new to reloading

[44blam]

Start with a single stage. When you start, you can probably build 100 cartridges with a single stage in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This will get you very familiar with the components, how each step happens and the "weird" things that you find. Personally, there are a bunch of calibers that I only load on a single stage - most of my rifle cartridges are loaded on a single stage.

When you start to need higher volume of cartridges, especially for normal pistol rounds - move to a turret. This still allows you to check each case, make sure there is a powder charge before seating the boolit, make sure the boolit is seated properly and the crimp is good. It also allows you to "feel" each step - sometimes a step feels wrong or makes the wrong sound and if it does, you stop and check it...

I don't think I'll go to a progressive mainly because I am really adamant that if I have a box of ammo that says it is a COL of x.xxx" with a xxx boolit and x.x grain of somepowder. That is EXACTLY what each cartridge in that box contains.

The advantage of loading your own boolits is that you have a gun and you can figure out what projectile/powder/primer combination gives you really good results in THAT gun. It may not work for other guns. Factory ammo can never do this because they have to make something that works for everything.

 

[Whip_McCord]

i have bp guns and have handloaded a few shotgun rounds but im interested in stepping up to the big leagues. whats a good system for starting make your own ammunition? im looking to start with 45 acp ammo. Any suggestions?

I think what you need to do is answer some questions to determine if reloading would be a good way to go for you right now. I only say this because components are harder to get than in the past and much more expensive when you find them. I'm not trying to dissuade you, just want you to determine if it is worth getting into for YOU.

• How many rounds/year do you shoot?
• How many cartridges to intend to load, eventually? 45ACP now. Others?
• What type of shooting do you do? Intended purpose of your loads?
  • Range
  • Matches/Competition
• Load for pistol only or rifle too? That may help determine which press.

There may be more questions, but these just came to mind. I've been loading for > 42 years. I load 25 different cartridges and two shotgun gauges. I have 13 different loads for 38 special alone. These are for different guns as well as different purposes. That's the nice thing about reloading.

That said, it's way more expensive that pre-plague times. If you do not shoot more that a few hundred rounds/month, it may not be worth it. Look up prices of components (powder, primers, bullets) and calculate how much reloading a box of ammo would cost and compare to a box of ammo you would buy. If you're a details guy like me, you could also add up the cost of reloading equipment and determine how long it would take to break even shooting at your current pace.

I hope this is helpful. I don't want if to be a daunting task. This is just the way I approach things. There is some good advise in this thread, but this is the first step in my mind. Reloading is a fun hobby and a great way to tailor loads for specific guns/uses. Good luck in your quest.

 

[schmart]

i have bp guns and have handloaded a few shotgun rounds but im interested in stepping up to the big leagues. whats a good system for starting make your own ammunition? im looking to start with 45 acp ammo. Any suggestions?

I have no idea what your mechanical abilities are or where you are at. Can't disagree with the suggestion of starting with a single stage press, but I jumped right in with a progressive. If you load one case at a time it isn't that much different than a single stage.
I will give my opinion that single stage for 45acp is painful.
If you are near Lafayette, pm me and I can walk you through my setup.

I started with Lee and it works but is VERY finicky, especially priming and powder drops. Very glad I upgraded to a higher quality solution.

Rick

 

[billybob44]

i have bp guns and have handloaded a few shotgun rounds but im interested in stepping up to the big leagues. whats a good system for starting make your own ammunition? im looking to start with 45 acp ammo. Any suggestions?

WTS: - SPF Assorted reloading equipment

SPF Selling some assorted reloading equipment. There are two RCBS rock crusher presses, a small powder measure, a RCBS beam scale, a Lyman case trimmer, a set of RCBS 38/357 dies with different plungers for different bullet types, and a RCBS 223 full length sizing die. I also have two other...

www.indianagunowners.com

^^^
Drive to Fort Wayne==It's a DEAL...Bill.

 

[CB1911]

If ALL you wanted to reload was 45acp, a Dillon Square Deal B could have you cranking out quality handloads in minutes. That's exactly how I started. If you think you would want to load other calibers later, then hard to go wrong with the versatility of the Dillon 550C.

 

[Lilboog82]

If ALL you wanted to reload was 45acp, a Dillon Square Deal B could have you cranking out quality handloads in minutes. That's exactly how I started. If you think you would want to load other calibers later, then hard to go wrong with the versatility of the Dillon 550C.

beat me to it...I have square deal b and love it. perfect for just pistol calibers.

like people have said...cant go wrong with Dillon....and customer service is awesome.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Running three 550's here. I'm a fan.

 

[44blam]

WTS: - SPF Assorted reloading equipment

SPF Selling some assorted reloading equipment. There are two RCBS rock crusher presses, a small powder measure, a RCBS beam scale, a Lyman case trimmer, a set of RCBS 38/357 dies with different plungers for different bullet types, and a RCBS 223 full length sizing die. I also have two other...

www.indianagunowners.com

^^^
Drive to Fort Wayne==It's a DEAL...Bill.

This is a heck of a deal!

 

[DadSmith]

I just timed myself on the lee classic turret press 4 hole. I done 50rds 9mm in just over 11 minutes. So if all goes well and no interruptions I can do over 200rds an hour.
Not bad for the price.

