Reloading Class-East Bay/Contra Costa County

[XDJYo]

Hiya All,

Although there is an East Bay reloading club thread, it is pretty much fizzled out. So, I would like to know if there is any type of reloading class that is put on or sponsored by any of the local gun stores or even a private reloading class.

J&R Guns in Livermore used to put one on, but I haven't seen one advertised in quite some time now (6+ mos?).

Anyways, I have a Dillon 650 sitting in a box and I need to get moving on it. Been doing some reading but I would like to get some hands on.

Thanks!!!

Happy shooting and be safe!

[Pauliedad]

Open up that box and start getting to know it. It probably won't bite you.
YouTube is your friend.
Now don't expect to make ammo quite yet but you can get you're work area set up and while you're at it, read Lyman's 49th.
You treat this like its a single stage and get comfy one station at a time.
Start with pistol. No rifle til you're real good at pistol.
Skip priming until you've mastered flare, seat, and crimp. Only then to you start learning priming.
Getting through all that will teach you a lot. Again, you don't need to make ammo right away. Get familiar with the machine.
You bought it, you can learn it. Don't be in a rush and read all you can via loading manuals or internet.
Good luck and be safe.

[Eljay]

J&R hasn't had powder to sell in forever so I think they kind of gave up on the classes until things get back to normal.

But yeah, what he said. Set it up, start playing around with it, stick to one handgun caliber to start. Make some dummy rounds. Learn to pull the bullet back out, you'll be doing that eventually (oops). Get some calipers and check all the dimensional stuff you can think of. See if they case gauge. See if you can rack them through the gun OK.

Then get the primer system working (they should be a little below flush, not flush), then powder. If you do power then primer it may run out the flash hole!

When you make live rounds literally just make 10 of them at the minimum load your manual says and shoot them and ideally chrono them but generally sanity check everything before going crazy with it. Then text trip start playing with the load a bit (like if the manual says 3.0 - 4.0 grains make 10 each at 3.0, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, 3.8) and shoot some test groups and start getting a feel for how the gun operates with different loads. Once you have a load you think you're really happy with make 100 and shoot them and make sure there's not some less obvious problem going on. Then go nuts and produce a ton of them.

Then pick another handgun caliber and repeat until you've covered everything you shoot. Figure you can add one a month. Then for rifle you'll need to read up on brass prep and I'm not going there today.

[ducky_0811]

Read, Read, Read. Get a manual...then get another, and another. Don't trust EVERYTHING you see on the internet. Dillon has good CS, so you can call them for help. Starting with a progressive is less than ideal IMO, but that's just me.

[Eljay]

I think it's less than ideal as well, but it's not like the bad old days when reloaders were few and far between. These days help is just a post or youtube video away once he gets stuck on specific problems.

By the way, I found the ABCs of reloading very helpful and also there was an eBook - The Beginners's Guide to Reloading Ammunition by Steven Gregersen - that was really a helpful primer for the very start. It's basic but it'll give you a great framework for any other information you pick up as you go.

[Pauliedad]

I jumped in with both feet against every bit of advice and started with the 650.
No regrets because I went slow and knew it would be a little frustrating at times.
I'm proficient now and never had any regrets. Buy/cry once was the issue.
Now that all said, I'm thinking about a single stage just to see if I can eek out some precision on bullet seating.
The ever so slight flex you get from a progressive shell plate is what I'm wondering about.

[XDJYo]

Thanks all for the advice! Yup, I've been cruising YouTube and watching a bunch of videos on reloading. Also, been reading the Lyman reloading book as well as the Dillon manual.

I will start off with just 45 ACP for the time being. I already have a ton of brass saved up.

I agree with you all, baby steps.

I was just hoping that there would be something where I could get hands on with someone watching over me.

No biggie though. Thanks again!

Happy shooting and be safe!


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[Mot Mi]

Agree with the above posters. If I had to start again I would have gone with the 650 first then get an ss for rifle loads. Take your time there is no rush in this hobby and if you do rush you van end up hurting yoirself real bad or someone else. Start low and work your way up. I would not start with someone elses tested data just because they tested it. Remember, that every gun is different just like us humans. We all have different favorites.