Reloading on a budget or with limited space

[Soybomb]

I've been using my compact reloading setup for a while now and thought I'd post about it in a little more detail to help anyone who might be wondering if they can get reloading cheap or with very little space available.

Everything but my scale and puller fits in a 50 cal ammo can (components not included of course)


Still plenty of room in the can to add some more hardware even


Here's the price and parts breakdown. With my kits I can do 2 pistol calibers and 1 rifle caliber including military brass.

(I assume you already have a $10 pair of digital calipers for other things, if not add those in plus a trip to harbor freight or wherever to get them)

How does such a setup work? Do you really need the dillon super chucker cast 550^25 classic? You'll have to decide for yourself. I'm not currently a high volume shooter and if I do 100 rounds in loading blocks at a time I move at a rate that seems good for my needs. .223 full length sizes easier than 10mm or .38spl in this press. I haven't tried any larger rifle cases yet but so far I feel like proper lubrication means they won't be too bad. I mixed the lee lube with rubbing alcohol and sprayed it on.

What would I change? With a little practice you can get a good feel for the lee scoops but I would still prefer to go to a dedicated powder measure at some point. I've been putting varget in .223 cases and could use a funnel with a much longer drop tube to get it to settle. The lee case trimmer works fine but as soon as the possum hollow trimmer is in stock at midway I'll order one. Chucking the brass for a couple hundred rounds gets old quickly.

I'll probably get a case tumbler at some point but right now I've been throwing a bunch of cases into a cup with a healthy splash of vinegar, some warm water, and a dash of soap. Swish around every now and then, rise, and let dry in an open container for a few days. It made 18 year old rorg brass quite clean looking. The biggest draw for me for a tumbler would be to tumble loaded rifle rounds to take off the case lube. Don't feel like you need to spend $60 for a tumbling setup to get started.

No doubt bigger presses are faster and easier but don't feel like you need to spend a ton of money to start reloading. Don't feel like you must have a desk thats bolted to a brick wall with buttresses to support it. If you live in an apartment and want something you can slide under your bed, this might be just the setup for you. Many reloaders seem to like to have a hand primer on hand anyway, and some even keep a hand press. Most of this stuff you'll use with a bench press anyway so its not like you're wasting a bunch of money.

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Well done! Good pics to illustrate your narrative. Excellent intro to reloading for the newbie.

This should be a sticky!

 

[BHPshooter]

Very nice, your setup is very similar to mine.

I only load 9mm and 45ACP, and I got started with just about $100. Even if I get a Dillon, I'm not getting rid of my little Lee hand press... just too handy.

Wes

 

[inserthumorhere]

Space and mobility are a huge concern for me since I live in an apartment. I found a great space conscience table at Ikea...pretty sure this is NOT what they intended their product to be used for. But it works great and is only $50.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70011793

 

[ramis]

I found a great space conscience table at Ikea

.


How stable is the table when using a reloading press? Do you have the bottom weighted down so it won't tip over?

 

[nitesite]

Your thread is one of the better ones that has ever been started here. Great photography, clear and concise labeling, very sensible, and well-presented.

My congratulations on your efforts!

 

[gloriavoxdei]

I started with a .243 lee loader, some bullets, primers and powder. Worked fine but slow as sap in January. It really isn't that expensive to get started and doesn't require a ton of space. Although, my set up now takes up the entire computer desk in our bedroom.

 

[bullseye308]

I wrote this up and posted it on another forum, but thouoght I'd share it here as well.

