getting into reloading????

[chaoticmind]

buy this read it then read it again http://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloading.../dp/0873491904 that's all i did and i have been going strong for years now

^^^^This! Unlike the reloading manuals, the ABCs book discusses general reloading techniques and has a lot of how-to knowlege. It's not just recipes and is a great starting point.

[HKMadness]

Damn, I know, with every semi, I am always eyes off target to track my brass

Add to your list:
You hate your semi for dinging your brass
You get pissed at people who steal your brass
You nearly lose it when some idiot at the range steps on your brass or their brass and you proceed to school them in the value of their brass and how to properly treat brass.

In a couple months, I'll be picking up a .357 revolver and a pro 1000 for .357/38 to go with it. The best part is I won't have to chase my brass!! It's gonna be easy as pie to just dump the cases into a container straight from the cylinder

I already got some polished cases ready to be loaded. Last pick up I did I got lots of .40 and some 10mm. I don't load or own those Calibers, yet.

[BigBronco]

Yes, Us reloaders love wheel guns.

[meaty-btz]

Don't forget to verify your cases though. I had a couple hundred cases from my father (yes, my reloading setup is multi-generational RCBS) who fired some over-hot .38spcl in his .357 (which he sold before I was born.. I would have loved that....). The cases were bulged badly at the base, even resizing regularly wouldn't recover them, needed a small base resizing die that I did not have.

However for the most part, wheelguns are idiotic simple to reload. Also, the brass usually lasts a VERY long time.

[GrayWolf09]

You know you're a Reloader when:
You spend more time picking up brass than you do actually shooting.
You watch your target as you're shooting, but can't help but look right after at where your brass is landing
You hate your semi auto gun for making you chase your brass
You leave the range with more brass than you arrived with
You consider Walmart prices to be really high for ammo

I have never heard this. Too true!

[Divernhunter]

The real test that proves you are a reloader is when you are hunting and shoot a deer/hog/elk/pronghorn/bear etc and you stop to find and pick up your brass before going to the animal.
I have found myself doing this even when I have lots of brass at home. Some habits stick with you.

[15thaf5thbw]

+1 on all the recommendations ... read, read, read, then read again. Then once you've read it into your head so you can mentally go through each step, do that in your head for a week or two before you start.

A couple of tips ...

1. Spend a little more on equipment than a little less. I have used both RCBS and Lee equipment, and with the exception of the Lee Factory Crimp Die, I prefer RCBS to Lee hands down DUE TO QUALITY of both engineering and manufacturing of their equipment.

2. Buy a BUNCH of decapping pins at the get go. You will inevitably fail to filter out some non-boxer primed brass at some point and snap a decapping pin in two. Don't let a part that costs pennies stop your press for a week or two. The Lee "solution" for this is to have the decapping pin set into rod held in place by a collet-nut device that applies pressuer to the rod. This so that the pressure from the decapping pin hitting something it shouldn't will result in the rod sliding up and the decapping pin NOT breaking. It does NOT always work, and when the Lee decapping pin breaks you have to buy a whole new ROD. A bag of 50 RCBS decapping pins costs maybe $5.00 and will probably last you a lifetime.

My 2-cents worth.

[grant22]

First, READ. The ABC's book is really good because it's generic and not brand/product specific.

Second, buy a press. Most likely a single stage will get you started in reloading, just not massive amounts of ammo. Then if you stay in the hobby, a progressive is a good upgrade, but keep the single stage for small batches or some precision rounds. One of those single stage kits are a great value cuz it comes with ALOT of stuff to get you started for cheap. Nice thing about single stages: even if you end up with a progressive later, the SS wasn't a waste....you'll still find uses for it.

Third, start collecting components and PRACTICE with the press before making any real batches.

[emy]

dillon

Get a dillon, bought the 550 in 1986 still have it , I just got the 650 from Angeles Range recently when i started shooting the 308 more. The 550 was too slow for me when i do the 308.

[Blackhawk556]

don't mean to thread jack but how much do you guys end up saving once you start reloading? let say you already have 2000 brass shells and you only need to buy the other stuff, do you save a lot more by reloading 9mm instead of buying it at Walmart? a box of 9Mm costs $10.97 at Walmart so what can be we expect to save?

Sent from Los Alamos Nuclear Facility

[emy]

556, If you already have the brass , 500rd of 9mm plated 124gr would cost you about $95, primer and powder included. you can do less if you buy material at gun show

[jimster716]

As mentioned above, read and read some more. I read through the Lyman 49th Edition Reloading Handbook and I have the ABC's book on the way.

Web forums and Google are excellent resources as well. I have also found Youtube to be a great place to see stuff in action which takes out much of the initial perceived complexity.

I'm new to handloading and I'm waiting for my RCBS Master kit to arrive (tomorrow or Wednesday) but I'm currently listening to the Frankford Arsenal tumbler cleaning my once used .308 brass as I type. LOL. I love the aspects of handloading, the cost savings (if I shoot the same volume as before), making ammo a lot better than most non-match factory crapola, and the whole mad scientist thing of creating and testing loads (per the load guides, of course) customized to my rifle.

[socalfamous87]

I learned to re-load from my father-in-law. But since I know you probably dont have someone that can teach you in person, I would buy a re-loading manual and read it all, and keep reading it until you understand everything. If the book doesn't explain a certain part/step well enough, then Google is your friend.

There are kits that you can buy (I have the RCBS Rock Chucker kit) that have mostly everything you need to get started.

Oh, and prepare to spend hours in the garage once you start. Its pretty addicting.

+1

[socalfamous87]

So I am thinking about getting into reloading but I don't have a clue what's involved. Is there a beginners class anyone offers in so cal that can get me started and show me what I need.

what part of socal are you from? i can show you a couple things. im from the inland empire. pm me if interested. read as much as you can(its important, watch a few youtube videos(it helps gets te concept accross) but youll understand the most when you do hands on and produce your first bullet.

[pdq_wizzard]

for my 9mm .45 and .357 I cast my own, lead is about 1.00 per lb

I buy 1k of primers + and 10+ lb of powder at a time so it's less than below.

I get about 56 125gr bullets per lb
100 primers = 3.00
1lb powder = 18.00 (over 1400 loads per lb)

so it cost me about .06 - .10 per round for my hand guns