My conundrum about getting into reloading

[AJC1]

So i will give a piece of advice that anyone can feel free to shoot at all they want but is my firm conviction... One of the tools that is critical to success and helps make good loads and provides safety is your calipers. There are many good dial calipers (Mitutoyo, Brown and sharp, and sterrett) that are half the price or less of their digital counterparts. Fleabay is a good place to pick these up, and you most likely will not have to deal with knockoffs like the newer digital. This is a tool that will last a lifetime and will be good for more than just reloading. No need to get anything bigger than the standard 6" versions and i prefer a white dial with one full rotation per .010 Example below i am not selling these feel free to check other listings
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitutoyo-C...233306?hash=item216c51fd1a:g:usUAAOSwZN5eZmzQ

 

[Typetwelve]

So i will give a piece of advice that anyone can feel free to shoot at all they want but is my firm conviction... One of the tools that is critical to success and helps make good loads and provides safety is your calipers. There are many good dial calipers (Mitutoyo, Brown and sharp, and sterrett) that are half the price or less of their digital counterparts. Fleabay is a good place to pick these up, and you most likely will not have to deal with knockoffs like the newer digital. This is a tool that will last a lifetime and will be good for more than just reloading. No need to get anything bigger than the standard 6" versions and i prefer a white dial with one full rotation per .010 Example below i am not selling these feel free to check other listings
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitutoyo-C...233306?hash=item216c51fd1a:g:usUAAOSwZN5eZmzQ

I used to be a machinist in the 90's, so I bought quality measurement tools. My Mitutoyo calipers (much like the ones in that Ebay link) have never failed me once...and I use them all the time.

 

[shoebox1.1]

I think mine are mitutoyo so I’m good there

 

[reddog81]

Resale on Lee products isn't great, but if you're buying used for $.30 on the $1 you should be able to turn around and sell them for the same as what you are buying them for.

Calipers aren't needed for .38 Special. You just seat the bullet into the crimp groove...

 

[shoebox1.1]

Is there anyway for me to tell if these dies are carbide?

 

[reddog81]

Carbide sizing dies will have a carbide insert where the case enters the die. Steel dies are a uniform material from the interior to exterior. AFAIK the sizing die is the only die with carbide and therefore you only need to worry about the sizing die.

I spray all my cases with a little Hornady One Shot Case lube whether using carbide or steel and cannot tell the difference between the 2. A spritz of case lube helps make the process smoother even when using carbide dies.

 

[DanK3Pos]

A lot of us got into reloading to save money. But in reality, one does NOT save money since you will end up shooting and reloading more than before you started reloading. It kinda goes hand in hand with Black Rifle Disease (if you are into AR rifles).

My biggest savings in reloading is reloading my 410 shells. I'm not really saving any by reloading 9mm, 40, 45, or 223 since it allows me to shoot more.

Number one reason to reload, has always been:

1. Cost
2. Accuracy
3.
4.
5.

I would add another item on there. It gives me something to do other than sit in the recliner watching TV and feeding my face. I also like the feeling of accomplishment. Now, if I could just convince them to let me bring a press in to work.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

I would add another item on there. It gives me something to do other than sit in the recliner watching TV and feeding my face. I also like the feeling of accomplishment. Now, if I could just convince them to let me bring a press in to work.

I actually asked a while back, and was told that they frown upon bringing explosives into the building. I tried explaining that smokeless powder was a propellant and not a explosive, but no dice.

 

[Herman B]

I’m revolver crazy and they are my EDC and everything else. ...With the cost of ammo and the amount that I’d like to shoot ( never as much as I want -$$$.$$) I’m thinking about reloading just 38 special.

Not sure what's meant by 'revolver crazy' but you'd be ultra-crazy to pay retail for a steady diet of revolver rounds. Today it's 38 Spc (which also load 357 M), tomorrow it'll be 44 and so on... Go big 'cuz you'll soon have a hankering for more!

 

[shoebox1.1]

Oh I know. I want a charter arms 44 special real bad to put in the rotation but couldn’t afford to feed it store box food!

 

[35 Whelen]

Interesting comments about the Lee resale. Rcbs does appeal to me. The rock chucker specifically

For the last 35 or so years, I've been using a Rockchucker purchased by my father I'd guess in the late '60's; they're quite indestructible. I'd probably still be using it daily were it not for a co-worker who told me his neighbor was selling all his reloading equipment. In the lot was an older Lyman 6-station turret press. I set it up and 99% of the time it has 38/357 dies and .44 Special dies. It's really nice not to have to scew dies in and out. But single station presses like the Rockchucker aren't all bad, one just has to know how to use them, and that is to size/decap (where applicable) ALL your brass at once, change to the flaring die and flare the mouths of ALL your brass then switch to the seating die which can easily be adjusted depending on what bullet you're using.

