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Thanks for this. What should i do with all those PPU rounds?
Your welcome. Just passing in what I’ve seen on a couple forums.

My buddy had a ppu 30-30 lock up his marlin 336. I was there, but not shooting it. He said it felt normal and I thought it sounded normal. We finally got the action open and the case looked normal.

If you reload, it’s easy to remove the bullet and reduce the powder charge by 2-3 grains. If it’s loaded hot.

If it’s loaded in soft brass, reducing the powder charge slightly will cause the brass to expand less to some degree and might cure the problem, or not. Not much you can do if this is the case.

If you don’t reload, about the only thing you can do is swap it off. Less you find a reloading buddy to help.



I’ve been seeing reports of others having problems with ppu in several chambering, some being hot loaded and some being softer brass that’s sticking. The softer brass was in 44 mag.
 
Thanks for this. What should i do with all those PPU rounds?

Shoot it and see if there's a problem. There's no reason to be worried about it until you have issues with it. PPU is a well established brand and works OK for the vast majority of people. A dirty gun can cause ammo to become difficult to extract.
 
Stopped by a local reloading supply store today, I bunch of Dylan reloading presses at the entrance display. When I asked about primers I was told they have not seen primers or powder in 18 months. WOW! I was told to look online and to expect to pay a fortune. Should I bother with other stores or are manufacturers not delivering to brick and mortar stores anymore?
 
021B6B17-87A4-4CD6-A09A-E377CBFF539F.png Books, You tube videos and a simple single stage press.

Straight wall cartridges to start ,pick 1

Keep only One powder on the reloading area at a time

Don’t make it complicated - Research and develop questions. Ask here


A simple press. Find someone who reloads to mentor you… if able.

Take your time.

Components. Don’t need many primers/bullets/brass to start. 1 small reloaded box of ammo at a time will make you happy

Ps - Track down the smallest Gun shops , Ask for components.
 
Found this information https://www.usreloadingsupply.com/news-primer-shortage-2020 a year old but maybe still relevant they cite this article https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/great-primer-shortage-2020/383204
It seems that my plan will be to get the rest of the supplies ready and wait for primers to became readily available. About the only thing left for me to get is a way to clean brass. Natches has a tumbler for $50 https://www.natchezss.com/frankford-arsenal-quick-n-ez-case-tumbler-110v.html and I can try local HArbor Freight for walnut media. About done reading the Lee Book that came with the press.

Will probably be 2 years before primers show up and the cost would be much higher, but such is the government inflation tax. Thanks all for the replies
 
Can't help you with the pistols, but you won't need a huge investment in 1,000's primers and jugs of powder to get started for your rifles. I started with a couple pounds of powder and one sleeve of 100 primers. That will get you 5 boxes of rifle shells (no extensive load development).

Usable powders are coming up at many of the mail order places, including Hodgdon. Primers also showing up online, but in a pinch, there remains Gonebroker (GunBroker). If you were near me, I'd hand you a sleeve of primers for free. That is what someone did to get me started.

Reloading shop in St. Charles MO had been getting steady supplies of good, usable powders, Hornady bullets, but no primers. But then even the powder dried up, although they are expecting more powder soon. Told me they had placed an order amounting to nearly $100,000 and would be lucky if they got 1/10th that. So it comes and goes and you just need to keep your ear to the ground and likely as not, it will all show up soon. Just be ready to act when it does, as the window of opportunity slams shut pretty fast these days.

I expected my startup to take as long as a year or more, and in reality, it was more like 3 months and I was up and running.
 
We have been finding some primers from time to time at Academy and Bass Pro for good decent prices. Found powder at a couple local shops from time to time for an OK price, about $35 LB average. I bought my walnut media at Pet Smart (lizard bedding), it works great for a great price.
 
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Stopped by a local reloading supply store today, I bunch of Dylan reloading presses at the entrance display. When I asked about primers I was told they have not seen primers or powder in 18 months. WOW! I was told to look online and to expect to pay a fortune. Should I bother with other stores or are manufacturers not delivering to brick and mortar stores anymore?

Keep looking at as many places as you can. Several online retailers are getting them in. I found cci srp and cci#41 at a shop I frequent but refuse to pay his price.
 
You just have to keep trying to find them. I found a number of them at Bass Pro for a decent price a short time ago. It took a multitude of trips to my closest location standing in line before they opened up in the morning but I was persistent. Can't tell you how much I spent in gas chasing them or how much time I spent in line. But I thought $60.00 per brick was reasonable all things considered.

Good luck in your quest and God Bless!!!
 
As far as trimming brass, bottleneck rifle will need it.
Concerning 9mm if have probably shot 100000 rounds I have reloaded and never trimmed a 9mm case.
Nowhere near as much .380 but I don;t trim them or .45s. (any semi auto brass I load)
.38 and .357 gets trimmed sometimes, makes roll crimping easier if brass is the same length.
 
I’ll add a couple things.

1. You do need a good manual, not just load data. The reason being that a good manual will explain the reasons why you do, or do not do certain things in reloading. It explains the technical details of what goes on in the reloading process to help you not make mistakes that can result in the loss of a good firearm; or worse, body parts or your life. The Lee manuals do an excellent job of explaining everything, but are somewhat disappointing in the way data is presented. Other manuals are the opposite. That’s why two or three manuals is a good idea.

