Warning/Help to new reloaders...

[Nathan]

Frankly, I worry about all the new reloaders. There are folks getting into this that seem to have no idea what is going on. They read a few post, watch a couple videos and think they have it figured out. It’s not that simple.

This activity is one of those cool, but dangerous things we have not “over safetied“. Think Remington triggers. This is because people like us generally load in safe or at least predictable ways.

Calipers: Ask your self, how do you know your calipers measure accurately. Did you know you can buy decent gage blocks for under $20 to check?

Scale: There are scales from $10 to $1000’s used for reloading...how do you know your scale is measuring right? Again, check weights are cheap insurance. Checking a charge on 2,3,4 other scales you have really tells you nothing.

Case fit: IMO, you cannot blindly size cases. You need to understand how much your die is sizing vs a case fired in your rifle. Too much sizing exposes you to early case head separation. Too long and you pinch the bullet causing high pressure

Bullet Seating: I have loaded from jam to 0.2” off the lands. I can tell you that max loads seated to jam is over pressure. So, you have to know where jam is to avoid it. Honestly, many folks are reporting very good results 0.050”-0.1” off lands.

Powder handling: Know what powder you are loading. Most kabooms are related to powder. Light charges causing squibs, wrong burn rate, heavy charges, and so on. Know what you are loading.

Last, find a book, find a mentor. Books have a process. They usually have an author who studies the material with experts. Then they are often reviewed for accuracy and technical correctness. A post or video is rarely more than one guy telling you what he thinks he knows that day. Mentors have the benefit of experience they can share.

On the subject of mentoring, pm me. If we start talking, I’ll share my number. Maybe I can help. I reload daily/weekly.

I’m sure i missed a bunch...what can you add?

[ammo.crafter]

Clear your bench of all non-related things, TV, smokes, cell phone, etc.
Place a single powder can on your bench.
Place a single pack of primers on your bench.
Place only the brass you are reloading on your bench.
Do all case prep work prior to starting.
Know exactly your powder/charge per manual.
balance and set your scale to same.

See where I am heading; eliminate all distractions.

[BillyBoy 57]

Very good posts, I agree .

[mgulino]

I'll add to the "only one step at a time" post from above. I use a single-stage press; I'm not concerned about pumping out huge quantities of ammo. I'm more concerned about quality. When I'm performing a step, I only have the tools/supplies for that one step on the bench. All else is put away until it's timer for that step.
Also, I will prep lots of brass and store it in empty coffee ground containers with dessicant packs. Since it may be some time before I get around to reloading that particular brass, I place an index card inside the container with the status of the brass (resized/flared, resized/swaged, resized/trimmed, etc). That way I know what I'm working with when I return to reload.
Further, I also print out small cards with the load specifics to place inside the loaded box of ammo (brass manu, powder, powder charge, bullet manu, bullet weight, trim length, COAL, crimp, number of times fired, etc).

[Mike / Tx]

I've had thoughts along those lines as well. With all of the components that have disappeared from shelves across the country, if just half of those purchased are being used by new reloaders, thats a ton of folks.

Things I might add,

Purchase known, brand name, reloading manuals. They are relatively inexpensive. Just about every one will have detailed instructions on how to go through each process from start to finish.

Always start at the start loads and use the components as listed.

Find someone who can help you if you have questions. Your local gun store is a good place to start.

Lastly remember this, you are working with handgun pressures ranging from 18,000 to upwards of 60,000 PSI and with rifle up a bit higher. All this is contained in that little thin brass case nestled just above your hands and within inches of your face. Using the wrong powder, amount, or misreading data can be catastrophic.

[dmc2020]

Really glad to be humble by all this knowledge. Thank you

[5whiskey]

Nathan I agree. There are a ton of people looking at reloading, and I hope we all can give the best advice possible and be good mentors. I have a co worker who is a good man that wants to get into it and he’s already looking at recycling primers with some home grown mixture. I’ve researched this. It is feasible, though labor intensive. I have no problem with someone trying to accomplish it, but my concern is with a brand new reloader having this as their primer plan after the one brick of 1K primers they could obtain runs out. I dunno, I just think it’s trying to progress too much too fast.

My big ones are as follows...
-keep detailed notes in a reloading log/journal/spreadsheet. Label all lots of rounds made.
-Before loading, double and triple check load info, that you are using the right powder, primer, and projectile.
-Always always always visually inspect powder charge in the case before seating a bullet. I know this is hard on some presses. If it takes extra time it takes extra time. Trust me this rule has saved me grief, and not having this rule when I first started caused me grief.
-Don’t try to do too much too fast. Yes forming brass from parent cartridges isn’t rocket science (In most cases), but I personally believe a basic understanding of pressure, powder burn rates, seating depth, proper sizing, chamber fit, etc. are enough to learn out the gate without adding more advanced and nuanced tasks to the mix.

That’s all I can think to add off the cuff, of course I agree with everything that’s already been said.

[FoghornLeghorn]

Don't worry about it. In a few months we'll see tons of reloading equipment and components for sale for pennies on the dollar.

I, personally, won't buy "second hand" reloading components (except brass and bullets), but still....

[44 AMP]

Bullet Seating: I have loaded from jam to 0.2” off the lands. I can tell you that max loads seated to jam is over pressure. So, you have to know where jam is to avoid it.

No, I don't need to know "where the jam is" in order to avoid it. I've never seen a cartridge loaded to standard industry max length (or slightly below) jam into the rifling of any firearm. None of my repeating firearms will function as repeating firearms with cartridges loaded long enough to touch the rifling. Maybe you have one that will, but most folks don't.

