reloading questions

[LUKE D]

i am thinking of maybe start to reload my ammo and was wondering if you all could help out some
what kinds of things will i need to have to do it
i dont know a lot about it and have found Midway USA.com and looked around but there is so much stuff i really dont know what all i will need to get started.
looking at doing mainly my handgun ammo for now .45 auto and .40 S&W
can someone give me some good ideas on what i will need
dont need the real high dollar stuff jsut something to get started with

[John4538]

Here is a good thread on this. Get the Lyman reloading book first and read it for a good introduction. If you want to get more detailed there are many more books like the Sierra one.

http://www.1911forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171110

[Niner4Tango]

Originally Posted by John4538

Here is a good thread on this. Get the Lyman reloading book first and read it for a good introduction. If you want to get more detailed there are many more books like the Sierra one.

http://www.1911forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171110

+1 on getting a manual (I like Speer)

That's a very comprehensive post from Max Steel. The only thing missing from it is something that is not essential, but you'll really want it once you start: a case tumbler for cleaning cases.

Here is another good primer at a good site:
http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=33

Good luck. In general, you can cut ammo costs by about 1/2, and you'll learn things about how your guns function that you can learn no other way.

[fredj338]

If you are just doing small batches of pistol ammo, The Lee turret press is an affordable press that still allows decent production (maybe 200rds/hr). You'll need at least (2) loading manuals
powdr scale
powder measure
calipers
hand priming tool
loading blocks
dies for each caliber
This should get you started for under $200

[para_org]

Should you want to upgrade to a more involved press some time in your future, the Lee Classic Cast Turret press can work as your single stage press. Most reloaders keep one of those around for odd chores even when they do most of their reloading on a true-progressive. (One round finished for each pull of the handle.)

[para_org]

P.S.... If your REALLY mean it when you say that you do not want the high-priced stuff, then that rules out several of the manufacturers/retailers of such stuff. That's o.k. to place price as the first consideration because you will find great gear at the lower priced end of the market. And don't let anyone convince you otherwise ! They are either justifying their own past decisions or somehow placing their (lack of) concern over pricing as something you should also place as less important. (I try never to allow people such control over me. They mean well, but I am the one that suffers the results if their judgement is right for them and wrong for me.)

Perhaps the BEST way to go about this is to find a good retailer that carries products in all three price ranges: expensive, moderately priced, and low priced. If you find the right salesman to help you, you will be told the truth about each product because he/she will want more of your business. It will make sense for them to make sure the product fits your requirements and not someone elses (like many of the responses you will get here on this or any other forum). THEN do the right thing and buy something from them and keep buying something from them so they can afford to give you this valuable advice.

If you somehow can't find such a retailer near you, then you are placed at the mercy of something like the internet and places like this forum, where about 1/2 the stuff you see belongs on a farmer's crop.

[fredj338]

Originally Posted by para_org

P.S.... If your REALLY mean it when you say that you do not want the high-priced stuff, then that rules out several of the manufacturers/retailers of such stuff. That's o.k. to place price as the first consideration because you will find great gear at the lower priced end of the market. And don't let anyone convince you otherwise ! They are either justifying their own past decisions or somehow placing their (lack of) concern over pricing as something you should also place as less important. (I try never to allow people such control over me. They mean well, but I am the one that suffers the results if their judgement is right for them and wrong for me.)
Perhaps the BEST way to go about this is to find a good retailer that carries products in all three price ranges: expensive, moderately priced, and low priced. If you find the right salesman to help you, you will be told the truth about each product because he/she will want more of your business. It will make sense for them to make sure the product fits your requirements and not someone elses (like many of the responses you will get here on this or any other forum). THEN do the right thing and buy something from them and keep buying something from them so they can afford to give you this valuable advice.
If you somehow can't find such a retailer near you, then you are placed at the mercy of something like the internet and places like this forum, where about 1/2 the stuff you see belongs on a farmer's crop.

A good idea but how is someone new to reloading supposed to separate good info from bad? Most gunshop employees know so little about firearms & handloading, I am surprised they can get a job in a gunshop. Reading from reliable sources like loading manuals, ABCs of Reloading etc. will get you started in the right direction.

[para_org]

Originally Posted by fredj338

A good idea but how is someone new to reloading supposed to separate good info from bad? Most gunshop employees know so little about firearms & handloading, I am surprised they can get a job in a gunshop. Reading from reliable sources like loading manuals, ABCs of Reloading etc. will get you started in the right direction.

Excellent questions and observations.

- The Reloading manuals will often give you a dated view of the marketplaces' offering for equipment and almost always is slanted towards one manufacturer's products. <- So you have to learn to read between the lines. Easier for an engineer like me, I would imagine tougher for others. AND if you are depending on the books and reloading manuals, you will have to own a lot of them to begin to read between the lines well.

- And I appreciate your concern for the quality of employee is some stores. Perhaps that might apply to salemen at many stores. It IS getting harder these days to see and therefore appreciate honest salesmen, as there are less of them since the advent of internet based mail order sales. And almost all of the mail order stuff is centered around pure hype.

** So you might try one or both of these good things. Ask the salesman a question you already know the answer to. Maybe several such questions. Gauge his response to see truth or poop and rate accordingly.

OR.....

Go to the store and do these three things. 1 - Wiggle the presses ram and the top and bottom of the stroke. Rate the stroke for soothness. Spin the shellplate. Real progressives should not wiggle much but should wiggle some for smoothest operation. 2 - Put some shells into the the shellplate and index them. Willl the powder bounce out in operation ? Is it still as smooth to operate as your thought when you wiggled the ram and the shellplate? Is the ram easily overloaded when you get tough and "wail" on the operating arm ? Will it require abusive amounts of strength to do it's job ? Will it fall apart resizing a case ? Will you have to work too hard when you do load ? 3 - Can you easily determine how the press operates so you will be able to troubleshoot what is going on as you use it ? <- Reloading is an user active endeavor that REQUIRES your understanding of the equipment to load safely.

[Richard L Shield]

I got a square deal B I'll sell you. Since I got my XL 650 it just sits in the corner. I have the dies and toolheads for 9mm, 40s&w/10mm, 44 mag, 45 ACP.