For those of us on a budget that just need to load some ammo and have enough time to make up for a lack of extra fundage, I’ll give you a rundown of how I do it. Almost everything I have is Lee and does everything I have asked of it so far. I don’t mind a little extra work and more hands on. Scrounge every range you can get to for every piece of brass you can find. Even if is not a caliber you will be loading for. Of course, save your own too. There are places to trade brass out there. Scrounge wheel weights from tire shops, you may end up casting bullets, you may not. If you decide not to, they trade very well for other things you can use. Make everything you can instead of buying it. An old solid core door and some scrap lumber make a great loading bench. Find someone building a house and ask for their scrap pile, free wood galore.
Determine what you will need and what you would like to have. You will have different needs that will be determined by budget, how many rounds you will be loading, and how many calibers you will be reloading for. Shop around the trader forums, put the word out what you are looking for, see who has extras of what you need and maybe trade extra brass you scrounged or WW’s for it.
Here is a rundown of how I do it:
First off I stand up all my brass and shine a light down in them. I’m looking for any foreign objects like dirt, rocks, spiders, etc. Also cull out any that have two flash holes in them, the odds of you coming across those primers gets slimmer every day and it involves another fairly expensive tool.
Lee decapper and base is the tool I use to de-prime all my brass. I took a 12” piece of 4x4 and drilled a ½” hole down the center about 8” deep then drilled a hole the diameter of the base about ½” deep to set the base in. Set a washer under the base and you can do around 100 pieces of brass before you have to empty the 4x4.
Once the brass is de-primed, I sneak a large salad bowl and mix up 1tsp salt, 1 tsp dish soap, 1 cup white vinegar, & 1 cup water. Add the brass and stir it around every few minutes for about 20-30 minutes, then rinse in clear water and set it on a cookie sheet to dry in the sun. When it’s dry throw it in the tumbler for an hour or so and it is ready to resize. Every 1000-2000 rds add a capful of Nu-Finish car polish to the media in the tumbler and let it run without brass for 30 min to mix it up. Add ½ a used dryer sheet cut into small strips occasionally to keep the dust down and dispose after one use. Add the dryer sheet on the load before using the Nu-Finish to get the most life out of your media.
NOTE: Do not use any products with ammonia in them to clean your brass. Brasso is popular to clean brass with, but it is advised not to use it on something with 40,000+ PSI inches away from your face.
Check the flash holes for media. If you find some, the decapper is great for getting it out.
Install the resizing die in the press, lube the cases and run them all through. I use Imperial sizing wax and like it.
Lee cutter and lock stud for the caliber you are working with handles your trimming needs. Chuck that bad boy in a drill and get to work. Don’t forget to debur/chamfer while it is chucked up.
At this point I tumble again for 15-30 min to remove the lube and any brass shavings. If you don’t have a tumbler, I have heard that a rag and some acetone will clean the lube off and not leave a residue. If you do this, please use common sense and follow directions on the can for safety purposes. There are other methods as well, ask around.
I hand prime all my brass with the Lee Auto Prime. You can do it just about anywhere.
I bought a Lee Reloader press for around $25.00. It is a great cheap single stage press that I do most of my rifle loading on. It also can be bolted to a 2x4 and C-clamped to the bench at the range for load development. Whatever you mount it on, drill a ½” to ¾” hole under it for the used primers to fall through. Take a small jar with a metal lid and nail the lid under the hole (with a hole through the lid) then screw the jar on to catch the primers.
Make your own loading blocks. Any piece of scrap wood 4x8x3/4” or bigger will work and a drill press would be best for the holes unless you are much better than me with a drill. Plan for wood shrinkage/expansion and oversize the holes about 1/8”.
Now it’s time to hit the dollar store. Assorted zip locks are very handy, roll of masking tape to label everything works nice, plastic bins/trays/lidded containers to store/sort brass and loaded rounds work well. A 3-ring binder and paper to keep your notes and load info is necessary, never trust anything electronic 100%.
Lee safety scale is what I use. Check weights are a must, no matter which scale you use. Some people don’t like this scale due to setting it up, but that is the only complaint I have ever heard about it. I like it and find it very easy to use and setup. I also got a cheap $10.00 digital from evilbay just as a backup.
Set your brass close by and as you weigh out a charge of powder and drop it in a case, put the case in the loading block. Only charged cases go in the loading block. When the block is full, shine a light in all the cases to verify they all have powder and are full to the same level. When the block is full, we can start to seat the bullets. NOTE: Look up the start and max load from your manual. There should be a few grains between them. For rifles, I start with 5 loads at the min and go up ½ grain for 5 then ½ grain again till I reach the max. For pistols the amount of powder is so small, I go in .2gr increments.
Install the bullet seating die in the press according to the mfr’s directions. Back out the seater and attempt to seat a bullet. Raise the ram and see how much it is seated. Tighten the seater plug down more as needed till you get close to the length you need then pull the case out and mic it. Once you have it where you want it, check the next few to make sure it is set right then you should be good to go. Run them all and check every few just to be sure.
If you want to crimp, now is the time. It is a not necessary in bolt guns, but should be done in semi’s in my opinion. This is a matter of big debate on a lot of forums and seems to be an almost even split. Some never crimp in AR’s, M1’s, G3’s and others always do. It is only one small quick step and I do it for all of mine with a Lee factory crimp die. The same goes for semi auto pistols, I crimp mine and lots of others do not. For revolvers I think most will crimp, especially in the larger calibers to avoid the bullet moving.
Now you have successfully loaded some ammo and now is the time to test it out. Keep a log book with you at the range and note how it was loaded and how it fired. These notes will be invaluable in the future and save you from having to re-do the same load that didn’t work the first time.

 

[feets]

I get paranoid about double charging. When loading, I drop primed cases in my shell holder to keep count.
As I drop the powder in the cases, I remove the funnel with one hand and drop a bullet in with the other hand.
That tells me the case is charged and ready to go.
Pistol bullets don't always want to stay where I put 'em so they are placed upside down.
I only shoot boat tail rifle bullets and they sit real pretty in the open case mouth.

 

[feets]

One other cheapie...
I've got a few thousand pieces of brass lurking about. I've found ziplock gallon sized bags really useful for storing and sorting brass.
You can see the brass and even label the bags by writing with a ball point pen on the space provided.

 

[evan price]

I am a tightwad. I hate buying stuff I already have or throwing out stuff I might want.

I sort and store my brass using stuff that otherwise would be thrown out.

Bullets and small lots of odd brass are kept in small plastic containers with screw lids. Peanut butter, jelly, spices, condiments, etc come in little quart-size wide-mouth plastic jars. Nuts, salsa, etc come in larger 4-pint wide-mouth jars. Rinse them well, dry thoroughly, remove the labels.
Plastic coffee cans with screw lids are also great.

Larger lots of brass I keep in large jugs. I have a bunch of widemouth plastic gallon-sized jugs that used to hold restaurant bananna pepper slices for a pizza joint. When washed and dried these are great for larger brass containers. Too heavy for lead bullets!

For even larger quantities of brass, I have these 2 gallon widemouth plastic jars that once held Utze's pretzels at Sam's Club. Wash well to get out any salt residue. This will hold enough brass to fill a Flat Rate USPS box.

For really, really large quantity brass (like 9mm) I use the 5-gallon square plastic buckets that once held Kitty Litter. They have a nice handle and folding snap-lock lid and are made to stack securely.

I pack my reloaded ammo in original factory ammuntion boxes, with the plastic or styrafoam tray inside. This secures the ammo as good as factory stuff, and it already is labelled with the caliber. I prefer certain types of boxes for certain loads.
Generally, the Fiocchi, PMC Gold and PMC boxes are the smallest size to hold 50 rounds of 9mm.