To Start Reloading...?

[Swrmacmullin]

Originally Posted by Apocalypse_now

A lube pad is CRITICAL!! before you run your brass through the dies make sure you lume them or they can get stuck in your die and then your hooped. It will damage and wear your dies out. As for powder, look online or pick up a handloading book. they have loads of info in them as for recomended powder types, amounts, bullets, weights etc.

OH and lastly, after your done pressing your bullets, give every shell a quick shake and listen for the powder to make SURE there is powder in every one... sounds dumb but trust me. You will have a bad day if you forgot to put powder in one of them and find a bullet half way down the barrel of your rifle.
Take your time. you can develop a round that can work very well for your rifle

oh okay! looking at buying the basics (dies and sizer) and my friend has offered to teach me if i buy pwder, primers, etc.

[Lefty-Canuck]

If I could make a suggestion. I think P&D holds "reloading courses". It would be worthwhile to try and get set up under a friend or someone who can mentor you. You will find out once you get going that reloading can be quite involved but with patience and attention to detail it can be fun and safe!

LC

[elkhunter11]

To start off, you need a good press,dies, a shellholder, and a good scale.You will need a trimmer, to trim the cases as they get longer, and a caliper to measure the cases, and the COL. You will need a tool to chamfer the inside and outside of the neck,as well as to clean the primer pockets. You will need case lube for sizing cases, and I like a powder measure to speed things up. A good hand primer is also nice, although you can prime with most presses.

Presses vary in price and in materials. A cheap cast aluminum press like the LEE Challenger, will work for most cases, but they aren't as rigid, and usually don't last as long if you load a lot of cases, especially the larger capacity cases.

Dies range from the basic LEE dies, to high end dies with replaceable neck bushings, and micrometer adjustments, by Redding or Forster

Scales also vary greatly in price, and quality. The basic LEE scale will work, but I much prefer a better quality scale, and a good electronic scale can greatly speed up the loading process.

Hand primers range from the LEE Autoprime, that requires separate shellholders, to the very nice RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool that does not require shellholders.

Chamfering and primer pocket tools range from basic hand held tools, to the very quick powered combination tools.

It all comes down to how fast you want to load, and how much you want to spend, and how long you want the tooling to last.

[Swrmacmullin]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

To start off, you need a good press,dies, a shellholder, and a good scale.You will need a trimmer, to trim the cases as they get longer, and a caliper to measure the cases, and the COL. You will need a tool to chamfer the inside and outside of the neck,as well as to clean the primer pockets. You will need case lube for sizing cases, and I like a powder measure to speed things up. A good hand primer is also nice, although you can prime with most presses.

Presses vary in price and in materials. A cheap cast aluminum press like the LEE Challenger, will work for most cases, but they aren't as rigid, and usually don't last as long if you load a lot of cases, especially the larger capacity cases.

Dies range from the basic LEE dies, to high end dies with replaceable neck bushings, and micrometer adjustments, by Redding or Forster

Scales also vary greatly in price, and quality. The basic LEE scale will work, but I much prefer a better quality scale, and a good electronic scale can greatly speed up the loading process.

Hand primers range from the LEE Autoprime, that requires separate shellholders, to the very nice RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool that does not require shellholders.

Chamfering and primer pocket tools range from basic hand held tools, to the very quick powered combination tools.

It all comes down to how fast you want to load, and how much you want to spend, and how long you want the tooling to last.

Oh wow thank you! That is a lot of information! helps a lot though~!

[slam]

Here is a good place to start with a basic introduction to reloading. It should answer a lot of your questions.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/p...oReloading.pdf

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

To start off, you need a good press,dies, a shellholder, and a good scale.You will need a trimmer, to trim the cases as they get longer, and a caliper to measure the cases, and the COL. You will need a tool to chamfer the inside and outside of the neck,as well as to clean the primer pockets. You will need case lube for sizing cases, and I like a powder measure to speed things up. A good hand primer is also nice, although you can prime with most presses.

Presses vary in price and in materials. A cheap cast aluminum press like the LEE Challenger, will work for most cases, but they aren't as rigid, and usually don't last as long if you load a lot of cases, especially the larger capacity cases.

Dies range from the basic LEE dies, to high end dies with replaceable neck bushings, and micrometer adjustments, by Redding or Forster

Scales also vary greatly in price, and quality. The basic LEE scale will work, but I much prefer a better quality scale, and a good electronic scale can greatly speed up the loading process.

Hand primers range from the LEE Autoprime, that requires separate shellholders, to the very nice RCBS Universal Hand Priming tool that does not require shellholders.

Chamfering and primer pocket tools range from basic hand held tools, to the very quick powered combination tools.

It all comes down to how fast you want to load, and how much you want to spend, and how long you want the tooling to last.

Good post....should make it a sticky

LC

[AndrewM]

Bass pro is offering a free reloading course on Sunday if you are anywhere near Calgary. Saturday or Sunday from 2-4.
It says learn about selecting equipment and proper reloading techniques.

[Apocalypse_now]

another thing I do is I've got a little recipe box that I write down the loads I've used and include all the key info (grains of what powder and bullet type and weight etc) and when you test a load keep a record of how they perform. I keep the target I shot with a 3-5 shot group. Then you can try diferent things without repeating old loads.
Something to try anyway