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Speaks

Speaks

WKR
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I have never really had interest in reloading to save money vs factory ammo.

With adding 22cm and 6cm into my lineup I can make an argument of why I should start for bullet choice. And down the road it would also open up switching from 6.5prc to 6um for a longer range set up.

Most beginner reloading advice is to get fairly cheap stuff and put in time and upgrade as you go.

My goal would be more to do it as efficiently as possible. The alternative is looking at more custom loads potentially which is not the end of the world either.

Would a roughly $1k investment get someone into an accurate efficient set up to cover 2 calibers like this? Any recommendations on what you would want to buy. I would also budget to take a class or something if going down this route. Would likely start with doing 77 tmk in 22 CM and then add in the 6 if the new Sierra bullets become more widely available.
 
$220

$79

$55

$55

$300

$75

$26

$4

$4

$15

$4 use as shoulder comparator for creed

$25

$68 use rice

$33

$5

$3

$7


I think it's close to $1k without discounts, and without anything to "upgrade" later on.
 
You could get started with $1k no problem. For just loading a couple cartridges, you probably won’t ever need to upgrade anything either.

A good starting point is picking a good press. Everyone has a different opinion on what’s best, kinda like the Ford & Chevy debate. Stay with a well known manufacturer and you’ll be making a good decision. RCBS, Redding, Lee, Forester, and a bunch of of others would all work.

For a scale I’d look hard at the Hornady or RCBS scales that weigh the charges to .02. I think the RCBS is called the MatchMaster, and the Hornady is the Precision Lab Scale. I find that scales that measure to that accuracy level helps some of your speed dispersion, especially when coupled with high end single lot brass.

You’ll need a hand priming tool, chamfer/deburring tool, case trimmer, calipers and probably a couple other small tools I’m spacing at the moment.

Now add good quality dies of your choice. This debate is similar to the press debate, and there are lots of high quality makers. Choose your poison.

Add in high quality brass and then bullets, powder and primers and your ready to start crafting.

Good luck! I can’t imagine a world where I’m not making my own ammo !
 
The word in your request that gives me pause is "efficient" if that word to you means fast, then it gets real tricky to be at yes and sub 1k. If it means fiscally responsible and quality ammo, then yes absolutely.

How many rounds per year do you plan on needing to make?
 
ResearchinStuff said:
The word in your request that gives me pause is "efficient" if that word to you means fast, then it gets real tricky to be at yes and sub 1k. If it means fiscally responsible and quality ammo, then yes absolutely.

How many rounds per year do you plan on needing to make?
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Thats a really good question and a key part of what I am trying to figure out. Luckily my higher volume rifle is a 223 which I have no intention to load for and I also have a 6.5cm which I get decent ammo at a good price.

Lets call it 1k rounds per year... that might be low, I am not really sure.

Maybe a better metric is that I would like to be able to load 100 rounds in an afternoon, lets call it 3-4 hours. If I cant get to that I think ordering custom loaded ammo starts to make more sense and I would be better off logging into work for a bit vs sitting in the garage.

I think doing this efficiently like that for the investment I was thinking is that part that seems most difficult. And I do realize it will be slower at first, but thinking about that 100/3 hour metric as a place I could get to reasonably easily with some practice.
 
Speaks said:
Maybe a better metric is that I would like to be able to load 100 rounds in an afternoon, lets call it 3-4 hours. If I cant get to that I think ordering custom loaded ammo starts to make more sense and I would be better off logging into work for a bit vs sitting in the garage.
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If it is a total 3-4hrs and not a continuous, that's maybe possible.

Size for 15-20min, thrown them in the tumbler and go do something else for an I'm hour.

Shake out and chamfer for 45min

Prime for 30-45

Charge and press for the remainder.

If you can have the press on a separate table than the powder dispenser it will help so that you are not putting force into the table at the same time as the electronic scale is measuring.

It will also require you to bypass a lot of the old wives' tales with reloading on case prep, measuring runout, etc.
 
That's doable output from a single stage set up, which also makes your budget plausible. If you look to get much faster than that the costs can sky rocket. Every time you have to touch the case or take your hands off the press the time creeps up on you.
 
sndmn11 said:
If it is a total 3-4hrs and not a continuous, that's maybe possible.

Size for 15-20min, thrown them in the tumbler and go do something else for an I'm hour.

Shake out and chamfer for 45min

Prime for 30-45

Charge and press for the remainder.

If you can have the press on a separate table than the powder dispenser it will help so that you are not putting force into the table at the same time as the electronic scale is measuring.

It will also require you to bypass a lot of the old wives' tales with reloading on case prep, measuring runout, etc.
Click to expand...

Actually breaking it up works better. Most days I am up around 5:30 and my wife is not up until closer to 9:00. Utilizing that window for projects is great. Splitting the process across a couple weekend mornings is ideal.

A generally simple process is appealing. I am not chasing sub MOA groups. I am really after practical hunting accuracy and more choice of bullets vs trying to fully optimize for accuracy.

My basement workshop has 3 heavy work benches and an assembly table so spreading out is fine if it makes sense. My large bench also weight around 600 lbs so is pretty stable.
 
This kind of basic setup with basic dies will be good to at least 1/2 MOA. Quite literally most of the tools on the market are marketing BS trying to sell new mouse traps. Starting out reloaders should get a basic setup, use it a while until you develop personal preferences, then upgrade as you see fit. A small starter press like this also makes a good second press for seating bullets so a weekend full of reloading you don’t have to swap sizing and seating dies back and forth. All electronic scales eventually fail, so a starter beam scale is a good backup. I still use the basic RCBS powder measure, so I’d add one of those. Many kits come with one.

