Took the Plunge!

[rman]

Now that my gun collecting is slowing, and my shooting sessions are a bit more frequent, i decided to step up to reloading.

I took everyone's advice and am starting with a progressive.
All kidding aside, once you're all done telling me how bad of an idea that was, i look forward to learning more!

So far this is what's on order:
-Hornady LNL AP
-Shotshell 45
-Shell holder 45 (don't think I actually need this?)
-Hornady die set (taper crimp)
-Hornady PTX .451
-Hornady bullet feeder die (for $28 bullet feed)
-RCBS Lockout
-3x Small primer pickup tubes
-3x Large primer pickup tubes
-RCBS primer flippy thing
-10x Bushings
-3x retainer springs
-Frankford Arsenal scale
-Hornady M-2 tumbler
-Hornady One Shot / Dry Lube

Ordered the press during a PSA sale, and everything else from midway since there was (is) a $45 off $300 coupon.

Still need:
-Manual
-bullets
-Primers
-Powder

Anything else i'm missing?

I have a heavy stainless steel cart at my parents house that has a 3 station 12g setup on it, I plan to steal that and mount the LNL to it.
Obviously I have a lot of studying and learning to do, but I'm very excited!

I plan to start with 45acp, since thats my favorite caliber and somewhat pricey.
Eventually want to load 9mm, 40 s&w, 357sig, 10mm and 460...

Then of course 5.56, 300BLK, 308, 6.8 SPC and maybe even brass cased 7.62x39 for the indoor ranges....



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[sealocan]

congratulations!

always be careful, remember what the drunk carpenter said ...

"measure once, cut twice"

and then don't ever be that guy.

[uhlan1]

Calipers?

Pistol powder is the unicorn right now, worse than during the Great Panic at its zenith imo. I'd get very busy trying to land some.

I started with the LnL as well. You may want to start out running it as a sort of single stage, just running one case around the plate at a time as you learn each step.

[rman]

I've heard the same about the powder....


I do have a set of calipers already, my trusty HF calipers are fairly reliable as long as you zero them often.

Anything else I might be missing?

Can't wait to get into this... then start loading for my other calibers.

[Rac97crawford]

Get a bullet puller. You'll have quite a bit of trial by error in the beginning. And As the other poster said, best to start out using it like a single stage. Work each stage by itself until it's setting your round component properly. Even without powder, you can get your first test round completely built and measured. Then you can pull the empty rounds with your puller.
Also, start off with small batches that you test through your gun before you do a production run. With a progressive, it's really easy to replicate a problem across a few hundred rounds quickly.

[rman]

Get a bullet puller. You'll have quite a bit of trial by error in the beginning. And As the other poster said, best to start out using it like a single stage. Work each stage by itself until it's setting your round component properly. Even without powder, you can get your first test round completely built and measured. Then you can pull the empty rounds with your puller.
Also, start off with small batches that you test through your gun before you do a production run. With a progressive, it's really easy to replicate a problem across a few hundred rounds quickly.

thanks for the advice, i can totally see myself making 500 bad rounds before my first range trip!

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[Rac97crawford]

Just thought about another gotcha that I went through. I started on a dillion 650 for my first and started with 45acp. If you're using range brass or any mixed other than factory new, you'll need to sort them all to pull out the small pistol primer 45's. It's a pain to be running a progressive and then hitting small primer cases mixed in with the large. Even worse would be accidently forcing a large primer into a small pocket..

[rman]

Just thought about another gotcha that I went through. I started on a dillion 650 for my first and started with 45acp. If you're using range brass or any mixed other than factory new, you'll need to sort them all to pull out the small pistol primer 45's. It's a pain to be running a progressive and then hitting small primer cases mixed in with the large. Even worse would be accidently forcing a large primer into a small pocket..

thanks for the heads up - already did that

All my CCI Blazer Brass is SPP... have about 300 cases in SSP and another 200+ in LPP... still have another 600 rounds of the Blazer Brass and I'm sure I'll keep what I can recover in circulation... so I'll just have to get use to sorting SPP vs LPP.

I hesitated the other day on buying bullets from XtremeBullets during their $5 shipping sale... looks like I may have to wait it out..

[uhlan1]

yea, the guy who came up with that idea should be dragged out behind the wood shed for a long and painful session. Seems like there's more and more of the little buggers too.

[chknlyps2]

-Hornady PTX .451
-Hornady bullet feeder die (for $28 bullet feed)

The PTX comes with the bullet feeder die kit and Midway has it on sale for $21.99. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/337...ProductFinding

The add does not mention that it is included though.

[Che762x39]

thanks for the advice, i can totally see myself making 500 bad rounds before my first range trip!

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Great hobby and I have been doing it since 1982. Others here have been doing it way longer than me.

Make ammo in lots of 50 or less when trying out a new recipe or bullet shape.

A friend was making 38 wadcutters and decided to make lead semi wadcutters to have a 'duty type' round, forgot to crimp 300 rounds.

[rman]

The PTX comes with the bullet feeder die kit and Midway has it on sale for $21.99. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/337...ProductFinding

The add does not mention that it is included though.

isnt the ptx size specific? i.e. i got the 451 whereas say the 452 is for the LC?

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[xMAC1x]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/244...imp-die-45-acp.

Seating the bullet and crimping can be very challenging in the same die.

So seat with the hornady die only.

Then crimp with the lee die.

This set up will save you a lot of time and hassle.

[egpost916]

Congrats! Reloading can be a very enjoyable hobby. Just wish powders were easier to find these days.

[Capybara]

If you have not reloaded before, I strongly suggest you attend at least one reloading club clinic and learn how to reload before jumping into an advanced machine like a progressive. Not sure where you are located but we have club chapters all over the state. I have read many posts here and elsewhere from newbies who crank out a lot of loads on their new progressive to find out later that they had varying powder charges, overloaded powder charges, squibs, incorrectly seated primers, etc. and they end up having to tear apart hundreds of cartridges to fix the issue. Do at least one session on a single stage at a clinic, then when you set up your LNL AP, you will understand what is happening all at once on a progressive and how to make safe loads.