared to the other. Make any difference?
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Yes, it does make a difference.

Especially if you're loading for heavier, hunting demands, with heavier charges of shot and powder.

The higher brass bases are there to handle the pressures generated by such loads.

If you're loading for trap or grouse/pheasant and maybe ducks, you can get away with the lower brass walls or even some types that are all plastic, without any brass cups.
 
I'm not sure the the 12ga pressures are really that much different . You can look it up on powder company's site . They list pressure with each load. But they don't differentiate between low brass and high brass. I've read it explained as marketing . A use is to tell which loads are target and which are hunting. I use red AA hulls for hunting and grey for target.

The first suggestion on any shotgun forum for getting started is to purchase Lymans #5 shotgun shell reloading manual . The loads are a little dated, but the " how to " is timeless.
 
Shovel said:
wasn't expecting 3 different shell holders for different jobs same caliber but I am learning. Bit of a learning curve. A bit of a challenge sourcing them here. Almost there
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Why would you need 3??
I can see a second needed for priming depending what tools you have, Lee and FA hand primers use their own shell holders , if you had bought for instance an rcbs of hornady hand primer you did not have to use separate shell holders but could have used universal ones that also go in your press.

Heck, my hand primer does not even need a shell holder :) (RCBS Universal hand primer)
 
one for the case trimmer and the other 2. Press and primer. Case trimmer was turned back at customs for probably paper work. All Lee not sure if the other brands are the same
 
Thinking about this I have a shell holder and a gauge that still needs a case trimmer. So maybe i have the holder not sure what the trimmer looks like. Going to measure the cases for now and see where they are. But still thats 3 different shell holders
 
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