Looking for advice on reloading

[Lokihan]

Hey guys,

I'm getting ready to start reloading some of my empty brass and I have a few questions to ask of you. I have a lot of different calibers to take into consideration. 9mm, 38 SW, 38 Spcl, 357 Mag, 7.62 Tokarev, 7.62 Nagant, 8mm Nambu, 8mm mauser, 30 carbine, 303 British, 7.62x54, 7.5x54 French, 7.7 Japanese

1) Is there a chart out some where that shows what size primer to use on what cartridge case??? i.e. Small pistol: 9mm, 38 SW, 38 Spcl, etc.etc.etc

2) Which is the best primer to use for range loads??? {nothing exotic, just plinking loads}

3) A friend of mine gave me an Accurate Arms reloading book, that he had an extra of. Whats your opinon on their powder and what type should I use for my handguns????

I'm basicly looking for a good powder & primer combination that I can use across multiple calibers.
For gear, I have a Redding T-7 press that I got a few years back to do some case forming of 8mm kurtz for a friend of mine in Arizona.

[ocabj]

http://www.rcbs.com/guide/default.aspx - RCBS Reloading Guide

ABC's of Reloading
Hornady Handbook 7th Edition
Lyman Reloading Handbook 48th Edition
Speer Reloading #14

Manuals will tell you what primer is used for what cartridge. Manuals will give you insight into what powders will work for your specific cartridges.

[CSACANNONEER]

Find someone local to help you!

You should get and read several different reloading manual and constaly compare data from them.

As far as primers go, the size of your brass's primer pockets will dictate wether you need small primers or large primers. Although there are standards, I've seen exceptions. For example, I've found small primer pockets in .45 acp brass.

I know that you want to have only one type of powder but, you will end up with 4-10 different types! Go through your reloading manuals and look at the different powder option that they list for each caliber that you are planning to load. This will help you decide which powders will best suit your needs.

[Wulf]

You loading manual should tell you which primer to use for each cartridge. I believe all those pistol calibers will work with regular small pistol primers although you'll want to load small magnum primers if you're going to push the 357's beyond 38spcl velocities. I'm just guessing but you'll probably need small rifle and large rifle primers to get through that roster of rifle calibers. If all you're looking for is plinking performance you can get by with primers from any of the big 3 (cci, winchester, federal). Some people have preferences between the three brands, but the differences for low performance reloading arent going to make or break the project.

You'll probably want to get at least one more reloading guide, one put out by a company that makes bullets not powder. Generally a Bullet company guide will have company bullets featured with load data for a 1/2 dozen or so different powder makers. The powder company guides on the other hand, feature company powders with load data for a half dozen different makers bullets or sometimes generic bullet descriptions. Speer and Sierra's guides are generally well thought of. For what you want to do (finding a do it all powder), you'll want to just surf the guide till you find a powder that gets mentioned in all or most of the data sets for the cartridges you're looking at. That should be pretty easy for the pistol cartridges you're looking at but probably impossible for the rifle calibers you're looking at, particularly if you expect some of them to run in gas guns.

However, all that said, I'd advise against trying to shoehorn as many cartridges as possible into a single powder can. Generally the economics of selecting a different, efficient (small charge weight) powder for each cartridge, will save you more money than any bulk can discounts. Also, when you start trying to load an almost right powder you'll be pushing pressures, putting yourself at greater risk of a double or triple charge, and will put more wear and tear on the brass.

Its not such a burden having to keep a couple extra powders in stock that you should be willing to put up with extra cost, poor performance, dirty or damaged guns, and more frequent brass replacement. Consider it a bonus if you find a powder that works in a couple different cartridges but dont expect or demand it.

[mike100]

Expect to start with 3 or 4 powder types as you learn how things work. Later on, you may buy a special powder just for one or two calibers for magnum or high pressure rifle loads.

Unique, bullseye, win 231 are pretty good for many types of handgun loads- try some of that.

[Fjold]

Basics here:

http://www.reload-nrma.com/intro-reload.html

Reloading data

http://www.hodgdon.com/

[scrat]

just as mentioned before. most good reloading manuals will give you load data with powder types and primers. this information when used correctly will give you the maximum results for each caliber.