I’m really interested in reloading, specifically starting out with 9mm. From what I can tell from prices online, I can reload my own 9mm at 15 cents/rd excluding the cost of a basic Lee reloading kit. It would take reloading about 1100 rounds for the cost of the loader to be recouped if I’m comparing the price of basic Winchester 115gr 9mm at 18.5 cents/rd.
I’m not asking if handloading is worth the time or money since I know ammo is cheaper now so there’s not a big amount of savings happening, plus I know I can load cheaper than factory after I’ve reloaded a certain amount of ammo, though it would take a while. I’m interested in the hobby and saving money down the road. Are there any recommendations for what set up to use when starting out, specifically with handgun cartridges with flexibility to use that setup on rifle cartridges? I’ve looked at Lee and I know some people turn their nose up to it, but are there any other alternatives at comparable cost? Thanks in advance.
What I have is: >Wet tumbler for cleaning cases >Calipers for measuring cases and overall length >Various deburring and case trimming tools (Not used very often with 9mm) >Scale for weighing powder >Powder hopper for dispensing powder >Single stage press >Resizing and depriming die >Expansion die >Seating and crimping die >Primer arm thing and tube for storing, and placing primers into new cases (Forgot what it's called) >Tray for holding cases steady while I pour powder into each one >Gauge block for quickly checking casing if I feel like it >Some small bowls for holding casings at different stages. >Casings to be reloaded >Bullets of your choosing >Sharpies for marking different loads if I'm testing out a batch of various parameters >Reloading manuals >Notebook Think that about covers it.
The process: First I take my spent brass and push them through a resize die that also punches out the primers. Once I have a few hundred deprimed cases I place them into my wet tumbler for an hour or two to clean them. If I have especially soiled brass I will do this first then resize and deprime, but that's fairly rare for me. Once the brass has been dried out in the oven I use an expanding die to open the mouth up, and on the downswing press a new primer in. 50 at a time I then add 5 grains of powder to each case, and place a bullet on top. They then go through a die that seats the bullet, and crimps the case. All done they're ready to be shot again! Most of the headache is in setting everything up, but once it's all dialed in it's pretty simple and relatively fast. Even on a single stage press. Once you get into turret presses or progressive presses you can really churn rounds out.
I reload what I shoot the most which is 9mm and .38 special. Will eventually set up for .30-30 too. Either way I think it's worth it just because I can make exactly what I want. Right now that's 9mm 115gn Hornady HAP bullets over 5.0gn of CFE Pistol and a CCI No.550 primer making ~1200fps out of my G34, and .38 special 148gn Hornady HBWC bullets ontop of 3.3gn of CFE Pistol and CCI No. 500 primers making ~800fps
Wow thanks user, much appreciated. Any recommendations for what books to pick up?
Parker Reed
>dirty brass in your sizing die Bro, get a fucking lee universal decapper it’s like $15 and you won’t fill the inside of your sizing die with crud. OP, I use a lee loadmaster and it works after a little tinkering here and there. I got it for $211 on an amazon sale and while it’s not a great press it’s a good CHEAP press. Lee has their new progressive that you can add shit to as you want to. With nothing else it works a lot like a single stage. I would get that one, they run like $160.
David Brooks
Also forgot, iirc the 9mm I make were like $0.175 a shot, but I'm at my Fathers so I can't check my excel I made for it. Didn't even bother keeping track for the .38s.
The Lyman 50th edition reloading handbook is decent. I use my Hornady manual primarily, but I'm also using Hornady bullets. Once I get set up for lead casting will probably use the Lyman one more. The books are really more of a starting point. If you really care, pick up a chrono, they're pretty inexpensive.
Desu, if you want maximum savings, get into casting scrap lead and powdercoating. Just make sure you get a bottom pour melter. They are awesome compared to the old ladle method. Look up Elvis Ammo on YouTube to see the method I use to powdercoat. It’s fun, cheap, quick and easy. Everything a good blind date should be.
