Brass and reloading

reloading

Howdy, Yes there is a thriving market for once fired brass. Prices may range from $40/thousand for 40 S&W to $250/thousand for more difficult to find items.
You can advertise here or on other forums. Craigslist may also be an option in your area.

Sorry for the general response but you didn't list the brass that you would have available.

Reloading is a rewarding hobby. Here locally we have a couple shops that offer beginners reloading classes. They are fairly inexpensive classes I understand.

I've reloaded for almost 50 years and continue to learn. Good shooting

With THR you don't have to learn it yourself there are hundreds of years of experience of reloading at your finger tips just for the asking. With that said there isa good demand for used brass. Do some searching and you'll geta feel for going prices. I've reloaded off and on for the last twenty years and have learned more on this forum in the last couple years than I could imagine.

A good starting point would be Lee's "ABC's of Reloading". It's a safe bet that most who reload here probably have a copy. It will give you a good foundation on what's involved in the process and what tools are needed.

If you plan on reloading I would strongly recommend you hang on to your brass. That's what I did for several years before I started reloading and I was glad I did. Once you start reloading then you might want to sort and part with some of it.

Between THR, and a copy of Lee's ABC's, and a little time on youtube (in that order) you could easily be well on your way to reloading.
Ask for advice and links to good resources from those here.
Read Lee's book to begin to get your head around the larger concepts.
Come back here to search for answers to specific questions.
Go to youtube vids recommended here for good visual help on what to do if you're a visual learner.
You needn't be apprehensive with all the resources you have available. I enjoy reloading nearly as much as shooting.

^ This is what I did. I was the same way I didn't have anyone local that could show me. I can read something all day long and not get it but if you show me once I'm set. Get the book to get a basic understanding and guide, use the forums for questions and YouTube to verify how to do it.

If you plan on reloading for multipul calibers or rifle and pistol, pick one and lean how to do it. Then as you get comfortable add more.

Where are you located? There might be somebody here that wouldn't mind showing you the basics.

jutinlee said:

It's here because I didn't know where else to put it.
And, the quoted section clearly gauges an interest in selling brass.
For a site called The High Road, there's an awful lot of condescending members. If something is in the wrong area. Have a moderator move it or if you are one, kindly inform me of my blunder and move on.
No need to passive aggressively attack the posted-location and content of a post by a member seeking help and advice from other,ore qualified, members.

I am located near Mt Vernon or Centralia Illinois. About an hour east of St, Louis, Mo.

Thanks for the book suggestion and I'll definitely look into it and the other content mentioned.

Click to expand...

Well there is a reloading section for reloading questions with lots of helpfull people
if you just want to datamine you should go there but my advice still stands and is good
find a mentor but if you have trouble with written instruction you should not take up reloading the reason being failure to follow reloading instructions could end up with injury or even death.

We started our journey with no hands on assistance.
Manuals, THR and Youtube was what we had to work with.

That was 4 years ago. We're doing fine. We've put several thousand rounds of our handloads down range.

We still have all our fingers.

I moved this to reloading

The main things to me are:

1 - Follow recipes TO THE LETTER. Min and max are there for a reason. Start at the bottom and work up.

2 - If you have a question, for the love of god ask it. Don't think you have a silly question and then go in your loading room and wing it. Ask, even if you think it may be silly. We all had simple questions when we started out. It pays to be sure.

If you always do those two things, you'll be okay.

Unless I missed it, you didn't state your general location. I am always happy to bring another shooter into the hand loading fold... I've taught a number of guys enough about loading to get totally involved, and none of them have blown themselves up yet. I would bet you live somewhere near one of us...

Having someone that can actually look at what you're doing can really help.

I'm up West of Champaign-Urbana, but that's a far piece to drive.

Save your brass if you intend to reload at some time. I can understand your wanting to have hands on training.

It is usually the best so I am not going to offer any advice other than contact the NRA, there are many certified instructors that give classes. They are not cheap but you will learn the NRA way and be exposed to all the different kinds of presses and methods.

