reloading 101 for beginners

[johnwilliamson062]

The absolute minimum required...
http://leeprecision.com/lee-loader-357-mag.html

Single stage presses are around on the secondary market dirt cheap.
If you are only loading one cartridge I wouldn't expect the adjustments to be that troublesome. I only have extremely limited(less than a handful of sessions) loading 38 special though.

I have carbide dies. That seems to have been a good investment so far.

[highrolls]

Hello Doc, hope the move is going without the frustration associated with such.

I thought I would inject a different post than the first two would imply as the next logical post. Firstly, I have noticed that some of the posts in here are really good, better than the average knee jerk "go read the manuals" type stuff.

Metal god's 1st post from the economic point of view is an award winner. Not much I can add there, although Unclenick certainly found a way to do that. Condor bravo makes a good point about equipment catalogs. Order anything from Dillon and you end up with a monthly subscription to the Blue Press. Absolutely worth ordering something from them. Willr is hinting about the rifles. You may end up going there. Its a different game but if your initial choices already support that option, then a good choice becomes a great one.

Next, the manual recommendations start. Take those with a grain of salt. I already know you are going to read everything you can get your hands on. You want more than that.

After Unclenick's post, you are getting into very specific recommendations and philosophies of advanced reloading. Sometimes the really experianced folks forget that a beginner has yet to find his own reloading direction. I do that myself.

When you get to Overkill777, here is generic good advice. Reloading is not for everyone. One of the traits Overkill did not cover is distraction. Personally, I am easily distracted. I shut myself in and do not even listen to music. So far, every oops I have made, caught and corrected is caused by distraction.

Then...fanfare...top award goes to Lost Sheep. Long post but best read. I would change his advice #7. You do this long enough you will pinch your fingers, usually during press maintanence. Its a given so I will replace his #7 with the following advice: Always look for safer ways of doing this. You find a safer method, then be there yesterday. When you think you cannot improve the safety, then its time to quit.

Condor bravo does seem to question the meaning of advice#10. I simply read it through with the start word of "verify" so I think that one word is the meaning of advice 10. I like verify to mean at least three sources that I trust for example: load range data when getting ready to try a new loading, but usually I collect these on the internet from the powder sources when possible.

MGTony reminded me of the plunk test but I apply it during case prep first. I will cover case prep last though.

Now thats about when I decided to post, so its only fair to critique my own as well. Lets just say that if it can be broken or worn out, I have always managed to find the way.

Now that I have deviated, in the next post, and because you are in the midst of chaos (moving) I shall recommend some things you can start to get together for FREE while you are deciding on what equipment you want. Then back to bullets and crimps and case prep.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by condor bravo (post #16)

How did you come up with the moniker "Lost Sheep"?

Thanks for the notice, Condor Bravo. I have been ill for a week and to weak in the brain to compose an answer.

1) My initials are "L.S."

2) When my parents were members of the Airstreamers Club, my Dad was often assigned the task of trailing the caravan to ensure any stragglers were not left behind, so got the nickname "Sheepherder". My Mom then got the nickname "Bo Peep". When I would join them, my Citizen's Band nickname (Does anyone remember the popularity of CB radios 1960-1980 or so?) was "Lost Sheep"

3) When I was a kid, I would often wander off in department stores, grocery stores, amusement parks, fairs, etc. Actually, I still do, but lately I do the finding more often than than the being found.

4) The Biblical references also apply (Matthew 18:12–14, Luke 15:3–7 and Luke 15:11-32)

Lost Sheep

[Lost Sheep]

Thanks all, Highrolls, especially.

I wrote the "10 Advices" a while ago and have edited it continuously as I receive the inspiration. I am re-writing the advice 7 right now. The gist of it will be that your loading bench is a factory floor and is no less deserving of assiduous scrutiny as Hornady's, Remington's or anyone else's.

The "don't pinch yourself in your press" may go away (it was, after all largely humorous) or be incorporated elsewhere. We shall see.

Lost Sheep

[condor bravo]

Explanation of moniker appreciated LS. I can kind of relate to lost sheep. On a hunting trip in Nevada, morning came after a downpour during the night and surrounding the tent were what appeared to be about two hundred sheep. There are bighorn sheep in the mountains but these were domesticated sheep and no explanation whatsoever how they could have got there. The herder was no where in sight. Seemed like little lost sheep who had gone astray. Very unusual situation since this was definitely not a sheep herding area.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by condor bravo

On a hunting trip in Nevada, morning came after a downpour during the night and surrounding the tent were what appeared to be about two hundred sheep. There are bighorn sheep in the mountains but these were domesticated sheep and no explanation whatsoever how they could have got there. The herder was no where in sight.

I heard a long time ago from a completely unsourced source that the way they used to choose sites for building a townsite/castle/whatever back in the olden days was to release a herd of sheep (or maybe it was to observe wild herd animals) and watch where they would bed down. The animals' instincts were relied upon to make the choice.

While it makes sense to use the wisdom of the creatures around us, it also always seemed to be to be a little unfair to take their favorite bedrooms for our own. But then, we are the top of the food chain, and noblesse oblige, we build them barns, drive off the wolves, etc.

Lost Sheep

[TRX]

Buy the Lee kit in the caliber you need. No, it's not "commercial grade" like the others, but it'll do the job. Mine is 35 years old and still working.

I bought a Dillon press a few years later. I use it for loading large amounts of pistol ammo. But for the oddballs and rifle calibers, I still use the (now elderly) Lee press.

