looking to get into reloading

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
1

Ive been tempted over and over again to start reloading but never taken the first steps. Now i am taking the dive, just figured since i shoot a lot and the price of ammo going up and become less available, it be a smart move. The main reason for getting into the new hobby/project is because its always peeked my interest and have wanted to explore different types of ammo/loads of my own creation.

ive done some research and have decided to start off not by buying equipment just yet, but instead buying some books and reading about the overall hobby. started off by reading the abc of reloading and its a great book. next i bought the speer manual. i know too much reading is not a bad thing so i was wondering what books would you guys recommend getting before buying anything.

thanks in advance

2

Reading, Schmeading!! Get a 550b and start loading. (assuming you want to load pistol and rifle.)

3

actually the rl 550b is what im considering. went to a couple stores and checked them out. talked to a couple people who use them and turns out that its highly recommended. im leaning to start reloading .45 first just because i keep on hearing that its a great start. of course my main objective is the 5.56. just feel that after talking to people, the 5.56 involves more work and the .45 doesnt. this way i can get some good fundamentals in.

i do agree the reading gets boring after a while, but just figured i would like to know some info so that i dont blow my face off. lol

4

Loading straight walled pistol cartridges will be a a lot easier to learn on than 5.56. Rifle cases need to be lubed, trimmed, possibly swaged etc. Pistol brass is much simpler. As everyone else said, get a 550, no point in getting a single stage, its not rocket science. Do your reading, and use the press as a “single stage” until you get the hang of things.

Once piece of advice from personal experience, WATCH the primers come out of the tube into the primer bar until you know that your machine works 100%. Nothing worse than dumping powder in a case that has no primer and having it spill all over the press as you spin the shell plate around:( I swear that the most frustrating thing.

5

thanks a lot for the tip drummerdude1188. single stage was not an option, just looks very time consuming from the videos ive seen online. been doing some research on the brian enos site and his prices look fair to me. its also a plus that i can buy everything i need in one order. i guess all that 5.56 brass is going to sit a bit longer!!

6

223 is the first round I started to reload. Read up and do your homework. It would be nice if you could find someone willing to take the time to show you what to do. Reloading 223 is very rewarding and it is a great way to pass the time away.

7

yeah i look fwd to passing the time. also looking as to how to organize my reloading station. guess that will come after the fact.

8

Sounds like you’ll enjoy reloading. Sometimes people are all about the savings only and worried about accounting for their time spent doing the work.

To me it’s a labor of love. I would be happy if it were my full time job.

9

I’ve also just started investigating getting into reloading and I found this thread helpful

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=48128

10

Starting with books and research is definitely a step in the right direction. When you actually do start buying equipment, I would strongly recommend starting with a good single stage press. It’s less up-front investment and, IMO, it’s a better platform for learning the process, steps, adjustments, etc necessary to make safe and functional reloads. Once you’re comfortable with all that then you can step up to the Dillon.

Just jumping right into the progressive can be problematic for new reloaders because the machines are busy and it’s very easy to make unnoticed mistakes if you don’t have a handle on what you’re doing.

Even after you go progressive, you’ll still find lots of uses for the single stage press, so that investment will not be wasted in any way.

Oh, and I’ve found the Lyman manuals to be very good sources of information on the art of reloading. Their data’s pretty decent, too. :slight_smile:

11

Someone’s selling a Hornady Lock n Load progressive in the EE. You might want to look at that.

I just started loading with a Dillon 650. It’s got a bit of a steep learning curve, but I’m just taking my time with it and haven’t had too much trouble. Of course, I’ve only loaded 400 9mm while I experiment with powders and loads and whatnot, but so far (knock on wood), they’ve all gone bang and have chrono’d relatively consistently. I do use the Dillon powder check though so I’ve got something of a helping hand in controlling squibs and double charges.

It’s definitely good advice to start with a single stage and then move to the progressive. I got the go ahead from the home boss to kit out a 650, so I jumped on it while I had the chance. I’ll likely add a single stage in the future for load development and for a couple of calibers I don’t shoot as often as 9mm and .223.

12

If he goes with a 550b, he can load one round on the machine at a time until he gets comfy with it. If he gets the whole concept, starting on a 550 is no problem at all.

Even after you go progressive, you’ll still find lots of uses for the single stage press, so that investment will not be wasted in any way.

This is true. I started on a 550b, and added a Single stage LNL press for all my resizing. Keeps my Dillon much cleaner.

