Help with 'curriculum' development

It sounds like you have a plan, nothing jumps out as lacking or out of line.

The only thoughts I have are

You could show rifle vs pistol the main issue being trimming the rifle brass.
You could mention that tumbling makes the brass pretty but simply cleaning it is something that was done for years.

Other than those thoughts for a demo I think the approach makes sense.

I agree with the good Doctor. You have a well thought out plan. I hope that the demonstration goes well. Does the 'student' have an affinity for one cartridge over the other? Would you prefer the show them the rifle routine, that incorporates all the steps? Or do you think the pistol route would seem easier to understand and thus, more enticing to practice? I think a demonstration of the produced ammunition would also be a fulfilling end to the 'class'.
I wish you great luck.

I've instructed a lot of other folks over the years on handloading, but I've never taken time to pursue the NRA certification for Metallic Reloading - I've thought about doing so just so I could see how they think reloading can be taught in two days of class, and so I can see what kind of ammunition quality they expect these students to be able to produce after attending.

What I believe in, for the people I coach on reloading - teach them WHY each step is important, instead of only teaching them HOW to do each step. I've talked with guys who have reloaded for years, but admitted to honestly not knowing how to properly set sizing dies or properly set seating depth, because they didn't know what they were really doing in each die - they simply set the sizing die according to the die instructions and set the seating die according to the manual COAL... That's not a proper process, but that's all they knew, because that's how their uncle taught them, or how the instructions said to do it.

I also believe in letting them run the gear themselves. Reloading is a tactile process, you don't learn it by watching or hearing, you learn it by moving cases and pulling the lever.

As an instructor and educator myself, be careful to avoid letting the changes between sets of brass become distracting. Every directional change between sets of brass will be like mis-direction in a magic trick. You could easily swap between 223rem brass to 308win brass without the student noticing during one of those steps, and that opportunity for simple deception only exists because the changes in direction makes it hard to follow... Yes, there are processes which take too long to wait through during a day or afternoon of coaching, but do as much as a continual process as possible. Consider using a dry lube for sizing to avoid the need to rewash, or give a small batch a quick wash while you show some other set up step.

I spend more time teaching the process of setting up the dies and measuring the ammunition to custom fit the ammo to their firearm than I do anything else.

I also treat it like the (now defunct) NRA First Steps classes. If the student has their own gear purchased (which they usually do, after we've worked together to figure out what the best set for them might be), then I teach them on their own gear. There's not much sense teaching someone how to reload on the wrong equipment.

hdwhit said:

The interest in reloading may signal a nascent desire to get a gun and be able to feed it.

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Hmm.. Interesting. Perhaps, through the course of the class, you could study this further, 'feel him out' as it were. Upon your discretion, and not to impose pressure, but maybe a box of nine millimeter rounds, that one made themselves, could entice him to further investigate the option. Firearms as a hobby in the stead of firearms as weapons for protection.

From your postings I can see few better humans to be a teacher of reloading, to a teacher of men.

hdwhit said:

I have an acquaintance I have known for many years. He knows I reload but until recently had not expressed any interest. Recently, he asked if I would give him a "walk-through" of the reloading process. I eagerly agreed.

I reload in small batches on a single stage press. From receipt of an order of once-fired brass until they are run through the entire reloading cycle and turned into loaded ammunition typically takes me from one to two weeks as I do the work when time is available to me. This, of course, would not work for a demonstration.

What I had planned to do would be to get, say, 250 rounds of once-fired brass and then divide it up into batches of 20 or 25 cases and then run each batch through the reloading cycle up to a certain point and then stop. That way I would have:

• A batch of 20 cases at the decap stage,
  
• Another 20 at the wash stage,
  
• Another 20 for inspection,
  
• 20 more for sizing,
  
• A further 20 for tumbling the lubricant off the cases,
  
• Etc.,

Thus, each stage of the process could be demonstrated without taking the time required to dry the cases, tumble the cases, prime the cases, etc. I see it as like the cooking shows on television where the chef shows how to mix the ingredients and put it into the pan, but then has one prepared and ready to pop in the oven and another one fully cooked to show the audience.

Do you think this would be an effective way to condense the entire process into a reasonable amount of time while still demonstrating what happens at each stage in the process?

At present, I am only working on 9mm and .223 Remington, so it would be one of those two cartridges. Do you see any advantage to doing the rifle cartridge over the pistol cartridge - or vice versa - for a walk-through? If I was getting ready to seriously instruct someone on reloading it would be different, but this is just a walk-through to show someone what goes into reloading in hopes of sparking some interest in creating an adherent to the hobby.

Thanks.

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Do the rifle, because doing 9mm on a single stage would be unrealistic.

