Blather on Reloading
Updated 12/10 -
Powders
Want to spend more money on shooting? I know you do. Here's the racket. Remember when the wife laughed uproariously when you mentioned that last gun you needed? Too durngum expensive right? Time to reload!
Fact is, it is cheaper to reload your ammo than buy it at the local store, round for round. You can also tailor your loads to your specific needs - makes your firearms more versatile by allowing you to adapt. The .300 whiz banger a wee tough on your smaller game? Down-load that sucker to an -06 and you're on your way. Reloading can make it fun to shoot that nice new .375 you bought. You can also upload the venerable .45-70 to near .458 Winchester velocities if you have the right gear (the Marlin and the low wall you bought at the gun show last weekend are NOT the right gear for that little project).
If your sole reason for reloading is to save moola however, think real hard before you do it. The fact is that reloading requires your utmost attention lest you become a waypoint for someone who still uses a sextant. Most of us who reload don't really save that much money doing it, we shoot more often. While that may initially seem to take away the whole point, the more you practice, the safer handling skills you develop and the cleaner kills you will make on game.
What do you need to get started? Basically, a press, scale, dies, cartridge length gauge or calipers, reloading handbook, and powders/brass and bullets. Lyman, Lee and RCBS all make beginners kits that have this and some variation of the other tools you need.
Midway is great for getting these at good prices and their service has been great.I got the Lyman starter kit with the Delta press - you can use it handheld until you build a bench or buy one of the Midway portable reloading stands, which is what I did. If the delta doesn't work for you handheld, just bolt it to a short length of 2X6 lumber and you can just C-clamp it to any convenient location. Note that the new tile inlaid rosewood dinner table is a bad location, particularly when your wife catches you at it.
Once you've got the basics, you will find that reloading brings opportunity for all kinds of new tools. Micrometers, ballistic bullet pullers ( a must have item for your sanity...) and all sorts of widgets are available. Once again, the cardinal rule: reloading is serious dooty!! When you reload, reload. Don’t try to load up a couple of thousand rounds for the USPSA match this weekend while trying that new beer you bought. Don't try to do it after you drink that new beer you bought. Get the point?
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.45 ACP |
.357 Magnum |
.38 Special |
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My .45 brass seems to last forever. Well, almost forever. While I don't have to trim the stuff, it does... age. I load a Ruger P90 that vastly prefers the 230 grain Hornady XTP bullets with good old fashioned Unique. I've tried the 200 grainers as well as hardball and Gold Dots, but the full house XTP is king for accuracy for me. With pretty stout loads the brass will last about 5 or 6 firings in my experience. The real nice thing about the XTP's is that they won't deform in the seater like those durn Gold Dots. It's a .45 for chrissake - toss a rock! |
I haven't loaded one hell of a lot of .357 stuff, and all of it has been for my little SP101 so it hasn't been of the H110 holy shit variety of magnum pistol loading. The little Ruger packs a bit of a wallop at full house - try running that el cheapo 110 grain Winchester stuff through one and you'll know what I mean. One thing that you have to pay attention to is not to mix your .38 and .357 loads up - this is why I prefer a slower burning powder, even with my short barrel. Under and over-charging is a lot more obvious if you do it that way. I am currently messing around with HS-6 with all three of my pistol calibers with some success. |
One of the great things about a .357 is that you can run .38sp through it for light practice. I've heard folks tell of fouling that messes up your cylinder from running too much .38 in a .357, which seems to make sense. I limit my .38 loads in the .357 to jacketed bullets only for this reason so's I limit fouling down in the cylinder. The other thing is powders like HP38. Hodgdon lists HP38 as a good cheap powder for the .38 as it uses wee charges - great idear, right? Well, as you hunting types know, the more case volume you use, the more accuracy you should get out of your loads. Additionally for safety's sake, a double charge of a powder like HS-6 will be real obvious when you check your cases before the seating operation. Try to stuff 10 grains of HS6 into a .38 case and you'll see what I mean. |
Equipment Options
Someday when I have gobs of space I'll get a hold of a progressive machine. It took me awhile to figure out that I really needed one, but after a few years of loading a few hundred rounds at a time for my .45, I learned that while being anal is half, if not all of the fun of reloading, it's a drag doing it bulk. I went without a powder measure for the first year, thinking I wouldn't get the precision from round to round that I do measuring every charge. I finally got a hold of a Hornady deluxe powder measure saw the light. Thing meters as accurately or more accurately than I do with the scale on every load - maybe more so, as the scale needs adjustment on occasion which throws things off.
As to which progressive, I think the only real answer is
Dillon. I've followed all of the bitches and hallelujahs for and against Dillon and Lee and the general consent seems to be for Dillon. Lee makes some good stuff, but I think the Dillon presses are just that much better. I'm a big Hornady fan - XTP bullets are my preferred fodder for the pistol - but the Hornady presses are so bloody expensive I can't justify one over a Dillon. If only I had room for a nice RL550….All the falderal over progressives aside, if you are cash strapped and want to speed up your loading operation, there are other ways. Turret presses speed things up and have removable tool heads that make them a grand idea. Lyman, Lee, and now Dillon all make them. When it comes to the Dillon turret press, the AT500, my only bitch is price. Dillon markets the thing as being upgrade-able to a RL550, but if you do the math, you are taking a major soaking doing that. Just get the darn RL550 if you are going to do that.
The other option - particularly if you have an actual bench as opposed to a reloading stand - is just to get multiple presses. The Lyman delta presses and Lee challenger presses can be had for around 20 dollars, and if you watch want ads and gun shows you can get used RCBS rock-chuckers cheap as well. Set up a press for the seating operation for a caliber and leave it there. The seating die is the most time consuming to set up. If you have a heavier duty press like a partner or orange crusher for the sizing/decapping operation, you are set. Expanding and seating operations don't take the torque, neither the crimp. I crimp separately, so I prefer to have a position for just that. All told, you save money getting a turret press instead of all this, but it can be easier to nickel and dime your way up if you use multiple presses.
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