Many people consider the Lee to be "cheap" because it's made of cast aluminum. Mine has formed a whole lot of .30-06 to 7.65 Mauser, among others. And it weighs a couple of pounds; when I unclamp it from the bench and stick it back in the drawer I don't need to get the kidney belt and assume the weightlifting position.

Get "ABCs of Reloading" by Dean Grennell. Grennell assumes you're reasonably intelligent and want to learn how to reload, so he tells you how to do it. Including showing you various mistakes, so you can recognize them if you make them. There's another book out there with the same name by a "Rodney James." I don't know what the deal is with that.

[highrolls]

Hello Doc,

I remember moving to be a time of compromises, what to keep and what to discard. So I probably should have made this post first in case you have already discarded what these suggestions imply.

I notice that everyone talks about reloading in the vernacular of equipment bias, suggesting what to buy or get. Nobody talks about the pre-equipment period. Is it possible that you need something before you start ? Besides the reading and a good reloading reference. Yes, you do.

When you decide on a loading press, you are going to end up with some form of a boat anchor. It will be rather heavy, cumbersome, and absolutely useless until you decide how and where to mount the darn thing. I was fortunate in that I had an old craftsman work bench that matched up well to the base mounts of two different presses. I figured that I would probably have to change out the particle board top (3/4 inch) with a wood top but it never wore out or broke or split and I still run the press on it with a good tight fit after 30 plus years. I would imagine that during your move would be a good time to examine what you have already available that may serve the purpose. There are also a few good threads in here where folks brag about their work bench areas. Great resource to look for ideas. I am not a tall person and I like to reload in a sitting position. The top of my bench is 34". I use a swivel chair with adjustible height lever and once set confortable, it works. If you were taller than I or shorter, simply re-adjust the chair height. Here is your first chance to be creative. I bet if you look real hard, you already got something that will work for you, and for free, well, except for a little customizing labor.

Next, once you got the press ready to go, you cannot get going without.....empty cases. Maybe you have some already. If so, or even if not, lets be creative again and introduce a little bit of order to the task of empty case collecting. I will use Wal-Mart as an example of good quality, clear heavy plastic food containers for free. Meaning, once empty, I wash them up and put them on the case shelf. On my shelf, the first examples I see are the Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) 24 Oz Cashew nut containers (Red Plastic lids). Next, the Del Monte 64 OZ red grapefruit (Blue Plastic lids). Despite the content weight, these containers are almost identical in size. They will easily hold around 550-600 38 special cases. I use the lid color to designate various stages of case preparation. The point is, there are a lot of everyday food items that come in good quality re-usable plastic containers, so much so that you should NEVER store your cases in glass containers, ever.

OK, lets do some odds and sods examples. Once you begin to reload, it is a given that you will eventually have to manipulate primers in some way. I will not touch these with my hands. Not because that might deactivate a primer (it won't), but because the styphinate in primer compounds might deactivate YOU (They can absorb directly through skin contact per MSDS.). So you open your first box of primers and one or two go flying across the table. I would immediately pick them up with a good pair of tweezers. If I really need to examine a primer for some reason, a pair of "locking" tweezers is just the ticket. When I prime using the Sinclair hand prime (single primer at a time) I use a miniature pair of forceps (sorta like a real thin pair of needle nose plier). I bet you have at least one of these examples already available for your reloading bench tool area if you really look around.

To conclude this post, I will give an example of things for free but only if you head the same direction as I have taken with reloading. Once you start, you begin to customize your technique and uniquely for yourself. I for example, have never used a "loading block", usually found in most beginner kits. I have a paranoia about primers, especially since I have not much of a delicate feel in my fingertips. It took me almost forever to develop a sense of "feel" for a properly recessed primer. So, in place of a loading block, I use a small glass plate. This is my backup technique for assuring primers are at least flush or better. I mean ANY high primer at all is immediately detectible on the glass. I started with a small glass sheet from an old picture frame and I think I put a bit of duct tape on the edges to keep it from being a cutting hazard.

Hope the moving trauma is over for you soon.

[Doc Holliday 1950]

Hi everyone,

I stayed away from this post on purpose. Trying to move at our tender age is a real SOB.

There is so much great info and suggestions here that it will take me a few weeks to really sit down and absorb it all.

As soon as I get to where we are moving, I'll start on this project.

Once again, I am humbled and appreciative of all the posts.

Thank all of you very much.

[wiiawiwb]

I learned about a year ago so this subject is near and dear to my heart. I spent hundreds of hours pouring though posts on forums like this and watching a variety of YouTube videos.

At first, you can follow one out of 50 posts on a forum. The next time 2 out of 50. With time, and the thirst for knowledge, your base of information grows.

The approach I took was to address each piece of equipment separately and try to see which one got consistently good reviews from folks here. First the press, then the scale, etc. I bought each item separately rather than a kit and never regretted that decision.

I would encourage the OP to get a single-stage press and buy the best he/she can afford right from the gitgo. It will last a lifetime and will still be used even if you go to a progressive press in the future. I would also encourage him to buy things separately rather than a kit because, invariably, there are items in a kit you won't use or replace right away. Invest that money in something you will use.

Finally, find someone at a gun club or fellow enthusiast who reloads and can show you his set up and ask him to reload a few rounds so you can watch. As someone said earlier, find a mentor.

Best of luck, spend time learning everything you can and don't hesitate to ask away.