2. I’d pick one caliber to start loading. You can buy as many die sets as you’d like, but starting with only one of your stated calibers will allow you to become comfortable and proficient at the reloading process before adding the idiosyncrasies of other cartridges. I would suggest starting with .38 Special (or .357 Magnum) as they are the most forgiving and easiest to learn, but what you start with may be dictated by which primers you can find first.

3. There is not likely to be one single powder that you can use with all the different cartridges you listed. What works for a 9 mm will (probably) work with .38, .357, and .380, but more than likely won’t work with .223 and .308. The same is likely to be true in reverse as well. While there are some powders that overlap somewhat between pistol and rifle, they aren’t generally a good idea in terms of flexibility or variety of components. You are much more likely to find a powder that works for all of your pistol calibers, and another that works for your rifles. As you load more, you’ll probably find that you’ll like a variety of powders for different loads in each category.

4. You’ll likely also need a primer pocket swager for your .223 and .308 cartridges. A lot of them have crimped in primers, and while it is possible to reload crimped primer cases without a swager, it will present a great deal of frustration. The only way to be sure is to examine your cases after they have been deprimed to see if they need to be swaged to remove the left over part of the crimp. Here is what I use https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012920663 .

5. You will need to trim all of the cartridge cases you indicated above, with the possible exception of .38/.357, but it is also a good idea to trim those as well. Brass has a tendency to change length as it is fired and resized. To prevent the brass from getting too long to function correctly, you’ll need to trim off any excess length of brass. This can be accomplished with a variety of trimming tools, but you’ll likely need a different trim die for each individual cartridge you reload.

6. Always examine your brass. While it might be tempting to skip this step, you want to make sure there are no defects in any of your cases that might cause a failure to function, or worse a catastrophic failure that destroys a firearm or causes bodily injury.

The costs can quickly add up. Unless you have unlimited time and funds, start slow and add components and dies as your needs, budget, and skill level dictates. Good luck.

All of the posts are right on target, but yours is almost verbatim of what I would have said. I started 35 years ago with a Lee "C" press, .38/.357mag Lee dies, and very basic stuff. I felt it was probably the easiest place to start to get the procedure down and start to understand what reloading is all about. Have more presses now, Lee, RCBS, MEC, load rifle, pistol and shotshell, and look at load data from many different manuals to find a place to start with load development. I tend to have "average" loads for general shooting, but also specific/accurate loads for each of my guns. For me loading is the fun part, being able to shoot more is great. Being able to tailor a load and spend more time shooting to get it right is the big reward.
 
Thanks for the advice, I was able to get 8lb jugs one of Hodgbon CFE pistol and one BLC (2) rifle, from natchez. i can try asking at the nearby BassProShop for their primer situation.


Can't help you with the pistols, but you won't need a huge investment in 1,000's primers and jugs of powder to get started for your rifles. I started with a couple pounds of powder and one sleeve of 100 primers. That will get you 5 boxes of rifle shells (no extensive load development).

Usable powders are coming up at many of the mail order places, including Hodgdon. Primers also showing up online, but in a pinch, there remains Gonebroker (GunBroker). If you were near me, I'd hand you a sleeve of primers for free. That is what someone did to get me started.
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Thanks for the offer, It's nice to see how people help each other in this community.

I have been waiting to order the tumbler until the 38/357 lee dies are back in stock at natches, was hoping to bundle the shipping cost, that is the last set of dies i was planning to get. Thanks for the tip on walnut from pet store.
 
I've found primers at the local academy in the last year. I also have bought several bricks from individuals met on armslist. $100 a brick is the most I paid. I've seen primers at several gun stores for $80-130. I also bought some shotshell primed and traded to a gun forum acquaintance for pistol primers.
The point is, look often and buy what you can.
 
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Update, stopped by BassProShop today, they do not carry reloading supplies. maybe there is no great demand in my area, not sure. one good thing i got out of it is that i looked on their website and they have a $20 off with CC signup. so the 38/357 4 die set is $44 shipped. So, pulled trigger there, and will order 12g press and tumbler from natchez.
 
Plan on using your tumbler outside of living area, like garage or back porch. It's too loud for indoors, plus dust is an issue. I have a wet tumbler now but i loved my vibratory tumbler and had a frankford arsenal colander type separator. it was just a simple tray that sets on a 5 gallon bucket. Not a rotary basket with a handle. I highly recommend the simple tray and you could actually use a kitchen grade colander with big enough holes. I use a kitchen one with my wet tumbler and when i hand wash in a bucket.
 
Will do Thanks, I kept the front and back metal grill from a broken table fan. about 15" diameter and wires are close enough to hold down to 32ACP. Lets see how that works out but the two halves clamp together or i can use just the front on top of a bucket.

Any benefit with wet cleaning?
 
There's pages and pages of discussion with pros and cons to both wet and dry. Personally speaking; The only downside to "dry" was a little dust and i liked to wipe each precision 308 case by hand with a rag. Downside to wet is the whole process is a PITA, and I don't even use the steel tumbling pins. Plus you're a day or two out on the drying process if you don't bake them in oven, I don't. I dry them in the sun or in front of fridge. So your actual question, Benefit; not dusty and you could get the inside of case and primer pocket pretty clean.

Edit: My post is not a complaint that you asked. I said pages and pages because I'm not trying to start a wet / dry war and my response is based on my likes and my experience.
 
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