tasco 74
Member
a tip i can think of is wipe all the powder handleing accs down with a new dryer softener sheet or two and and run a full hopper of powder through the powder measure and back into the canister to lube and static free things.........
Just picked up my first reloading steup... Tips?
- Thread starter c919
- Start date
- Status
dc.fireman
Member
Things that I learned here:
1. The concept of headspace is critical. Especially if you like your fingers, nose, ears, teeth, and eyes where they are currently situated.
2. The Lee Hand Priming tool is worth its weight in gold. You can 'feel' the thing working correctly.
3. Chamfer and de-burr your case mouths. It helps.
4. You can chuck a case mouth tool, and a primer pocket uniformer in a handheld drill. The amount of awesomeness that results from that cannot be described by mere mortals. It's even more awesome in a drill press.
5. The plastic case loading blocks (made by MTM, I think, and Hornady) are like having a third hand.
6. Loading ten rounds of something that doesn't go bang, is a lot better than loading a hundred rounds that do the same thing.
7. You'll be making more trips to the reloading supply store, and fewer trips to Wal-mart.
8. Overhead lights - you can never seem to have enough of them.
9. Harbor Freight and IKEA both have websites.
10. The local library actually stocks books about Reloading. No fooling! Mine even had a few loading old manuals. Copy machines are also cheap there as well - I photocopied a few of the pages I was interested in, and returned it to the shelves.
And finally:
the Internet - it's open 24hrs. Good Luck!
-tc
1. The concept of headspace is critical. Especially if you like your fingers, nose, ears, teeth, and eyes where they are currently situated.
2. The Lee Hand Priming tool is worth its weight in gold. You can 'feel' the thing working correctly.
3. Chamfer and de-burr your case mouths. It helps.
4. You can chuck a case mouth tool, and a primer pocket uniformer in a handheld drill. The amount of awesomeness that results from that cannot be described by mere mortals. It's even more awesome in a drill press.
5. The plastic case loading blocks (made by MTM, I think, and Hornady) are like having a third hand.
6. Loading ten rounds of something that doesn't go bang, is a lot better than loading a hundred rounds that do the same thing.
7. You'll be making more trips to the reloading supply store, and fewer trips to Wal-mart.
8. Overhead lights - you can never seem to have enough of them.
9. Harbor Freight and IKEA both have websites.
10. The local library actually stocks books about Reloading. No fooling! Mine even had a few loading old manuals. Copy machines are also cheap there as well - I photocopied a few of the pages I was interested in, and returned it to the shelves.
And finally:
the Internet - it's open 24hrs. Good Luck!
-tc
Franco
Member
A. I've found Nosler to be a good bullet source for pistol and rifle if you want to stick with one manufacturer. Yes, you'll have to shoot JHP in your 9mm, .357 but it's only $0.14/bullet and even less in bulk. Also, I find the Nosler reloading manual to be pretty comprehensive. I load Nosler, Hornady, Speer and Barnes for a dozen different calibers and have a manual from each company. I generally stick to Hornady for my pistols (44 mag and 460 mag) because I hunt with the XTP Mags, Nosler for my longer range hunting rifles (308, 7mm-08) because of the reputation of the Accubond and Partition bullets which are great on deer, and Speer Gold Dot and Barnes Original for my more traditional rifles like 30-30 Win and Marlin 45-70 because they are more traditional soft point hunting bullets. It's a very personal choice.
B. As for good books, you probably already have the basics so you should just get started and research as you have questions (which you will). The "everything for one caliber" books are handy but they are just copying data from the manufacturers' books. I bought all of them when I started, referred to them initially and now they all sit in the corner of my reloading room with dust on them. Buy the reloading books for the bullets you like and also refer to the load data published by powder manufacturers for comparison purposes. Hodgdon has a fantastic site if you intend on using Hodgdon, IMR or Winchester powders. If you want more initial instruction, buy a DVD on basic reloading from Midwayusa, cabelas or maybe they have them at Gander. I found that actually watching them perform the tasks is much better than a book. I believe that RCBS even has a free intro video on their website.
C. You commented before about carbide dies. I believe that most pistol dies today are carbide. However, even with carbide, you still want to lube a little, maybe every 5th case or something. Although I use all RCBS die sets, I did buy Lee factory crimp dies for all of the calibers that require a very heavy crimp -- you might want to research the same but that's probably not as important for the calibers you're looking at reloading now.
D. Good luck! I've only been reloading for 2 years and I still come on here to ask questions. You'll find this crowd to be an extraordinarily helpful resource.
B. As for good books, you probably already have the basics so you should just get started and research as you have questions (which you will). The "everything for one caliber" books are handy but they are just copying data from the manufacturers' books. I bought all of them when I started, referred to them initially and now they all sit in the corner of my reloading room with dust on them. Buy the reloading books for the bullets you like and also refer to the load data published by powder manufacturers for comparison purposes. Hodgdon has a fantastic site if you intend on using Hodgdon, IMR or Winchester powders. If you want more initial instruction, buy a DVD on basic reloading from Midwayusa, cabelas or maybe they have them at Gander. I found that actually watching them perform the tasks is much better than a book. I believe that RCBS even has a free intro video on their website.
C. You commented before about carbide dies. I believe that most pistol dies today are carbide. However, even with carbide, you still want to lube a little, maybe every 5th case or something. Although I use all RCBS die sets, I did buy Lee factory crimp dies for all of the calibers that require a very heavy crimp -- you might want to research the same but that's probably not as important for the calibers you're looking at reloading now.
D. Good luck! I've only been reloading for 2 years and I still come on here to ask questions. You'll find this crowd to be an extraordinarily helpful resource.
sniper5
Member
Mostly everything is covered already.
Carbide good.
Double charge bad. Bulky powder good. No charge just as bad (lodges bullet in barrel=KABOOM on next shot).
Recipes need to be confirmed within safe limits on 2 sources or more. And sites with names like billybobsuperboom.com, etc. is NOT A RELIABLE SOURCE.
TURN ON YOUR OCD SWITCH AND TAKE YOUR TIME. Safety first and most.
Reloading is a great hobby in and of itself and a way to improve quality and cut cost. BUT-----It is a hobby wherein you can screw up and kill yourself and not know it at the time. Don't EVER forget that and you will be fine.
Carbide good.
Double charge bad. Bulky powder good. No charge just as bad (lodges bullet in barrel=KABOOM on next shot).
Recipes need to be confirmed within safe limits on 2 sources or more. And sites with names like billybobsuperboom.com, etc. is NOT A RELIABLE SOURCE.
TURN ON YOUR OCD SWITCH AND TAKE YOUR TIME. Safety first and most.
Reloading is a great hobby in and of itself and a way to improve quality and cut cost. BUT-----It is a hobby wherein you can screw up and kill yourself and not know it at the time. Don't EVER forget that and you will be fine.
qajaq59
Member
Someone may have mentioned it and I missed it, but you'll want a moulding around the back and side edges of your work bench to keep things from rolling off. There's lots of round things in reloading.
c919
Member
Haha, like I can ever turn off the OCD switch when I'm dealing with anything guns. "Just one last spot and this thing will be clean as whistle...."
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked