Questions about getting into reloading

[mortre]

I recently started reloading. I took a free class given by Sportsman's Wharehouse. RCBS master reloading kit was $249.00 this weekend. I bought everything over a 5 month period and am now up and running. Just be careful and follow the "work up" rule. Everything doesn't have to be a hot load. My favorite load for the my 45 uses .3 grains above the start (1.5 grains less than the max)

+1

But every gun is a rule unto itself. I have a .308 Win rifle that started showing pressure signs well below "book max", so I back off a half grain and settled down their. Later down the road I got a chronograph and my load that was less than 2 grains over the start load measure above the velocity listed for a max load. On the other side of the fence my 45 ACP load didn't start cycling the action correctly until .2 grains under max and averaged 722 fps.

 

[orygun]

Oh, and I would also venture to say reloaders as a whole are a very opinionated group as well.

and some (the more the better) attention to detail.

This sums up my opinion of starting with a single stage or turret press. When the new to the reloading "hobby" there are so many new things to deal with and I tried my best to keep things as separate and simple as possible.

And it makes my day to go to a shooting spot to find a box or two of 30-06 brass, too!

 

[Kevatc]

Just remember, even those who start with a progressive, usually end up with a single stage sooner or later. Might as well make a single stage your first choice then load a few boxes each session while "thinking about it". The savings on ammo might help you buy a better progressive than you might if you just went out and bought one as your first press.

I'm not sure about the bolded. I have a single stage but it is for de-priming 223 brass only. If I was hand loading maybe just a few dozen hunting rounds then I can see your point. Otherwise, once you get used to a progressive press and the volume and quality that you can produce the need for a single stage is beyond me.

 

[plumberfishes]

That is a big +1

Blessed are those who shoot the brand new factory Winchester and RP 45ACP and leave their brass behind!

AMEN to that
:gun12:

 

[deadshot2]

I'm not sure about the bolded. I have a single stage but it is for de-priming 223 brass only. If I was hand loading maybe just a few dozen hunting rounds then I can see your point. Otherwise, once you get used to a progressive press and the volume and quality that you can produce the need for a single stage is beyond me.

If you reload for ONLY ONE caliber in pistol or "High Volume" rifle like .223, 7.62X39, or .308, you're probably right. A single stage might be only good for you to de-prime. (I use an old Lee Progressive for that).

If you have several firearms and only want to load a few rounds, or if accuracy is paramount, a single stage/turret press is almost a requirement. Why do a caliber change for only 20-30 rounds? For accuracy, when every single detail is of the utmost importance, progressives just don't have the "chops" for that.

There are many kinds of "Reloaders". There are those that do so for hunting and their total consumption might be a box of primers and pound of powder per year.

There are those who load thousands of rounds of a single pistol caliber for weekly target shooting. Ditto for those that own Semi-Auto Rifles

There are those who try to wring the most accuracy possible out of a bolt action rifle and spend most of their time developing ammo to do so. Every single step of the process is performed one case at a time with perfection the goal.

Then there are those who do all of the above. I'm in this group. Whatever group other readers fall into, pick the press or combination that fits your needs to the best advantage. No singe one does it all.

 

[JackThompson]

I have a lee hand press coming in the mail because I'm on a non-existent budget and $25 was it.

I do like working with my hands though, so it should fit.

The laundry list of things required for rifle reloadingis daunting. Trimmers, primers, presses, tumblers, de-burring tools, pocket reamers.. Heck, I'm thinking about writing my own dictionary of terms just to get a handle on all this lingo lol.

 

[deadshot2]

I have a lee hand press coming in the mail because I'm on a non-existent budget and $25 was it.

I do like working with my hands though, so it should fit.

The laundry list of things required for rifle reloadingis daunting. Trimmers, primers, presses, tumblers, de-burring tools, pocket reamers.. Heck, I'm thinking about writing my own dictionary of terms just to get a handle on all this lingo lol.

The Lee Hand Press is a great tool. I too recently bought one. Use it at the range for "adjusting" my ammo at the range. When I'm working on OAL for a specific load, I load a bunch of rounds at home, just barely seating the bullet in the case. I then take the hand press, seating die, and caliper, to the range. All I need to do is finish seating the bullets to a desired depth so I can adjust for the best "jump". I do this after all the other load development process of using varying powder charges. This way I don't have to take a bunch of "wrong length" bullets home to pull and re-seat. Just set them right there and finish off a day of shooting.

 

[mortre]

Don't forget craigslist if you are new as well. I learned how to reload on my Dad's set up when I was 14 or 15, but after I got out of the Army and it was time to get my own that is where I went.

I ended up getting 3 single stage presses, tumbler, trimmer, beam scale, powder dropper, nearly 10 lbs of powder, 1000's of bullets and brass, about 10 sets of dies, 4 or 5 loading blocks, ammo boxes and more that I can't remember. All that for $250. I ended up offering the lady more because of how much there was, but she refused to take any more than her original asking price.

