Reloading Ammo

jmnielsen

Need Bigger Tires
Location
Lincoln, NE
I'll post my setup and stuff when I get home. I can tell you this much though, reloading can be as fun as building rifles and can be just as expensive!
 

Maxterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
West Haven, UTAH
Got a Dillon 550 turret press. Use the crap out if it.
Want to get a 650 next and leave the 550 on 5.56 or .308 set ups and run the 650 for 9, .357, .40 and .45.

I WISH POWDER was AVAILABLE !!!!
Man it's been hard to find for a while now.
 

dhyde79

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Amarillo, TX
I just went cheap, grabbed the Lee 50th Anniversary single stage press, a cheap jewelers digital scale, one of the RCBS hand primer tools, and a set of calipers.

if you go this route, make sure you get the deluxe die sets, and, get the quick-change sleeves so you can have them quickly changeable and they're returning to the perfect setting each time.

as it stands, I can load 50 rounds in about 30 minutes when I'm working on just that. the lee powder dispenser is great once you have it tuned to exactly what you want, which, I did with a piece of tape on the adjustments, and using a shotglass to assist in the pouring. if you do it this way, MAKE SURE that you zero your scale, calibrate it, then tare it with the empty shotglass. I check grain weights every 5 dispenses to ensure that I'm no more than .05gr off on my dispense.

I have a pretty good process...
1. prep old brass
Using collett die, I punch old primers out and re-neck my casings to the correct diameter, if they need tumbled, for now I take em over to the reloading supply shop and the guy tumbles em for me, otherwise, I give em a good scrub, with a neck brush inside to clear residue as well, then put it all in a big gallon bag, spray it all with lube, shake heavily to coat it all, then step one is done. (about 30sec per casing, I do all of mine at once so that they're all completed and ready when needed)

2. PRIMERS!
this part is actually fun, and can be done totally passively while doing other things. take a box of primers, make sure they're all faced up, then attach the primer tray to the hand primer tool, and let the priming begin! (5-7sec per casing)

3. POWDER!
the single most important part of the process, if you're going to have a spot where you slow down and make damned sure you're doing it right, this is it. get your measure set correctly, check your dispense regularly, if you're going for match ammo, check with each dispense, if you're making general hunting ammo, maybe once or twice throughout your batch. my rule is every 5 unless I'm testing a new "recipe" to see how my rifle likes it, then it's every single round.

4. Press the Bullet
make sure your bullet depth is set correctly, and check every bullet, or every other bullet to make sure you're at a consistent Completed Over All Length that matches (or is a hair shorter than) what the book/recipe says it should be.

5. See Step 2-5 until all brass have been filled or you've run out of primers/powder/bullets.

6. BOX THEM, securely, and mark the FULL RECIPE on the box, as well as assembly date. if you don't want all of that info on the box, keep a log book, and assign every batch a lot number, and mark the box with the lot number, so that if an issue occurs, you can go back to records and find out what is what.

ENJOY!

personally, I like the Barnes Tipped TSX-Boat Tail bullets. they're a little longer, but, they're also vicious on expansion, they've got a great BC, and, they're all copper, which means, the whole lead scare won't effect them very much.

as for powder, right now I'm using Hogdon Varget, though, I'm going to pick up a bottle of Alliant Power Pro 2000-MR powder, I have had a few people tell me that they're getting better velocities with less powder over the varget, and I'm wanting to see if I can push my velocities up over 3000fps safely....
 
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TJTJ

Skid Plates
Founding Member
Location
NJ
If I cared about reloading for shotgun, sure...

Well, if you can't find powder for sale, you find some salt peter, lead, etc, get a shot tower, some rags, etc, and you're in bid ness.

:D

A musket ball can take out a lot of game.

:D
 

dhyde79

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Amarillo, TX
Well, if you can't find powder for sale, you find some salt peter, lead, etc, get a shot tower, some rags, etc, and you're in bid ness. :D A musket ball can take out a lot of game. :D

If I can't find powder for sale, I'll use a bow :p

Muzzleloading is something I only did once
 
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