I finally made the jump into reloading

[IDHUNTER]

After thinking about it for a couple years i finally made the jump. With the stay at home order in our state and still a ton of snow on the ground outside, i figured now was as good of a time as any to get a new hobby.

I ordered the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Kit and i will be loading for a 7mm Weatherby Mag. Below are the components that I'll be starting with.

- H4831SC
-140 grain partitions
- Federal gold medal match primers - 215 Mag

I know i still need to get a good set of calipers but how essential are a tumbler and case trimmer? Any other essentials that i'm missing?

I have about 220 pieces of once fired brass. How many times can a single piece of brass be reloaded before it's no good anymore?

 

[Miflatlander91]

Depends how hot you load it as far as case life I had some Hornady brass I trimmed after the 3rd firing


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[archp625]

After thinking about it for a couple years i finally made the jump. With the stay at home order in our state and still a ton of snow on the ground outside, i figured now was as good of a time as any to get a new hobby.

I ordered the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Kit and i will be loading for a 7mm Weatherby Mag. Below are the components that I'll be starting with.

- H4831SC
-140 grain partitions
- Federal gold medal match primers - 215 Mag

I know i still need to get a good set of calipers but how essential are a tumbler and case trimmer? Any other essentials that i'm missing?

I have about 220 pieces of once fired brass. How many times can a single piece of brass be reloaded before it's no good anymore?

You don't have to buy a top of the line set of calipers. I got the Digital RCBS ones for ~$75. They are great.

I would also get a Hornady comparator gauge and body. This will help you measure CBTO. This is a more accurate way to measure than COAL.

I would have look into getting a Hornady OAL gauge to measure throat distance. This will help you set how far back from the lands you are.

You have enough brass to last you a long time. Its hard to say how long it will last. I will say the hotter you run your load the less reloaded the brass will take. Average is 7-12.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

That's a great kit and that press should last you a lifetime. You don't need a tumbler to start. Calipers should be high on your list, as you mentioned, as well as a good set of dies.

The calipers will tell you how much trimming your cases need, if any. You can fake it with the deburring tool that comes with the kit to a certain extent.

Be careful to lube, but not over-lube your cases when resizing. The Weatherby double radiused shoulders can get some dents on them if you over lube them. They should be slick to the touch, but not sloppy when you resize them.

I would strongly recommend using that hand priming tool. It is something that I recently started using (been reloading since the late 1980s) and I won't go back to priming with the press.

Enjoy the process. Remember consistency is key. Take lots of notes along the way. There is something very satisfying about shooting an elk or deer with a handload you created, similar to a trout on a hand tied fly.

 

[Axlrod]

Do you need some dies? I have a set of RCBS in 7 wby i would sell for $25 shipped if you want,

 

[menhaden_man]

You can find quite a bit of stuff online, but I really like having a hand loading manual for reference on lengths and charges. I have a few copies of the Hornady handbook spanning a few decades, but I'm sure others on here with more experience can say if there's a better manual out there.

 

[IDHUNTER]

Thanks for the offer Axlrod but i have a set of dies already. I did some reloading 15 years ago on a buddy's equipment but i held on to the dies.

 

[JDixon]

You will also need a tool to trim your case length, I don't think that comes with the Supreme kit. I use the RCBS Pro-2 manual case trimmer mounted to the bench, removed the handle and use a cordless drill.

 

[cmahoney]

If you have collected that brass over the years they might all be different lengths. I could be wasting time but I like to trim all my once fired brass so they are the same length. Consistency seems to matter across the board in reloading.


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[jdmaxwell]

Definitely get a case trimmer and hand primer tool. You dont need a tumbler necessarily.

 

[JimGa]

I use the Lee case trimmer. You can put the case holder in a drill, trim, inside/outside debur all with the drill. Cheap, quick and easy.

 

[KineKilla]

As has been mentioned, you could possibly get away with not trimming your brass for a short time, especially if you only size the neck of the cases. You will have to trim them at some point though and a set of calipers is an absolute must have for reloading.

Tumblers are not at all necessary if your method of cleaning does a good job. The brass doesn't have to be pretty to function well. I use a Hornady Sonic cleaner for all mine and they come out quite clean.

I err on the side of caution and only shoot my brass 4 times each but I know people who shoot brass 10 times or more. Hard to say how much the expansion, re-sizing, stretch and headspacing in your rifle will affect case life.

 

[MattB355]

You don't need a tumbler but it does help with having clean brass and a less messy work area/dies. I use a liquid tumbler and it works excellent. I do large batches and let them dry out over a week or so before sizing. Brass will be the biggest PITA as far as time consumption with trimming, cleaning, resizing. I also trim all my cases to the same length for consistency (I set it to the shortest case and trim all to that length-it can be shorter than spec on new brass). As stated above, get the Hornady length gauge to get the OAL to the ogive for your rifle. You will find the most accuracy by changing the jump and powder charges to find the sweet spot. I like to use .01 to .03 for most bullets and a larger jump of .04-.08 on barnes and other all copper rounds. I highly recommend hand priming as well and use safety glasses and ear protection just in case one pops on you in the house. By hand priming you can feel how much pressure you are applying and can avoid an accidental pop. Work you way up slowly to max loads and keep an eye on the primers for flattening.