Random Thoughts of an Amateur Gun Guru

Reloading for people that like to shoot a lot.

Find a Manual.

I don't care what manual you get just get one. My favorites are the Loadbooks. You can get them at most outdoors stores that sell firearms products and they have a large wealth of information on the specific caliber you reload for.

I have one for every caliber I load for.

Get a Chronograph.

Especially if you load for a rifle. These are indispensable and getting cheaper. If you are not chronoing your ammo you won't know if you are Making your Power factor(for the competition shooters) or if you are going way over pressure. I have the Shooting Chrony Alpha Master set. It has a 15ft remote read-out and works very well. It is only 114$ and that is not a lot for piece of mind on reloading.

Buy a good press.

Dillon is what I choose because it is what my dad bought for me. I have a RL550B. Is it better than other Progressive presses? Yes. Is it the best? I don't know. I use it because I have one.

If I were spending your money???

I would buy a Dillon 650. It has more options.


Components.

Powder is one of those things you buy because you have too. Many people have their opinions about which one is best but I feel the crowd is the way to go. I have used many many different powders over my few short years of reloading and I can say the one I can't live without is Titegroup by Hodgdon. It works for so many different calibers that you can't go wrong. It burns clean and meters very well through my Dillon measure. I use it in 9mm, 40SW, and 45ACP. Loading in this way can reduce you cost by letting you purchase in bulk rather than several different powders. You can also save by having one powder measure vs 2 or 3 for different powders. This saves you time and gets you loading faster. This means more time on the range and less time in the reloading room.

Primers are simple. Get the cheapest ones you can get. They will still go bang just like the expensive ones. Again I use a standard primer for several different loads. I buy Winchester Small RIFLE Primers. These work in 9mm, 40SW, and 223rem. They only add about 100psi to the load and really don't have an impact on velocity or pressure. This saves you money in that you can buy bulk primers as well.

Cases.

Cases are a debated subject. Debated to death!!! Don't buy brand new cases. Go online and search for once fired brass. There is someone out there that gets a kick out of cleaning range brass and selling it dirt cheap. Brassman, Brassreloading, and Brassworld are all great sources for once fired brass. By lots at once. Like in the 1000's.

Bullets.

Bullets are easy. Get them on sale at as many different locations you can. Get Copper coated, plated, TMJed, or whatever.

LEAD SUX!!! It sux to clean out of your barrel, it sux to clean off your fingers, it sux to clean out of your cases, and it is bad for you and the environment. Unless you have a melting pot and lots of time to mold bullets you will not be able to get your money's worth out of making bullets.

I like using the cheapest bulk bullets I can get for practice and high quality bullets for competition. I buy Zero Bullets for Competition loads and Xtreme Bullets for my play loads.

Get some stuff and start loading.

DO IT NOW!!!!