Newbie reloader questions

[MrRobot]

Hello all,

I'm sorta new to the forum but I really wanted to get into reloading. Prices currently on ammo are very expensive. I know that parts for reloading are also expensive and hard to find. Well lucky for me before I moved my buddy bought me a reloading kit with a lot of stuff and dies.

After watching hours of youtube videos I understand how it works and how careful you have to be. I'm more of a hands-on approach. Since Covid is going on I can't find a place where they do training for reloading.

Is there any place currently teaching how to reload? I'm looking to reload 223 / 308 / 6.5.

If anyone can help me that would be awesome!!!

Thank you,

 

[tonelar]

no time like the present to learn-

maybe try your local rod & gun club?

 

[xdmikey]

Maybe you’ll get a local hit once the sun comes up.

Do you have primers(rarest of the components), powder(semi available), brass & bullets?

Titan reloading(cheapest) and Midsouth(fastest)are my go to guys.

Watch YouTube videos and move slowly so as not to waste your components!

 

[baboon]

I started reloading at 16. Other then my dad teaching me how to read calipers everything was learned from a reloading manual & the instructions that came with the press dies.

Believe it or not this was pre internet & YouTube videos. My dad did not own guns, shoot or reload. I still have my original reloading manual. That was close to 40 years ago.

 

[DFW_Warrior]

Find a few local mentors to learn from. The suggestion for the local rod and gun club is a darn good one. When I say find a few mentors, focus on different types of mentors as well. Get someone like me that is a high volume reloader that is doing it for the sole purpose of saving costs as well as having 1 of each kind of load dialed in for the 3-gun guns. Find a guy that is reloading for F-Class or PRS, and find a guy that is just a hobby reloader for a few of his favorite hard to find calibers.

Each one of them will reload completely differently, and none of them are really wrong. There are just different techniques and equipment for each type of reloading. I had one mentor and he was super picking about controlling every little aspect down to levels needed as if we were going to launch a moon lander. That actually turned me off to reloading as I didn't have a full day to load 100 rounds. It wasn't until I found some other mentors that reloaded for the same types of things that I wanted to do were my eyes opened up to the possibilities.

Lastly, my one little bit of advice. Don't get over confident, ever. Reloading presses can make some really darn good ammo. But they can also make some really terrible ammo too. You are probably going to make some terrible ammo as we all have. Just do yourself a favor and only make a little bit of terrible ammo at a time and then go test it and learn from it. Your pocket book will thank you for it.

 

[Tnhawk]

I started reloading at 16. Other then my dad teaching me how to read calipers everything was learned from a reloading manual & the instructions that came with the press dies.

Believe it or not this was pre internet & YouTube videos. My dad did not own guns, shoot or reload. I still have my original reloading manual. That was close to 40 years ago.

I started reloading over 40 years ago as well. I purchased a reloading manual and read it several times. I then purchased a second reloading manual and read it before I loaded my first round.

 

[rotor]

What type of press did you get? To be honest, if you watched videos, have reloading manuals and have any common sense I don't think a class is necessary. Adhere to safety as number one. Wear eye protection, weigh powder very accurately, check for no loads or double loads, don't smoke, only use loads from manuals.
Many people claim to be expert. I saw a youtube with a guy claiming FMJ loads were what he used for lead bullets and he started at the top. Refused to believe that his loads were too hot for lead. Use the manuals.

 

[Tnhawk]

.... people claim to be expert. I saw a youtube with a guy claiming FMJ loads were what he used for lead bullets and he started at the top. Refused to believe that his loads were too hot for lead. Use the manuals.

Always remember- "if it was on the youtube, it must be fact"
Read the manuals!!

 

[TX oddball]

I purchased my first (and current) system, a Dillon 550B over a dozen years ago. At the time, I had nobody to show me the ropes, no class. I learned from the equipment manuals, online videos and books, The ABCs of Reloading is a good one to start with. I got various reload data for the calibers I was equipped for, and I dove right in. The actual concept of reloading is not too complicated, the key is to pay attention at all times to the details.

 

[baboon]

I started reloading over 40 years ago as well. I purchased a reloading manual and read it several times. I then purchased a second reloading manual and read it before I loaded my first round.

Of the top of head it a Lyman Manual. I used it long after getting other manuals

 

[Lonesome Dove]

Whats your location?

 

[MrRobot]

Thank you for all the good advice. My buddy bought me the Lee Precision Breech Lock Challenger kit. I been picking up brass for a while and wife love picking up the brass then shooting. I did get my dies 308 / 6.5 and 223 ones. I even bought The Second Edition of MODERN RELOADING. I have Frankford Arsenal’s Rotary Tumbler Lite.

​

I just want to make sure I do it correctly since I will be reloading for my family here. Don't want anyone to get hurt.
I will look to see if I could find a mentor or a club around my area.

@DFW_Warrior - any good advice or videos I need to watch ?

​

@Lonesome Dove - Right outside of Waco.

 

[Axxe55]

Hello all,

I'm sorta new to the forum but I really wanted to get into reloading. Prices currently on ammo are very expensive. I know that parts for reloading are also expensive and hard to find. Well lucky for me before I moved my buddy bought me a reloading kit with a lot of stuff and dies.

After watching hours of youtube videos I understand how it works and how careful you have to be. I'm more of a hands-on approach. Since Covid is going on I can't find a place where they do training for reloading.

Is there any place currently teaching how to reload? I'm looking to reload 223 / 308 / 6.5.

If anyone can help me that would be awesome!!!

