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I thought I'd start a thread on it. Question one, have you bought store brand reloads and noticed the OCL is all over the road? I've had some not even fit in the mag for .223.
For me everything that I reload has been once fired brass, either by me, or by a range and I buy the once fired brass and then go through the process of cleaning it; de-prime and resizing it, trim the brass cases when necessary; re-prime; powder pour; and finally bullet seat.
I have not bought any brand new brass as of yet. Not sure if this is helpful or not.
I'd never use unknown reloads in any of my guns. I wouldn't reload range pickup brass or similar either. I generally want my brass to be new and all that I buy at one time to have the same lot number. I will make exceptions in some instances. In the early sixties I bought several thousand rounds of surplus 9mm Luger that was of Canadian manufacture, Boxer primed, and noncorrosive. It was very good ammo; the cases were uniform in weight and wall thickness. Although I had to swage the crimped primer pockets I found that it was fine and produced nice loads. About 1990 in the days of really cheap ammo I bought a great deal of Remington .38 special loaded with a 130 grain FMC bullet. I watched my lot numbers and kept good records. Reloads were excellent. I still have some of these cases as well as the aforementioned 9mm Luger. The latter have a date of 1942.
I load for quality, not quantity. I trim cases and clean the primer pockets. I weigh my cast bullets. I also swage bullets and have frequently combined those two methods. I have long reformed cases to obtain unavailable cartridges. Mu first was an easy one, .22 W.C.F. I'd bought a Winchester low wall in that chambering. Reforming only required fire forming light loads with a toilet paper wad and no bullet using a .22 Hornet case.. I could then use my .22 W.C.F. loading dies. Years later I found a German Scharfenberg pistol chambered for the same round. The round was quite developed in Germany using jacketed bullets and higher pressure while in this country the .22 Hornet had replaced it. I bought some RWS ammo a few years ago. It's fine ammo, but I'll stick to my low pressure loads with lead bullets. The .22 W.C.F. began as a black powder cartridge so that's the best powder. Size is 3 F (FFFg). Chamber casts revealed little difference, but I found that keeping my cases separate produces a better result. I've never had more to do than neck size.
Handloading opens a whole new world. I've learned so much and found so many new paths. Just be willing to learn and to buy new equipment, tools, and, above all, books. It's surprising how much information is available in older works.
Hardcore reloader, handloader, bullet caster here. Been at it since about 1980. I have never been much for commercial reloads, I prefer to buy new brass or buy "once-fired" brass at gun shows for stuff like the 30 Luger where brass can be a bit hard to come by (but Starline has fixed the 30 Luger brass issue at least for now- order all you want) - I prefer to be fastidious and know the pedigree of brass but sometimes in this New World Order you have to take what you can get. Dumb luck that I think it was Midway that had a brass sale several years ago, so I have hundreds of .348 and other oddballs that can be hard to find lately.
I load using old Lyman 310 tools, old Lyman "Tru-Line Junior" turret presses with those same small dies, using the familiar "big" 7/8 coarse thread dies, a Lee Turret Press, a Dillon 450, even have a Hollywood Turret Press. I am not against presses that are not turret presses, but right now that's all I own. Got a couple of shotgun shell loaders as well.
My main "shtick" is making up relatively light cast bullet loads for centerfire rifles - "can blasters" as I call them, as in beer can as a target. I can load a Lyman 3118 over a light load of 2400 in a 30-06 for recoil-less offhand practice, and it's quite cheap to shoot too. This load will stay on a beer can out to about 80 yards with my 1948 vintage Model 70 using a Lyman 48 sight. (Yeah, I am pretty old-school.) At 100 yards it's a little less of a sure thing. Now that I think abut it, the 3118 has a pretty good meplat, maybe it's just going into "non-linear dispersion" as most wadcutters do at around 80 to 100 yards. Never thought about that point till now. This load and gat have been real conversation starters, most people who don't know me think I am shooting some sort of .22 Magnum (rimfire) from the report.
The .32 ACP is another round that comes into it's own with handloads. Like a .45 ACP, you have the option of headspacing on the bullet rather than the case mouth (.45) or semi-rim (.32). Many people have been quite surprised to see me hit that beer can out to 35 or 40 yards using an old Colt 1903. Of course a Series 70 Gold Cup will just about drive nails with the H&G 68 clone bullet I use and 3.5 of Bullseye for a "softball" load.
The 25-20 is another great cast bullet round. Factory ammo is hard to find and spendy if you do find it. I can shoot the .25-20 for about the same as .22 rimfires.
Hell, now you have me wanting to leave work early so I can go shooting...
I'm going to be dipping my toes into the reloading pool soon. Going to start with a Lee turret press so I can reload my 45 ACP and 9mm rounds.
The Lee is a good choice for your first press IMHO. I will suggest you spring for carbide dies if you can possibly swing that. In my other post I mention some of the presses I own and use. The Lee still gets used. It's my "go to" press if I want say just about 50 to 100 rounds loaded. The Dillon will load a "big order" faster but my Dillon does not have the current production's interchangeable heads, so it takes a while to set it up from one caliber to another. The Lee changes calibers in a few seconds if I have them both set up on turret inserts.
You will probably graduate to a Dillon Square Deal if you shoot a lot.
