lordpaxman
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Welcome back!
You say you have everything thing you need…. but there are a few enablers here…
You say you have everything thing you need…. but there are a few enablers here…
Getting Back To Reloading After A 16 Year Hiatus
- Thread starter 3sport
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rfwobbly
Member
I ordered this, but in HARD COVER. I know, I could have saved some bucks by going with the paperback, but I really like hard cover books for reference. So it's on the way. Thanks again for the recommendation. I have an old Lyman on the bench, and old Speer, Nozler and Hornady manuals from the 90s. For the loads I am familar with and have legacy components for (from the 90s), I can simply continue as I was back then. But it will be interesting to see if any load values have changed over the decades.
I am also pondering setting up an account at Hornady and using their app for reloading data. I loaded the app on my smartphone last night and it looks excellent. I just don't know if I'd ever use it enough to justify the expense. I'm not a high volume multiple cartridge reloader. I will basically be reloading three cartridges and one shotshell for the foreseeable future. Paying for an app that I'd only use three or four times seems really wasteful.
Welcome back!
Once you have everything sorted and you’re back to actually reloading take a hard look at one if these. They weren’t available when you started your sabbatical.
On sale at MidwayUSA right now for $89. But you’ll want the collator and 4 tube set up which will add another approx. $40. Money well spent!
Thank you. I am very tempted. DECAPPING is probably my least favorite single stage process. It will save me from having to load a decapping die, and will certainly speed up one stage of the reloading process.
That's a kind offer, but I'll hang on to it. I just won't post any pictures of the old 1292, just to make sure I don't embarrass myself!
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Charlie98
Member
I can tell how long it's been... with all that Midway branded stuff. Those were the days...
I finally had to replace my 1292... the motor failed. But... I got a Lyman and put the blue bowl back on it... so I sort of have a 1292 L-version.
Insert some center braces for the particle board shelves. Eventually they are gonna crack and you will have a mess!
Absolutely. I thought someone would mention that from my pic. I threw that shelf together in 20 minutes back in the 90s. I should have braced it back then, but was in a hurry to get that bench up and running, and when it was new, it obviously did not sag like it has over the years. Thanks for the reminder.
No offense but I hate Particle Board, Many years of "experience with the stuff! Seems everything these days is made of the stuff!
I actually stopped brass reloading (for the most part) in about 1998 ish. I continued with very sporadic 40 S&W and a few 38 Special loads until about 2002 ish, but 99 percent of my reloading form 1998 to 2006 was 12 gauge bird and target loads, all single stage with that RCBS press and an RCBS 12 ga die kit. I am joining a fish and game club that has Trap shooting. I really want to get back into that. I can still remember the load for my components of 12 ga target from memory. Easy to remember when that's basically all you are reloading for 6 or 7 years.
I started with a Lyman vibrator (or tumbler if you prefer that name), but the motor burnt out after a while, so I got that Midway. Again, there is very low time on that unit, so hopefully it will last a while yet. It's been so long, I don't even remember how I ordered all of those Midway items. There are many more on the storage shelf down below the bench that you can't see. Did I order by telephone while looking at the catalog? I can't remember. Obviously, in the 90s, no internet ordering. Many of the dies and the RCBS press, powder, primers and reloading manuals I got from a local gunstore back then. That I do remember.
No offense but I hate Particle Board, Many years of "experience with the stuff! Seems everything these days is made of the stuff!
I'm not a fan of particle board either. I just needed to get something up there quickly for storage back then. I probably should just trash that shelf and build a new one out of poplar or another reasonably price hardood. It will only take a few hours. Hardest part is a trip to the lumber yard.
AJC1
Member
If your into wood projects I've had the desire to build a die rack like the cd racks of old. Give the bottom like a 10 or 15 degree bar so the weight holds them in.
Charlie98
Member
I remember having my list made up before I'd call Midway. You'd usually get a nice lady on the phone, and I'd reel off those 6-digit item numbers and the quantity.
If you are going back to shotshells, you may consider a dedicated shotshell press. I had a MEC Sizemaster to load 12ga... it was a lot of fun. Unlike metallic reloading, which can seem like you are doing brain surgery sometimes, that MEC was all slam! bam! and put that elbow into it! Although I don't reload shotshell anymore, and I sold my press some years ago, I can still remember my recipe... AA hull, #209 primer, WAA12 substitute wad, 20grn WST, and 1 1/8oz #7 shot.
