First time reloading, need a little help...

[tak123kib]

Don't get discouraged!!!

Work on it for a while, then walk away. Don't take any chances, this is dangerous stuff. keep good records of all you do and did!! read the book step by step!!

Once you understand what you are doing, Do one stage at a time. Inspect and measure, Lube all 3 or 6 casings, then size, then de-prime 3 or 6, then prime, then add powder, then seat bullet.

I used to do one bullet at a time and I made all kinds of mistakes, forgetting to put powder in,forgetting to put primer in, putting two charges of powder in one casing. by doing more rounds in one step, I am able to observe all before going to the next step and make sure I completed all. Example, when I put powder in all the casing I am doing, I can take a flash light and look into all the casing to make sure visually that all the powder looks to fill the casing at the same hight.

Starting to find the right load, I do just three rounds at a time.
relax, enjoy, keep great records of all you do. Right and wrong!!

My Dad always said, if you never made a mistake, you never did anything!!
TAK

[c20rj]

Once you get set up and dialed in, you will probably enjoy reloading, I do. Sometimes mistakes happen, and like has already been said here it is better safe than sorry!! Just last night I had to pull apart about 40 .308's because the decapping pin fell out and ended up in one of my loads, I usally load 100 at a time and then recheck powder loads, crimps, lenght etc. I just took the 100 I loaded and dumped it in a ammo can that was half full, and started on my next 100. I noticed on the first pull of this new batch that I didnt hear the primer fall into the cup, and realized the pin fell out! Give re-loading your undivided attention! You are in charge of your own safety.

[2ma2]

I'm new to this too and have a question about taper crimp dies. I'm using Hornady new dimension dies but someone said I also needed a seperate taper crimp die. If I adjust the seating die for the proper COL will the crimp be OK or do I need to use a taper crimp die at the end. If so how do you tell too much or too little crimp. From what little I understand too much will increase pressures a lot especially in 9mm. Also the Hornady manual says "little or no crimp for both 45 and 9 mm. What do you guys think?

[rue]

Sportsmans warehouse in rocklin cares RCBS stuff in stock. They have bullet pullers also.I just got a Dillon 650 too. Still don't have time to set it up. The little parts do add up fast. $$$

Funny you say that I actually bought my equipment there...
Best selection ever in our area at least.

[rue]

You are asking the right questions.

The first pic of your swc bullet looked like a good seating depth. 45 acp will allow a little leeway on how far you drop it into the case. I deep seat some types of bullets 5 or 10 thousands if it helps it to feed better. It's not like there is detailed specs on swc bullet OAL. In general, I make the top of the shoulder to the base of the cartridge at about .920" . The shape of the tip doesn't matter since different swc have different shapes anyhow so I measure to the shouldr as a double check. If you don't have a case gauge, take apart your 45 and use the barrel for a gauge. the whole cartridge should drop in until it headspaces of of the brass rim (if the lead engages the rifling, either you have a match grade bbl or too much over-all-length, or both)

The primers not being low enough is usually a dirty primer pocket. you could clean out the carbon better before pushing in a new primer. Not a big deal on some calibers..it is up to you to decide what is going to be safe though.

the scale..well, I don't use a digital. I have an rcbs rebranded Ohaus scale. A set of standard weights will verify if it is still calibrated, but every now and then the pivot gets stuck and it doesn't swing right. Also make sure there is no wind or draft in the room. Not sure what you have, but I trust my beam scale more than an entry level electronic one.

I re-measured overall length with the rounds completed. I have about 10 thousands less than the overall length on the picture in the manual. I had a little less on the side to side case measurement as well. I think I'm ok but I had to go back and open those over charged cases.

I used a small primer cleaning brush chucked in a cordless drill to clean out the primer pockets. I don't think that's the problem. I showed the completed rounds to a friend that reloads and the sales guy at the store who reloads and they both said the primer is seated fine/correct. It's not as low in the pocket as the commerical loads I have though. (I may be being paranoid with this not sure)

[rue]

Don't get discouraged!!!

Work on it for a while, then walk away. Don't take any chances, this is dangerous stuff. keep good records of all you do and did!! read the book step by step!!

Once you understand what you are doing, Do one stage at a time. Inspect and measure, Lube all 3 or 6 casings, then size, then de-prime 3 or 6, then prime, then add powder, then seat bullet.

I used to do one bullet at a time and I made all kinds of mistakes, forgetting to put powder in,forgetting to put primer in, putting two charges of powder in one casing. by doing more rounds in one step, I am able to observe all before going to the next step and make sure I completed all. Example, when I put powder in all the casing I am doing, I can take a flash light and look into all the casing to make sure visually that all the powder looks to fill the casing at the same hight.

Starting to find the right load, I do just three rounds at a time.
relax, enjoy, keep great records of all you do. Right and wrong!!

My Dad always said, if you never made a mistake, you never did anything!!
TAK

Thanks, I haven't given up yet. I think I finally got it.
I haven't lubed cases yet because the guy told me to buy carbite dies?

[grammaton76]

Thanks, I haven't given up yet. I think I finally got it.
I haven't lubed cases yet because the guy told me to buy carbite dies?

Even with carbide dies, you should still lube before loading. Things will go a lot smoother and you'll be less likely to damage the case when loading the bullet.

[olegk]

I am using furniture poslish spary. Works for me.

[rue]

Even with carbide dies, you should still lube before loading. Things will go a lot smoother and you'll be less likely to damage the case when loading the bullet.

Really? It even says in the die instructions it's not needed at all.

[olegk]

Technically lubing no deeded, but it is better to minimize wear on mechanical parts and your shoulders as well. Try to run dry case and lube case you will see casing temp difference rightaway. This is reason I am using furniture polish. I have it home anyway.

[eguns-com]

Really? It even says in the die instructions it's not needed at all.

It is one of those personal preference things.

I never lube handgun ammo (straight walled) when using carbide dies. Never ever had an issue.

Lubing them probably will make it "smoother" but it is a PITA so most people don't.

It is not "wrong" to do it or not to do it.

Chad

[Fjold]

Use a spray lube like Hornady one shot. It dries in 2 minutes and doesn't leave any mess.

[rksimple]

Really? It even says in the die instructions it's not needed at all.

Its not for straight walled pistol stuff. Between my pops and I, I'm sure we're well past the 100k mark for reloading 38's on a dillon. Thats not to mention the umpteen thousand 9mms and 45's. We've never used lube with carbide dies and never had a problem. 2.7 gr of bullseye isn't too hard on the cases. Smooth as glass.

Bottleneck cases are a completely different story.