 

[Kevatc]

If you have several firearms and only want to load a few rounds, or if accuracy is paramount, a single stage/turret press is almost a requirement. Why do a caliber change for only 20-30 rounds? For accuracy, when every single detail is of the utmost importance, progressives just don't have the "chops" for that.

I agree that if you're reloading for competition, hunting, etc where you want ammo with very little if an variance between rounds then a single stage press is probably right for you. However, I know I can load 30 rounds and change over to another caliber faster with a progressive than I can on a single stage.

 

[deadshot2]

I agree that if you're reloading for competition, hunting, etc where you want ammo with very little if an variance between rounds then a single stage press is probably right for you. However, I know I can load 30 rounds and change over to another caliber faster with a progressive than I can on a single stage.

What kind of single stage do YOU have. Caliber changes don't take any time for me. Lee has the Breech Lock which makes it possible to change dies with a simple 1/4 turn, Hornady's LnL quick change adapters make it quick work, and if you have an RCBS press, just buy the $20 conversion kit that lets you use the Hornady adapters.

Don't see what's so slow.

 

[orygun]

I've been complaining to myself for a while about the time it takes me to swap calibers and get everything adjusted on my 550, then I realized that I'm just a dummy for not buying a separate tool head for each one! Oy!

 

[tdocz]

Lol, orygun. Dillon toolheads may be the best and worst things you.ever realized. Be careful you don't end up like me, I've got xl650 toolheads set up for every caliber I shoot, rifle and pistol. The first couple $22 toolhead investments didn't seem bad but after the 20th, my wallet started to sting. Of course, I regularly shoot every caliber these days. It's a good thing I "save" so much money reloading...

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[Glockman19]

This post has been far more informative than I could even have begun to think about. Its to hear the opinions go back and forth about different set ups and brands. Maybe one day Ill have some good useful information to pass along to someone else just getting into it.

 

[deadshot2]

Lol, orygun. Dillon toolheads may be the best and worst things you.ever realized. Be careful you don't end up like me, I've got xl650 toolheads set up for every caliber I shoot, rifle and pistol. The first couple $22 toolhead investments didn't seem bad but after the 20th, my wallet started to sting. Of course, I regularly shoot every caliber these days. It's a good thing I "save" so much money reloading...

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Just remember, "He who dies with the most toolheads wins"

 

[FarmerTed1971]

Bah, toolheads. Start adding powder funnels to all them toolheads if you really wanna' go broke quick. Damn you Dillon!

 

[JackThompson]

I can't imagine owning 20 calibres of weapon, and ammo, and cleaning stuff, and dies, and powder, and brass, and, and...

 

[Spitpatch]

"Yep, it's the way to start for sure. And when you're deep into the illness you'll be helping some other poor soul who's just been infected, by selling him YOUR RCBS single stage, because YOU HAVE A DILLON 6000 AND YOUR CRANKING OUT SOMEWHERE AROUND 400 ROUNDS PER HOUR NOW!!"


Um, No. At that point YOU will be the poor soul, having relinquished your tools and means to produce meticulously crafted ammunition: the result of careful and methodical experimentation.

This is NOT to say progressive presses cannot produce quality cartridges. They do very well with proper attention. But the purpose of a progressive press is quantity.

A good way to view the two schools of thought is that of a "Reloader" (primarily interested in quantity), and a "Handloader" (primarily interested in quality). This website and others are replete with queries from Reloaders (very experienced ones, producing fine ammo at astronomical rates of production) who bump into a snag that to a Handloader requires only basic (early obtained) knowledge to solve.

The best ammo crafters learned on a single stage press, nearly exhausted the range of possibilities and gained knowledge there, and finally enjoy the production rates available from a progressive, while armed with all the learned care, scrutiny and attention to detail to keep the machine running perfectly. NEVER would they even consider selling their single stage equipment.

 

[Spitpatch]

I can't imagine owning 20 calibres of weapon, and ammo, and cleaning stuff, and dies, and powder, and brass, and, and...

47 Calibers and counting: Most recent addition, .38-56 Winchester

 

[mortre]

NEVER would they even consider selling their single stage equipment.

Hey now, I gave away a single stage. But then again, I still have 3 more single stages...

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[Kevatc]

What kind of single stage do YOU have. Caliber changes don't take any time for me. Lee has the Breech Lock which makes it possible to change dies with a simple 1/4 turn, Hornady's LnL quick change adapters make it quick work, and if you have an RCBS press, just buy the $20 conversion kit that lets you use the Hornady adapters.

Don't see what's so slow.

I have a basic Lee single stage that, as I mentioned before, is used only to de-prime my 223 brass. I honestly can load 30 or so 45 bullets and change over to loading 223 and crank out 30 rounds of that in FAR less time on my LnL than I could to do each function on my single stage press.

I still maintain that a newbie with a modicum of sense, ability to read and follow directions, and attention to detail would be well served by starting with a turret press.