Reloading Thread

>>31713961
Any pistol or shotgun powder will work.
I use unique or Bullseye others like Power pistol or things like 231.
Go with a dial caliper. Cheap and no batteries to die when needed.
Better scale is nice but not needed, same with getting a powder thrower. Skip the cheap digital ones.
Get a universal decapping die. Decap, tumble in walnut lizard litter, run thorugh sizing die and reload. Keep in mind the dust from tumbling will have bio-available lead and is hazardous. Run the tumbler on the porch and throw in a dryer sheet to cut down dust.

>>31714009
Do you add liquid to the brass when tumbling?

Does brass need to be lubed or something?

>>31713961
To reload straight-walled cases that don't tend to lengthen, you need:

Tumbler
Die set
Press
Brass
Primers
Powder
Bullets
Milligram Scale
Caliper

A basic workflow is:

Clean brass
Decap and size
Prime
Charge
Seat and Crimp

You'll use the scale to measure out your powder charges, and you'll use your caliper to measure cartridge overall length. Use a reloading manual or online loading data to start developing a new load.

I currently have a Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler for wet tumbling with stainless pins, so this is my workflow for 9mm, using a lee single stage:

Decap brass with universal decapping die
Tumble and dry
Resize and prime
Charge case with powder
Seat bullet

I use a Frankford Arsenal pocket scale, Hornady-brand dial caliper and a well-reviewed digital caliper from Amazon, and a Lyman 55 powder thrower to help speed things along. I'm just getting into loading rifle brass, so I don't have a workflow for that, but basically you need to take into account the need to trim casings, as they tend to lengthen after being resized. Rifle brass also need to be lubricated for sizing. Pistol brass does not, provided you have carbide dies.

>>31713961
Buy some igaging calipers from amazon
Buy a scale
I like a hand primer but you can prime on press
Kinetic hammer bullet puller


Mount the press to a 2x6 board and then use some clamps to hold it to the table.

>>31714037
You can add polishing agents to the tumbler. Walnut usually doesn't need it. Avoid things like brasso as even the small amount of ammonia in it can lead to brass cracking.
Forgot about case lube. I use a lube pad with liquid lanolin or sizing wax. For a straight wall case with carbide dies lube is not really required. Pick up a tin of Imperial sizing wax and every 10 or so cases just rub a little on to keep the die lubed for easier running.

>>31713961
A cheapie $20 digital powder scale. The old fashioned type with the weights is utterly goddam rage inducing.

>>31714037
you can use dry media to tumble. brass polisher helps if you want. no lube necessary since youre using carbide dies and a straight wall case.

>>31714070
Lee kit comes with a scale but not digital. Is that fine?

>>31714074
imperial sizing wax is also what i use- i love it. i much prefer it over case lube.
>>31714076
beam scale is ok but i recently got a frankfurt arsenal digital scale and its much faster to use. i dont know if i have the same confidence in it as the beam scale accuracy wise but it makes things quick and easy

>>31714037
A cap full of nushine car wax works well.

Also a loading block will be a life saver.

And a powder thrower. The lee is a good cheap one. And a funnel helps too.

For 38spl a great cheap powder it titegroup. It is about $20 a pound you should get close to 2000 rounds out of a pound .


For primers use winchester small pistol (also called wsp)

>>31714104
It's good.
Cheap digital scales are garbage. For the same money you can get a beam scale thats 4-5x more accurate.
One thing is after finding a load that wors you measure the exact amount into a case with a dead primer. You then cut the case to exactly hold that amount of powder and attach a handle. You can then simply scoop powder and only weigh a few cases each session. With a bit of practice you can easily stay within 1/10th of a grain.

>>31714104
Yep. Digital is faster.

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I've had the same battery in my harbor freight calipers for three years... They were $9 and you use them all over the place once you geta set... Cheap frankford arsenal mini scale has done well too.

Pistol reloading isn't all that involved. Get a little electronic scale, some kind of volumetric powder measure like the lee perfect powder measure which is cheap and will throw most bulky pistol powders to a tenth of a grain. Priming on a press kind of sucks so I'd get a hand priming tool. I don't load revolver stuff so do some research on how you need to crimp for that... If you want velocity from your lever gun I'd probably pick a slower powder like Winchester 231 or something in that burn range...

If you want to do 30-06 you will want all the case prep tools, brass trimming stuff, case lube, and probably neck sizing die if all your brass came from the same rifle.

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>>31714104
The lee balance is infuriating to use... The rcbs standard ass balance is good, but just a cheap digital one will be fine enough for what you want to do... Zero out a case, throw a powder charge, check the weight, then repeat every ten to twenty rounds... I've checked my little frankford arsenal scale against our NIST balance check weights and it was good to go...

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Update from last thread.


The crimp/seat die was the problem.

