Reloading Realistic?

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sfc123

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I have been considering reloading but really wonder if it is possible, for someone who doesn't want to spend a month educating himself about how to do it, to do it.

I'm not afraid of putting some time in, but if it means I'm going MIA for a month to learn this, well...then I just don't have the time.

Your thoughts?
 
Once you learn how, it is easier than you think. It shouldn't take a month, you should be able to learn the basic mechanics in about an hour. What takes time is refining the techniques and working up loads. Start small, with a single stage or turret setup and start with an easy cartridge, say a .38 special. Get a couple of manuals and stick with conservative loads. Treat as potentially hazardous and pay attention to what you are doing. The best an fastest way is to have someone show you how.
 
Most people that reload, do it for the hobby as well as the expansion of the shooting sports.

It doesn't seem that you have the desire to 'hobby' and are looking at reloading only from a pragmatical standpoint. I'd say you won't be happy doing it and might be better off staying with factory ammo.

The time I spend cranking out ammo is time WELL spent to me. I relax, make great ammo and am happy when I am done. No waste of time at all.
 
Learning to load by reading is kinda like trying to learn to swim without getting wet.

While I'd suggest getting something like "ABC"S of Reloading" first, some of it just doesn't come together until you start doing it. If you've got the right equipment and components, it doesn't take long.
 
When I first started reloading, I was up and running in 2 days. 1 day to figure a good starting recipe and buying components, then 1 day ( actually 1/2 day ) setting up press and tweeking. It's real easy. The only thing I found the hardest was reading a Standard Caliper Mic !! ( hahaha ) The rest was slick. I agree with Redneck, it's a hands on learning deal. Like learning sex from a book, you look like a monkey humpin a football first time out the gate.
 
Just don't get overconfident too quick and think that posted loads are too conservative, let me raise it a little. It takes very little between a safe load and one that will blow your gun up. This is especially true with 7.62X51 military cases versus commercial. And never have more than one powder or primer type within reach, make sure it is clearly marked in original container.

The biggest potential booboo is loading the wrong powder. Second biggest is not loading any at all. Third is loading a 1000 rounds of something, just to find out it will not chamber. At least the third one will not kill you.

There are old reloaders and there are bold reloaders. There are no old, bold reloaders..
 
Let's see; when I started reloading, I was in high school wanting to feed a 7X57 Mauser I got at Montgomery Ward very cheap. That was in the days you could pick up a Montgomery Ward or Sears catalog and get your rifle, shotgun or handgun by mail order. I had no adult supervision in reloading and no one to teach me. I was up and going with my Lee Loader in about 45 minutes.

The above is not an ideal scenario. If you put in a couple of hours with a reloading book, have the proper equipment and visit forums like this for advice (oh, yea, I didn't have the internet to help me and we still used carbon paper for typing class and 8 track cassetes weren't yet in vogue) you will be far ahead of where I started in about 1 or 2 days.
 
This is another post focusing on the "hobby" aspect of reloading. There is something very, very relaxing and refreshing in spending a couple of hours at the reloading bench. I enjoy making cartridges almost as much as shooting them.

I have spent the better part of a lifetime refining my loading techniques (you can teach an old dog new tricks), but I don't remember it taking me a month to get up to speed. Even though i started with a Lee Loader and a mallet I was turning out serviceable shells in less than an hour. It might take you a couple fo hours to mount and adjust a new press, but the satisfaction is enormous.

Even if you did have to set aside an entire month of your life to get started, which it won't, it will be well worth the investment.
 
If you haven't the patiance to spend a month to "learn how" to reload ammunition then I wouldn't start. Yes, you can be reloading rounds in a few hours from the start, but you will have vertually no knowledge of what you're doing. It took me 1 hour to load my first round (.357 magnum). But it took me about a month or two to prepare to reload that first round. If you can't take the time to learn first before you start then buy factory ammunition or you will be counting your fingers on the ground...:rolleyes:
 
I think that if you do get into it, you'll enjoy the time and not begrudge it.

When it's below freezing out and pitch black by the time you get home from work (winter @45 degrees latitude) there's not to many shooting related hobbies that you can enjoy in your own home.
 
just like what everyone else said. you dont have the bug. In fact just yesterday i taught someone how to reload. They are hooked now. After 50 rounds they wanted to do more. Its a passion for sure. then the first time you go shoot your own loads its something you will never forget. but if you are only interested in volume rather than quality and accuracy then just go buy factory ammo.

reloading is easy. you can even start off with a classic lee loader. its a $15.00 dollar kit that will alllow you to reload for a single cartridge. Watch this video then tell me it takes a month to learn. if you go out and buy the lee modern reloading manual. in the time you spend posting on here in the afternoons in one week can read and get the concept down. watching the lee loader video will enhance what you need to know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bctwbQgjjLo


good luck in your decision
 
Be careful.....once you start you will be hooked. "doesn't want to spend a month educating himself" The process is longer than a month, maybe the basics in a month but the details are an ongoing learning thing theat I find very enjoyable. The bulk of my early reloading was for my hunting rifles, it became an obsession to put 3 bullets thru the same hole..............it grew from there.
 
after watching that vidio of the Lee Loader.....I'm SO glad I sprung or a decent set up right from the get go.

Way to much "whacking" for me. I'd wake the whole house up.
 
