How do I start?

[muddhogg]

I know NOTHING about loading/reloading. I don't know anyone that reloads either that could "take me under their wing". How do I start? Is there a book, CD, DVD that anyone can recommend? I need to start from scratch and start off with the basic concepts. I've been looking around and have seen some pretty nice machines such as the Dillon Precision XL650; looks like a do-it-all machine, with the exception of the polisher. Does anyone use this particular equipment? Does it have a built-in scale, would I need to get a scale separate?

At first I want to reload .223 for my AR. Then would also like to start reloading 9mm, .45ACP and .270.

I have a million questions, just hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Thanks!!

[rwilson452]

read the Sticky at the top of this forum for new reloaders that is a start

[Silentarmy]

Pick up a manual from any of the major manufacturers (Hornady, Lee, RCBS, Lyman). I use the 650 but I used a Lee single stage for 14 yrs before I got my Dillon. The Dillon is a Substantial investment and it will not load all the calibers so I would suggest starting smaller. Every time I want to set up for a new caliber with my dillon, it runs me about 200 bucks. (dies, conversion kit, Toolhead, Stand, powder measure). More than I spent for my entire Lee anniversary setup all those yrs ago! The manuals will give you a basic idea and then as you have questions, folks here seem to be pretty helpful and arent too mean unless you start asking Glock VS...... questions!!

[muddhogg]

10-4, I'll start at the top then. I was wondering about the manuals, if they were manuals for the devices, or like a "how-to" manual. Thanks!

[fourrobert13]

+1 for reading the above sticky. Also buy and read the ABC's of Reloading book. Those two things will get you going in the right direction.

[Leeman]

Reloading is a very simple process. It only become complex when you push the envelope and try to get higher than standard velocities. This is foolish and with little benefit.
Get a Lee Loader or a set of Lee Dies and any kind of press. The instructions that come with a Lee Loader or Lee Dies tells you everything you need to know to begin reloading. They both come with a powder dipper that is the safest measure ever made. Use a full measure of the powder recommended for the bullet weight desired.
The best thing about the dipper is, no matter what kind of load you select from the charge table that comes with the tool, it will have the same load density which results in dependable and accurate ammunition. Velocities are slightly less than factory ammunition but usually more accurate.
Perhaps the best buy is Modern Reloading by Richard Lee and a reloading press for less than the list price of the book.
Check these two websites:
www.leeprecision.com
www.midwayusa.com

[hikingman]

If you want, you can walk slow with a good manual, (Sierra, Lyman, Hodgdon)...some help from this forum, and careful notes. There's really not much that I vary or 'feel' that is not written in manuals. When 'Lee' autopriming I don't squeeze with might, just firmly get the job done.

Try a (second-hand) single stage press due to 'payback' in terms of cost.

Buy used or occasionally new dies.

Use a Lee autoloader for primers (don't forget to lube it as needed).

Use a pre-owned scale.

The folks on this site have helped me plenty. Also, there's probably some video clips around that might add some visual aid.

John

[kestak]

Greetings,

I was at the same place than you 8 months ago. A lot of questions and incertitude. The ABC of reloading will be a good start. Read it and when it raises questions, ask them on the reloading forums.

The next step will be to buy your equipment: This is a totally another beast to tackle. For Dillon, go to the website of brian enos and read his stuff. It will be very confusing at first, but if you ever order from him, you can call him and verify that your order is covering everything. I do not know about the other presses. I went with Dillon 550B and I am quite happy for now.

The next step will be to find the best prices for the components. This is another beast to tacle. With time and a lot of researches, you'll find the best places. As of now, for me, I buy everything on the net at powder valley, Wiedeners, kead bullets, gardner's cache bullets, TJconevera, cabelas and midway.

One small detail newbies overlook (and I did not because of my anal trait to pay attention to details), write everything down that you do: keep your invoices, write the loads you do (day, qty, powder type, powder grains, primer, bullet, adn I even write my cost for that load per bullet). This log is very important when you need to go back and know what you did.

Last detail, the MOST IMPORTANT: Your personality must be one of a slow person paying attention to details. Your face, hand and gun depends of the quality of your load.

