Handloading questions

[E&BC]

I am signed up to take a handloading course.

I am completely new to this that is why I am taking the course.

what kind of information would you give to someone just starting out?

What kind of equipment set up would you recommend?

[mikejonestkd]

There's tons of info in this thread:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230171

Hope this helps

[DiscoRacing]

Find/read some reloading data manuals... read as much as you can... figure out just what you want from reloading in terms of calibers,,,speed,,and how much money you have to spend...there are lower cost presses that will work as well as the expensive ones...but the higher costs are usually faster loading.

[lee n. field]

what kind of information would you give to someone just starting out?

"Buy the Lyman manual and read it."

What kind of equipment set up would you recommend?

"Don't start with a progressive. Start with a single stage press. You need to understand the procedures first, and a progressive has too much going on at once for a beginner to follow."

[jhenry]

Exactly correct. The Lyman manual is the first thing to get and read cover to cover. After that you may want to shop for a single stage kit that has pretty much every thing you need to start off with. Lee makes a nice one to start with. I still use my Lee single stage press all the time.

[E&BC]

With the single stage presses how many rounds can you put out in a day?

[SwampYankee]

You'd be hard pressed to spend a whole 24 hours reloading but with my old Rock Chucker I can do about 50 pistol rounds an hour. I started with it but once I outgrew it I moved to the Hornaday LNL- it can do about 50 rounds in ten minutes once everything is set up. But I am glad I started with the single stage, I learned how to do things right, step by step. With the LNL, my son pops in cases and I do the bullets. I still use the Rock Chucker for all my .308 and .223 but I shoot much less of it and shoot for accuracy so slower is better.

[Don H]

Originally Posted by E&BC

With the single stage presses how many rounds can you put out in a day?

Depends on the length of your reloading day. 'How many per hour' would be a better question. The answer depends on whether you have done all the prep work first and all you have to do is pull the handle. I don't think 50-75/hour is unrealistic on a single-stage press.

[reticle]

My two bits of advice would be to load in the middle. Most load data gives three options for propellant weights to charge the casing. I started with the middle one and felt confident that in the event that I was "off" by a bit, I wouldn't harm anything. Start with that until you have a chance to shoot some of your loads.

Also, before you seat projectiles visually check the cases for uniform propellant charge. It's a detail, but in the beginning sometimes you might miss charging a casing....in fact, after you finish any stage of the process, double check before you move to the next step. After a while, you might not need to be so deliberate.

[Sevens]

...do you know which end of the case the primer goes in, and which end takes the bullet?

Easy question, sure. I'll bet you knew the answer.
Here's another question, we'll see if you can get two in a row:

Where, on all of The Firing Line Forums would you start a new thread asking folks about Handloading?

a) Handguns: General Handgun Forum
b) The Art of the Rifle
c) Law and Civil Rights
d) Handloading, Reloading and Bullet Casting
e) wherever it happens to land!

Please take this post in a manner similar to my humorous mood when I wrote it.

[HoraceHogsnort]

I can heartily recommend the latest edition of "The ABC's of Reloading".

[noylj]

As an old fart, I can't believe the prices for reloading classes. Believe me, it isn't very difficult and reading a couple of good manuals will teach you everything you need to know.
I always wanted to conduct a class with the Lee Challenger kit and walk them through reloading a straightwall case, ending with entering the range and shooting their 10 or so reloads. Then, next week go through reloading a bottleneck cartridge, with instruction for measuring and trimming case and other intricacies of bottleneck cases.
Except for the hands-on part of the class, everything would be simply going through exactly what you read in the manuals.
Read ABC's of Reloading and Lyman #49. You can even get a DVDs such as Hornady Video "Metallic Reloading" DVD for $12.79, RCBS Video "Precisioneered Handloading" DVD for $8.99, Sierra Video "Introduction to Handgun Reloading" DVD for $29.99, Sierra Video "Introduction to Rifle Reloading" DVD $30.99, and Redding Video " Advanced Handloading: Beyond The Basics" for $15.99.
Unlike a class, you can watch the videos as often as you like and probably pick up something new each time.

[grumpa72]

I taught myself (sort of) by reading a lot, asking lots of questions and viewing as many videos including YouTube as possible. I use the Lee Classic Cast Turret and I can churn out 200 +/- .45 rounds in an hour. If I have to reload the primer tray, pick up dropped cases etc then it drops to about 160-170. This is easy to do, the safety procedures are good and all you need to do is to learn the techniques and then reload without compromising safety.

[WESHOOT2]

Safety glasses; mandatory. As in "No exception; none".

When in doubt buy RCBS.

A $25 LEE Reloader press can get one started very inexpensively, and will still be a useful tool after one learns (and buys) more.

The Lyman Pistol & Revolver manuals (both #2 and #3) are the best 'starter' guides.

Bolt your press(es) to a 2"x6" piece of pressure-treated lumber; bolt THAT to your bench.

[Daryl]

My advice is:

Read a handloading manual. Better yet, read several.

Repetition causes mistakes. NEVER forget this. Find a process that works for you, that allows you to double check each step before you move to the next.

I.E., I start by checking length, trimming, and then cleaning my brass. I clean it before resizing so that when I resize/deprime it, I'll also clean out the flash hole on the brass (cleaning media has a nasty habit of plugging up flash holes, so you'll need to check them). When I remove the brass from the tumbler, they go neck down in a 50 or 100 round ammo box that's short enough to allow easy access to the brass. As I resize/deprime, they come out of the box, and are then put back in. I can easily see which have been resized/deprimed, and which haven't.

When I prime them, same thing. They go back into the ammo box neck down so that I can inspect the primers to insure proper seating of each one.

