handofzeus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Trout Creekish Ontario.
Double check your weights. When in doubt, empty it out. Check your scale calibration often and do the same with powder measures.
What lesssons would you pass on to a new reloader?
- Thread starter huntingfish
- Start date
huntingfish
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Quebec City
Isn't a Dillon a thing as well? ;-)
huntingfish
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Quebec City
I couldn't re-use my once fired factory ammo brass as a starting point?
There is no issue with using once fired cases , that were fired in the rifle you are loading for, the issue is with picking up range brass with an unknown history.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I did that for many years, when I started loading in the late 1970's. Factory shells that had been fired in the rifle that I was loading for. I started with the Lee Loader system - over years moved along to the RCBS stuff, but still do not have a progressive - I do not load for hand guns.
Advice for new reloader - do not "offer" to reload for "friends". Got my fingers burned too many times. Have them buy a pound of powder, 100 primers, 100 bullets and accumulate either their previous fired cases, or new ones. Get them to come over and spend the time with you doing the loading. I found 75% or so never showed up - they had a notion they could get a box or two of shells for much less than store bought price, and for some reason thought that I would buy the supplies. Minimum purchases seem to be about $50 for suitable powder, $7 for primers, $50 for suitable bullets, and have or buy the suitable brass - heard too many times "It would be cheaper for me just to buy a box of shells" - well, yes it would, if you only want 20 cartridges...
For hunting? for sure.. I doubt the deer will care if your brass isn't exactly the same. I know I don't. As a hunter I doubt you're going after sub-moa anyway, especially in our neck of the woods.
In a perfect world you want the ammo to be as consistent as possible. Same brass, same bullets (from the same lot), same powder. Same everything. In real life your load might be +/- 0.2gr, your bullet might not be perfect. The case might have been fire a few times more so it lost mass.. You might not be using a match precision magic rifle on a sled while hunting. Then there are environmental factors, and human factors while shooting.
You will do just fine, plus you already have brass fire formed to your rifle (just make sure you don't use the full size die, only neck size it).
huntingfish
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Quebec City
Ah ok. Thanks for the clarification. Starting from zero as you can see ;-) I'll continue to keep my once fired brass...hopefully, by the time I get to having everything for reloading, I should have about 100 brass collected.
huntingfish
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Quebec City
So basically, about 100$ (if you have brass) of consummable per 50 bullets? Would that use up all of the powder (for 300 WM brass)?
300WM, About $100 for 100 (1lb of powder, 100 primers, 100 bullets)
If you were to use 75gr of powder per round that's 93 round per pound of powder, that's $0.38 per round. Primers are $0.04 each, add the bullet (price will vary, let's take the ELD-X 200gr at $66 per 100) and we're at about $1.08 per round.
I just started myself but luckily I have support from friends to give me tips, do's and don'ts. Picked up the Lee Classic Turret Press kit and have been doing a ton of reading, watching a lot of videos on procedures, and looking at all resources available, there is a ton. For myself, I have setup a dedicated bench and only the items I need are on the bench. Among several tips I have been given, one good tip is to remove the turret rod that move the dies automatically, in order to manually move the dies till I get comfortable. The Lee kit did come with a balance beam scale, but I also picked up a digital scale and between the 2 verify the powder charge, as well I picked up a reloading app to record load data (iReloading), to keep track of what I did and when I did it. Other than that, I don't watch TV, I set aside the time to do it, and always clean up everything, and safely store once I'm done for that session, since I am learning I don't do too many at a time cause I'm slow and continually rechecking all stages, or double checking. Good luck, be safe, don't forget to always wear proper eye protection and possibly gloves.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Helps to know there are 7,000 grains in a pound. So, one pound does 100 rounds if using 70 grains per load. 140 loads, if loading 50 grains per load. No one can know what your rifle likes "best" for a load, but loading manuals will give you pressure tested minimum (do not go lower) and maximum (do not go higher) loads for your cartridge, and with which type of powder - each powder likely has different start and maximums for any given cartridge and for any given bullet weight, so, for example, you should not be using numbers for Winchester 760 powder for 150 grain Partitions in a 7x57 cartridge, for loading 150 grain Partitions into a 30-06, even though you are loading the same weight of bullet. Nor should you be using the weights given for H4350 when loading IMR 4831 powder, or the weights given for 150 grain bullets when loading 180 grain bullets.
