New to Reloading

[Ura-Ki]

Hard to go wrong with ether the RCBS rockchucker, or the Hornady single stage presses, they will handle 99% of your needs with out going overboard on a press you won't use. Ask lots of questions as often as you need, and welcome to the madness we call reloading

 

[Crohnos01]

+1 on the Rockchuker. I bought mine 40 years ago and still use it frequently. I added first a Hornady LNL AP progressive and then a Dillon XL 650 for the high volume rounds I shoot a few years ago, but I still work up new recepies and all of my precision rifle rounds on my 40 year old rockchucker.

Get familiar with Inline Fabrication's products too. They are not strictly necessary but Dan has some great accessories for organizing your reloading center and getting the most out of the press. Use it bare bones for a while first though and annoyances will become obvious. When they do, come back here for help and advice. Then you can spend a few thousand bucks on multiple progressive presses and accessories and start saving serious pennies on reloads

 

[Pops1911]

Just wanted to put in my.02 worth. You are getting lots of great advice from the forum gang. So, I will just say welcome to the fascinating world of reloading! For me it has always been a great and satisfying hobby. Best wishes and have a good time with it. You will get almost as much input on reloading as a good discussion about which is the "best" handgun caliber. LOL

 

[tac]

100% thumbs-up for RCBS - although I DO have Lee turret press for the .357Mag that DI shoot a lot.

THE loading manual - nice and big to handle, too - is the latest Lyman. Both Hornady and Speer, bullet makers, also produce them. One of each makes a good gift...

Don't scrimp on GOOD set of 6" calipers. I have both vernier and digital, but then I build steam models in metric and imperial dimensional measurements. You don't say what .45-70 Govt gun you intend to load for. It is important that you remember that loads for a Trapdoor Springfield, and loads for a Ruger No1 or Marlin underlever are a different world from the old blackpowder loads. I have a modern repro of a High Wall Winchester that will happily shoot BP OR nitro loads, but even a modern repro Trapdoor would not relish a load that the No1 would eat for breakfast without a twitch.

Talk to us about it.

tac

 

[DirectDrive]

Search results for ROCK CHUCKER KIT | gun.deals
Also use the above Search Engine to find deals on components.

Last season Bimart had the best deal on the Rock Chucker Kit.

 

[DizzyJ]

Just wanted to put in my.02 worth. You are getting lots of great advice from the forum gang. So, I will just say welcome to the fascinating world of reloading! For me it has always been a great and satisfying hobby. Best wishes and have a good time with it. You will get almost as much input on reloading as a good discussion about which is the "best" handgun caliber. LOL

9mm.

 

[tac]

Yup. 9mm sure is one of the best handgun calibres.....

tac

 

[bbbass]

+ .45ACP, 44Mag, .357

 

[tac]

Read what I wrote - '.....ONE of the best etc'.

tac

 

[bbbass]

Notice the + (plus) sign in front of what I wrote.

Note: I only own 9mms anymore. Doesn't mean I don't have dies for friends.

 

[Argonaut]

Notice the + (plus) sign in front of what I wrote.

Note: I only own 9mms anymore. Doesn't mean I don't have dies for friends.

You have to excuse ol TAC............he is the sensitive type.

 

[bbbass]

Lol, I thought he was joking. Are you saying Christmas fatigue is getting to folks?

 

[Argonaut]

Lol, I thought he was joking. Are you saying Christmas fatigue is getting to folks?

Or they were just made that way........we all need a method to compensate.

 

[Mygrainman]

I'd hit up @marcusp323
He'll probably have everything you need, used at great prices.... and he knows a lot more about it than a big box store clerk.

 

[DirectDrive]

Wuts a calibree ?
Sounds like a vegetable or a nocturnal rodent.

 

[Mygrainman]

Wuts a calibree ?
Sounds like a vegetable or a nocturnal rodent.

a unit of measure for the energy value in food...
eg.
"This soda only has 1 calibree!"