Commercial cast lead bullets are available for both calibers. Some commercial 9mm bullets are too small in diameter for some barrels out there. Or you can go "whole hog" eventually and start casting your own. Both these rounds are great cast shooters, but the 9 as I said you have to make sure you are getting a "fat" enough bullet for your particular barrel. Google "Cast Bullet Association" and take a look at the forum there, for some discussion on that. You may end up buying a lighter bullet intended for .38 Special/.357 Magnum in order to get the diameter you need. Or your 9 may work fine with a .356 bullet. But if you get leading with a .356 diameter, my first guess is you need a .357 or .358 diameter.
You want to make damn sure that with the 9mm particularly you size the brass enough and/or (I prefer and!) apply at least a taper crimp such that the bullet will not push back into the case when feeding. You want to check the first few rounds by pushing against the edge of a table or such, and make an honest effort to push that bullet back, using hand pressure. If you are one of the guys who can bench press say 450#, OK, you may not want to make a maximum effort. But you want to be sure the bullet won't push back and in doing so jump pressure out the kazoo. You don't want the .45 bullets pushing back either, but you have a lot more leeway there, the case is bigger and emptier, and the big bullet is harder to push back, usually.
I prefer to load on turret or progressive such that I can dispense exactly one "dose" of powder into the case, then put a bullet in and seat it. Good concentration will help you avoid cases empty of powder (which frequently stick the bullet in the barrel) and double charges (which can bulge or even blow up the barrel).
Final thought: EYE PROTECTION! Both while loading and while shooting. And welcome to the club!
I have almost all the pieces, but will need a tutor to help me get started. That's going to have to wait until after retirement this upcoming March and resettled in my new retirement home. My press is a Redding T-7 Turret. Only calibers I'm wanting to reload is .45 LC, .357 Mag, 7mm Remington Magnum, and maybe .38 Special. Not sure about the 38 because the Henry and the Blackhawk shoot either 357 or 38. 9mm is so dirt cheap that it's not worth reloading.
M3Mitch, if you like reduced loads and come across some SR4759 at a deal, don't pass it up. It's very bulky but in a case like a 3006, it's ideal as you'll end up with high loading densities. I load 19.0 grs of it in military brass with a 147/150 gr bullet on top and it will shoot in a hole. That's about a 70% load density. Recoil is so light I use it for the Boy Scouts that I teach how to reload. They love it when the 03 Springfields come out and they get to sit down with their loads and and shoot targets. Recoil is about that of a 222 Rem. For a Springfield 03, raise the back sight to 300 yds for a dead on 100 yds impact. It's extremely accurate even out of a pitted 03 2 groove barrel. You'll never know anybody shot the rifle either as it's incredibly clean burning. If you shoot any hand cannons, it works fabulous as the burn rate is right with H4227 but you get far better loading density. The 19.0 gr load will hunt reliably to about 150 yds even with FMJ bullets. Be aware though, the old cans are only a half pound as that's all that will fit in it. Some of the newer cans will be a full pound. I never pay over 7 bucks a pound for it so it's also a cheap date. Downside, it will not go thru a powder measure. It's too bulky for that and will bridge in the measure. Look to a Lee Dipper Set to solve the problem. And if you've never use a Dipper Set, you need one. Takes a little technique but once you've gotten over the learning curve, you can throw dead on loads every time. Most benchresters are volume loaders now and not weight loaders.
I have almost all the pieces, but will need a tutor to help me get started. That's going to have to wait until after retirement this upcoming March and resettled in my new retirement home. My press is a Redding T-7 Turret. Only calibers I'm wanting to reload is .45 LC, .357 Mag, 7mm Remington Magnum, and maybe .38 Special. Not sure about the 38 because the Henry and the Blackhawk shoot either 357 or 38. 9mm is so dirt cheap that it's not worth reloading.
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You don't need a tutor. However, books are indicated. I was very impressed with Richard Lee's book. Lyman manuals have been around for more than a century, originally under the name Ideal before Lyman bought that firm. Your Redding press should do whatever you need. I have learned that a second press is a real convenience. Lee makes an inexpensive single stage press that I actually received as a free bonus when I bought the first edition of their loading manual. I now keep it for decapping using Lee's universal decapping die. Lee makes inexpensive but innovative products.
My first press was the RCBS A-2. After a half century they still make the very similar Rockchucker. You can definitely save money if you cast bullets. It's hard but not impossible to find free wheelweights these days, but assuming that you do and that you scurry after your empties you'll load for under a nickel per round. Watch gunshows for primers and powder. There are all sorts of molds on ebay, fewer on gunbroker.
You will need good calipers, not the garbage often labeled with the names of companies in the handloading business. Calipers can suffer damage so buy new. Starrett, Brown & Sharpe, and Mitutoyo are the best brands. Shop around for the best price. You will need a good 0-1'' micrometer, but that's not necessary at this time. I do suggest that you order a Brownells catalog to seee a good selection of quality tools and a great deal more.
I'd start with rimmed cases; they are about as problem free as possible. Buy carbide dies. The Lee factory crimp dies finishes the job well.
Do not handload to save money. You will load for less money, but the real purpose is to find the best loads for your gun. You'll also have loads that the ammo companies simply don't sell.
Thanks for the info. Already have dies, powder, shells, bullets, and primers. Have a Lyman's and a few caliber specific booklets, like the ones you can pick up in Cabellas. Used the Lyman's to figure out what bullets to get. I've used my Lee hand press to decap all the brass I have. Next step is to clean them.
I guess I really don't need a tutor, rather just have someone show me the first time or two. The videos and books are fine, but there is nothing like having an experienced loader walk you through the first time. When I get to Rathdrum, I'll ask around at the local shops and ranges to see if there is a reloading "club" in the area.
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