My experience with Military guys, nearly all of them are hung up on 45ACP.. I know Dozens that have retired/Served an they have the 1911 45ACP. Your friend can learn the process, it might be more informative for him if you determine where he is potentially going with it. If he plans to go all in, ask about his anticipated cliber. I possibly could help with shell selection for the training session. He may not need to know about bottle necks yet.. Ask the hard questions, to prevent "Pole Vaulting Over Mouse Turds"..

Good Luck

hdwhit said:

Since this is going to be a walk-through of how reloading is done, I did not anticipate going through more than a general discussion of how the dies worked and how they were adjusted. I was certainly not about to crack the allen nut of my 223 Remington sizer die which hasn't been changed since 1979.

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I always have a set of dies lying around which aren't set for anything in particular, so I use those to let students set the dies. Worst case, $30 for a set of Lee dies as a teaching aide.

Good on you for promoting our passion. Always gives me great pleasure to see people giving back.

I am a great believer in understanding what I call "first principles" the basic building blocks of any discipline. So if it were me it would be a little while before he touched a press. I would want to teach him about safety, what primers are, powder differences, pressure, etc. etc. What to watch for, being to close to the lands, compressed loads etc. as a noob these are concepts that will be foreign to him.

Enjoy.

I am fond of the idea of starting out on a single stage press. Even for experienced reloaders just doing a new cartridge.

It teaches you what all is going on that you might not realize when you pull the handle and all kinds of things happen at once.

I think reloaders should at least do some hand priming too so they understand the feel of a primer that maybe didn't seat quite right versus the feel of a primer going into a tight pocket. It is a lot harder to discern that on a multistage press because you can't see it.

250 rounds is far too many for a guy who exhibits marginal interest. Think 20, as in 1 box, if it's bottle necked rifle and walk him through loading one box. I'd use his rifle brass and add checking lengths plus trimming chamfering and deburring(making a strong point of that being "as required only".) Mind you, his brass is probably factory and will need chamfering anyway.
"...doing 9mm on a single stage would be unrealistic..." 40 plus years of doing just that with 9mm, .45, .38/.357 and .41AE plus a bunch of rifle cartridges. Speed with a single stage press come with technique. I'd still do the rifle unless the guy asks about hand gun. Different day though.

Give him a copy of The ABCs of Reloading. Tell him to read it cover to cover 3 times and then write a 2 page summary of each chapter.

Sunray said:

250 rounds is far too many for a guy who exhibits marginal interest. Think 20, as in 1 box, if it's bottle necked rifle and walk him through loading one box. I'd use his rifle brass and add checking lengths plus trimming chamfering and deburring(making a strong point of that being "as required only".) Mind you, his brass is probably factory and will need chamfering anyway.
"...doing 9mm on a single stage would be unrealistic..." 40 plus years of doing just that with 9mm, .45, .38/.357 and .41AE plus a bunch of rifle cartridges. Speed with a single stage press come with technique. I'd still do the rifle unless the guy asks about hand gun. Different day though.

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The reason to do handgun on a single stage is because you like doing it that way and because you have unlimited amounts of time. That is not typical, especially for semi-auto cartridges like 9mm, which I think are shot in greater numbers than those for revolvers. Doing handgun in this context could give the impression that handgun loading is a lot more tedious than it needs to be.

I teach a free reloading class at the local gun club. I usually limit it to 8 or so students and take about 7 hours with a 1/2 HR lunch brake in the middle. First I do a basic class for handguns showing how/why for each step along with the equipment selection and why. I then let the students reload 2 of 3 cylinders of ammo for their firearms (or mine if they have none) and then we go out and shoot them up. I ask them to bring their own brass and firearm and notify me beforehand what caliber it will be if they have one. I will provide press, dies, primers, propellant, projectiles and paper loading manuals. We load at starting loads and one or two steps up.

The second part on another day after, we go over the additional differences with rifle and reload some of those following the same format as the first class with the emphasis on brass prep/inspection/safety and loading habits that will promote accuracy. Then they will each work up a full ladder test and run it to see the effects of different loads.

If there is enough interest I will do a basic shot shell reloading class using a 12 GA Mec 600 as well.

Sunray said:

40 plus years of doing just that with 9mm, .45, .38/.357 and .41AE plus a bunch of rifle cartridges. Speed with a single stage press come with technique.

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I agree. I just loaded three hundred, fourty five auto this morning. I don't have a progressive and they need to be made somehow.

RealGun said:

The reason to do handgun on a single stage is because you like doing it that way and because you have unlimited amounts of time. That is not typical, especially for semi-auto cartridges like 9mm, which I think are shot in greater numbers than those for revolvers. Doing handgun in this context could give the impression that handgun loading is a lot more tedious than it needs to be.

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I am suggesting starting that way, not going into production. Once you get the basics down you can progress to production.