Hence all the mentions above about NO distractions, only one powder open, etc. It is an entirely safe and enjoyable hobby until you forget to remove the powder you were loading in your 357 magnum from the powder dispenser, and reset it to throw a volume for your 300 Win Mag. You do not have to re-learn every mistake that has occurred to others!!!
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PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR BANG, BANG, PFFFT. Not so bad if pistol (if squib can be punched free), can ruin a range trip if rifle. Ask me how I know.
Don't be obsessed with velocity. Not always the correct choice.
Read manuals.
Essentials:
Bullet puller
Stuck case remover
Universal Decapping Dies(S)
Swear jar..be surprised how much loose change adds up. Can be used to replace that which you screwed up
Load book to record loads....memory doesn't........what was I doing?
One powder at a time on the bench. Make sure lid is closed when not using......see swear jar suggestion
Don't be obsessed with velocity. Not always the correct choice.
Read manuals.
Essentials:
Bullet puller
Stuck case remover
Universal Decapping Dies(S)
Swear jar..be surprised how much loose change adds up. Can be used to replace that which you screwed up
Load book to record loads....memory doesn't........what was I doing?
One powder at a time on the bench. Make sure lid is closed when not using......see swear jar suggestion
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
Bittereinder
CGN Regular
- Location
- Ontario (GTA)
I like to check load data from one source against another. The data for the same powder and bullet type will usually be a bit different between different books or sources, but you can see how they're close. The effort of checking more than one source helps me make sure I'm not mis-reading something.
All good advice in this thread.
- decide if you are loading for plinking, precision, hunting, or whatever.
- determine what the biggest variable is for your accuracy. For me, it's "me", so loading ammo to 0.1 gr of powder, weighing each empty brass and sorting by headstamp is never going to happen.
- understand that all brands of presses/tools work. I bet they work fine for 99% of people. My single stage Lee C-press has loaded many many thousands of rounds and is still going strong. I'm sure Redding, RCBS, Dillion, Hornady, C-H, etc presses are also going strong.
- start with a single stage before going to a turret or progressive. Understand the process.
- have a many load sources as you can and understand that they will not match at all. Bullet manufactures, powder manufacturers, equipment manufacturers. All good. Lee, Lyman, Hornady, Sierra books, online for free Hodgdon, Alliant, Western Powders, Canpro, Speer offer excellent data
- prepping rifle brass is a pain but do it - especially maximum length
- no matter how much equipment you have, you can always find better/cooler/more fun. Bullet pullers, primer catchers, powder dispensers, priming systems, trimming gadgets
- only one powder on the table/open EVER. Never mix up rifle powder and pistol powder (unless your load is clearly indicated in both like TrailBoss)
- decide if you are loading for plinking, precision, hunting, or whatever.
- determine what the biggest variable is for your accuracy. For me, it's "me", so loading ammo to 0.1 gr of powder, weighing each empty brass and sorting by headstamp is never going to happen.
- understand that all brands of presses/tools work. I bet they work fine for 99% of people. My single stage Lee C-press has loaded many many thousands of rounds and is still going strong. I'm sure Redding, RCBS, Dillion, Hornady, C-H, etc presses are also going strong.
- start with a single stage before going to a turret or progressive. Understand the process.
- have a many load sources as you can and understand that they will not match at all. Bullet manufactures, powder manufacturers, equipment manufacturers. All good. Lee, Lyman, Hornady, Sierra books, online for free Hodgdon, Alliant, Western Powders, Canpro, Speer offer excellent data
- prepping rifle brass is a pain but do it - especially maximum length
- no matter how much equipment you have, you can always find better/cooler/more fun. Bullet pullers, primer catchers, powder dispensers, priming systems, trimming gadgets
- only one powder on the table/open EVER. Never mix up rifle powder and pistol powder (unless your load is clearly indicated in both like TrailBoss)
Brassman66
CGN frequent flyer
Buy supplies when you can and as much as you can.
Cheers
Cheers