I backed the die out 1.5 turns to stop the taper crimp and threaded the seating stem in more. And the problem of squeezing was solved.

For good.measure i reset the flare die and used a less agresive belling belling.

>>31714495
I have the franklin mini scale too. As long as you keep it level and keep if warm it works great. Mine drifts if the room is in the low 50s. So no more unheated garage loading

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My little closet set up. The closet is 30"x 28" .

You can reload anywhere if you put your mind to it.

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Oh, and if you trickle powder for rifle loads, this little pan funnel thing is the shit... You just weigh, then use the end like a normal powder funnel and don't have to screw around with two separate pieces...

>>31714565
Do you have it mounted to the back wall too?

>>31714637
Nope it is free standing.

I have yet to finish it out. I need to put in the selves for the lower part. It is stable but tossing a few bags of shot on to the frame wouldnt be bad.

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Lets see if this isnt sideways

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Fucking phone

>>31714706
Sold my Hornady for $100.
Running the Ammomaster now. Can do anything from .25 acp up to the big belted magnums on the progressive and have the bits to run up to .50 BMG in single stage mode. With a new toolhead can even start doing some of the 20mm rounds.

What do people think of the Redding T-7?

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Op here am I stupid for getting single stage kit?

>>31714811
Turret presses are not worth the cost.

Your better served by a better single stage like a forrester or a single stage with quick change dies like the hornady or hornady iron press.

>>31714896
Nope. But the rcbs kit is much much better

>>31714896
I dont think mine came with trimmmer either.

>>31714896
I hope not because I have the same kit... Just ditch the scale and buy a bunc of the locking bushings because you will end up finding more and more calibers to reload for and it sucks to get your dies but not have any spare bushings...

>>31714929
The standard quick trim is stupid... The deluxe is a lot better since it chamfers and deburrs, and the power one is awesome if you have a power screw driver...

I'm looking to wet tumble however I have a question. I've seen videos of people tumbling with the case already deprimed before cleaning. I thought you had to clean the brass first before lubing and depriming/sizing.

>>31714979
The best trimmer I've used is the RCBS Trim Pro (not the Trim Pro II) with a DeWalt drive. You have to buy plates for each brass diameter, but I can change brass really fast. It makes trimming batches of 300BLK brass so much faster.

>>31714905
Single stages require you to change out dies or batch process. Turrets let you finish a round without having to handle the brass or dies a million times

>>31715113
The Girard is great. But takes a little to get used too.


The hornady is way to expensive for what it is.

The rcbs is good too.

Yhe forrester is my favorite but if you have the money buy a power trimmer.

>>31715142
You still batch on a turret.

The Forrester has a quick change set up and so do the hornady presses.

>>31714980
You will want to clean the brass before sizing.

However some people will use a universal decapper to deprime first and then clean. Therefore the primer pockets will be all clean by the time you size.

With pistol brass and carbide dies you'll be loading with essentially clean brass through and through.

With rifle brass its unnecessary as you will be having to tumble again after you resize to get the lube off.

My biggest advice about wet tumbling is to get a magnet to pick up the loose pins that fall and to get a fan or dehydrator to dry out your brass.

Lemishine does help in getting the brass nice and shinier than brand new but you can use too much of it.

>>31715170
On a turret, I'd place a case, size it, charge it, seat it, crimp it, and then set it aside. Times brass handled: twice. Times dies handled: Never.

On a single stage, I'd have to swap dies at each step, or handle brass at each step. Takes up time, man.

>>31714980
dont wet tumble used primers.

>>31714980
I've wet tumbled with primers still in them. It does alright, but does leave the primer pockets semi-dirty.

I use a universal decapping die and remove primers in a separate step from sizing. If I used a dry tumbler, I might do sizing and decapping together, since dry tumbling doesn't really clean primer pockets well. The Lee universal die is fairly affordable.

>>31715212
Don't fool yourself. You handle the die at least three times for every load. just because it's in the turret head does not change the amount of effort you're expending.
Turrets were a way to keep dies setup between use. With the spread of quick change bushings they are pretty much useless now.

>>31715252
>>dont wet tumble used primers.

That sounds like retarded advice

>>31715311
I have the Franklin arsenal hand deprimer.


Muther fucker kills your hand. I did 6000 cases of 556. Before the decap rod finally broke.

I dry tumble after a quick rinse in simple green and distilled water. Then i pop the primers.


For match ammo i then wet tumble with ss pins. And then anneal.

I use Unique as my lube. It works fantastic.

>>31715324
Spinning a turret seems simpler than trying to manhandle a bushing. My Lee single stage uses their breechlock stuff and it would definitely take more time. Plus you can't really put a powder thrower in a quick change bushing for convenience, introducing more brass handling.

>>31714764
Im going to sell mine. I cant keep the timing paws in adjustment. They drift out of place after 150 rounds.


