Basic Reloading & The (Classic) Lee Loader

Hi everyone!

Brand new here. In the interest of keeping the "intro" brief, I've done maybe a few hundred rounds of once-fired .45 ACP on my buddy's single stage press, and that's about it. I've done a fair amount of reading beyond that, so I feel pretty comfortable with the basics (terminology, etc.), but I have some more specific questions.

A couple of notes:
1. My "setup" right now is the brute force method via a couple of (Classic) Lee Loader kits. I also decided to go the hand priming tool route vs. doing it with the Lee kit (more to follow).
2. I know it's not a great way to do it, but it's what I can afford at the moment. Looking to make this setup work, not upgrade, so please try to keep information to the Loader kit (or reloading/gun mechanics) specifically.

The main thing is, I'm sorting through some brass I bought (9mm & .45 ACP). I'm trying to determine a quicker way to sort through it. The main issue I'm having so far is that resizing a lot of the .45 ACP is near impossible, even with some lanolin sprayed on. The percentage of pieces I've been able to hammer flush has been really low. Most just don't quite get there, or are left sticking out 1/4" or something. Is this a reason to automatically chuck that brass (can't be hammered flush)? Some of them seem to measure just fine, even if they have not made it all the way flush. Is this due to a limitation in leverage without having a press? Has the brass been fired too much and started bulging near the bottom? I've seen videos of guys knocking .45 ACP brass into the resizing die in two swings, and then tapping it back out to reprime, but this just doesn't seem feasible (at least not consistently). I'm beating these things against a vinyl-covered concrete floor 10 times and not getting them flush. Obviously, getting them back out isn't any easier. I've successfully primed some brass, but it was really tricky and I've already blown a primer in the process. I'm sure people have success with it, but hitting a thing that is designed to explode when hit seems like a silly way to install it, so I ended up getting a hand priming tool. It seems like doing some measurement prior to resizing is helpful, at least as far as the ID of the brass goes. I've been able to easily slide bullets into a number of resized cases with my fingers (no flare, no chamfer). This seems like an old brass problem as well (thin metal at the case mouth), but I don't know that for sure.

Anyway, I think I got ahold of some pretty rough brass that's going to need some serious sorting, or heavy hammering, to work through. Are there things I should be on the look out for to use as automatic disqualifiers aside from the obvious things like cracks/splits? Some of them have pretty dented case mouths, but I've been able to hammer many of those out using a combination of flaring and resizing. They seem to come out pretty well. Some have half-circle dents in the side. Those smooth out fairly well, but make me nervous. And so forth. Trying to salvage enough to make the purchase semi-worthwhile.

If "buy a $40 reloading guide" is the answer to a lot of these questions, I'm certainly willing to consider that option (I need a good one anyway), but I do enjoy some Q&A with experienced individuals vs. pure informational reading. Helps cut to the core of issues faster sometimes. Googling has provided some answers, but it can be a lot of scrolling through unrelated posts to find one tiny nugget of good info.

Thanks if you've made it this far! Looking forward to some tips and tricks.

Regards.

Wow! Thanks for the quick responses everyone.

I'll definitely take a look into some better case lubes/waxes (starting with the above). I went with the homemade Dillon's case lube approach (1 part lanolin oil to 10 parts 99% isopropyl, if I understand correctly). Seems OK. Sprays on easily, evaporates really fast, and definitely leaves a nice film on the cases, but I swear it almost feels slightly tacky sometimes. My basement is pretty chilly, maybe that's thickening the oil up a bit? I've also tried it 1:20 and the results are about the same. Thought about trying gun oil on a few just to see if there was any noticeable change in friction, but I haven't made it that far yet. Should probably try some with no lube too just for comparison. I think I might have tried a few without early on, but I don't remember.

I seem to be getting decent neck tension most of the time, although I've had a few loose ones (can push bullets all the way into the case with my fingers). I've been mostly making dummy rounds (no primer or powder) so far just to practice using the tools, and to get measurements. It has mainly been the resizing step that has been throwing me off. As I mentioned, some go flush (or very close), and some go about halfway in (as mentioned by WestKentucky). The inconsistency of it started to concern me. Bad brass? Bad lube? I can't swing a hammer? Heh.

