Future reloader.

[BLACKFIN]

Update 9/13/2020

Budget: $70 of $150.00

Lee single stage press: $25
Caliper: $10
Case lube/wax: Free sample

Lee Pacesetter Rifle Dies .223: $35
Shell holder 223: Free (included with dies set)
Powder scoop: Free (included with dies set)




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Hello everyone, Blackfin here.

Due to the ammo shortage i have decided to start reloading. I only have 2 calibers, 223/556 and 9mm.

I will start with 223/556 and this is what my research tells me i need.

The press i want to use is the Lee precision single stage because i want to focus on each step since it’s my first time.

Single stage press
3 or 4 set dies for 223/556: what they do?
primer for 223
223/556 cases new or fired in good condition
Gun powder for 223
Bullets 55/62gr
Scale to measure powder
Caliper to measure overall length
Case lube/wax?

is there anything else that I need to get started? My budget is $100-$150 Max for the hardware. I have a son and a wife and want to make sure i have enough ammo to put food in the table and defend my family.

thank you in advance.

ETA:
Load Data (manual)
Shell holder
Case trimmer
Lee powder scoop
Powder funnel

 

[guns3738]

You also need a case trimmer for the 223

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Some way to throw/measure the powder. Lee scoops are inexpensive and worth a look.

May be really tough to get set up now with your budget. Look for local stuff used from someone who wants out of the game.

 

[Virginia Jim]

You can use one of thesis place of a case trimmer in a pinch
https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/101293302?pid=465641

 

[OldTech]

Make sure your dies come with the shell holder. You may want to get a powder funnel, they are inexpensive and handy to have. Make sure you have load data available for the powder and bullet combination you choose. Have fun and be safe!!

 

[gunlaw]

I would start with 9mm. Pistol cartridges are easier to re load and you will learn the basics of reloading without the added frustration of loading a cartridge like the .223. Just my opinion.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Look up (Lee challenger kit) on google. It has everything minus dies and components.

 

[BLACKFIN]

I would start with 9mm. Pistol cartridges are easier to re load and you will learn the basics of reloading without the added frustration of loading a cartridge like the .223. Just my opinion.

What’s the difference in reloading them?

 

[cfullgraf]

Basically, there is not alot of difference in reloading 223 Remington vs 9x19 but there are some different steps that need to be done between the two.

Bottle neck cases must be measured for length and then trimmed when they get too long. Handgun cases virtually never get trimmed.

Bottle neck cases have the mouth expanded when withdrawing the case from the sizing die while "straight" walled handgun cases will have the mouth expanded in a separate step with a separate die.

Many folks do not crimp the bullets in their bottle neck rifle cartridges while semi-auto handgun cartridges are generally taper crimped and revolver cartridges are roll crimped.

Bottle neck rifle cases are sized in steel dies and require lubrication. These days, most folks use carbide sizer dies for handgun cases which can be used without lubrication. There are some steel handgun case sizer dies out there and the cases require lubrication with the steel sizer dies.

There are carbide 223 Remington sizer dies but they are for the high volume loader, they are very expen$ive, and they still require lubrication.

You will want some method of cleaning off the lubrication such as a vibrating tumbler or a wet tumbler with stainless steel pins. Wiping the lubrication off by hand gets tedious.

There are other subtle differences. Get a "How to" book on reloading. "ABC's of Reloading" and most of the bullet company manuals have good instructional sections.

I hope this helps.

 

[forty_caliber]

Howdy and welcome to THR. You'll find lots of great information in these pages. Lot's of people willing to help you get started.

First things first. Buy a manual.

.40

 

[Random 8]

You can skip the trimmer right now, and set aside any cases requiring a trim until later if budget allows. Many kits will include a case trimming system and are sometimes a good bargain though, so if you find one, great. You'll want to add a loading block to your list. They are inexpensive and are great for lubing cases and holding them on the bench ready for the funnel. You can do without, but for a few dollars price it's foolish. I like spray lube. You can use homemade or pad lube, but for smaller volumes, the Hornady one shot or Lyman spray product work well. Use sparingly. An inexpensive chamfer/debur tool is also essential, even with once fired brass. It removes the small burr at the case mouth that will shave jacket material as you seat bullets.