IMG_1271.jpeg
 
Speaks said:
Actually breaking it up works better. Most days I am up around 5:30 and my wife is not up until closer to 9:00. Utilizing that window for projects is great. Splitting the process across a couple weekend mornings is ideal.

A generally simple process is appealing. I am not chasing sub MOA groups. I am really after practical hunting accuracy and more choice of bullets vs trying to fully optimize for accuracy.

My basement workshop has 3 heavy work benches and an assembly table so spreading out is fine if it makes sense. My large bench also weight around 600 lbs so is pretty stable.
Click to expand...

I am all for reloading and if you just want to give it try then ok but, after reading your posts, I am going to say there is no need for you to start reloading.
You don’t know how much you will shoot, you are not chasing accuracy, you want efficiency, as in speed in one post then in another you are ok breaking processes up over several mornings.
The best reason you mention is to have more choices of bullets for hunting but what’s driving that need?
If you have free time to kill and you just want to give it a try then go for it. Do a search on RS for reloading and you will find tons of information.
I’m just giving you my honest opinion based on what I’m reading if it comes off as negative that’s not my intention.
 
Harvey_NW said:
Agree with pretty much everything but this, I was looking into new presses and the reviews on these are terrible. Multiple accounts of the shellholder plates either bending, or the screws pulling out and stripping if a shell gets sticky. I think I'll eventually upgrade to the MEC Marksman.
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That's a bummer! The one I have is around 5 years old when the specific product was launched. Any scope testing that I have posted here has been sized with that press, and then seated 50/50 in that press or the one at my dad's.
 
mtnbound said:
I am all for reloading and if you just want to give it try then ok but, after reading your posts, I am going to say there is no need for you to start reloading.
You don’t know how much you will shoot, you are not chasing accuracy, you want efficiency, as in speed in one post then in another you are ok breaking processes up over several mornings.
The best reason you mention is to have more choices of bullets for hunting but what’s driving that need?
If you have free time to kill and you just want to give it a try then go for it. Do a search on RS for reloading and you will find tons of information.
I’m just giving you my honest opinion based on what I’m reading if it comes off as negative that’s not my intention.
Click to expand...

I dont take it as negative at all, what I am largely trying to sort out is if this is something that makes sense for me to do or not. This is the kind of answer I need.

In terms of the contradiction between efficiency / speed and breaking it up what I am really after is minimizing the total time commitment, I work a ton of hours and travel a ton and dont have lots of excess time. And partly because of that a simple starter reloading set up that does not optimize for time would be a bad fit.

Lets say I want to shoot 77 tmk out of 22cm which does not come in a factory option I can still but that for an extra $1 or so a round and I agree its looking more and more like if I really want something non-factory I might be better off just buying it for now and revisiting the whole thing in a few years when I have more free time.

I think the idea of these new Sierra bullets is part of what got me interested but I am sure UM will be loading them once they are out and be a better value for now.
 
Here's what I just did (best price I've seen on the press kit in the past year or so, and this was a nice sweetener):

Hornady Lock-N-Load IRON PRESS Single Stage Press Kit with Auto Prime – Gun Place – The Largest Online Gun Shop

gunplace.com gunplace.com

Hornady 050095 Cam Lock Bullet Puller Standard Red Multi Caliber Rifle Firearm 7.20 oz – Gun Place – The Largest Online Gun Shop

gunplace.com gunplace.com
They drop ship everything, and no OOS sales tax. Shipping does add up if you mix and match manufacturers on an order.

I would have included this if I'd known about it -- will eventually pick one up someplace.

Hornady HK66 Lock-N-Load Headspace Kit w/ Body .17 Rem Through Belted Magnums Rifle Firearm Includes Body with 5 Bushing Set – Gun Place – The Largest Online Gun Shop

gunplace.com gunplace.com
 
Speaks said:
Actually breaking it up works better. Most days I am up around 5:30 and my wife is not up until closer to 9:00. Utilizing that window for projects is great. Splitting the process across a couple weekend mornings is ideal.

A generally simple process is appealing. I am not chasing sub MOA groups. I am really after practical hunting accuracy and more choice of bullets vs trying to fully optimize for accuracy.

My basement workshop has 3 heavy work benches and an assembly table so spreading out is fine if it makes sense. My large bench also weight around 600 lbs so is pretty stable.
Click to expand...

Some examples of timing from the last batch of ammo i loaded.

200 cases of 6.5x47.

I lubed, full length sized, de-capped them all in about 15 minutes and then put them in the tumbler to clean the lube/grime off of them. Let the tumbler run overnight and turned it off in the morning (doesnt need to run that long).

A week later my toddlers wanted to turn the tumblers on/off in my office so pulled the brass and separated the rice cleaning media in a few minutes with them. Then in the kitchen while mrs was making dinner we played a real fun "game" of 2.5 YO hands me brass, i prime it with hand primer and hand to 4 YO who puts it in loading tray. In maybe 20 minutes they were all primed and waiting in loading blocks. I dont think the toddlers helped speed at all but it kept them entertained.

Yesterday I powder charged and seated bullets to make 150 rounds of 6.5x47 in about an hour. Powder thrown by auto-trickler that is faster than I could do it with a RCBS chargemaster (which is less expensive than an auto trickler) and significantly slower than i could if I dropped powder from a powder measure (much less expensive but less precise weights).

Thats less than 2 hours total for 150 rounds, could have gotten all 200 cases loaded in about 2 hours if I kept going.

Edit to add: I still shoot quite a bit of factory 223, 6 creedmoor, and 6.5 creedmoor. But when a guy wants to shoot a certain bullet and not pay through the nose or be at the mercy of lot to lot variance or availability it's nice to be able to roll your own.
 
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