Nicholas Russell
Another super fast way to do it is a lee hand press + universal decap die. It’s fast af. Here’s a vid of a good method: youtu.be/znaGRwzn44E
Aaron Campbell
Bloopballer here. I know very little about reloading and I've been wondering about reloading blanks. Do you need something specific to turn used brass into something you could use to launch a rifle-grenade? I feel like it ought to be much cheaper to reload your own blanks than to buy them since they usually sell for as much, if not more, than commercial ammo.
I think at this point a handloading part should be added to the sticky.
Eli Long
Keep in mind that the cost benefit of reloading is not some constant. It's highly dependant on what caliber you're talking about. In the case of very popular calibers like 9mm, 556, 7.62x39, etc, it's not so easy to save money via reloading. OTOH with less common calibers the cost savings can be massive. With an obscure caliber you might pay for your loading press out of your fist box of ammo!
Jordan James
Pretty sure you use a crimping die. I recall seeing something like it for sale I think
Easton Phillips
You need some kind of filler to hold the powder in place and a blank crimping tool. Also keep in mind that blank guns and functioning firearms have idfferent chamber dimensions, so loading for a blank gun will probaly be a bit of a hassle to find dies.
Adrian Murphy
With a typical cost of $3 per round, My savings from my first batch of 200 458 Socom reloaded with powdercoated scrap lead cast bullets basically paid for: Lee Anniversary reloading set Lee Die set Lee Mold Lee 4-20 melter 1lb powdercoat Yard sale toaster oven
Yes there is a time premium, but I enjoy casting and reloading as much as shooting.
Landon Thomas
So, the process is the same as a normal round (plus filler), except instead of seating a bullet and all that you pass the loaded case into a special crimping die. I expect to be shooting rifle-grenades of a Type81 with its normal barrel in place. I don't want to use the gun specifically to fire blanks, as it would still be fine for plinking. The normal barrel and chamber dimensions to accept blanks or even cartridge reloaded to grenade-launching specs. Remember that I'm not planing to be using blanks to make sound but to actually launch a projectile.
Gabriel Davis
I assume so. Never done it before, just saw the die for it and thought it was neat.
William Gonzalez
I picked up a complete 223 Load Master at an estate sale with a ton of accessories including die sets, shell plates, die holders, RCBS powder measure + scale, ~400 pieces of assorted brass and much more for $275. It’s been great. There’s good videos showing how to properly set it up. If you maintain it and take the time to dial it in, it runs like a top.
Xavier Williams
Desu it’s fine. People like my uncle reloaded for years back in the day without doing anything more than blowing the sand off the casings
Christopher Myers
I did this with a lee enfield using Red Dot and stuffing foam earplugs into the case to hold the powder near the primer. I never crimped mine and it worked fine for launching tennis balls.
>I’m interested in saving money down the road. >I’m not asking if handloading is worth the time or money So you just want to do it for fun and to satisfy your curiosity, right? Then do what I did: abandon all pretense of efficiency and get a Lee Classic Loader. They're fun to use and you'll know pretty quickly if the hobby is for you. I reload .308 and I'm not interested in competition shooting, so I only reload weird stuff I can't buy. Mainly super light small game loads using Trail Boss powder.
Sebastian Morales
Reloading 9mm is a waste of time
Jordan Johnson
Yeah... reloading 9mm sounds a little lame to me
Luis Lewis
If you're just experimenting and don't need the blanks to be very durable, you can cap them with wax, cardboard, or styrofoam. I've seen videos where people used foam earplugs.
Justin Barnes
I use two pro1000s to do 9mm, 40, 380, 300blk, and cheap 223. They work ok once you get everything timed and I would recommend depriming and wet tumbling cases first to keep your press cleaner. I have to go back to the single stage and run the factory crimp die because it's only 3 station though. The 4 station turret would probably be your best bet.
Good stuff. Yeah, if I'm to make blanks for personal use only I might skimp out on crimping and just stopper the necks with something cheap and soft. I'll try to see still if crimping is an option.