A 2 die set is what you need for .223. The Lee set is serviceable, some of the more expensive sets do the same things with some additional user friendly features. Lees usually come with a shellholder. The first sizing die deprimes and sizes the case, expands the neck to take a bullet. The second die seats your bullet. With 9mm you'll add a third die between these 2 that expands the neck to accept a bullet (necessary with non-bottleneck rounds). Some Lee die sets include a "factory crimp die" as a 3rd or 4th step. IMHO (you'll get other O's), they don't offer any significant improvement in accuracy or reliability.

Unfortunately, the ammo shortage has hit components also. We're in a use what will work scenario rather than a use what's best. I'd recommend printing off a few recipe sheets for the 55 grain weight from Western, Hodgedon, Alliant before you go powder shopping, and hopefully you find one that will work. Ditto for primers. So long as they say "small rifle," they will work. If they say "small rifle magnum" they will work, but please post again before proceeding as there are some additional precautions.

ETA I would buy these first. Suitable hunting/self defense/target shooting bullet. Easy to load, most importantly in stock.. https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/product/hornady-224-22-55-gr-sp-w-c/ Also several suitable powders in stock at this site. Hodgdon BL-C2 and CFE 223 to name 2. Primers you may be out of luck unless your local store has some.

Welcome to the forum and the art/science of reloading. I'm sure you will find it a rewarding and at times frustrating endeavor.

 

[frankmako]

first i would find someone to show you how to reload. this way you will know what to buy and not to buy. second you will need to find primers, powder, bullets, and brass. third, buy the equipment. now is not the time to start reloading,,,,reason is primers are hard to find. you can find primers at a very high price,,, but don't be the fool that buys primers at this over inflated price.

 

[Highland Lofts]

Locally and online I see really jacked prices on primers. $40 per 1'000 primers go for $100.
Like already said now is a bad tile to get started into reloading.
I have seen $40 9mm dies go for $200

I let local guy use my presses and dies. I buy used dies & a few pieces of brass in lots of calibers I don't even have so I can set them up so friends can use them to load with.

 

[.308 Norma]

Load Data (manual)

Howdy BLACKFIN! Welcome!
Handloading is a great hobby in itself. It's one of my addictions that I have no intention of giving up. I wouldn't want to be getting into it right now though because components are a little hard to find, but this will blow over pretty soon. At least I hope it will.
At any rate, as others have said, a good loading manual is a must, and loading manuals are for a lot more than just load data. You'll find a lot of "how to," cautions, troubleshooting and terminology in them. I like Speer, Hornady and Lyman manuals myself. And I not only like Hodgdon manuals, every year I buy a copy of Hodgdon's "Annual Manual" off a newsstand.

 

[ms6852]

I will reiterate again the importance of reloading manuals since you are starting out. As was mentioned the manuals are very important as you will find out soon enough when you get started that there will be confusing and conflicting data on certain loads and bullets of various weights and calibers. What kept the confusion to a minimum for me were the different manuals. For example, if you buy a certain bullet made by a certain company and you only have a manual from a different manufacturer the information you seek may not be listed in that manual.

So if you buy hornady bullets I would recommend you buy a Hornady manual, if you buy Sierra bullets buy a Sierra manual, if you buy Barnes bullets buy a Barnes manual and so on. The reason for this is that if you also buy a powder to load a specific caliber and you want to use data from the powder company it may not correlate with the only manual you may have for that bullet. By buying the variety of manuals for each bullet manufacturer you use the bullet manufacture has already tested all the loads for you, with a variety of different powders that performed the best with their testing. They will give you their starting loads and their maximum loads. The ABC's of reloading is a great start that you should read while you wait to try to find all the equipment required to start reloading. Millions of people have the same thought you did so the shortage will be around for a while, in the meantime research what you need and put yourself on the notify lists for those parts that you need.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I have bought a lot of used stuff off of e bay.
You can generally buy used reloading manuals at a decent price on there.
I am always looking on there for used dies I don't have.

Also.look at the reloading stuff for sale on this forum. I have bought stuff from there and sold stuff on there as well.

 

[CptnAwesome]

Look up (Lee challenger kit) on google. It has everything minus dies and components.

I like this one. May be more economical than spending time piecing together a kit. Especially if your looking for deals right now,,, it may take a while.

 

[George P]

The main issue, currently, is trying to find components for either cartridge, arguably, the two most popular in the country at this moment.
I also would start with 9mm, no need for trimming, lubrication, chamfering, etc. like bottle neck cases.
Add a kinetic bullet puller to your list for those OOPS you will have, and trust me, you will; we all did at one time or another.