Thank you

[flashhole]

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech...h_notes.htm/49

[grymster2007]

Start just where these people have been telling you to. I loaded my first round on Sunday morning. Started by reading (a lot), asking questions and gathering the equipment and consumables. While I was doing this, I pressed Mrs. Grymster’s little rock tumbler into use with some walnut media and Zymol to polish the brass I already had.

I’m using a Lee Hand Press at the moment and think this is a good way to start…. one die at a time, working slowly and carefully.

Bought RCBS Carbide dies for 44 Special. An RCBS Hand Primer, case holder and cheap Lee scale. Bought some bullets and primers, and after sort of a false start with powder, got some that has published loads for the rounds I wanted to make.

I am a novice for sure, but I am now the proud owner of fifty hand-loaded rounds.

Today I made some calibration weights for my scale and was happy to discover that it’s within 1/10gr. Then I de-capped/sized, flared and primed the next fifty, which will be 180gr Cowboy loads, so a bit different than the 180gr JHPs I already loaded. To me this is one of the fun parts... I can make what I want to make.

While one could certainly delve into the sundry variables and seemingly infinite bits of wisdom on the subject, it’s actually pretty easy to do in the context of producing a relatively simple round from published data.

I can afford all the ammo I could ever want to shoot. I’m doing this to clear me head of the crappier parts of life. But regardless your motivation… take your time, ask questions, read up and most of all enjoy yourself.

Disclaimer: This is coming from a guy that has yet to fire one of his own rounds and who reserves the right to retract any or all of these statements at a future date.

[flashhole]

Congratulations. Now you get to move to the next level in the many tiers of handloading........that being.........the pucker factor.........thats the tight-butt feeling you get when you anticipate what will happen in the first couple of milliseconds when touching off that first round.

[kestak]

Greetings,

Flashhole...LOL!

I almost spitted my orange juice sip when I read your post. It is exactly what happened to me when I shot my first reloaded round: "very light" 357Magnum with 13.5 grains of H110.

I wore gloves, long sleeves, my correcting glasses, flat impact glasses over my correcting glasses AND googles over those 2 glasses!

Last friday, I shot my first round of 44 magnum in my Super Redhawk and I shot my first shot having my hand and gun on the other side of the lanes separation. LOL. And I shot thousands of reloaded rounds in 357mag, 45acp and 9mm, but that one scared me.

I know...I know... I am a big wuss!

Thank you

[73-Captain]

Muddhogg,

I'm going to upset a lot of people but...

I've been on this and other forums for months, just for laughs...
And for the 5% good info. from the very few very knowledgeable people here.
Typical of most of the internet, forums are full of BS. These forums in
particular are full of OPINIONATED, KNOW-NOTHING, SELF PROCLAIMED EXPERTS.

What finally caused me to join and respond to you was all the misinformation about Dillon reloading equipment. In particular the statement that "Every time I want to set up for a new caliber with my Dillon, it runs me about 200 bucks."

This statement is a partial truth, if you bought EVERYTHING listed, maybe it would cost $200. If you bought another complete machine it would cost more. If you bought just what you needed it would be SUBSTANTIALLY LESS.

In your case you want to load .45ACP and .270 (I assume .270Win). BOTH of these use the SAME "Shell Plate" so you do NOT need to buy a complete "Caliber Conversion Kit". If you do not buy the "Casefeed Assembly" when you first buy a Dillon XL650 you can single load cases in the XL650 as if it was a "turret press". That is what I do for "load development" or if I want to load just a few rounds. This will save you about $200 on initial cost. If you have the .45ACP "Caliber Conversion Kit" the Minimum TOTAL cost to add the .270Win would be $9.00 for the appropriate "powder funnel" plus the cost of the dies. If you do not want to swap dies around and so you CAN SWAP the powder measure around you would want to buy an extra "Toolhead" ($21.00)
and an extra "Powder Die" ($9.00).

Loading for the .223R will require a "Caliber Conversion Kit" ($70.00), dies and if you don't want to swap dies around the above mentioned "Toolhead" and "Powder Die".

Same for the 9X19mm, you will need a "Caliber Conversion Kit" ($70.00), dies and if you don't want to swap dies around the above mentioned "Toolhead" and "Powder Die".

