Reloading General

This is literally the most jewish shit I've ever seen, all of the "complete kits" have extra shit you have to buy. I'm very confused.

Press
Dies
Shellholder
Scale
Priming Tool (if your press doesn't)
Bullet
Powder
Case
Primer
Reloading Manual

That is the very basic level. There are other things. RCBS, Lee, and Hornady all have kits with what they consider the basics.

The video in OP helps out.

I'm still learning, but it seems best to start out with a single stage press (though it's slower) a die in the type you want to start with, a scale, and a dispenser.

Tumbler to clean the brass, doesn't seem to matter which.

If you want to fix imperfect brass, there's tools to trim and adjust them. I'm thinking I'll collect those and work on them when I pile up a few.

RCBS or Lee seems the be the go-to's for equipment. A Lyman reloading handbook is something you can buy for 20 bucks as well and will probably give you safer info.

From what I understand, when first reloading, you'll want to use 90-95% of the recommended grains and work your way up.

So, I've got some very weak .454 Casull loads I want to make with relatively poor case fill and some fast burning powder. What problems could I face if I shoved a .45 ACP bullet all the way to be flush with the opening of the brass? It shouldn't compress the powder, but I'm afraid there is some hidden issue with this ""wadcutter"" design. I've heard of loading them backwards for a more true wadcutter design. Will that affect accuracy or deform the bullet in any way?

brass strech when you fire it you trim it so it is the correct length it depends om the rifle but it usually takes a couple firings

No, look up videos on how to get started a lot of them tell you what you need to buy to start reloading.

He cant even be bothered to research the basics, maybe its best if he doesnt reload.

I appreciate the help dudes, but this all seems really fucking aggravating. I'm just gonna buy more guns I think.

With a little set up, lee Load Masters are excellent at their price point
They very often can be found on sale with dies, powder measure and all for under $210
I have one for 300BO and it’s great.

I tried researching the basics, and found it all confusing, because everybody has their own version of what the basics are.

youtu.be/6rDppDH1IN4

Yare yare daze

Attached: 4900ED64-B374-4DD5-8DE7-9C69F76BD67A.jpg (927x1000, 76K)

Son don’t give up. If making fucking ammunition was easy everybody would be doing it, federal and Winchester and all of them would be out of business. Everybody who gives a shit enough to tell you their version of the basics already had their habits and shit that they consider just the way things are done. Do more research find common threads between all these sets of basics and go from there. The only way you’ll truly get it is by doing it.

gunbroker.com/item/810188293

Thinking of getting these to practice with since I have a Yugo mauser anyway.
Should I get these or just use spent brass from PPU?

How used is the used brass? Can you clean them? Do you have money to burn?

50¢ a case? Fuck that just use the used brass, even better make a mold out of one of them and just cast them yourself

Nigger what? Mold and casting your own brass cases?

Attached: 1563142862921.jpg (500x547, 36K)

Honestly it just doesn't seem like it's worth the effort to me. I don't compete, hunt, or shoot precision.

I have money to burn but I am kind of cheap. 8mm seems to average around 80 cents-a buck per round.
I figured that if I used new brass it would be more safe and clean than using old rounds.

I am still shopping for equipment but I see locals selling their tumblers and another guy selling a Hornady kit for $275. I'm a bit wary of aluminum so I may shell out more for an RCBS.

Absolutely. We’ve been doing it for years as long as you don’t use fucking plastic molds (rip uncle Ruckus) you’re golden

If you don’t want to that’s one thing but if you want a constant supply of cheap ammo it’s a great time. It’s absolutely worth the effort once you know

I just don't have the patience for shit like this, same reason I don't bake my own bread.

homemade bread is great

Especially when other people make it for you.

Y’all sleepin I’m this thing

*on

Attached: 398868BA-0AB3-4ADA-9157-EC0A91A39FD6.jpg (2000x2667, 326K)

I don’t reload but want to start because I’m getting into .22 Hornet, how do I start reloading? Nobody I know does it so I have nobody to learn from irl

Things you need to start reloading:

>At least one manual for reference
I suggest Lyman 50th edition
>A press
Single stage presses are the most simple and reliable
A turret press holds multiple dies in a ring and you can turn the ring to change dies
An auto-progressive/progressive press indexes to the next die in a ringas you pull the lever
>A shell holder specific to your press and cartridge family to grab the casing,
Your press may use proprietary shell holding systems like quick change bushings or shellplates
>A priming tool
Either a handheld tool, a tabletop mounted tool, or a priming system integrated into your press
>Either a powder trickler, powder drop, or a powder dispenser
>A scale for weighing powder, either digital or balance beam
>A reloading block for holding cases as you pour in powder
You can also use the plastic cartridge holder from factory ammo boxes
>A funnel that matches your cartridge mouth so you don't spill powder
Or use a rolled up piece of paper if you're poor
>Case lube
Either a spray (hornady one shot) or a wax (hornady one shot, redding imperial, hornady unique), for resizing and seating.

