Want to get into reloading?

garybusey said:
reloading has a lot to do with common sense which is something that cannot be taught. He should have started off single stage like the rest of us :p
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Agreed if you cannot follow simple instruction and start off at an appropriate pace clearly this hobby is not for you. Personally I don't own any reloading manuals because I'm cheap but that doesn't mean I haven't spent a whole whack load of time reading and watching videos on the processes and getting things down before advancing with something that if done wrong could be potentially dangerous. I researched reloading for about 6 months before even getting my press and equipment and when my stuff came in I was ready to go and begin reloading safely and at a pace that reflected my experience or lack thereof. Glad no life threatening injuries occurred but it's sad this ignorant fellow may have helped others shy away from this highly rewarding and need not be dangerous hobby.
 
I taught myself to reload on a Dillon 550 (taught myself being a bit subjective - I had no hands-on mentor, but I did read a manual and read forums exhaustively before I gave it a try).

I started out just making dummy rounds (no primer or powder), one round at a time, until I really understood what happens at each station and how. Then I moved onto making one round at a time. At first I would weigh the powder in each and every case until I had faith in the powder drops. Once I figured that I had it sorted out, then I started loading two rounds at a time, then three, until I worked up to a full shellplate. I always respected the process and how it can be dangerous. I have always stuck to published data. I have never loaded on a single stage press (though I am going to start before too long for rifle), and I feel that I can operate my machine safety.

That said, the devil is in the details with this hobby. You have to be paying attention when you learn to load and you have to pay attention every time you load. If you have a mentor available then by all means use him/her. This is a great hobby that allows you to shoot a whole bunch more than you would otherwise be able to (at least for me it does), but it needs to be treated with respect, not fear.
 
I started reloading with only a manual, a press, and components. I didn't have a mentor, or the internet, or videos. Just me and the lyman manual. That used to be the norm, we didn't have mentors and youtube and internet forums. We just did it and figured it out mostly by ourselves. Learning basic reloading is not akin to rocket science. It requires less specialized knowledge than driving a car, and is not that much more complicated than learning to tie your shoes. Advanced reloading is another thing altogether, and most rookies make their biggest mistakes when they try to do too much at once. Starting to reload on a progressive reloader might not be the best way to start for a lot of people.
 
Garybusey, kingdarb,and jethunter have it exactly right. I belong to this school as well. Common sense and a logical, somewhat analytical mind is essential when you have no mentor. As with most things I do or have done, I've done alone, for the most part. There is now a huge amount of information available for almost anything (except specific detail about bedding a Win M70, apparently...V:I:) and there is almost no excuse for being uninformed about a subject. Becoming misinformed, mind you, is a different thing but again, this takes you back to the common sense element.

I understand how guys (especially new to reloading) are likely to get into trouble in many cases. It's called enthusiasm. We've all been there at one time or another. But you have to keep your head on and consider all the consequences.

I'm just glad the guys okay for the most part and hope he gets over the fear of reloading he likely now has.
Rooster
 
During the PAL/RPAL courses, ACTS and PROVE are drilled into our heads. So ingrained this is, I found myself PROVEing my nephew's Nerf gun before going to war with him.

Can we come up with an acronym for reloading to help out us newbies?
 
I was new at it a year ago but luckily had a fellow on here(30 years experience) kind enough to mentor me. I learned more from him than I could ever have gleaned from a book.

Thanks Frank!
 
I'm a fairly new reloader as well, and the more I reload and the more I read, the more I learn new places where things could go boom. I'm a kind of a book rat, and when I get into something that I'm passionate about, I'll read every single material I can find on it and I don't get tired of doing it. I own many (could own more) reloading books, spend hours reading on the internet, when I have read the first few pages of posts in the reloading section of CGN I go do the same on a different forum (sometimes I have to find a new forum because I'm done with all the other ones) Watch youtube videos (take it with a grain of salt but I like the visual) and recently started reading reloading magazines to get a bit more. I certainly spend more time reading then reloading lol. Hence I get sometimes accused of splitting the hair in half when I ask questions that are beyond my level of experience, but even though I don't necessarily plan on using it in my reloading process for now, It still tickles my interest and I will ask the question. Enough said..

The biggest thing I'm realizing now is this : You cannot (up to a certain level) substitute knowledge to experience. You can say someone did not act diligently by not reading enough manuals... I say you can read a hundred manuals, but if you have never heard the sound of a squib or felt the difference between that, a misfire, or a low charge, you will always be at risk.

Sure, common sense might help, but it's also an interesting thing... Is your "level" of common sense the same now that you shot and reloaded thousands of rounds than what it was when you started reloading? Also, IMHO, it's often people who think they have lots of it that lack it the most. Gotta be humble about your own common sense I think :p. I think I got loads of it, and yet I don't fully trust it.

Just my 2 newbie cents anyways, but now that I'm starting handgun reloading, I'm getting more concerned about a lot of stuff lol

Edit : getting a mentor is definitely the best solution, although it wont cover Every situation, I think it is really the best option for learning, but I didn't get this chance yet, hence, I read more.
 
Good post Tak, I agree 100%. You can read all you want on any subject but just like guys fresh out of school entering their trade of choice, experience is king. I like watching attitudes change from "I'm smarter than everyone else" to "I've got a lot to learn" to "will somebody please teach me?". A buddy of mine wants to get into reloading but thinks I'm going to teach him cos I know my way around. I'm happy to mentor him but keep telling him to buy a manual and read it before buying anything else. He asks a lot of questions and feels overwhelmed and intimidated by it. By the time you get through your first manual you feel a lot better about it and you're ready to give it a try. That's when the hands on learning starts and if you take your time and just try it, you'll be doing more than you thought you ever could. Manuals are the most important reloading tool ever invented. Nothing else comes close.
 
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