>bought ammo + g34 => shots land somewhere in the balck >handloaded ammo + g34 => all shots within 9 ring Also 3-4€ spent less per box I'll never again spent 4 hours cranking out ammo for an IPSC match, but for accuracy comptitions I centainly will spend that one hour
Josiah Lewis
I have a Hornady Lock-n-Load AP and a Redding Big Boss II for mostly 9x19mm, .38 Special, .223 Remington, and .30-06 Springfield.
I have found that the largest improvement in my reloading experience has been provided by the addition of a wet tumbler. Fully cleaned brass means it takes less effort to resize, primers seat easier and more consistently.
Start cheep slowly upgrade. Learn to make reliable ammo then accurate. Buy super premium bullets and make match grade ammo for special use and fun.
Parker Russell
You talking about gear? Buy once cry never. Having to replace all your shit after a couple or years is a waste of time and money, do your research first then buy the very best you can afford/need even if you have to wait a while to get it.
Brayden Baker
Progressive press + machine gun disagree.
Zachary Clark
I would say start with a high quality single stage press like a Rock Chucker. I would have bought the Rock Chucker if not for the spent primer handling. The Redding Big Boss II has a really good spent primer handling system where the primers fall straight through the ram and into a tube. If I wanted to I could run the tube to a large coffee can similar to the way the LnL AP works. That way I'm not handling and touching the spent primers with my hands like I was with my old Lyman T-Mag II.
Once you've loaded enough rounds on the single-stage to get a feel for how the reloading process works, how to set up all of the dies, and are comfortable. Then, pick a progressive press from one of the major manufacturers and buy once cry once. I would be sure to agonize over your choice of progressive for a few weeks because once you get it you're going to be locked in to buying caliber change kits for that specific press. I like the Lock-n-Load because all you really need to change calibers is a shellplate which is about 30 bucks usually. The LnL is a nice press overall but my one major gripe is the case feeder accessory is a real piece of shit. I have one and I became so fed up with it that I removed it from the press. I guess if I wanted a decent case feeder I should have gone with a Dillon XL650.
I bought a Lee Turret Press kit for just over $200, then bought dies, tumbler, calipers, trays, all that fun when it was on sale. I also got all of my casting equipment all while on sale. It took a while to get everything, but I just started reloading and my 9mm is 4 cents per round. Casting is where you save the most money. I wouldn't start on a single stage unless you have a fuck ton of free time.
I like your bench, user What did you finish it with?
Jason Wood
I reload 9mm for 6cpr. A few cents more when I occasionally buy brass or lead during winter. That said, only start reloading if you think you'll enjoy it.
I reload .454 Casull and .45 Colt due to the retarded price of both. It's basically impossible to find .454 for less than $1.40/round and jacketed .45 Colt for less than $0.75 a round. With a Hornady single stage press, I made my money back at about 200 rounds of .454 and 400 rounds of .45 Colt. It costs me $0.70 and $0.30 a round respectively.
Jonathan Ramirez
Thanks. 2 light coats and one heavy coat of Minwax Polyshade. Cheap Ace Hardware finish.
Very Jow Forumsomfy Hows the durability of the finish? Scratch easy? Can you do easy touch ups? Thanks for sharing desu
Jeremiah Brown
Do the powder coated bullets leave residue on your seating or crimping dies? I ask because that's a complaint I've heard about them.
Zachary Anderson
Nope I use a good polyester powdercoat though and fully cure it. Some powder coat works, some doesn’t. Even different colors in the same product line from the same manufacturer will perform differently.
Justin Martinez
anyone here reload wildcats?
Austin Williams
Does anyone here have Quickload installed? I know at least one Jow Forumsommando does and used to visit reloading threads and would run numbers for us.
I am particularly interested in relatively light practice loads with 200gr cast lead RNFP bullets I've bought in bulk. I have CCI Large Pistol Magnum primers, and I have available to me currently W231, Unique, Bullseye, Red Dot, Green Dot, and Trail Boss.
