First attempt reloading

[Driftwood Johnson]

When you say Lee Loader do you mean the one you use with a hammer?

If so, crimping, and particularly seating bullets consistently will be easier when you buy a press. Particularly if you buy a single stage bench press as we talked about.

If you buy one of those things you squeeze like a pliers you will not have the mechanical advantage of the leverage of a bench press. Your hand will get tired, and it will be more difficult to seat and crimp bullets consistently.

 

[45remmy]

When you say Lee Loader do you mean the one you use with a hammer?

If so, crimping, and particularly seating bullets consistently will be easier when you buy a press. Particularly if you buy a single stage bench press as we talked about.

If you buy one of those things you squeeze like a pliers you will not have the mechanical advantage of the leverage of a bench press. Your hand will get tired, and it will be more difficult to seat and crimp bullets consistently.

Yup, just waiting for $$ to show up.

 

[loadedround]

Basically they look fairly good. However in my opinion your crimp is too much on the heavy side and not crimped in the bullet's crimp groove.

 

[45remmy]

Basically they look fairly good. However in my opinion your crimp is too much on the heavy side and not crimped in the bullet's crimp groove.

I'll take a look closer at what your talking about

 

[roscoe]

Don't be too shy on the crimp - you don't want the slugs in the cylinder pulling out when the gun recoils. Not so likely with mild rounds, but once you get loading magnum loads, it can be an issue.

 

[mdi]

Nuttin' wrong with Lee Loaders. I have 8 along with 4 presses, 12 die sets, 4 scales, three powder measures and 2.38 metric tons of assorted reloading tools. Some say you can't get accurate ammo using a Lee Loader, but the 1,000 yard record was once held by a shooter using a Lee Loader. Some complain they are slow, but how's less than 50 seconds per round?

I was in my shop and ran across some brass I had not put away yet, so I grabbed a Lee Loader (45 ACP) and pounded out about 20 rounds. Huge amount of fun and great satisfaction...

 

[deadeye dick]

I'm a little fuzzy on the whole crimping procedure but I'll figure it out.

DON'T figure it out, thats the way to get hurt. Listen to the guys in the forum who have more experience. Read and than reread the manuals (you do have at least 3)

 

[stonebuster]

Good luck at the range from another green Connecticut reloader. The folks on this forum have given me a lot of help already(& I needed it)

 

[Bfh_auto]

Yup, just waiting for $$ to show up.

I have one for 32 special. It definitely takes some time to reload. But it's fun.
Are you using pyrodex because of availability? Or because of the handgun?

 

[buck460XVR]

Basically they look fairly good. However in my opinion your crimp is too much on the heavy side and not crimped in the bullet's crimp groove.

Crimp is hard for new reloaders. While I too thought the crimp was a tad heavy for the load, it won't hurt anything. As for the seating depth and the crimp all over the place. Could be one or more of several things. First thing that comes to mind is inconsistent case length. Ammo may all be the same OAL wne finished, but the difference in case lengths makes so some crimps hit the cannelure in the middle and some missed completely. From then looks of the picture, it seems the cases are of different lengths. Also, could be contributed to cases having minimal bell and the lead bullets themselves deforming when being seated. You can see some of the bullets have a very slightly flattened tip and some are still rounded. That can impact consistent seating depth. Could be a combination of both. For a first attempt, I think the OP did just fine.

 

[LaneP]

I agree, great start. I have to relate a story from my early reloading days.

In the 1970's I bought the Lee handload kit to reload .38 Spl with. In that very primitive kit, you pound the case into a sizer die with a mallet to resize it (I used a hickory hammer handle). Worked good if you were reloading for the same gun, but did not size enough between guns in some cases.

In that time, my best friend's grandfather (a WWI vet) handed me some empty, nickel plated cases from his S&W model 10 and asked if I could reload them for him. I said sure, no problem. A day or so later I handed him those cases back reloaded with 158 lead SWC's and a sensible charge of Unique. I found out later the loaded rounds were just a little too snug for some chambers of his model 10, so he had taken sand paper and sanded each case until it was a drop fit in his chambers, in some cases removing the nickel plate almost entirely.

I would be informed later that he accidentally killed his dog with one of my reloads. He had gone out in his front yard to confront some troublemakers on the road in front of his house and brought his pistol with him. This was rural N.C. in the 1970's, bear in mind, and his reaction was not at all out of character for the times. He had his pistol down by his side and his dog was right beside him when he fired a warning shot to the ground and struck his dog right in the back.

Anyways, that story had just come to mind, thanks for your time!

 

[mdi]

I agree, great start. I have to relate a story from my early reloading days. In the 1970's I bought the Lee handload kit to reload .38 Spl with. In that very primitive kit, you pound the case into a sizer die with a mallet to resize it (I used a hickory hammer handle). Worked good if you were reloading for the same gun, but did not size enough between guns in some cases.

Lee Loaders full length size straight sided cased (38 Special) to similar dimensions as a standard sizing die. Bottle necked cases are neck sized only I have 5 handgun Lee loader kits, all straight sided cases, semi-auto and revolver and all full length size each case to chamber easily and completely. The only difficulty I have ever experienced was with 44 Magnum brass that I fired in my 3 revolvers that were harder to size (but case lube helped greatly)..

 

[Average Joe]

Hard to tell from the picture, but the crimp looks a tad to heavy.
Overall, they look pretty good.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

Regarding getting your crimps correct:

I have not mentioned this before, but I think it is useful to make up some dummy rounds whenever setting up for reloading a new cartridge. This is especially helpful in getting the crimp correct.

I understand you were probably focused on making some live rounds to try out, but it really helps to sacrifice a few cases and bullets to make up some dummy rounds without primers or powder in them.

I suggest when you get your loading press you do so. I always do this when setting up to load a new cartridge for the first time. I can sacrifice a bullet and case or two getting the crimp correct and not worry about wasting powder or primers while setting up my dies. When you start loading a new cartridge you always have to set up your dies. This is nothing more than adjusting how deeply you screw the dies into the press. Most dies come with a locking ring, and when you have set the die where you want it you snug down the ring against the body of the press, then lock the ring in place on the die with a set screw. So the first time you load up a particular cartridge, you need to set all the dies. My advice is, do not be in a hurry to start cranking out live ammo, first take the time to set your dies correctly, and the way to do that is to make up some dummy rounds.

Particularly with the seating/crimping die, the setting will be specific for any particular bullet style. If you change bullets, you will have to reset the seating/crimp die for the new bullet style. Having a few dummies on hand is always helpful to reset the seating/crimp die back again to where it was for a dummy loaded with a particular bullet.

Here is a shot of my RCBS 45 Colt dies that I have been using for many years. I always like to store a few dummy rounds in the box with my dies so I can reset my dies if necessary. There is an extra seating/crimp die for a different bullet, and all the dies are wearing their Hornady Lock and Load AP collets.

Don't worry about how to set up your dies, any good set comes with instructions for how to set them up. If you can't figure it out from the instructions (which can sometimes be a little bit unclear) there are plenty of folks here who can explain it to you.

 

[Mr. 22]

Is it just me or do the boolets look different on rounds 3 & 5?? (The center and shape of the tips... almost a different core)

Maybe just #5 is different (can't tell by the pix). This may account for the different seating depth, etc.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

I don't think anyone has mentioned that a really too-heavy crimp can introduce swelling near the case mouth that can/will prevent shoving into the cylinder. Of course a savvy expert like me would never do that....