 

[DirectDrive]

LOL

 

[best defense]

This coming year I want to get into reloading for my hunting rifles, .338 Win Mag and .45/70. I'm looking for a list of what I'll need, and any advice on what model of each item is good, but won't cost me an arm and a leg.

I know I'll need a press, dues, and a scale, but what else do I need to get going? I want quality, but don't need something super fast or anything like that. I won't be loading a lot.

***********************************************************************

Like a few others have said above, A loading manual is very important.

Another thing none of them mentioned is a sturdy table of some sort. My original table was made of half inch plywood. It did not hold up very well.
You can make your own loading bench of purchase one, and then all you need is a warm comfortable place to work. Plenty of light helps.

 

[birdmove]

I used to do quite a lot of hand loading when I was younger and competing in tons of hand gun matches. I shot NRA Hunter Pistol (100 meters), IHMSA 200 meter handgun matches, and, at the Tacoma Sportsman Club, unsanctioned 100 meter handgun matches, also fun bowling pin matches at the Paul Bunyan Club. The handgun matches were literally held all over the Pacific Northwest.
I also hand loaded for a friend of mine that shot in some of these matches. I loaded .38 special/.357 magnum/.357 Maximum, 32 H&H Magnum, 32 Long, 32-20, .380, 9mm, .45acp, 44 special and magnum, 30-30, .243, 7mm TCU wildcat cartridge, and some I have forgot. And, I did it all with this little unit:

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Ca...651&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=lee+hand+loader+kit

This was, and is my press. You would still need a powder scale, 50 round cartridge holder, a deprimer (I like the RCBS unit), a powder charger, dies of course. I prefer the carbide dies, and the Lee ones are just fine. A cartridge trimmer will eventually be needed, and a deburring tool, a lube for any tapered cases you do, as they won't be carbide. Case cleaning, you can use something as basic as rags, to an electric tumbler. I bought a slick little set of bits that go into the chuck of a drill. The dirty cases are put on the end of the bit while spinning, and you use some hand held cleaner like a scotch bright pad. Cases end up super clean and shiny.

I may be unusual, but I always found hand loading relaxing, and enjoyed doing it. Safety first, and if you use a fast burning powder like Bullseye or Winchester 231, if you don't stick to a good system, you could double and sometimes even triple a powder charge.

I wore out my first Lee Hand Press. But the early models had the threads cut right into the aluminum body of the press. The new ones have the treads in a steel insert, and I don't think one is going to wear one of these out. The one I wore our probably had reloaded 10,000 rounds.

I never have, and won't in the future use any multi-stage press. Using my system I have never reloaded a bad round that didn't go boom when me or my friend pulled the trigger. To me, reloading fast is never my goal, and one is much more libel to make a mistake with that attitude.

 

[jordanka16]

I may be unusual, but I always found hand loading relaxing, and enjoyed doing it. Safety first, and if you use a fast burning powder like Bullseye or Winchester 231, if you don't stick to a good system, you could double and sometimes even triple a powder charge.

I wore out my first Lee Hand Press. But the early models had the threads cut right into the aluminum body of the press. The new ones have the treads in a steel insert, and I don't think one is going to wear one of these out. The one I wore our probably had reloaded 10,000 rounds.

I never have, and won't in the future use any multi-stage press. Using my system I have never reloaded a bad round that didn't go boom when me or my friend pulled the trigger. To me, reloading fast is never my goal, and one is much more libel to make a mistake with that attitude.

I also enjoy reloading, rifle more than pistol. most pistol rounds I'm loading so that I can shoot them, not for any extreme accuracy goal. The rifle loading is more of a process, and is more enjoyable, especially when you find that perfect load.

I use a turret press for handgun rounds, and have never loaded a double charge or not had a powder charge either. I have led lights that shine down in the case and I simply look inside before I seat a bullet. If I see no powder or if something looks off I re-charge that case. I actually can't remember any instance where any of the lee powder measures failed to throw a charge. I always try and use at least 55% charge density, so a double charge would overflow the case. The only one I really can't is .38 special, and those get double checked. The turret press isn't as fast as a progressive, but it lets me spend less time loading and more time shooting, and it loads enough for my needs.