As to your question regarding carbide dies, I'm not sure anyone even makes non-carbide handgun dies anymore, but slot of the older ones weren't carbide.

35W

 

[35 Whelen]

Oh I know. I want a charter arms 44 special real bad to put in the rotation but couldn’t afford to feed it store box food!

Yup, the .44 Special is one for which one really must reload. I even bought a mold to cast bullets just for my little Bulldog.



35W

 

[FROGO207]

You can clean up that surface rust on the dies in the tumbler as well. Just do one at a time if you are afraid of mixing up parts. Keep lightly lubed after and they will stay rust free. If the sizing die is not carbide you can purchase just that one die from whomever you want. Buying a set is not needed. Lee dies are the least expensive and I own a lot of their sets but some reloaders dislike that brand and call them cheap. Ford or Chevy type of thing to me. All brands of dies and presses will make quality, usable ammo as long as we are not trying to compete in 1000 foot benchrest matches. If I were to purchase that stuff I would read up and make some ammo with it as is. If you want to continue doing it the first future upgrade would be adding a more rugged "O" type press from one of the makers ather than the "C" type your pictures show now. Especially if you start to make rifle ammo with bottle necked cases.

 

[Typetwelve]

Oh I know. I want a charter arms 44 special real bad to put in the rotation but couldn’t afford to feed it store box food!

Yeah...the Bulldog (and other 44 special only firearms) are definitely better when you reload. I'll say that 44 special is easily the best cost savings round I make, it's a massive difference. I'm reloading that for about $8.41/box. The absolute cheapest 44 special I can find is the Magtech on SGA and it was $25 a box. That's a massive difference.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

You can clean up that surface rust on the dies in the tumbler as well. Just do one at a time if you are afraid of mixing up parts. Keep lightly lubed after and they will stay rust free. If the sizing die is not carbide you can purchase just that one die from whomever you want. Buying a set is not needed. Lee dies are the least expensive and I own a lot of their sets but some reloaders dislike that brand and call them cheap. Ford or Chevy type of thing to me. All brands of dies and presses will make quality, usable ammo as long as we are not trying to compete in 1000 foot benchrest matches. If I were to purchase that stuff I would read up and make some ammo with it as is. If you want to continue doing it the first future upgrade would be adding a more rugged "O" type press from one of the makers ather than the "C" type your pictures show now. Especially if you start to make rifle ammo with bottle necked cases.

This is true. I have made literally thousands of rounds with a Lee Challenger Breech Lock kit and Lee dies; and they all went down range and hit the target. The mistakes and inconsistencies along the way were all mine due to learning the craft, and I’d have made the same ones on any other press. When I originally started reloading, the kit, dies, primers, powder, bullets, and manual were just under $200 all in. It’s like driving a subcompact car... it’s not real fast or fancy, but its reliable and it’ll get you there. Once those rounds are made, it doesn’t matter if they came from a $50 used press or a $500 super-duper-do-whanger press.

 

[HOWARD J]

I started reloading when we got an UZI--over the last about 47 years my reloading did not save money but made a great hobby---have fun

 

[rdnktrkr]

I have that same press that I use with a universal decapping die before cleaning the brass, I also have the same vibratory cleaner that works good, I think that is a fair deal for $200, it has a lot of items you can use now and then if you want to upgrade you can buy a turret or a progressive press. You can save money reloading 9mm but you will recognize a bigger savings reloading revolver ammo and you can reload specific loads for different guns.

 

[shoebox1.1]

I’ve got no interest in the 9mm stuff. I might use the 45acp dies someday. I’m waiting for the kung flu stuff to go away then I’m pulling the handle so to speak on this deal

 

[shoebox1.1]

...

 

[Jim Bowie]

You know there are some people (myself included )that prefer other presses and other tools but still prefer the Lee dies. The Lee dies are actually very intuitive to use.

 

[ATLDave]

You know there are some people (myself included )that prefer other presses and other tools but still prefer the Lee dies. The Lee dies are actually very intuitive to use.

I like the Lee dies a lot, too. They're my "standard" choice... I need to have some reason before I'm likely to use something else.

Biggest weakness of the Lee dies, IMO, is that they have a relatively short threaded body. This can make them a challenge with presses that have tall/deep toolheads. I mostly run Lee dies in my Dillon 650XL, but that generally requires the use of the very thin Dillon lock rings... which don't have either the Lee o-ring washer to snug them to the press, nor the Hornady/Redding split-ring feature to keep them from moving relative to the die.

And, yes, I have experience with, and currently own, RCBS, Hornady, and Redding dies. I like them, too, but for about 95% of my purposes, the Lees are perfect.