With a "Caliber Conversion Kit" for the .45ACP I load the following - .260Rem., 7mm-08, .280Rem., .308W, .30-06, .358Win, 7x57 Mauser and 8x57 Mauser. I can think of at least 15 other calibers that can be reloaded using the "Shell Plate" in this "Kit".

These 24 cartridges do NOT need 24 different "Case Feed Assemblies". I use one for the .45ACP, another for the .308 length cases and another for the Mauser and .30-06 length cases.

Once you have several "Conversion Kits" and extra parts such as "Powder Funnels" you might be able to reload a new cartridge without any additional parts except the "Toolhead" and "Powder Die". An example, I just called Dillon last week about what I needed to load the 6.5 Grendel. No
additional parts were needed. The 6.5G uses the "Short 6.5mm Powder Funnel" just like the .260Rem. and the "Shell Plate" and case feed parts were the same as for the 7.62x39mm & PPC Series.

Powder Measures. At first I used TWO different charge bars in one Powder Measure. I don't mind changing the powder measure from one toolhead to another but I didn't like changing the "Powder Charge Bars" so now I have THREE Powder Measures, one has the "Large Charge Bar", another has
the "Small Charge Bar" and the third powder measure has the "X-Small Charge Bar".

From this you can see it does NOT have to cost anywhere near $200 to load a different cartridge on a Dillon XL650.

Reloading Dies. I use a variety of dies including Dillon, Lee, Lyman and Redding. All work very well, I can't complain about any of them. For handgun cartridges on all presses except the Dillon Press my favorite dies are the Lyman "Multi-Deluxe Die Set". For loading handgun cartridges on a first class pregressive press like the Dillon there is ONLY ONE CHOICE. As much as I like my Lyman dies when I bought my Dillon XL650 I also bought the Dilon Dies! When it comes to reloading rifle cartridges my choice is Redding.



But back to step number ONE...

More than anything else, you need a reloading manual.

I'm going to upset more people and go against what most people here say and tell you FORGET the "ABC's of Reloading"!

Blasphemy? I have it and almost every other manual and pamphlet on the market although it's hard to keep up and have the latest of everyone. If I don't have the latest revision I have the previous revision.

Without question, my choice for a first reloading manual and if forced to use just one manual would be the Lyman Manual. I have Lyman #44, #45, #46 and #48 plus the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual #??? and the Lyman Pistol and Revolver Manual #???.

Second choice for me would be the Sierra Manual. If you are going to reload the .223R for the AR-15, Sierra has separate sections in their manual for the .223R in an "AR" and another .223R section for the .223R "Bolt Action".

Third choice would be the pamphlets from the various powder manufacturers. There is NO EXCUSE for not having ALL of these since they are available for free or little cost.

Fourth choice would be the "Load Books" for your specific calibers. Think these are about $7.95 each and have loading info. from many of the powder and bullet manufacturers in them.

My second choice is the "Sierra Manual" because I shoot a lot of their bullets. If you have a preference for a different bullet type/brand, once you have the Lyman manual for the basics buy a manual for the bullets you prefer. Especially if it is a bullet that may need to be reloaded differently such as the all copper Barnes bullets.

I usually keep an eye out for sales, especially at MidwayUSA and buy manuals as they go on sale. My Speer #12 on sale cost 1/4 the price as the new Speer #13 at Midway.



Reloading Presses. The Dillon XL650 is an excellent press, I don't know of a better press except maybe a Dillon 1050.

There is only one reason I would hesitate to recommend a Dillon press to someone new to reloading. That is the cost. A Dillon reloading setup is a lot of money to spend and decide you don't like reloading. Although from what little I have seen of the used market you could buy a Dillon XL650 try it out and sell it used and loose LESS than if you did the same thing with a
Lee "Turret" or "Progressive" press!

Time for some more Blasphemy! Regardless of what anyone else tells you about a RCBS "Rockchucker", I started reloading on a "Rockchucker" and I HATED it! Got rid of it ASAP! Went to a Lyman Turret Press and absolutely loved it! Then for faster loading of handgun cartridges I added a Lee 1000 which actually worked great except for one thing, the primer system gave me constant problems. During a moment of weakness I sold my Lyman "Turret Press" but along the way added a Lee "C" type and "O" type presses and a Lyman "Hand Press". I finally went to the Dillon XL650 several years ago and could not be happier! If I buy any more presses they WILL BE Dillon XL650s!