>For bottleneck cartridges:
>A resizing die
A full length (FL) resizing die for general resizing, or a shoulder bump die for precision purposes, or a small base resizer to resize ammo fired from machineguns with oversized chambers.
>A seating die
>A crimp die
Not required but recommended for semiautos

>For straight-walled cartridges:
>A resizing die
Get one coated in titanium nitride and you won't strictly need lube
>A neck expander die
So your bullet doesn't fall out when you place it onto the casing
>A seating die
>A crimp die

>A bullet puller
Either a kinetic bullet puller or a collet puller die to pull apart cartridges when you inevitably fuck up.
>A set of calipers either digital or dial
To measure cartridge overall length (COAL)

>Recommended single stage presses (cheap to expensive):
Lee Handloader (portable but slow, operation uses a mallet)
Lee Classic
RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme (good balance of construction quality and price)
RCBS Summit
Forster Co-Ax (uses a unique die holding system)

>Reccomended dies:
Lee (especially the universal deprimer)
RCBS
Hornady
Forster (especially seating dies)
Redding (especially resizing dies, crimp dies)
Get carbide dies for straight walled cartridges, they need less lube (or no lube, but seriously just use lube with them anyway)

For processing fired brass you need:
>A tumbler, either wet or dry
Dry tumblers need corn cob media or similar + a wax, wet tumblers need stainless steel media + a detergent
If you don't want to spend money on a tumbler, you can dump brass into a bucket and add water and dishsoap, then shake
>A case prep tool
Usually consists of a primer pocket reamer, a neck chamfer, and a neck deburrer
For accuracy you should also get an interior primer uniformer
>A universal depriming die
The depriming stem that comes built into most resizing dies kinda suck, and you generally want to deprime as a separate step right after or right before cleaning brass anyway

Order of operations:

1) Prep brass if you're working with fired brass
Toss out split and badly dented casings
Deprime (you can also deprime after cleaning, or clean twice)
Clean via tumbling
Dry
Resize
Trim to length if necessary
Chamfer and deburr
Clean primer pockets if necessary

2) Formulate a loading:
Determine cartridge overall length (COAL).
In general, the closer the bullet's ogive (point at which the bullet starts to curve) is to the rifling, the more accurate the round will be, however, this is generally only achievable by bolt actions, and for semiautos you will be limited by magazine space. For revolvers, this is a moot point, you can seat bullets as deeply or as shallowly as you desire.
Determine powder charge. Ladder your loadings.
Start low, work your way up. e.g. if the manual says 30gr of powder for a given COAL is the maximum charge, start at the starting point then go up in increments of 0.3.
Once you find a range of powder weights give you best accuracy and acceptable velocity (a node), you can stop laddering and use the same COAL and charge repeatedly.

3) Load the cartridge:
Seat primer
Expand mouth if needed
Load Powder
Seat bullet
Crimp mouth

4) Quality Control
Measure and weight your finished cartridges every so often to make sure they are consistent
Keep track of how many times a casing has been fired if you can.
Measure velocities with a chronograph if you have one

I didn't cover casting since I don't cast, but someone will probably come along and say something about it.

Nice set of information, thanks a lot.

I've been hearing good things about rock chucker. Was thinking of getting something like this since press + scale + powder measure get me close to that cost anyway.

ads.midwayusa.com/product/937051/rcbs-rock-chucker-supreme-master-single-stage-press-kit

If I was to clean brass with soapy water, do I need any special considerations for the inside or can I just leave them upside down to dry?

That kit is fine
Note with a powder drop (that one), it doles out a user adjusted volume of powder.
You weigh the volume of powder dropped with your scale until it consistently drops the weight you want for the volume it drops. Then theoretically it should always drop a similar weight's worth of powder, but you should quality control and remeasure occasionally. Also note that some powers measure like shit in powder drops.

round 1:
1 teaspoon of dish soap + 1 tablespoon of lemishine (a weak acid) if you have it per gallon of hot water
shake for 10-15 minutes
round 2:
straight cold water rinse, or blast the bucket with a hose until soapy bubbles stop forming

alternatively
round 1:
1 teaspoon of dish soap + 1 tablespoon of vinegar per gallon of hot water
shake
round 2:
1 tablespoon of baking soda (to neutralize acid from the vinegar) per gallon of cold water
round 3:
straight cold water or hose

You can put them on a cookie platter into your oven at 150-200 degrees with the door slightly ajar to drop them faster.
If you have a small quantity of brass, you can just manually swab drop the insides with a q-tip

Mild tarnish and carbon deposits aren't significantly detrimental, but cleaning keeps your dies cleaner, makes resizing/seating easier, and your rounds will feed better.