In charging the cases, I remove a case, charge it, and then either return it to the ammo case, or use a loading block. I never put a case in the box neck-up until it's charged with powder. This prevents confusion about which case is next to be charged. Believe me, repetition in this part of the handloading process WILL cause mistakes at some point in your loading life.

Once all of the cases are charged, I visually inspect each case with a flashlight to insure that each is charged, and none are double charged.

Once that's done, I seat the bullets in a properly adjusted die.

I've used the same process for over 30 years with good results. The way I do it allows me to check each step of the loading process before I move to the next, and I never move to the next step until I've finished the prior one and double checked it.

And after all these years, I still load my ammo on the same single stage RCBS Rockchucker press. No progressives for me, since I'm not in a hurry to mess up anything.

Daryl

[l98ster]

Getting a reloading manual is always a good idea. As far as which set up to get, it all depends on what you are going to be loading. If you are going to be reloading rifle, definitly get a single stage. Reloading rifle is a lot more time consuming than pistol.

If you are reloading pistol, I know alot of people who will also recommend a single stage, but I dont particularly think its neccessary. A progressive can be learned very easily.

For example, If you buy a dillon 550b (progressive, but NOT auto indexing), it can be used as a single stage as well as a progressive. Just complete one round at a time before you put the next case in!

If you will be reloading pistol in high volume, my vote is for a manually indexing progressive (dillon 550b). I figure if you use that machine as a single stage for 50-100 rounds, you will have learned enough to start using it as a progressive. Now, techniques for faster (but safe) reloading will come in time.

This is the way I started years back. I use my dillon 4 times a week (I shoot a lot), and have had nothing but good things to say.

-George

[MadHatter1]

The advice that I would add is to:
Pay attention to detail. Do not reload when tired, distracted, pre-occupied, under the influance of mind-altering substances, etc. Its like JMPI, there's 0 margian for error. The price for a mistake can range from being embarased cause you had a sqib to serious damage to a weapon and injury to a person.
Stay away from powders with narrow min-max charge spreads when you first start out. As an example, I use lots of Hodgdon's Clays in .45ACP. Its clean, soft shooting, goes a long way, and makes the power I need. However, the load range is 3.6 to 4.3 grains. Its a very fast burning powder, and a small overcharge can create dangerous amounts of pressure. Start with powders that are a little more forgiving.

[oneounceload]

Reloading is not rocket science, it IS repetitive motion assembly. As mentioned, you need to keep your focus on the task at hand and not get distracted by kids, tv, etc.

Get several manuals, a SCALE, along with a press and dies. Depending on whether you're loading straight wall pistol or bottle-neck rifle, other gear will become necessary

[Rifleman1776]

Can't say it too often, get a reloading manual.
In my opinion classes are not necessary.
Personally, I do not recommend the Lee equipment. As a beginner you will soon want to upgrade.
I used to sell the Lyman sets. They are complete, good quality and my customers were happy. Some will argue there are better brands but that is like arguing Ford/Chevy.
A single stage press and batch loading will turn out mucho numbers of rounds with a days work.
I prefer the single stage press over the auto things because I carefully examine my brass and rounds at every step.
For me, safety and consistency come before speed in this endeavor.

[lee n. field]

Exactly correct. The Lyman manual is the first thing to get and read cover to cover.

Well, I don't know that ask someone to read through the load data. Kind of like reading Leviticus -- not for the easily distracted.

[thesheepdog]

Get on youtube and watch some reloading videos.

[engineermike]

Gee Daryl;
I never thought about putting brass upside down while depriming and de-capping, and re-priming. I think you just gave me the answer to how to increase the volum (Not the right word) "Capacity" (Right word) of my loading blocks.

Thanks;
Mike

I learn something here every other day.

[sserdlihc]

I never thought about putting brass upside down while depriming and de-capping, and re-priming. I think you just gave me the answer to how to increase the volum (Not the right word) "Capacity" (Right word) of my loading blocks.

Not a bad idea at all.

[Daryl]

Gee Daryl;
I never thought about putting brass upside down while depriming and de-capping, and re-priming. I think you just gave me the answer to how to increase the volum (Not the right word) "Capacity" (Right word) of my loading blocks.

Thanks;
Mike

I learn something here every other day.

I never really thought about it that way, but it'd likely work for a lot of cartridges. You're welcome.

The reason I listed that is because I've seen people take a container of brass, resize it, then put it into another container where it wasn't positioned for easy viewing.

Then do the same thing while priming.

It's sad when they take the brass out of the container, charge it, cap it, and THEN realize (maybe at the range) that they either missed a primer, or put one in upside down.

I've caught myself in just enough mistakes to keep me from skipping the double check.

Daryl

[chris in va]

I've learned a few things after a year of reloading.

Don't go nuts with equipment until you learn what you *really* need. I still do just fine with my Hand Press.

Double, triple check your powder charge. Every time you handle a cartridge, feel for the primer with your finger. Spin the finished round with your fingers to check for a split case. I've found four defective rounds this way.

If you use range pickup brass, sort out every...single...case. That sneaky S&B 9mmBr (380acp) gets in there and throws a wrench in the works. Ditto for steel cases, run a strong magnet through your pile. SURPRISE...that brass colored case is really steel!

A vibratory case cleaner is pretty much a mandatory piece of equipment. I did the vinegar/salt/warm water/ dry in oven thing for a while, no comparison.

I'll second the powder selection for pistol cartridges. Don't get something you can easily double charge, use a powder that has bulk. My favorite is Universal.

A kinetic bullet puller is your best friend.

Don't get carried away (like I did) and load up 300 rounds only to find they don't chamber, shoot poorly or don't hit what you aim at. Do 50 rounds, then verify they work.