Find a NRA instructor in your area.

jutinlee: there's a lot of how to vids here
http://ultimatereloader.com/

Unless you know someone who reloads, or a shop that buys brass, I would just stock pile it until you come to a decision. Around here there a number of shops that will buy or trade for brass.

As for having someone else reload your brass for you, myself, and just about anyone else I've ever talked to will not shoot someone else's reloads. And since you've already established that you don't know anyone that reloads, you would be blindly trusting their ability to do so for you.

Reloading in it's self isn't terribly complicated or difficult to learn. Starting with a couple of good books and even some professional guidance is the best approach. In my area, there are multiple shops that offer reloading classes, maybe check your local area for the same.

GS

^^^^ +1

Hang on to your brass. If you sell it to help buy a press then what will you load with that new press. Even if you think you have more than you need, you don't , and buying brass gets really expensive.

The problem with someone you don't know teaching you reloading, you have to be able to trust the fact that he knows what he's doing. I wouldn't trust that to just anyone. With the forum you will get the benefit of all of our experience and knowledge, not just one person.

Get the ABC's of Reloading, and get a Lymans 49th edition reloading manual to start with. Read them then start asking questions here. I am always amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this forum. The moderators of this forum watch to make sure you get a straight, honest answer to your questions.

I've been loading my own ammunition for over 40 years and I learn something new from here all the time.

That's why I mention a NRA class. It is done by professional teachers and by the book the NRA way.

I can teach you but it would be my way, Fred can teach you his way. Joe can show you his way etc, etc. If you want a class go take the correct and all inclusive way. Her is part of a E mail from my local NRA instructor, certified in everything and been a school teacher for a career before being a NRA teacher he knows his stuff.

Taken out of a longer e mail about other issues

" The NRA Reloading classes are broken into Metallic cartridge and Shot shell courses. Each of them run about 8 hours and do a pretty good job of covering the basics. I usually run one or two weekend "seminars" each year presenting both topics as well as an introduction into bullet casting. It is a HUGH amount of work involving setting up presses, organizing equipment and providing supplies. It has usually been difficult to get enough students to pay for the use of classroom facilities. It seems as though most guys who are considering reloading believe they can get all the information they need from a few gun magazines or online websites. With a few exceptions, the ones who will actually attend a class are often total "klutzes" who can and will bugger up your equipment in very innovative and creative ways. I sometimes spend as much time in the "hands on" portion providing first aid for bleeding fingers and clearing stuck/jammed cases as I do demonstrating. I do wonder how they make out after leaving the class with a false sense of confidence since only about 30% of them actually paid attention and listened to anything.

As you know, reloading is a "detail oriented" activity. Few guys even read directions until the darn thing doesn't work. Most are not good at details and don't understand the physics behind the whole process. This has become even more critical as reloading components are difficult to obtain necessitating substitutions and less-than-ideal combinations. I was at the club range a couple of weeks ago when one of the shooters experienced a Ruger LCP "KaBOOM" where the barrel and slide split. He was a brand-new reloader who bought a Dillon progressive but didn't have a clue. He obviously resented my interest and was packing the damaged gun away like nothing had happened. Lucky for him, he wasn't hurt except for a stinging hand. From a quick look as his fired brass, I'd guess he was way over pressure. This is a tough way to learn but from a friend at FDLE a fairly common one recently. They had investigated more than 400 firearms "incidents" involving reloaded ammo in 2013. Keep in mind those are the ones where they were called in to investigate which means someone went to the hospital!

So, there is a real need for someone like yourself to teach reloading properly. The difficult part is to convince students they need to get formal instruction and pay attention when they attend. ."

Saved ~10,000 brass cases before starting to load, took the NRA reloading course since I was living in Chicago and didn't know any nearby reloaders. Many thousands of rounds later I don't regret either decision.

If you are near me, then stop by! I will teach on my gear if you don't mind using it to learn on. I have two identical presses and for .223 I have multiple die sets, so you can load step by step right with me.

Chances are small that you are close enough, but the offer is out there for anyone. I have taught quite a few young Marines and my kids. So far no one has made a major error- damage or injury. It only takes following the books and paying attention.