The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Did my first reloads today... Question about powder.

junker · October 2, 2011, 05:45 PM

As suggested to me on this forum I picked up The ABC's of Reloading and have been examining it for a week or two now, along with a few other books. I have been looking for an inexpensive starter kit for reloading 357 Magnum & 44 Magnum. Today I picked up a bunch of used stuff from Craigslist for $75, see list of items below.

There was 13 brass and bullets for the 7x57 Mauser (I don't have a gun of this caliber). I looked up some reloading data online for my powder and assembled the cartridges towards the mid-lower end of the power spectrum. Overall it was a good experience, I learned how to install and adjust the dies (which was my biggest worry) and that went well. I already had a set of digital calipers to which I made sure the case and cartridge dimensions were within the specs of my books. I have gained confidence in this today and look forward to a future in reloading.

My question is, as a beginner who doesn't know anything about different powders... what would be a suggested powder to start working with for 38 Special, 357 Magnum, and 44 Magnum? Would the same powder work for 45 ACP? Once I do some reloading and gain some more experience I can start examining other powders.

Here's what I got today:

RCBS Partner Press
Lee 357/38 Carbide 3-die set
Lee 7x57 Mauser 2-die set
extra decapper pins
case lube
Blue Dot powder
some primers
kinetic puller
funnel
a cheesy plastic scale
300 used 357 Magnum brass in plastic boxes
some 7x57 Brass & bullets
reloading block
some other small items that I can't identify
Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading.

October 2, 2011, 05:45 PM	#1
junker Member Join Date: January 10, 2011 Posts: 65	Did my first reloads today... Question about powder. As suggested to me on this forum I picked up The ABC's of Reloading and have been examining it for a week or two now, along with a few other books. I have been looking for an inexpensive starter kit for reloading 357 Magnum & 44 Magnum. Today I picked up a bunch of used stuff from Craigslist for $75, see list of items below. There was 13 brass and bullets for the 7x57 Mauser (I don't have a gun of this caliber). I looked up some reloading data online for my powder and assembled the cartridges towards the mid-lower end of the power spectrum. Overall it was a good experience, I learned how to install and adjust the dies (which was my biggest worry) and that went well. I already had a set of digital calipers to which I made sure the case and cartridge dimensions were within the specs of my books. I have gained confidence in this today and look forward to a future in reloading. My question is, as a beginner who doesn't know anything about different powders... what would be a suggested powder to start working with for 38 Special, 357 Magnum, and 44 Magnum? Would the same powder work for 45 ACP? Once I do some reloading and gain some more experience I can start examining other powders. Here's what I got today: RCBS Partner Press Lee 357/38 Carbide 3-die set Lee 7x57 Mauser 2-die set extra decapper pins case lube Blue Dot powder some primers kinetic puller funnel a cheesy plastic scale 300 used 357 Magnum brass in plastic boxes some 7x57 Brass & bullets reloading block some other small items that I can't identify Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading.