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[Whits_Mac]

Hey, im still fairly new to reloading but have been doing it for my black gun in 223 quite a bit. I was given a complete Hornady classic setup and have been having fun with it. My dad has an -06 and bought dies so I could load some rounds for him. When someone asks ya all to load some rounds for them, how do you go about determining what to give them for powder? I had planned on just looking in my books, finding my fav powder, and giving him what ever grain was in the middle of max and min. Is that a good rule of thumb or am I way off? I know people can just borrow your buddies guns to tune your loads every time they want you to load them some bullets, so there must be a generic rule of thumb I have not heard of yet. Any help please?

[NCMountain]

I don't load for anyone but myself. There is a liability issue with this and even if they are friends is of no matter to me. If a mishap occurs a friend will sue if the load injures; damages a gun; or any other problem that may arise.

As far as for family..........that is a judgement call.

[DiscoRacing]

I load for me and my kids only...

[Creeper]

I had planned on just looking in my books, finding my fav powder, and giving him what ever grain was in the middle of max and min. Is that a good rule of thumb or am I way off?

Sure... if it's your gun and you're shooting it. If it's your dad's gun, treat it like is was your very own and you were going to let the most important person in your life shoot it... 'cause that's pretty much what's happening.
If you're not willing to spend the time and effort developing a proper load, then I'll have to say no.

See... the wording you use in your post gives me (and perhaps others) the impression that you take the hobby of reloading very lightly, as though anyone with a 2 digit IQ can or should do it.
Consequently, you make me nervous and I am concerned about your safety and the safety of people you might load for. Do you understand my misgivings?

I apologize if I'm way off base, and it's not my intent to embarass you... but that's the feeling I get.

Cheers,
C

[Whits_Mac]

I just get the impression that its not a big deal loading for others from the guys in my area. I know about several people (about 5 or 6) that reload and they all reload for their buddies/family. I my self have shot several reloads from one of the guys. I dont mean to sound care free, I do take the proper precautions for my self. This is why im asking you guys what to do. I could have asked the guys I know but I cant say that I trust their judgement. I was not raised up in a reloading family so I cant just turn to my grandpa or dad and ask them questions. The input that has been given is very helpful already. I plan to get my dads gun from him and shoot it my self and work up his load.

[Whits_Mac]

BTW Creeper, thank you for your concern. It is people like you guys that acutely show concern that I trust your advise from. No offense taken.

[NCMountain]

Whits..............some folks don't mind one bit to reload for friends and such. I just don't as a matter of rule as I stated above.

If the load is off and these things can happen I hurt myself and I don't have to live with the fact someone else ate my load.

Just a matter of preference on my part. Good luck and what ever decision you make be sure it is one you can live with.

The New Year is one hour away! Wooooo Hoooo!

[Creeper]

Well... it's good to read that second post. I appreciate your thoughtful and well worded response... it changes my initial perception of you considerably.

Just to qualify myself, I've been reloading for nearly 40 years. For over 20 of those years, I've loaded precision benchrest grade cartridges including wildcats with case machining, shoulder adjustments, neck-ups and downs and lots of fireforming.
Not saying I know it all, but I know a good bit more than many about rifle cartridge reloading. I have only a modest experience with handgun ammunition and that dates back to the 70s mostly.

I'll tell you true, and it will echo the comments of previous posters... to load for anyone other than yourself is a dangerous game. If something bad happens, directly responsible or not, you can still be held to account.

In the sense that it is your father, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't develop a load for him. Use only the finest first run, first rate components... don't skimp. Review all the information you can find on both the cartridge and the rifle itself. Learn it as though it was your very own.
As I said earlier, you need to "develop" a load for him that will suit his needs... hunting, modest range target shooting, long range... what ever it is that he likes to do. If this requires match grade bullets, a specific brand of powder or primer... even a specific case brand, then that's what you do.

Load 5 or 10 of a particular combination at well below the listed maximum, test for accuracy, safety and reliable function. If you don't know what to look for as far as signs of an over pressure bottleneck cartridge, then you need to read and review until that knowledge is second nature.
Pick the best 1 or 2 out of 3-5 possibles, increase powder charges in small increments... and remember that velocity and accuracy do not (always) go hand in hand.

You only have one maxim to follow that is absolute... "Is it safe?". If the answer is yes to the best of your knowledge and abilities, then you're good to go in my book.

Reloading can be great fun and a tremendous education, but when loading for others, one must always remember... "Is it safe?"

Regards,
C

[Ozzieman]

The liability issue would be good enough for me not to reload for others but the main reason is mistakes can be made, I have been reloading for over 30 years and I reload only on a single stage press.
I have made few mistakes and luckily they never made it into the gun just had to pull bullets.
But the main reason that I will not reload for others is that if something did happen, I don’t want to go through the remainder of my life with the knowledge that my mistakes hurt, maimed or killed someone.
I have helped others reload. I let them to come to my home and I will show them how and let them use all of my equipment and they do all the work.
One guy I don’t shoot with any more, he actually got mad when I said no, and he even offered to pay me.
And I won’t shoot others reloads.
The only time that I have been injured shooting guns was from a reloading mistake that the person shooting next to me made. AR-15 charging handle broke my nose from pistol powder in a .223.

[Shoney]

Whits_Mac

WELCOME TO TFL!!!

Kabooms, whether from reloads or factory ammo, do happen. The loss of life is quite rare. Fingers can be mangled badly or even blown off, eyes and partial sight loss are not uncommon.

After an accident, how long do you think it will take for the wives of your easy going buddies to contact a lawyer?

I can just see the headlines, "Reloader looses law suit after reloading accident. Damages were awarded for physical damages, mental anquish to the injured victim, and mental anguish to the wife who claimed the accident cause erectile difunction in her hubby."

Good Shooting!

[Randy 1911]

Besides all that has been said, there is a big difference if you are going to sell this ammo. If you are going to sell it, it requires a special permit from BATFE (Bearua of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives). Plus all the liaibility insurance, busines liesene, ect..

[Hook686]

dont mean to sound care free, I do take the proper precautions for my self. This is why im asking you guys what to do. I could have asked the guys I know but I cant say that I trust their judgement.

If you don't trust your buddies judgement, why are you shooting their reloads ?

I do not reload for anyone else, and do not shoot others reloads. One just never know when someone has a brainfa*t. I read about squib loads a lot on gun forums.

[Whits_Mac]

Im under the impression that the guys in my area are an exception as far as reloading for others goes. Huh... Its interesting seeing what the world has to say compaired to who I see day to day. The guy I shoot his load from has the same gun as me and he uses his own loads in that gun. Before I got into reloading I thought there was just 1 load for each gun and that was that. That is why I was fine with shooting. Now that I know a little more, I have found out that he as been giving me overcharged rounds, yikes. He has never given me any warnings about reloading is why I dont really care to ask him reloading questions. Dosnt make him a bad person, i guess, just would rather ask you guys not him. I am not hear to answer questions, im here to ask them so if I need a tongue lashing let me have it!

[NCMountain]

Your doing the right thing asking questions. I ask alot and have asked plenty myself. I will continue to ask plenty because there are great resources on these like forums with people that have been loading longer than I have been alive.

Read the manuals carefully and then double check your work.

Let me give you an example of what I do for loading .38's..............Keep in mind I have a Lee Classic Turrett press:

After all my cases have been visually inspected and I have used a caliper to check them and have trimmed the one's that needed it and tumbled I begin to load.

I start like anyone by sizing the nexk then charging the prime.....as I go to the powder charge station I pull the case to make sure the primer seated then replace and charge.

I then cycle the auto index to the bullet seating station and seat the bullet. I pull it off the press and measure to make sure it is the length I want (And what I mean by this is it is within the limits for this round and charge).

Then I auto index to put a light crimp on the round and voila I am done.

Let's back up just a bit............every fifth round I check my charge from the auto powder charger on a balance beam to make sure the auto powder charger is charging correctly. Is this overkill? Not to me! Do I load consequently slower than most???? Maybe, but I feel much better than most I assume.

Point is.........I am not in a production race or on a time schedule. Do I still have mess ups? You bet. Mainly thinking the primer seated and I go through all the steps and grab what I believe to be a finished round and there will be powder coming from the case through where the primer would be!

So I go and pull the bullet and redo. It happens. This I know goes against my statement above that I check every case to make sure it primes. I actually look at the prime feeder and if the primer disappears I assume it seated, but sometimes it falls down the ram tube into the old primer catcher, Wooooops! So even with my cautious acts I mess a few up.