Attached: 10616633_10202619390194423_5690283192283131640_n.jpg (960x720, 91K)

Attached: 544273_4413489063846_1849605288_n.jpg (960x720, 107K)

Good to hear about the kit. I saw the powder measure considerations in the video.

Could I use the top of a washing machine to shake the bucket or does it need something more vigorous?

I'm going to be buying PPU 8mm mauser ammo so I'll likely have 100 or fewer brass total.

I got a lee loadmaster with 223 dies for 180 brand new because the box was damaged. I don't bother priming on press, which sort of defeats one of the purposes of progressive loading, but I want to avoid issues as well as make sure no kabooms are going to happen due to living in a town home.

I'm still getting use to it. I have it set up with 9mm lee 4 set carbide dies and a RCBS powder drop I got on a price mistake. Loaded about 500ish rounds with it. Tonight I loaded around 300 with only a few hang ups. What I do absolutely hate though, which I didn't mind in the past when I was using the single stage, is that the powder trough expander apparently has a "feature not a bug" think in which is holds on to the case and creates a jerk on the down stoke. A lot of the issues are actually due to that. Also some case misalignment during seating that shears off the side of the case. Although I find if I guide the bullet and the case in until the last moment, this doesn't happen.

For the money I paid for, I'm happy with it. I really do want to get a new expander die though. Quick google last night pointed me towards Lyman M dies. Friends recommend getting RCBS or Dillon Dies. I don't think I'll be getting any more lee handgun die sets anymore if all of their handguns expander dies are like this. It's quite annoying.

manually shaking the brass with your hands will be more effective, you want to get brass to tumble around head over end and not just vibrate
use a plastic jar/bucket to avoid denting brass

>all this reloading equipment you want
>no money to buy it with
Fucking body dies, bullet and headspace compatator, length gauge, a decapping die as well as needing to restock on bullets.

Send help.

what is the best way to dry brass after a round in the ultrasonic cleaner?

just leave them in the sun if you have time

if not I use my oven
some people also buy fruit dryers or dedicated brass dryers which are basically the same

Use a lee universal case mouth expanding die at the primer station hole and a regular Lee powder charging die instead of powder through expanding die

midwayusa.com/product/1016832817/lee-powder-charging-die-kit

midwayusa.com/product/1011184394/lee-universal-neck-expanding-die

What compact, portable options are there for sizing bullets? I currently have a small reloading setup with a Lee Loader for reloading on the go, but I'd like to be able to cast my own bullets on the go as well and would rather not have to move to something as large as the Lee Hand Press.

>as large as the Lee Hand Press
You do realize you need a press for leverage, right?

It will probably be fine, but why not just use 45 colt loads and brass?

Also 45 acp bullets are nominally 451 jacketed to 451/452 for lead so you might have some accuracy issues.

I don't think cowboys that casted their own bullets back in the day lugged around anything the size of a Lee Hand Press with associated dies for a press one would use at home.

Sizing bullets takes some major umpfh in my experience
I would look to a mold you can use as cast
Cowboys used dead soft lead, and the press was built into the pistol
They did have small presses for loading extra cylinders

Attached: 7DE6DEE5-1A1A-41AF-9371-590A44C4872D.jpg (400x460, 28K)

.454 brass is only like 1/8" longer and uses primers I have on hand. I also can't find jacketed bullets for Colt that are nearly as cheap as ACP FMJ. .454 bullets are actually .452 in diameter, so I'm not worried about that aspect of the accuracy. I'm more worried about the aerodynamics of a backwards conical bullet.

Yeah, they also had smaller hand presses for reloading cartridges that weren't as Xbox hueg as the Lee Hand Press.

Does anyone have the berger/hornady/sierra books? Im looking for 308 load data.

I have the barnes/nosler/lee 50th books for like trade

I know that British Muzzle Loaders guy does historical reloading and for some stuff he literally “hand loads” and just pushes a snug fitting paper patched bullet into the case with his palm. Supposedly that’s how many of the old buffalo hunters did it.

trapdoorcollector.com/reloadingkits.html

Attached: 83431C32-E32E-4928-AFC3-D5DCDD6655AF.png (985x598, 595K)