Getting into reloading, where should I start?

[ageingstudent]

When I first started loading in 2011 we had joined the Johnson Creek gun Club 6 months or so before that. I save all my brass and would gather anyone else's that didn't want it. I remember a guy one busy Saturday when the lanes were full, scrambling around on his hands and knees picking up .45acp. He told me that you will get many, many loads with '45 acp. I tend to believe him.

I don't wet clean. I'm still a Troglodyte.

It's not necessary but a very nice to have option. Keeps your fingers and the dies really clean.

 

[Local Loader]

It's not necessary but a very nice to have option. Keeps your fingers and the dies really clean.

Not sure about you but I find the sonic cleaners do a better job and all I do is rinse and dry after cleaning.

 

[Mikej]

I thought you said something before about rotary tumbling with pins. I must have that read wrong.

No, I'd said more that once that some here poke fun at me for NOT using pins. It's like a religion and some want me to join the church. Sometimes I'm tempted and get a little closer, and then back off again.

 

[Mikej]

It's not necessary but a very nice to have option. Keeps your fingers and the dies really clean.

I clean all hand gun and semi-auto brass before sizing. I size/decap the Swede Mauser without cleaning. And run again after sizing for that nice clean shine. Clean enough for me anyway.
What holds me back from pin cleaning is messing with the wet part. Having to deal with drying the brass completely afterward. And maybe Leaking lids making a mess.

 

[Richo877]

I clean all hand gun and semi-auto brass before sizing. I size/decap the Swede Mauser without cleaning. And run again after sizing for that nice clean shine. Clean enough for me anyway.
What holds me back from pin cleaning is messing with the wet part. Having to deal with drying the brass completely afterward. And maybe Leaking lids making a mess.

I was thinking that too, but after going through 1000+ pieces of dirty .223 brass in smaller batches, I'm finding that I'm cleaning them at multiple stages, and I'm wet cleaning after everything is resized, trimmed, and the primer pockets are cleaned and chamfered. So I'm kind of dealing with the wet part anyway. Putting it in the oven at 175° for 20 minutes works out pretty well. I don't go to load it immediately, so it's got time to air dry any residuals. I can see the convenience of having a wet tumbler so the cases come clean inside and out, pockets and all. It would save a few steps. Ultrasonic would obviously come out the cleanest, but cost comparison with stainless steel, if I had to pick one over the other for the actual cleaning, I'd be leaning towards rotary wet w/ pins because it's practical. If I wanted like-new shine, I would probably still want to dry polish them in a vibratory cleaner though.

 

[Mikej]

I was thinking that too, but after going through 1000+ pieces of dirty .223 brass in smaller batches, I'm finding that I'm cleaning them at multiple stages, and I'm wet cleaning after everything is resized, trimmed, and the primer pockets are cleaned and chamfered. So I'm kind of dealing with the wet part anyway. Putting it in the oven at 175° for 20 minutes works out pretty well. I don't go to load it immediately, so it's got time to air dry any residuals. I can see the convenience of having a wet tumbler so the cases come clean inside and out, pockets and all. It would save a few steps. Ultrasonic would obviously come out the cleanest, but cost comparison with stainless steel, if I had to pick one over the other for the actual cleaning, I'd be leaning towards rotary wet w/ pins because it's practical. If I wanted like-new shine, I would probably still want to dry polish them in a vibratory cleaner though.

As you go on, you'll find that 10 years down the road you have adjusted to your own ways. Kind of funny now when something will remind me of the way I did it when I first started.

 

[JuglansRegia]

I clean all hand gun and semi-auto brass before sizing. I size/decap the Swede Mauser without cleaning. And run again after sizing for that nice clean shine. Clean enough for me anyway.
What holds me back from pin cleaning is messing with the wet part. Having to deal with drying the brass completely afterward. And maybe Leaking lids making a mess.

Wet tumbling with pins gives you a better initial shine inside and out but l have also found that wet tumbled brass will tarnish much faster than dry tumbled. After a year or so it's easy to visually tell the difference.