 

[Mgderf]

I like the process, and I'm not looking for thousands of rounds per loading sessions.
A couple hundred rounds at a time is fine with me.
On that note, last year I went to an estate auction with my brother.
It had a lot of reloading components and supplies, and TONS of ammo.
This guy had a full 8' long folding table completely full of nothing but 28ga ammo, and that was one of the smaller caliber amounts.
Anyway, they sold quite a few Dillon presses, a couple of Redding presses, a bunch of different Mec shotshell presses, and then they brought out the real prize.
Much money had been spent by others at this point. I had yet to spend a dime.
The auctioneer reached under a table and pulled up a used Bonanza coaxial press.
They asked $100 for an opening bid, and no-one answered.
Dropped to $50 and no-one answered...
They dropped the bid to $25 and someone else bid.
I bid $30 and was never outbid!
This post reminds me I need to get it set up and running.

 

[Creedmoor]

Running three 550's here. I'm a fan.

I run one 450, one 550, two 650'' and a RL1000. Ive been a dillon fan since the early 80's.
Every one of them was money well spent.

 

[Creedmoor]

I just timed myself on the lee classic turret press 4 hole. I done 50rds 9mm in just over 11 minutes. So if all goes well and no interruptions I can do over 200rds an hour.
Not bad for the price.

Do you believe that you actually could run 200 9mm's an hour or 400 rds in two hours on a turret without running out of juice?

 

[DadSmith]

Do you believe that you actually could run 200 9mm's an hour or 400 rds in two hours on a turret without running out of juice?

I've done it before. I've loaded over 500rds in one day for a family reunion on the 4th of July.
Just a few hours.

I normally load 100rds a day sometimes I can't do that but my goal is 500rds a week a year round.

 

[Creedmoor]

I've done it before. I've loaded over 500rds in one day for a family reunion on the 4th of July.
Just a few hours.

I normally load 100rds a day sometimes I can't do that but my goal is 500rds a week a year round.

We shoot a bunch, I surely enjoy loading but at times its boring. My Thing two will be home in 60-70 days for about two months.
His next tour will be in Somolia for a year, he will shoot 3-5,000 9's, 5.56 and 7.62x51's each week hes here. Hes the reason I bought bcattys big Dillon a bit back.
I will say that at 500rds per week even a manual progressive would make your loading life shorter and easier.
Go Blue...

 

[DadSmith]

We shoot a bunch, I surely enjoy loading but at times its boring. My Thing two will be home in 60-70 days for about two months.
His next tour will be in Somolia for a year, he will shoot 3-5,000 9's, 5.56 and 7.62x51's each week hes here. Hes the reason I bought bcattys big Dillon a bit back.
I will say that at 500rds per week even a manual progressive would make your loading life shorter and easier.
Go Blue...

I love to reload.
I love working up new loads it's part of the fun to me.
If I find a powder I haven't used for a caliber I have on hand I start working up loads for that powder in as many calibers it can be used for.

Right now I'm trying to finish off auto comp I bought back when the crazy covid days started because that was all that was left on the shelves for handgun calibers.
Auto Comp is okay but I don't like the velocity or accuracy it's been giving me.
So I'm down to 1/2lb, and I'll not be buying any more unless it's all there is.
It has been decent with Summit City 147gr polymer Coated RN bullets. Good enough accuracy for range fodder. I'm loading 4.4gr, and using those Argentine primers which has been good only one hard primer so far out of 800. It went bang on re-strike.

 

[Creedmoor]

Ive never run Auto Comp myself, I tend to run Bullseye, Unique, 3N37 and 38 for the most part with autoloading pistol cases. Ive been running pulldown powder for years in 9mm along with S&B primers. I also use Summits 124 grain 9mm, and I push them hard with zero issues.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Do you believe that you actually could run 200 9mm's an hour or 400 rds in two hours on a turret without running out of juice?

The most I've ran in one sitting is a thousand. Most in a day is 1600 .38's.

 

[Creedmoor]

The most I've ran in one sitting is a thousand. Most in a day is 1600 .38's.

Thats about where I also tend to stay.
If one of my sons is home that rate easily will double or triple when we are loading.
I will pregame primers ahead of loading.
I just about have this Dillon RL1000 I bought figured out. It has 8 stations so I can process 9mm and 5.56 and load at the same time.
If it dosent work out I will use it just to load 9mm and buy a new 1050 this summer.
I would love to elimate a huge portion of my processing time.

I want to be at my own estate auction.

 

[randomrambo]

long haul but will need to wait until i can afford to get a complete set up or buy piece by piece while theyre on sale. Complete side bar, i pour my own lead rounds for my ruger old army (6 cavity lee molds) and was curious if anyone here has experience with pouring copper projectiles for their own bullet making?

 

[Fixer]

I just picked up the Lee APP and the swage kit for processing the 2-3K rounds of .223 I picked up. They are nickel brass and crimped primers. So far it has worked extremely well. Once set up I can crank thru a few thousand at a time, either sizing or swaging. Working on upgrading to a multiple tube set up to speed up feeding the press. I also load on a 4 hole turret press. If I was loading for competitive shooting I might go with a Dillon progressive, but I like loading and messing with different bullet powder combinations. I also load for a lot of different calibers and don't need large quantities in all of them.