 

[Blue68f100]

Since you will be loading for a AR use the CCI #41 primers or Rem 7 1/2. Standard primers may give you a slam fire when the bolt closes. The AR primers have a different anvil which makes them harder to set off. They have a thicker cap like a mag primers and mag type primer compound load. Slam fires will turn you simi-auto in to Full Auto, not good. Since your are a beginner stick with the proper primers for now. If your loading for a bolt rifle you can use most any Small Rifle primer which is designed for the 62k psi load. I say this for you may run across some Rem 6 1/2 which are for the Hornet which runs a lower pressure. A 223/556 pressure will pierce these and erode your bolt face damaging your gun.

Be safe

You picked a terrible time to get into reloading. Supplies are hard to come by and have gone up greatly in prices due to demand. Be aware if you order primers or Powder on line you will have a added HAZMAT fee added for shipping, normally a additional $25-$35 . So 1 pound of powder or 1000 primers could cost you double by the time shipping is added + HAZMAT. The reason it's best to make it a larger order to average it out. Not recommended till you know what you really want.

 

[Toprudder]

I also suggest starting with 9mm, for the reasons already mentioned.

 

[bihj]

Aside from the "components are next to impossible to find" problem... How do you plan to seat your primers?

 

[Johnnyd]

Do yourself a favor and by a manual or two.
Do yourself another favor and start with 9mm. Less equipment and steps.
How many rounds do you use per week? That will govern what equipment you should be looking at. Your budget is extremely low. Think more towards $500-$1000.

 

[entropy]

You also need a case trimmer for the 223

RCBS makes a case trimming die that is quick and easy to use. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1011583072?pid=109469
You just need it and a file. A chamfer/deburring tool is handy also.

You picked a terrible time to get into reloading.

I agree. I'd be concentrating on amassing a quantitiy of factory ammo first, then worrying about reloading. I'd also heed those who recommend starting with 9mm first; aside from the extra step, they are easier to reload.

For reloading for an AR, it is wise to use Small Base dies. There will be naysayers who say it is not necessary, but if you want reliable function, small base dies are the better choice. You may sacrifice a loading or two of brass life, but even with the influx of new reloaders, 5.56/.223 is still easy to find at ranges.

 

[ballman6711]

My budget is $100-$150 Max for the hardware

Aside from the "components are next to impossible to find" problem... How do you plan to seat your primers?

Midway has these two kits on sale along with free shipping right now.
This Lee kit primes on the press

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013011111?pid=423081

While this one uses a hand primer

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013004049?pid=121744

Using either of these kits, you would still need dies and a shellholder, which will put you over your MAX $150 budget for hardware. Plus you still need components. AND I would highly recommend at least one loading manual and reading all the information at the front before even looking at any of the data.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but as stated above this isn't an ideal time to get started. You may be able to piece together a press and enough other hardware to get you started within your budget.

This press is inexpensive, but it is JUST the press. Everything else you need would be extra. Not sure if you can get the rest of the hardware needed for less than $100.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013020665?pid=807734

I'd be concentrating on amassing a quantitiy of factory ammo first, then worrying about reloading

This may be your best option given the current situation and events.

Putting all political discussions aside, if you are new to guns and shooting, I feel for you. Now is a difficult time to find ammo or reloading equipment and components. And IF you do find them they may or will be at a premium price. I will also say that deals are out there, but you will have to be patient and grab them when you find them. If you have been shooting for more than a couple of years (basically before the last shortage) then you should have been at least trying to put away a bit extra here and there.

chris

 

[WestKentucky]

For the price of admission you may want to skip the single stage and go straight to a turret. You can remove the part that causes the auto index and your left with a single
stage that can be turned back into an indexing turret when your ready to do that. As a parent I will say that time is limited and little parts/pieces go everywhere (especially spent primers) so you want to have a setup that’s easy to clean up and make safe for the kiddos once your done. I like lee turrets specifically for this reason, they catch the primers and put them in a tube that can be dumped. Also, case prep is a pain, and priming on the press can be a pain. You would be well served to acquire a hand primer so that you can check a case, insert a primer, and pitch the put the primed case into a container so that when you get time to load you are well prepared and can get started quickly and keep going until the wife yells for you to tend to those fatherly duties that come about every time that you get comfortable or start doing something that you actually enjoy. When you get your basic equipment (press) post here and we can hook you up with tips, tricks, and possibly even some hand-me-down equipment that you may want or need.