Thank you,

I would suggest getting the book, "The ABC's of Reloading" and read it several times. It will answer a lot of noob questions that might be on your mind. It also takes into account of being new to reloading and explaining the reloading process step by step.

Usually can be found on Amazon used for less than $20. Worthwhile investment for you reloading needs.

 

[MrRobot]

I would suggest getting the book, "The ABC's of Reloading" and read it several times. It will answer a lot of noob questions that might be on your mind. It also takes into account of being new to reloading and explaining the reloading process step by step.

Usually can be found on Amazon used for less than $20. Worthwhile investment for you reloading needs.

Thank you for the advice. I think this is the most current one correct?

The ABC's of Reloading, 10th Edition Paperback – April 13, 2021
by Philip Massaro

 

[Lonesome Dove]

You would be welcomed to come to my place for a a couple lessons and load yourself some ammo but the distance is great. Get the books and youll be good to go. Read read and then read again.
Get a book I'll send you a book.
Pm me your address.

 

[DFW_Warrior]

Thank you for all the good advice. My buddy bought me the Lee Precision Breech Lock Challenger kit. I been picking up brass for a while and wife love picking up the brass then shooting. I did get my dies 308 / 6.5 and 223 ones. I even bought The Second Edition of MODERN RELOADING. I have Frankford Arsenal’s Rotary Tumbler Lite.

​

I just want to make sure I do it correctly since I will be reloading for my family here. Don't want anyone to get hurt.
I will look to see if I could find a mentor or a club around my area.

@DFW_Warrior - any good advice or videos I need to watch ?

With what press you have I would say just don't get in a hurry. Single stage presses take time to load ammo on and when you try to rush it, that is when mistakes happen. Figure out a procedure and process flow that works for you and always stick with it.

Here are a few things I will tell you that will likely ruffle some feathers with some of the other types of reloaders that are probably around here (remember, I'm a high volume reloader, not a for the fun of it reloader). Unless you are going to be using this ammo in some very high end firearms and you are a VERY talented shooter, sorting by headstamp is completely pointless. So is cleaning the primer pockets. Annddddd... so is wet tumbling. Sure, you can do it if you want to, I don't care. But don't think that doing that is going to make or break your reloads on a Glock 17 as that gun just doesn't care. Your 6.5 might care if you are taking it out to a mile, but if you are taking it to the 100yd range at your local club, it is just wasted energy. Also, don't mark your pistol brass and try to count how many times you have reloaded it, just load it till it the brass tells you it doesn't want to be loaded anymore.

I have found some advice given by long time reloaders to be fantastic and very sound. I have found some other advice given out by long time reloaders to be old wives' tells that seem to have been passed down since the revolutionary war but just don't matter today. So I would say question EVERYTHING, even the stuff that I will tell you. Figure out what works for you.

I never read a manual, still don't own one, and probably won't. Before this pandemic thing, I was reloading 30-40k rounds a year, and I don't usually sit down at the machine unless I'm going to reload over 1-2 thousand. So do you 'need' a reloading book or 3, not at all. This isn't 1965 and we have the internet. Most powder companies have some reloading data online, and there are a ton of Youtube videos out there of folks that do a decent job of explaining the processes. I was super lucky to have a few folks that I met through competition shooting that helped me along my growing process, and I have in turn helped some other new to reloading folks around me learn reloading as well.

My biggest thing, is I know that there are 10 different ways to skin the cat, and all of them work. I'll gladly tell you what and how I do it, why I do it that way, why you shouldn't do it that way, and what everyone else will tell you on how to do it. For instance, I load my hoser .223 below book minimums. Don't do that.... I do it, but you shouldn't, not yet anyway.

 

[TipBledsoe]

^ and there you have your reloading manual ^

 

[Axxe55]

@DFW_Warrior has some sound advice, but I don't agree with this:

So do you 'need' a reloading book or 3, not at all. This isn't 1965 and we have the internet. Most powder companies have some reloading data online, and there are a ton of Youtube videos out there of folks that do a decent job of explaining the processes.

Yes we have the internet, but there are still very good reasons to have reloading data books. One, they allow you to make comparisons that load data is accurate. Even published data can be incorrect, even on the internet. Internet can be sketchy for some of us. What if you can't get on the internet? Hard copies are an excellent back up in those cases. The internet is an excellent resource for reloading data and information, but I don't and wouldn't use it as my sole data source for reloading. Besides, books are cool. If you are going to source reloading data off the internet, print them off like I do and put them into a binder for future reference.

 

[rotor]

You bought a Lee manual so use it. Anyone tells you that you don't need a manual I wouldn't trust. I don't care if they reload 50k rounds a year, that means they may have done it wrong 50k times in one year. Or they may have done it right. Powder companies all have data. Newbies stay alive, use a manual. Experts want to work up a load take a risk doing so. Not for newbies. I have been reloading for 10 years and always use conservative values from trusted manuals and work up loads of data from the manuals.
I have a rotary tumbler, makes brass look great but corn cob in a vibratory tumbler a lot easier.
I do check primer pocket. Takes a second. Some pockets are military crimped, some .45acp is small primer. Lets me sort things out as I check my brass.
This is not nuclear science. Enjoy.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

Never be proud to say you learned it from you-tube. You tube dosent teach you anything it just shows you what someone else is doing, right or wrong.
The book has details and very important info you need and should know.
It explains every detail in every aspect of loading unlike videos. Just my buffalo nickles worth. Been loading since 1980 one at a time.