That's a nice idea. I just have the dies sitting in their factory boxes on the shelf at present. I will give the idea of a "die rack" some thought. Thanks.
That's probably what I did as well, but I have absolutely no memory of how those Midway products worked their way onto my bench. I doubt I'd "Mail In" an order, so it must have been telephone. Like JC Penny and Sears, back then. Basic catalog ordering that I have totally forgotten about.
My load for Trap target was similar to your load, but with 19gm WST. I still have all of the components, in abundance, so I'm sure that will be on the agenda for reloaing soon. I thought about going with an MEC, but stayed with the single stage RCBS die in the Rock Chucker. We'll see how deep I get back into Trap shooting. I shot so much Trap in the early 2ks that I got a lumpoma on my right shoulder from recoil. It's still there. I put a recoil pad on my trap gun and bought a shooting vest with shoulder protection, but it was too late by then. The lumpoma was already there by the time those remedies were put into place. If I only shoot once or twice a month, then single stage will be fine to stick with. I can do two boxes fairly quicly, even with single stage. I no longer bird hunt, so it will only be target loads from now on.
Seedy Character
Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2021
- Messages
- 2,064
Like riding a bike. Jump on and go.
Yep. Maybe add a copy of "The ABCs of Reloading" as a refresher. Won't hurt anything and may come in handy to help remember...
AJC1
Member
I own 6 or 8 manuals (4 Lyman manuals), all have a "how to" section in the front half. None compare to the extensive ABCs information. I occasionally get out my copy of the ABCs and skim through it, hurts nothing and is a reminder for some little used info. Can't have too many books...
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I checked if the 51st has PSI. It has PSI and CUP. And some with no pressures listed.
AJC1
Member
I completely understand the expense of testing but there are a ton of holes and those should be filled with each new release.
AJC1
Member
I'm fond of metalic cartridge reloading. It goes far beyond where the front matter normally ends. The Lyman 45th has a section about how they develop and publish loads that I've never seen anywhere else. Further there is some great front matter in the casting Lyman manuals but it's in dire need of updating, covering any and all mater of coating from PC to htc.
Thanks gents.
I have started "sorting" my pile of old reloading documents and manuals. I found a reloading log from 1992/1993 that I designed on "Harvard Graphics", the old design software for MS DOS. I recorded these reloads just before I migrated to the computer for logging. But that didn't work out at all, because back then, it was an ATT 286 machine running DOS and a floppy of "VisiCalc" for the logging. Of course, I never backed anything up back then, so when the computer quit, all that data was lost. Very sparce entries because I loaded so many cartridges back then and this was only the 9mm Luger. Plus, I soon decided that this hand-written method of logging was too tedious, so I quickly converted to logging via computer, and the rest is lost to history;
I have a Speer manual 11th edition (from 1988), a Hornady manual 1 and 2 fourth edition, combined with various small pamphlets for reloading.
I have lost my Nosler manual from 1992/1993 that I loaned to a friend around 1995, and never got it back. Does anyone ever get loaned books back, especially reference books? Even the public library has trouble with this issue. Picture from the internet;.
I also found my reloading bible. When I started, this was all I had. No internet, no friends or fellow reloaders to help me. Just me and the manual. The counter guy at my local gunshop knew a "little" about reloading but not very much. It was all up to me, and this was where I started circa 1991 ish. The price tag says $16.95. Printed in 1990;
I did a good job storing my operating and instruction manuals. Everything was filed well and is still ready to reference when I need to;
I totally forgot I purchased this. ARMS Reloader Handgun Software 2000 for MS DOS or Windows. I don't think I ever used this, or if I did, I don't remember. CD software with a required floppy disc with the required software KEY;
As a bonus, I forgot that I had this. It's a tin sign reproduction of a Remington Sporting Cartridges chart. I need to get a frame for this and mount it over my reloading bench. I remember I bought two of these. One (Peters Shotshells) I framed and put out in my hunting/fishing cabin - AKA my man cave, or as SWMBO calls it, the Sunroom. My first memory of the shooting sports as a child was my father coming home from rabbit or duck hunting and his box of Peters shotshells.
