Reloading 101

[mt100gr.]

All good info. Kind of overwhelming....I am still studying up on it. I'm probably over thinking the whole "getting started" part. Once I have the gear in front of me, things will make more sense.

How do you guys set up your benches with regard to efficiency? A pic would be excellent or simply an explanation of steps and how you work through the different stages with your equipment.

 

[MRidge]

I'm still using the RCBS rock chucker press I learned to hand load on 30+ years ago. RCBS in general is a phenomenal organization to deal with.
Ideally it would be best to piece your components together, however until you go through the process for a while, it'll be difficult to really grasp which other components you want. Really depends on what I'm loading at the time, as I use digital scales / trickles from both Lyman & RCBS.
All my dies are RCBS (neck die fan here)
It's hard to beat the price of the kit to get you off and rolling - it'll do everything you need.

 

[StrutNut]

You mentioned reloading 454 rounds. I found those to be the trickiest of the bunch. I had (wish it was still have) a Freedom Arms 454. Reloading is very much recommended. You can load down 454 rounds for fun shooting or crank them up and save a bunch over factory. I found the recoil in my hotter reloads still better than factory rounds. I did however have a problem with jacketed bullets creeping on me. Most of the rounds I shot where cast bullets I made. They were so much fin to shoot, very accurate and again a lot cheaper to produce. Wheel weights and 50/50 bar solder is what I used. Those casts the brass was crimping in more and never had creep issues. As far as the rest of what I being said, I too liked the RCBS stuff and loved the Lee stuff. I wished I shot enough to justify reloading again.

 

[Brodie]

I suggest piecing it together. Go to sinclairs website.
I would skip the powder measure and go for a charge master.
Redding competition or type s dies.
K&m or Sinclair priming tool
Sinclair case trimmer
Primer pocket uniforming tool and flash hole deburring tool
Brush for cleaning necks
Neck chamfering tool
Simple ogive measuring tool to use with your dial caliper, gives more precise coal length
Redding, rcbs, or Forster press

 

[Shrek]

Btw , the Frankford arsenal ss media tumbler is a black Friday loss leader at Midsouth Shooters Supply and I suspect some other places. It plain works awesome ! Yes , you have to dry the brass afterwards but the brass is cleaner than new and you don't need to clean the primer pockets anymore. I would never buy another traditional tumbler again. Ss media tumbling is so far superior.

 

[jwb300]

Another press to consider is the RCBS Summit - it is extremely user friendly and I find it much easier to use than traditional O frame presses. Just my 2cents.

Cheers,
James

 

[Broz]

Something to think about with the T7 is that you will need extra turrents if you want to leave different calibers set up and you will need to change the turrent for every cartridge. With the Co-Ax you set the die up once and when you need it it just snaps in and out again without any adjustments. I don't see a primer on a T7 but I don't know anyone who loads much who uses a press to prime cases. A hand primer is much easier to use.

To elaborate on this about the T-7. I own 2 of them and some extra turrets and am very pleased with the Redding T-7. You can get 3 different rifle chamberings on a single turret head using 2 die sets, or two chamberings using 3 die sets. This allows one empty hole with either for a bullet puller or what ever. It does have a primer seater, although I do also use a hand primer seater as I like to feel each primer going in and when it sets to the bottom of the pocket.

Jeff

 

[Hunt'nFish]

MNT100gr, before you go crazy do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of the Dean Grenell's book "The ABC's of Reloading". It'll help shed light on pro/cons of different equipment and other related tools needed that may or may not be included in each kit.

Although most of my equipment is green (RCBS), I'm going to recommend the Hornady Kit. Unlike Shrek, my experiences w/ Hornady tools and equipment have been positive. And personally I think the Hornady powder measure is way more consistent than the RCBS powder measure and I like the digital scale in the Hornady Kit vs. the beam scale in the RCBS kit. I use an electronic powder dispenser for doing my large rifle loading, but a good manual powder measure, trickler & digital scale is all you really need. And the Hornady Kit includes those where the RCBS kit does not. And I think over time as you use the Hornady powder measure, you'll find it plenty consistent and begin to trust it enough to drop charges directly into the case, particularly w/ the ball powders used for the .223/5.56 and .308/7.62mm.

WHY a digital scale vs. a beam scale?
It has to do with weighing and sorting brass. A digital scale is simple to use when weighing & sorting cases, where a beam scale is a real PITA to weigh brass on. The digital kicks out a number w/ having to mess w/ the scale, with the beam scale you have to play w/ the scale move balance weights all of which affect the consistency of the measurement. W/ the digital, you just place the case on the scale and out spits a number.... done, simple, easy & fast.

As for case prep tools, the RCBS tools SUCK and introduce case weight inconsistencies, particularly the flash hole reamer tool that indexes off the case mouth. Toss those tools and go buy Sinclair primer pocket & flash hole reamer uni-formers, way better tools that DON'T introduce case weight inconsistencies.

Another tool I consider a must is the Hornady Bullet Comparator tool.
This tool is critical in determining bullet jump to the chamber's rifling lands. BUY IT.

Anyway buy "The ABC's Of Reloading", well worth the investment as it will share tips & tricks and suggestions for additional tools that are not included in the normal reloading manual.

Also go on UTube and watch some of Jim Scoutten's reloading videos that he did for Varmint Hunter Magazine... or was it Precision Reloader???
Anyway he did a series of video's on reloading that show specific details that enhance the consistency & accuracy of your handloads. Pay particular attention to case prep techniques as I believe that proper case prep is one of the most important aspects to handloading......... right behind understanding barrel harmonics, sweet spot velocities, and doing proper load evaluations. (clue: Ladder Method.... although I don't do it quite the same way.)

Anyway I know I'm dumping a bunch of detail on you that you don't understand right now, but you will later. Trust me, your quest for handloading understanding is just about to begin. May you look forward to many sleepless nights trying to understand the mysteries of internal & external ballistics.
Hunt'nFish

 

[mt100gr.]

HnF, thanks for the reply. It is intriguing and i do look forward to it. Not the sleepless nights though, I have enough of them worrying about other really important details like "did all those blazer vanes come from the same batch? or did I put 1.5 or 2 twists in the left side of the split buss cable?" Details are my thing and the quest for ultimate performance is ongoing.