 

[Mikej]

Wet tumbling with pins gives you a better initial shine inside and out but l have also found that wet tumbled brass will tarnish much faster than dry tumbled. After a year or so it's easy to visually tell the difference.

Hadn't I heard that a few drops of something in the water helps such things?

 

[357 MAX]

a lot of great advice here if you are already a reloader, but for a beginner,,,,,,,,,,not so much. i watched my dad reload with a nutcracker tong tool for years, my brother started with a lee loader. my dad finally let me reload my own at the age of 15 with the nutcracker. you don't need to worry about advanced cleaning, just basic cleaning or case length if you are using brass fired in your gun. all of the advice you are getting is fine down the road, but starting simple is best. KISS keep it simple stupid!!!!!

 

[Richo877]

a lot of great advice here if you are already a reloader, but for a beginner,,,,,,,,,,not so much. i watched my dad reload with a nutcracker tong tool for years, my brother started with a lee loader. my dad finally let me reload my own at the age of 15 with the nutcracker. you don't need to worry about advanced cleaning, just basic cleaning or case length if you are using brass fired in your gun. all of the advice you are getting is fine down the road, but starting simple is best. KISS keep it simple stupid!!!!!

At first, there was a lot to unload, but I'm plugging along step by step. All of the insight has been super helpful, and I can grasp everything you've all put down here. I know there's more coming and there's more here than absolutely necessary to gain right off the bat, but all of it is useful information. Albeit, I got a little turned around with the mixup between headspace and jam/jump, but I understand them fine, and when I'm trying for better precision and custom fitting, all that will be extremely useful to consider. Right now though, small steps with forward momentum is all I'm aiming at.

 

[357 MAX]

my point here was you can load usable ammo with very little equipment. too much information too soon just complicates the process. spending a lot of $$$$$$$ only to find out reloading is not your thing. i know some people love gadgets some don't but now you are hooked, go for it!

 

[Mikej]

my point here was you can load usable ammo with very little equipment. too much information too soon just complicates the process. spending a lot of $$$$$$$ only to find out reloading is not your thing. i know some people love gadgets some don't but now you are hooked, go for it!

I have to disagree somewhat.
I started with what I'd consider the most basic loading equipment that anyone should consider. And that's what I've stuck with for these twelve years. Adding a trimmer and headspace comparators ARE the basics, if you want to load ammo that actually works dependable and safely in your rifles. And going with a quality, solid, press rather than the cheapest you can find is the basics in my opinion.

Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-90180-Breech-Press/dp/B0050Z5A6E What a pain in the butt, and what I would consider only if you were looking to load in a SHTF scenario. Now THAT is a gadget! (no offense intended to those old time loaders that started with one of these)
Neither would I call a brass cleaner a "gadget". It doesn't complicate the process. And if you like the look of dirty brass over clean shiny brass, feel free to do without.


We ain't Mathew Quigley here. Needing our "Makin's" to save lives. We got some real good stuff to make it easier to load QUALITY ammunition! May as well use it.

 

[ageingstudent]

As you go on, you'll find that 10 years down the road you have adjusted to your own ways. Kind of funny now when something will remind me of the way I did it when I first started.

@Richo877 this is practical advice. We develop our own methods and find things that work for us individually. It's a very personal choice within safe limits. For instance, I very much respect @Caveman Jim and @Certaindeaf and I often seek advice from them, but my loadings are my own. My press my rules, their press their rules. Learn but perhaps don't judge. Take what you need and use it for success. Certaindeaf was kind enough to walk me through casting the first time. I learned something. I make really high quality projos now. But I still don't clean my brass like him. He's a little backwards

 

[Mikej]

Certaindeaf was kind enough to walk me through casting the first time. I learned something.

I always had the feeling Certaindeaf had a lot more going for him than just being one helluva funny guy!

 

[357 MAX]

i am not saying anybody should start the way i did, the nutcracker was pretty crude setup but it worked.