I have started "sorting" my pile of old reloading documents and manuals. I found a reloading log from 1992/1993 that I designed on "Harvard Graphics", the old design software for MS DOS. I recorded these reloads just before I migrated to the computer for logging. But that didn't work out at all, because back then, it was an ATT 286 machine running DOS and a floppy of "VisiCalc" for the logging. Of course, I never backed anything up back then, so when the computer quit, all that data was lost. Very sparce entries because I loaded so many cartridges back then and this was only the 9mm Luger. Plus, I soon decided that this hand-written method of logging was too tedious, so I quickly converted to logging via computer, and the rest is lost to history;
I have a Speer manual 11th edition (from 1988), a Hornady manual 1 and 2 fourth edition, combined with various small pamphlets for reloading.
I have lost my Nosler manual from 1992/1993 that I loaned to a friend around 1995, and never got it back. Does anyone ever get loaned books back, especially reference books? Even the public library has trouble with this issue. Picture from the internet;.
I also found my reloading bible. When I started, this was all I had. No internet, no friends or fellow reloaders to help me. Just me and the manual. The counter guy at my local gunshop knew a "little" about reloading but not very much. It was all up to me, and this was where I started circa 1991 ish. The price tag says $16.95. Printed in 1990;
I did a good job storing my operating and instruction manuals. Everything was filed well and is still ready to reference when I need to;
I totally forgot I purchased this. ARMS Reloader Handgun Software 2000 for MS DOS or Windows. I don't think I ever used this, or if I did, I don't remember. CD software with a required floppy disc with the required software KEY;
As a bonus, I forgot that I had this. It's a tin sign reproduction of a Remington Sporting Cartridges chart. I need to get a frame for this and mount it over my reloading bench. I remember I bought two of these. One (Peters Shotshells) I framed and put out in my hunting/fishing cabin - AKA my man cave, or as SWMBO calls it, the Sunroom. My first memory of the shooting sports as a child was my father coming home from rabbit or duck hunting and his box of Peters shotshells.
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Welcome back!
Particularly, welcome back to single-stage land!
You haven't missed much; just consolidation amongst the sellers and the rise in price corresponding to reduced competition, plus the panic buying when Obama was running, when it looked like Hilary might win and when Biden was elected.
I was away from the bench for 20+ years due to a neurological condition. You will be surprised how quickly everything comes back to you.
Particularly, welcome back to single-stage land!
You haven't missed much; just consolidation amongst the sellers and the rise in price corresponding to reduced competition, plus the panic buying when Obama was running, when it looked like Hilary might win and when Biden was elected.
I was away from the bench for 20+ years due to a neurological condition. You will be surprised how quickly everything comes back to you.
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I checked my Hornady and Speer books too. They don't have any pressures listed. I do like how Hornady list aprox FPS with a range of charges. 3sport i love the metal posters you have. 
Thank you. I really did enjoy reloading, especially single stage. When you find yourself reloading 12 gauge shot shell via single stage and ENJOYING it, you know your are a single stage fan.
I am looking forward to getting my bench back up and in action. It's going to take a while because I am going to do it right and not take any shortcuts. I worked hard today just "re-discovering" what goodies were on my reloading bench and in storage in the drawers and the bottom shelf. Some things I had forgotten about came back to me when I saw some of the components, like "primer tubes and trays". I had forgotten about loading primer tubes and flipping primers in the tray. But like you say, it all came back to me with one glace of a primer tube and a primer tray.
I hope your condition has either been resolved, or is in a much better place so that you can enjoy this wonderful hobby.
I checked my Hornady and Speer books too. They don't have any pressures listed. I do like how Hornady list aprox FPS with a range of charges. 3sport i love the metal posters you have.
Thanks for the information and the complement. I like them too. I have no idea where I got them. I do know I ordered them from somewhere and did not pick them up in a store. Could it have been Midway back then? We're talking 1994 ish, so way before Amazon. The Peters metal poster (Duck and Dog) that I put out in my cabin room is my favorite. I found this picture of a Peters shell box on the web. This really reminds me of being a kid and looking at my father's hunting gear;
dcarr
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- Jul 5, 2020
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your dad was right
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