Show me one where the bullet jams the rifling with a round loaded to a length that fits in the magazine and feeds through the action. Show me how to jam a bullet into the rifling of my revolver....

Loading to "0.x" off the lands is a specialized technique, not applicable to all firearms and not done by most people reloading for hunting rifles to put deer in the freezer.

Beginning reloaders need a good BOOK or three, and they need to READ (not skim) the instruction portion.

[Bart B.]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Show me one where the bullet jams the rifling with a round loaded to a length that fits in the magazine and feeds through the action.

308 Winchester ammo in a Garand barreled for 7.62 NATO.

[44 AMP]

I knew there had to be ONE....

Know of any in a firearm still in its factory original chambering??

I don't...

[stagpanther]

They read a few post, watch a couple videos and think they have it figured out.

How did you arrive at that conclusion? I don't know ANY reloader who started out that way.

[Colorado Redneck]

Stepganther, maybe the OP was starting with an extreme hypothetical example of a newbie that assumes they can casually buy components and dies and make ammo cheap. Just guessing....the message is valuable in my opinion.

[5whiskey]

How did you arrive at that conclusion? I don't know ANY reloader who started out that way.

While many people over 30 (40?) are used to reading and learning, VERY many people have become accustomed to watching a quick video and believing they know what’s going on/how to do something. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned how to do a ton of stuff from YouTube, but I also did a good bit of reading research to supplement information gleaned from the video.

You would be surprised my friend. My son, who is smart and capable but young, was surprised when we went to build a project at his house because I brought a circular saw and didn’t bring the miter saw. He made the comment “this isn’t how I saw it on YouTube.” The problem was... 75% of the cuts were ripping cuts of plywood, and much of the rest involved angles greater than 45 degrees. Neither of which can be done with a miter saw. The remaining cuts that would have been more efficient with a miter saw didn’t take up much more time than it would have taken just to set the saw up, making it an inefficient tool choice. Once I explained it to him, and we finished the project, he understood that his video tutorial (that was more apples to oranges anyway) was sort of misleading. Certainly videos are useful, but reading about how to do something requires one to visualize in their mind and actually think about it and how to accomplish it... not just try and replicate something they saw a 5 minute clip of someone else hitting the highlights of a project along with some music.

I edit to add, I LOVE learning from forums. You have multiple inputs, and you can often get a consensus on a solid way or technique. If not a consensus, at least a majority of those who you can tell are the most experienced. Forums are a declining platform... my wife ribs me for dwelling in the “15 years ago” while I often remind her about her use of TikTok videos for information. This is a no win fight, as we simply do not see eye to eye.

[Nathan]

Show me one where the bullet jams the rifling with a round loaded to a length that fits in the magazine and feeds through the action.

I had a Savage 12 300 WSM, that if I remember right, had a jam length of 2.97” and a mag length of 3.0”. Albeit, the SAAMI length for 300 WSM is 2.86”

I have met folks online or at the range that seemed to generally grasp reloading, but had some strange issue caused by their setup.

Probably my bigger point is I have met several folks that I wouldn’t trust to mix creamer in my coffee, let alone make my ammo!

[zeke]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Show me one where the bullet jams the rifling with a round loaded to a length that fits in the magazine and feeds through the action.

CZ 527 in 223 with 1:12 twist and Sierra 52 bthp. With more pointed bullets, the col can be longer than max and still feed through mag.

There may be several reasons loading manuals list differing col for differing bullets, instead of just listing the standard max COL? When experimenting with new bullets, many may have standard practice to see how far out bullet can be seated without jamming into rifling and still feed. And if they aren't checking it, they should.

https://www.nosler.com/blog/news-and...h-for-your-gun

[KentM]

I’m one of those new reloaders who only started reloading because of the shortage. I have a neighbor who is an experienced reloader, I’ve read two manuals (Lee and Hornady) and I read several forums (including this one) in addition to the many Youtube videos. While there may be a surge in new reloaders, I see no reason to think we are any different or less careful than when the OP first started. And I read and absorbed his good suggestions.

[Prof Young]

Calibrate your electronic scale before every session.
Check the powder weight every 5-10 loads.

Life is good.
Prof Young

[FunGramps]

After reading everything to consider, I should be dead or maimed. My buddies and I used Lee-Loaders for our .44 magnum SA pistols back in the 70's because the funds were always low for ammo. I bought a used Hawes Texas Marshall at a police gun auction for $150.00 in 1976. Loved that gun! And we went through a butt load of Lee-Loader rounds. I do recall setting off a few primers on accident.

[FrankenMauser]

A few days ago, I loaded an uncommon cartridge with a powder for which there is no data, using primers pulled-down 10 years ago, with bullets that have no data for the cartridge, seated to an extremely long COAL, for a rifle made up of Marlin and Savage parts, with a Youtube video playing on computer on the bench, while drinking a beer, with a space heater running, while talking to my wife, while my son bugged me to play video games every 2 minutes, as the 3D printer 'whee'd' and 'chreeee'd' and clicked and clacked and bleeped and cheeped in the background.

I'm gonna die!



In all seriousness, yes, eliminate distractions and pay attention to what you're doing - especially while learning. Especially turn of videos and/or the TV.
But if you can pay attention to what you're doing, you'll be fine.
A new reloader will discover very quickly whether or not it is right for them, because it will be too tedious or they'll have major issues with what they're loading (up to and including KABOOOM!).

You want to kill some time and watch a video, but wish you could do something at the same time?
That's great. You can size cases, prep brass, flare case mouths, prime brass, and several other things that are not super critical as long as you get things set up right at the beginning.

But when the powder comes out, you're better off devoting your attention to the task at hand.