Good luck and enjoy.

[farmerboy]

I load for myself and my "Dad".

[CrustyFN]

I don't reload for anybody but myself. They could be your best friend in the world until something goes wrong and they lose an eye or worse. The next thing you know they are wanting to take away your house and everything else you own.

I know about several people (about 5 or 6) that reload and they all reload for their buddies/family. I my self have shot several reloads from one of the guys.

I could have asked the guys I know but I cant say that I trust their judgement.

It's a good thing you reload your own and don't shoot theirs any more. When I was fairly new to reloading I bought a Ruget GP100 357 mag revolver. A friend of mine asked me if I had any ammo yet and I told him no. He gave me a small box of his loaded ammo. Around 20 rounds into the box I had a squib. I stopped shooting them and returned the rest the next time I saw him. I was very thankful it was a squib and not a double. I still think there is a good chance there was a double somewhere in his loaded ammo. That experience stopped me from shooting others ammo and letting others shoot mine. If it was for my father that would be a tough call. I would probably load for him.

[mongoose33]

I've backed away from reloading for others. I've been to the range w/ a few friends who shoot my reloads, but they're out of my gun and they have eye and ear protection when they do. My son also shoots them. I had a couple squibs early in my reloading career, and it helped me realize the consequences of reloading for others. One squib was shot by my son.

The idea of creating reloads for others is....odd. Not the reloading for a dad--if it were me, I'd work up loads for him, and shoot them myself out of his gun before I'd let him do it.

But for friends? Yeah, I save money, but I'm trading my labor and time for that money. If I'm reloading for others, I'm donating my labor and time to them, as well as all the consumables costs. And this assumes they're paying for the components.

If they pay any more than for the components, now I'm selling ammo and that's not legal without all the licensing and etc.

If they wanted me to teach them how to pump out their on on my equipment--well, possibly.

[P5 Guy]

My shooting buddies and I will swap reloads and recipes around, but I have never made a batch for anyone but me. Maybe we are taking a chance, maybe not, they are careful handloaders and we have not had any problems. The handloading gods may stop smiling on us. Who knows when?

[qwman68]

ive loaded for some friends and relatives and dont really think that much about it. my cousin shoots a 30-06 so do i, but she likes lighter loads so i hook her up. i trust my reloading. i guess that has alot to do with whether or not you should do it. so far so does everyone else that ive loaded for

[wncchester]

"When someone asks ya all to load some rounds for them, how do you go about determining what to give them for powder?"

The "correct" answer is, "As a fairly new reloader, I'm really not set up for (or comfortable with) that."

[CrustyFN]

i trust my reloading. i guess that has alot to do with whether or not you should do it

All of us that don't do it trust our reloads also, we just aren't willing to take the chance.

[Lilswede1]

I reload for my boys and a few select friends.
I insist on having possession of the rifle until I have developed a load that shoots well. Then I let whomever wants the ammo the use of my progressive loader and they reload their own bullets.
This has worked really well so far.
When they are finished we weigh each round. There will be a small variance in weights due to differences in case weights but any round that is double charged or not charged at all with show up. Never had that happen but there is always the "yet".
I only do this with .223 and make sure the loader is competent to use my machine.

[BigJimP]

I won't load for anyone outside my immediate family ...but since its your dad .... I would load them no hotter than the mid point of a Min / Max...

If there was a 0.8 grain spread between min and max / I would probably load 5 rounds at the mid point, 5 more at -0.01 gr / 5 more at -0.02gr and let him bench rest fire and test them. Let him tell me the round he prefers. If he wanted them hotter - I would tell him it wasn't safe.

In terms of what powder to pick / pick one that is available in your area or hopeully something you have on hand .... that will give you a decent range on the min / max for the bullet you jointly select. I would probably ask my dad to buy the bullets and cases ( after we consulted on what he would buy ) - and I would provide the primers and powder.

The liability issues or reloading and selling - are a real big deal / don't do it for your buddies / and I would not buy or shoot anyone else's reloads ...even if they had insurance ( and I'd be shocked if they really have a commerical liability insurance policy ...).

[medalguy]

Another .02.... I don't load for others and I don't shoot others' reloads. Period.