I am looking to get between 600 and 700 f.p.s. muzzle velocity from a 4" revolver. I am trying to keep pressures and velocities low, to keep things pleasant for people I am introducing to wheelguns, and also to reduce leading. At the same time I have been warned that if muzzle velocity from a revolver isn't at least 600 f.p.s. with a lead bullet, you risk the bullet getting stuck in the bore and not exiting. Or 725 f.p.s. with a jacketed bullet. I read the latter figure in an old Lyman manual from the 1960s.
It also amuses me to contemplate putting a pair of lead round balls of the appropriate diameter, lubed with a bit of Alox, in a .44 Mag case, one atop the other, just because it amuses me to think of making two holes in the target with each shot.
I've tried. It gets to the point where it asks about languages, then throws errors and bombs out. I have been told it's because the only commonly available installer on the Interwebs is for Windows 2000 and cannot be installed on a later version of Windows.
Adam Roberts
Pretty damn durable. I can't scratch it with my thumbnail pressing as hard as I can. Absolutely you can touch it up. I still have some under the bench in case I need to. Haven't yet.
Should i bother reloading 12/20 gauge for clay shooting? I dont know how much money i would be spending or saving and i cant think of any other reason really. Its not like you tailor a load of no.9 for each shotgun youve got
Brody Watson
This time I was able to install it, but now I can't find any data for cast lead bullets. Name brand jacketed bullets only. Wat do?
I guess it depends on how much you shoot, but people who are serious about clay shooting usually get serious about reloading. These are the guys who buy factory ammo by the pallet load, and I don't know if you shoot that much.
Camden Harris
If i had the money and time i would. Im just thinking of ways to save a bit with it because i figure a clay and 1rd is like 65-75c. Buying pigeons and shells by the pallet doesnt sound like a bad idea either. I mean 1 round of skeet/trap is a box of shells
Ryder Flores
Found the other bullet files. Never mind. Sorry.
I'm not even that much of a shotgun guy but I am curious about it.
I see things like--well, there are Youtube videos where people buy several boxes of inexpensive clay target shooting shotgun shells, open up the crimps, and pour out the lead shot. They melt the lead shot and cast slugs, or buckshot pellets. I look at that, and look at the old Remington 870 Express Model sitting in the corner gathering dust, and I think "I want to do that, I want to see what kind of patterns I get." Which is autistic, I know, but this is handloading, where we REE over every tenth of a grain of powder.
Luke Kelly
RCBS, Lee, and Lyman are the bulk of the cast.
Elijah Brown
Don't get a single stage press for 9mm, get a turret press like the lee classic turret then when you get experienced or want something faster get a progressive press. use a bulky powder like Unique that fills the case more as a beginner so you don't accidentally double charge, when you get a bit of experience then switch to something like titegroup. lee carbide dies are really good for the price. berrys bullets are really good for the price get once fired 9mm brass, typically for 2-3cents each igaging origin calipers are good bang for buck WAOAW Digital .0001g scale is cheap and works great for checking charges check your powder drops every 10rds or so starting out to make sure its consistent, can spread that out as you go. don't trust peoples load data, get official load data from hodgdon or other sites. get a bullet puller, you will screw up take your time and learn. do your research. have fun
Caleb Richardson
Didn't read the thread, but for handguns you'll generally want a progressive press while for rifles you're better with a single stage or maybe a turret. It's cheaper to buy two presses than it is to get one which does everything.
At the moment I only load 9mm, and I do it with a Dillon SDB.
Jackson Walker
>tfw ADI says the max load is something like 3.2gr >tfw shooting 4.5gr
Michael Myers
Thoughts on the T-Mag II? I'm new to reloading and was thinking of getting a turret press as a middle ground between forgiving learning curve of a single stage and being able to crank out more rounds like a progressive.
Was looking at a T-Mag, a Redding T7, and a CH4D 444-X Pistol Champ.
I'm only planning on reloading one handgun caliber for the time being (.41 magnum)