It would be to save money but I wonder how many rounds I would have to shoot to make that money spent back and then start saving money...

I should have mentioned that it would be for 45acp so maybe that is too difficult to begin with.

Have any of you looked at Brian Enos' setup?

http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.ez.550nrtop.html

Overkill? Expensive?

Thanks!
 
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too expensive. check out lee products at
www.midwayusa.com

then check out nationalbullets at
www.nationalbullets.com

you can get 500 bullets for .45 for i think 31.00. you can spend about 150 for initial equipment. then just powder primers and bullets. using your own spent cases of course. now if you do not have spent cases. check out ebay .45 you can buy in bulk of 500 or more. how much do you spend until you start breaking even. well if you go lee products. id say at around 5-10 boxes of bullets you have broke even and are making almost free bullets.

but then after that. its not about just saving money its about the quality of the bullet you are making. and the accurarcy you will be getting over factory grade ammo.

did you watch the video
 
Sorry, I haven't had time to watch the video yet...will do in a few hours.

Thanks and very helpful.
 
Well, you really don't end up saving ANY money reloading (unless you're paying $50 or $60 a shot for something that's nigh impossible to get any other way). What you DO end up doing is producing around 30% more high-quality ammo for the same cost as you'd spend on factory, so you get to shoot 30% more for the same cost. At least, that's the way it seems to work in my circles. :)
 
the video link is two minutes long. you are spending more time reading than you could if you watch the video
 
Some folks have the patience (or whatever) to do this and some don't. It's kinda like muzzleloading or tying flies. You can tell pretty quick when talking to someone at the range about handloading.

I was shooting my new Howa 1500 heavy bbl. at the range on Tues. Factory ammo was grouping about 1.5" at 100 yds. When I switched to my handloads (R-P cases, Win. primers, R-15, 40.5 to 42 gr) I started getting consistent .6 to .8 groups off of sandbags. I think I can do better than that when I adjust the trigger and work more on the loads.

Another shooter noticed the groups and noticed me examining the cases and making notes and came over to talk during a cease-fire. He was wanting to start reloading he said because he was paying too much for factory ammo and because his groups were all over the paper at 100 yds. I started talking to him about what was involved (I kept it simple and straight forward) and his eyes practically started rolling around in his head. He wanted a quick, buy the press and dies, and reload some ammo in an afternoon fix.
 
I watched the video and that looks fun but I'm not interested in handloading each bullet.

Would you suggest the 550b?
 
For handgun and rifle up to 7.62/.308, the 550B is a great machine; I use mine for all my handgun loads, and rifle stuff in 223, 308, and 30-30. The problem with most rifle cartridges is you're still going to have to do most of the case prep stuff one at a time anyway (inspection, cleaning, lubing), so you don't really save much time by using a progressive on those (but carbide dies are a big help). Regardless of what press you end up using, you're still going to need a set of calipers so you can set your cartridge overall length, and a good scale so you can check and double-check your powder throws, bullet weights, etc. If all you're planning on loading is 45 ACP, you may as well get something like the Square Deal B, which is simple and easy to use, but isn't as easy to switch over to other calibres and uses special small-diameter dies only available from Dillon.
Regardless of which machine you end up using, reloading isn't something that you can do in the back of your mind while you're watching TV; you have to pay attention to each step, and you want a clean well-lit area to make SURE each one is done properly. The 550B requires you to spin the shell-plate to a new position each time you crank the handle, and that's when you want to take a good look and SEE the proper powder charge in the case before you set the bullet into the case.
 
I wouldnt suggest a Dillon press to anyone interested in starting. Not saying that because progressives are to advanced for beginners..yadda, yadda, yadda, I'm just saying its a lot easier to take an $80-90 hit to buy a Lee Pro 1000 to see if you really like it. I know when I first started I had the concept that this was some sort of extremely difficult, overly scientific process that was way to complicated or dangerous for me to undertake but then I figured if I can swap out an engine and build my own computers putting 4 components together shouldnt be that hard. If you can make Mac and Cheese you can reload...as long as you are patient and follow the steps and recipe. I talked my wife into letting me drop $80 on the Lee Anniversary kit and was up and running the same day. The forums are INVALUABLE. Imagine how quickly the hobby would have advanced if we had forums like this back in the 60's and 70's.
 
new reloader

a 45acp is easy.however you do not talk as if you want to spend the time to learn.if you do get a lee turret press lee powder measure,lee scales,lee dies and lee loading book.go to gunshow and buy your powder and primers.go on web and order catalog from "MIDSOUTHSHOOTERS,COM"CHECK PRICES.one load for 45acp is 3.5 bullseye-200gr swc lead.any primer.
 
"...doesn't want to spend a month..." If it takes a month, you're doing it wrong. Read the how-to chapter in a manual or better buy a copy of The ABC's of Reloading, set up the press and dies, pick a powder and bullet out of the manual and reload. The month part usually comes when you're working up a load and testing them in your rifle.
Start with this.
Beginning with the starting load, load 5 rounds only. Go up by half a grain of powder, loading 5 of each keeping them separate until you get to the max load in your manual.
Then go shooting. Shoot at 100 yards, for group only, slowly and deliberately off a bench.
Change targets between strings of 5 and allow time for the barrel to cool.
When you find the best group, sight in 4" high at 100. That'll put you on target out to about 300 yards with no hold over.
 
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