That actually leads me to another few questions. I've been trying to write out a procedure for my reloading, and between the manual that comes with the Lee Loader, reading some other reloading information/posts, and some "common sense" thinking, I'm a bit confused. Here's process (hypothetically) at the moment:
1. Obtain clean brass (buy or clean it myself).
2. Lube brass (individually as I pick them up to resize, or spray a bunch on a towel).
3. Resize *first*. This is contrary to the Lee manual, but I believe saves some time in material handling. Doesn't seem like the spent primer would damage the brass (it should be sitting slightly recessed anyway), but I don't have enough experience to know that for sure.
4. With the case still in the die, put it on the open end of the depriming die (as if you're unseating a case that has already been reprimed) and deprime it.
5. With the case still in the die, scrape the primer pocket (I have kind of large hands, and the die makes for a more comfortable/stable grip on the case in this step, which I like).
6. Put the die back on the depriming die again, and knock the case out using the priming rod. If a better lube made this part easier that would be fantastic. I've already peened the head of the depriming rod a bit because I have to use a claw hammer to get the cases out in a reasonable number of blows.
7. Prime the case using my fancy new hand priming tool.
8. Very lightly deburr the case mouth inside and out (I use a Lee chamfer tool). I do *not* do this to fully chamfer the case, but just to remove sharp edges. This contradicts Lee's manual. They recommend chamfering 9mm and .45 ACP, and not flaring it (see #9 for more fun). I have read elsewhere that chamfering should be done only *once* on brand new 9mm and .45 ACP cases, so perhaps this is what they're referring to? Doesn't seem quite right for a "re"loading kit, though. Seems like people would assume they'd need to do it every time. I don't believe it says otherwise.
9. Very, very, very lightly flare the case mouth. Like, one tiny tap on the flaring tool. This also contradicts Lee's manual, as mentioned above. The flaring tools are, in fact, no longer included with the Classic Loader kits (although Lee will sell them to you for free + shipping), but here's my thinking: straight-walled brass, from what I understand, shortens after repeated firings as the brass is pushed toward the base. The case mouth wall becomes thinner, and the base wall comes thicker. Eventually (especially with .45 ACP?), the thinning at the case mouth causes the case to split, and its life comes to end. With that considered, and given that these rounds chamber on the lip of the case mouth, why would I want to take *any* extra metal off the case mouth by chamfering (assuming they're talking about doing it more than once)? Seems like a safer bet to flare just a tiny bit, and then do a light crimp at the end with the other side of the die.
10. Powder.
11. Bullet.
12. Light crimp.

Does this seem like a reasonable process to start with? I don't mean to come off as arrogant by flying in the face of the instructions written by a company that clearly has more experience in this field than I do, but I'm trying to understand the mechanics of it all and some of it just doesn't quite make sense to me (or I'm just being impatient and trying to skip steps).

I believe I've seen a few alerts as I've been typing this, so thanks in advance! Should probably check in.

Thanks for pointing out the full-length resizing, jonas66. I think that's part of what's confusing me so much. I figured I'd get to flush (or darn close) pretty regularly based on that, and then didn't at all. I do have one of those Lyman Ammo Checkers (8-hole for pistol), and the cases that don't resize fully seem to fit. The dummy rounds also seem to chamber/eject fine, although I need to specifically do some more testing with dummy rounds made from cases that didn't resize fully.

Thanks once again everyone.

Going to head to the basement for a while this afternoon to do some experimenting. Lots of good suggestions! I'm planning on getting some Imperial wax to try. Incidentally, I ran across an article last night that said that Imperial is basically 2 parts beeswax to 1 part lanolin. That seems doable at home assuming there's no "magic" to their formula. Anyone ever tried it?

Better lubricant and a more solid surface to hammer on seem to be the leading (and easiest) things to try immediately. I do have a 4" bench vise with a small anvil on it. Should I put a shop rag on the anvil or anything to prevent damage to the die, or is that defeating the purpose of using a hard surface? I guess the crimping end of the die will be against the anvil, and the crimp area is recessed, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll give some a try using the vice jaws, too. And I'm definitely going to give the die a good cleaning.

To be clear, I am currently setting the die on the floor and hitting the case with a dead blow hammer. Seems like that should be plenty enough force, especially with some lube. Hopefully the anvil helps, but I'm going to do some before and after measurements on everything. I'll probably separate things into "went flush, or nearly" and "not even close", and see how the groups compare.

Results to follow! Very excited to see how things go.