I regret selling my old Lyman "Turret Press" but STILL HATE that "Rockclunker"!



Some other thoughts for someone new to reloading...

1 - If you start with the Dillon XL650 you will start with the press you would have wished for if you started with something less!

2 - Dillon offers a video (they might have it on DVD now) on the XL650, think it is $7-10.00. Well worth the money.

3 - I would also suggest that you only buy your XL650 in ONE caliber/cartridge initially. Again if you try reloading and don't like it you don't have so much to sell and take a loss on.

4 - Although you said you wanted to start loading .223Rem. I would suggest you load the .45ACP first. Even easier would be a revolver cartridge such as .38, .357, .44 Special or Mag., or .45 Colt. The .45ACP would be my choice to start with over the 9x19mm.

5 - Again in case you don't care for reloading, don't buy a lot of components all at once. Like with your initial reloading setup, keep everything simple. If you initially load just one cartridge start with just ONE POUND of powder, 1000 primers and maybe 250-500 of 2 different types of bullets for a total of 500-1000 bullets.

Except for load development and experiments with new or different powders I load ALL of my handgun cartridges with just 3 powders, HP38 (or W231), Unique and Blue Dot. For rifles from .223Rem. to .45-70 I use just 4 powders although these are in transition and I also use Unique in some rifle loads.

You could load both the .45ACP and 9x19mm with a single powder, my recommendations are the same as I use, Unique FIRST, HP38 (or W231) SECOND).

You likely could find a single suitable powder for both the .223Rem. and the .270Win. also. Although the .223Rem. can be very choosy due to bullets from about 32g to 90g, rifling twists from 1:14 to 1:6.5, barrels from 16" (or less) to 26" and use in bolt guns and gas guns.

6 - Sources for equipment and components. My favorites are Natchez Shooting Supply (www.NatchezSS.com), and Midway (www.MidwayUSA.com). Watch BOTH of these places for SALES! I save a lot by watching the sales fliers and buying items I need on sale instead of as I need them. Believe it or not, a GREAT place to buy bullets is Dillon! Once you factor in their shipping rates with their prices their TOTAL DELIVERED COST is low! My last bullet order was for 16,000 bullets. Of that 12,000 were ordered from Dillon the rest from Midway. Dillon's TOTAL COST was lower than Midway's on ALL 16,000 bullets but Dillon was out of stock on several of the types I wanted.



If you have any other questions I will be glad to help you. If I can I will give you specific loads including powder, bullets I use and WHY and I'll back up what I say with a soucre/reference because I'm not the expert!

[Sport45]

73-Captain,

Welcome to The High Road!

With that post I think you also just joined the ranks of:

OPINIONATED, KNOW-NOTHING, SELF PROCLAIMED EXPERTS.

What you posted was good information and factual. Bud the presentation left lot to be desired.

(I'll admit to being very opinionated, but flatly deny the other two allegations!)

Muddhogg,

In my humble opinion, it's hard for a beginner to go wrong with the Lee Anniversary kit and a set of dies in an easy caliber to start. .45acp is probably the most forgiving of the cartriges you listed. Lee's book is a decent one to start with as well. When you graduate to progressives you'll still use most of what came with the anniversary kit so it won't go to waste.

(And if you decide you don't like reloading I'll wager there's less to be lost in buying and selling the Anniversary kit than most others. Certainly a lot less to be lost in buying and putting away to take up the hobby later.)

For factory discounts on Lee equipment look at www.factorysales.com flat-rate shipping of about $5. The stuff is also on sale at MidwayUSA from time to time.

[Sport45]

I don't know anyone that reloads either that could "take me under their wing".

Post the area of the country you live in on your profile. One of us might be your neighbor.

[qajaq59]

One of the best ways to find another reloader is to watch who saves the spent cases at the range. If they are picking them up and putting them back in the boxes, it's very likely that they are reloading. And my guess is they also be likely to help you get started.

[CrustyFN]

I agree with Sport45. Let us know what Stste and town you live in. I know there are a lot of people that would be happy to help.
Rusty