I have to disagree somewhat.
I started with what I'd consider the most basic loading equipment that anyone should consider. And that's what I've stuck with for these twelve years. Adding a trimmer and headspace comparators ARE the basics, if you want to load ammo that actually works dependable and safely in your rifles. And going with a quality, solid, press rather than the cheapest you can find is the basics in my opinion.

Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-90180-Breech-Press/dp/B0050Z5A6E What a pain in the butt, and what I would consider only if you were looking to load in a SHTF scenario. Now THAT is a gadget! (no offense intended to those old time loaders that started with one of these)
Neither would I call a brass cleaner a "gadget". It doesn't complicate the process. And if you like the look of dirty brass over clean shiny brass, feel free to do without.


We ain't Mathew Quigley here. Needing our "Makin's" to save lives. We got some real good stuff to make it easier to load QUALITY ammunition! May as well use it

do you clean your brass every time you reload it? do you trim your brass every time you reload it? i am not calling a brass cleaner a gadget either. i am saying reloading tools in general can be called gadgets. there are thousands of reloading tools available, do you need every one? start with the basic kit and build from there.

 

[357 MAX]

i am not saying anybody should start the way i did, the nutcracker was pretty crude setup but it worked.

do you clean your brass every time you reload it? do you trim your brass every time you reload it? i am not calling a brass cleaner a gadget either. i am saying reloading tools in general can be called gadgets. there are thousands of reloading tools available, do you need every one? start with the basic kit and build from there.

case trimmer, is basic. headspace comparator=gadget. i clean my brass when it gets dirty. i prep new brass before loading, deburr inside flash hole trim etc. fired brass, clean primer pockets hand clean any powder residue from case neck and load. I also use Imperial sizing die wax. works for me.

 

[ageingstudent]

I always had the feeling Certaindeaf had a lot more going for him than just being one helluva funny guy!

Surprisingly intelligent. Super smart.

 

[Mikej]

i am not saying anybody should start the way i did, the nutcracker was pretty crude setup but it worked.

do you clean your brass every time you reload it? do you trim your brass every time you reload it? i am not calling a brass cleaner a gadget either. i am saying reloading tools in general can be called gadgets. there are thousands of reloading tools available, do you need every one? start with the basic kit and build from there.

II need, and use, every one I have.

 

[Richo877]

II need, and use, every one I have.

So far, I haven't gone out of my way and gotten anything I haven't had an immediate use for except the trickler that came in the kit. I thought I was going to need one and choose this kit over another because the trickler was included. The same kit came with the digital scale, which is ok, but takes 30 minutes to "warm up" before it can be calibrated, which is pretty annoying. I got the beam scale separate like you said I probably would. The scale would've been included in a different kit, so the tradeoff for the trickler was a bit unbalanced.... So I guess I ended up with a couple "gadgets" I don't really need, but maybe the trickler may come in useful later if I'm loading individual rounds for better precision and consistency. I've gotta say though, the uniflow 3 is pretty consistent.

 

[Local Loader]

So far, I haven't gone out of my way and gotten anything I haven't had an immediate use for except the trickler that came in the kit. I thought I was going to need one and choose this kit over another because the trickler was included. The same kit came with the digital scale, which is ok, but takes 30 minutes to "warm up" before it can be calibrated, which is pretty annoying. I got the beam scale separate like you said I probably would. The scale would've been included in a different kit, so the tradeoff for the trickler was a bit unbalanced.... So I guess I ended up with a couple "gadgets" I don't really need, but maybe the trickler may come in useful later if I'm loading individual rounds for better precision and consistency. I've gotta say though, the uniflow 3 is pretty consistent.

I use digi scales and I don't think I've ever waited 30min for my scale to "warm up" mine all shut off after 5min of no use. I think I've waited maybe like 2 to 5 min but that's it and never had an issue with accuracy of weight, of course I recalibrate mine at least once a day before I start when I'm using them, out of habit.