Handloading and Reloading - quickie terminology question.

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Hawk

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
3,512
Location
Grand Prairie, TX
Are the terms "handloading" and "reloading" synonymous or is there a distinction between them?

Is a "collet crimp" the same as a "taper crimp"?

Thanks, y'all - that'll be the end of my gratuitous questions 'till after the 4th - happy Independence Day to all.
 
NO!
A collet die squezes the neck around a mandrel for very accurate allignment of the case neck during sizing.

There are only two types of crimps used in metalic reloading.
Roll crimp compressing or turning in of the case mouth, usually into a cannelure (crimping groove) in the bullet's circumference, to provide a firmer grip on the bullet. The object is to prevent the bullet extruding from the case neck during recoil, or from being shoved deeper into the case by contact with the front wall of the magazine during recoil.
Taper crimp is used primarily on cartridges that head space off the mouth of the case, it is a squeezing or narrowing of the diameter of the case near the mouth parallel to the bullet, no turning inward of the case.

With shotshells the term usually applies to the closure at the case mouth.

Also the crimping of the primer pocket around the primer to seal it.
 
As to the first of your questions ... I'd say that Yes, there's a distinction, but there's also broad overlap.

Handloading may involving nothing being *re*-loaded at all -- the brass (the only part that's directly recycled in conventional reloading) for a handloader may be factory fresh, virginal, optimistic, etc. If someone says "I handload" I think of slow, painstaking, accuracy-oriented craftsmanship. "Hobby" may be an accurate word, but seems too mild to encompass what "handloading" to me evokes.

Also, "handloading" makes me think of single-stage presses, and long winters in a cabin with nothing but Sears, Roebuck catalogs, and a pot-bellied stove, if we were lucky. And gruel.

"Reloading" has a different connotation (even if it *is* handloading), and it describes the reason I am interested in the [hand/re]loading deal -- making decent, even excellent, ammunition, at some cost savings over factory ammo and for puttering / hobby value. To me, it implies the ability to "crank out" (rather than "finely craft") decent rounds :)

timothy
 
Are the terms "handloading" and "reloading" synonymous or is there a distinction between them?
Click to expand...

Usually -- although "reloading" can also mean, "I'm changing magazines."
Is a "collet crimp" the same as a "taper crimp"?
Click to expand...

A collet is a tube with slits in it. When forced into a tapered hole, the collet closes (gets smaller on the inside.)

The normal method of crimping is to force the case upward into a shoulder in the die that forces the mouth of the case inward -- that works if all your cases are the same length, and the die is properly adjusted.

A collet crimp simply closes on the mouth of the case -- exerting pressure radially, and is much more forgiving of varitions in case length and other matters.

Similarly a collet resizing die only resizes the neck and activates by the collet itself being pressed up by the shell holder as the handle reaches full stroke. This means the neck is resized radially, and no strain is put on the case walls.
 
The collet dies are Lee products, available no where else that I know of.

I consider the reloader to be the guy producing standard ammunition and asking for "recipes" on the internet.

The handloader reads, studies, tests, and figures stuff out to improve his shooting.
 
'K. A collet is an artifact that might produce a taper crimp. However, it might also produce a roll crimp, a neck or case or shotshell base resize or, for that matter, squeeze lemons.

I also find Jim's assesment of "Handloader vs. Reloader" compelling despite my chagrin in falling firmly in the latter camp. I don't recall ever soliciting recipes on the intr4w3b, but output definitely trumped craftsmanship.

The notion of craftsmanship and precision isn't unappreciated, however. Perhaps a reloader can become a handloader given time and inclination.
 
I was always of the understanding that reloading was converting
a fired case into a usable cartridge using any method and that
handloading was using the old Lee handlader and a mallet
to do so.
 
i continue to disagree with the connotation of lesser craftsmanship and quality with the term "reloading".

as evidence, i submit every benchrest shooter i've ever heard of. all the match rounds are reloaded and handloaded because they always fire form the brass. that makes it used :)
 
I'm not having an issue with "reloader" being associated with production over precision.

That's why I started in reloading metallics.

First .45 Colt which just screams for volume.

Then .357 and .41 Mag because my double-action - kung-fu is weak (too used to 1911s). I figured a couple thousand through each would help. So far, the plan seems to be paying minor but noticable dividends. More recently I've found a .44 mag - I guess I'll be calling Starline again soon.

I've yet to reload my first round with the single stage I got a while back - the time grows nigh, though!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top