13

thanks everyone for the info.

i like the idea of using the 550 as a single stage at the beginning and then moving up. i have not done too much research on the single stage presses but now that everyone is mentioning them and saying they still find use for them even though owning a progressive, makes me wan to do a bit of research in that direction.

im a measure twice, cut once kind of guy, so i would like to do all my HW before i drop some cash on a life long investment. the info provided is great and makes me want to check out the single stage when it was never really a consideration.

14

There is nothing wrong with starting with a single stage (except you may outgrow it quickly and end up with the progressive anyway).

Having said this, there is nothing at all wrong with starting with a progressive press. You just go slowly and more or less treat it like a turret press (glorified single stage) while you are learning. Nothing says that having it on your table means you have to try and do 3000 an hour. I repeat. There is nothing wrong with starting with a progressive. There is no need to start with a single stage if you foresee yourself doing any sort of volume at all in the future. The same care is needed using either one. Reloading works the same way with both sorts of presses. Just start out slowly, watch what you are doing, and treat it like a turret or single stage press. Once you feel comfortable, use it progressively, slowly. As you get more comfortable you can slowly work the speed up.

15

.45 ACP is a good round to start with because its relatively low pressure and allows for a reasonable margin of error in overall length and charge. Its also one of the hardest rounds to find in stores, and the money saved is significant. Lyman, Speer and the spiral-bound booklets for individual calibers are good books for reference. Personally, I never would have stuck with reloading had I started with a single-stage press. Reloading requires attention and some basic knowledge, but its not rocket surgery. Don’t fear the progressive press. I started on a Dillon SDB and am now on a 650 with a case feeder. I like reloading in moderate doses, but its not something I want to spend all day doing. Efficiency is important. The 650 is so fast that it makes loading less costly calibers like 9mm worthwhile.

16

This is true. I still have the VHS video that came with my 550b. The load they demonstrate is 45 acp.

Jpm350z… If you have a VHS player, you can have the video. It makes the set up and stuff a lot more clear.

17

Natchez shooting supply is having a big sale on reloading equipment

Heres a link http://www.natchezss.com/specials.cfm?contentID=specials&spcGrp=11

Hope it helps

18

thanks guys. i unfortunately dont have a vhs player, but thanks for the offer. im going to see if i can find the video online. .45 is a hard round to find and becomes expensive after a couple trips to the range. im sure that will be my entry caliber at the beginning but my goal is to move on to the 5.56 and eventually .308. ive kept all my brass since almost day one with the intentions of taking up the hobby of reloading.

19

Just go out and buy an RCBS Rock Chucker Master Reloading kit and work through it step by step with the included manual. I did a lot of read before hand but the process really only clicked in my head when I had everything in front of me.

20

I’ve been reloading for 30 yrs, 19 of those were with a old Lyman cast iron “C” press (I still have it) Bought from a co-worker with dies, scale, and a few other odd and ends for $75 it served me well. In around 2000 I went progressive, and bought a Dillon SDB…WOW! Why did’nt I do this sooner?I was loading .44mag, .38/.357 on it,running alot of high quality rounds off the press in a 1/4 the time it would take with a single stage. but at the time, my shooting started to change as I was going to semi auto pistols, and rifles,(.45,9mm, 30-06-M1 Garand, .223-AR) It became clear That I had made a basic mistake, and did’nt buy enough press, I ended up buying a 550,and have been using it ever since. I agree there’s nothing wrong with starting with a progressive, and with the 550 you can easily run one round at a time and get the feel of how everything is supposed to work, in fact, when changing calibers, I still run one or two through at a time to check powder charge, OAL, crimp, and make any adjustments before I start filling primer tubes up.I’d highly reccommend a 550, it is’nt as fast as,say a 650, but reloading is’nt a race either, I can still load 100rnds of pistol ammo (9mm,.45) in about 10 minutes, That’s fine with me. Granted, rifle ammo will take longer, but there’s more brass prep invloved as well, In 11yrs I’ve used the 550, and probably loaded 10’s of thousands of rounds on it ,I’ve yet to have anything break, They work and work well. OP; you’re doing the right thing, reading up on the subject,Reloading is’nt THAT hard, it goes alot easier when you have quality equiptment to start with, Do your research, Do check out Dillon and others before you buy, Go over to www.brianenos.com and click on the “forums” tab, They have forums for Dillon presses and non dillon presses as well, lots of info, also check out the reloading section, these are caliber specific forums, again, lots of info. The day you start reloading is the day you start saving $$