They are a shit solution.


I am debating between the 550 or 650 dillion.

>>31715424
Hornady bushings are literally just as fast as rotating a turret.
What kind of shitty thrower are you using that it can't go in a bushing? Why would you even want to if you aren't using a progressive? Easier to mount hte thrower to the becnh and throw 50 charges at once into the block.

>>31715424
See >>31714706
That powder thrower is in a bushing

A turret is great.... if you only do 1 or 2 calibers/loads . After that it is just a more complex single stage and less efficent progressive

>>31715455
>What kind of shitty thrower are you using that it can't go in a bushing? Why would you even want to if you aren't using a progressive? Easier to mount hte thrower to the becnh and throw 50 charges at once into the block.

...Picking up a big thrower and slotting it into a single stage each time is dumb and inconvenient. That's what I was saying. The alternative is exactly what you mentioned, mounting it to the bench, and, as I said, that introduces more brass handling.

>Plus you can't really put a powder thrower in a quick change bushing for convenience, introducing more brass handling.

>>31715460
Yeah. On a progressive, not a single stage. Here's some quotes for context.

>>31714905
>Turret presses are not worth the cost.

>Your better served by a better single stage like a forrester or a single stage with quick change dies like the hornady or hornady iron press.

>>31715424
>Spinning a turret seems simpler than trying to manhandle a bushing. My Lee single stage uses their breechlock stuff and it would definitely take more time.

How many if you use the baffle in your powder thrower?

>>31715489
>>31715513
Your wrong and you wasted money on a turret and now you are graspingat straws yo not feel bad.

>>31715538
Every thrower I have has a baffle and I throw them into every one I sell.

>>31715489
>>31715513
Your wrong and you wasted money on a turret and now you are grasping at straws to not feel bad about the myriad of bad life choices you have made to wind up here, on an anonymous anime image website's weapons sub board discussing your poor choice in reloading tools less than a month before the nedt panic.

>>31714565
Read those inch measurements as feet and thought you were a tool. My bad

>>31715557
>>31715585
I don't own a turret press, I own a single stage. Are you even reading any of these posts holy fuck.

>>31715591
He uses a crane to pull the handle and his shells can smash small islands.

>>31715634
I only reload for 16" guns.

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>>31715613
So your just a fuckboi who is advocating for something you have no experience using?.

Good job. Did dad buy that mg15 yet?

>>31715783
Advocating? I'm asking a question. How is the Redding T-7? Saying turrets are useless seems incorrect, especially from the reading about them I was doing, and progressives seem a bit more involved than I'm looking at getting into at this time.

I'm looking for more knowledge and opinions, not shoving an ideology down anonymous internet shitposters' throats. Shit, it's like I'm on SomethingAwful.

>>31715202
>>31715113

So do I need to lube the uncleaned brass case when using the universal decapper? Then clean it by wet tumbling and then lube the case again size the neck using the correct die?

>>31716095
No lube needed for the universal decapper. They are built oversized so only the decapping stem is ever in contact.

Does anyone know any good reading material on the subjects of power selection, burn rate, internal ballistics related to reloading and the relationship between bullet selection, power selection and load performance?

I'm at the point where I need a better understanding of this stuff to be able to make my loads better.

>>31717188
Ballistics by Carlucci or some of the stuff from DTIC.

>>31714915
>the rcbs kit is much much better
it's also 300% the price

>>31717188
Look up anything from Dr. Kneubühl. If there is one man knowing balistics its him.

>>31717872
ISBNs of some of his books.
ISBN 978-3-540-79008-2
ISBN 3-7276-7119-X
ISBN 3-7276-7145-9
ISBN 978-3-613-30666-0

>>31717238
>>31717872
>>31717880
Thanks, will look into these.

Whats the best single stage press? Turret press?
Im not too worried about a progressive right nw, when i want one il just pick up a 550b.

Price doesnt matter

Reloading sounds cool, wheres a good place to learn the basics and such?
t. Canadian nogun

>>31713961
>Lee challenger single stage press kit
Good choice, inexpensive and will get the job done
>Frankford bullet puller
You will eventually need it, but don't worry about it yet.
>Hornady Carbide 38/357 set of dies
Very good choice. There should be a ring in the die box that looks like a thick washer. You set the bullet seater up for .38 special then when you do .357, instead of resetting the die, you put the ring under the nut. 1/10" diff between the length of the two.
>A frankford arsenal basic fucking tumbler (no media or cleaning stuff)
Good item. I have one too. Go to a pet store and get some "Lizard Litter" to clean the brass with. Put a capful of "NuFinish" car wax on top of the litter in the tumbler.
>Lee and Lyman reloading manuals
Good choices. Neither one sells bullets.
>What else will I need to reload effectively?
Primers, bullets and powder.
>How should I clean brass? How many times before reloading?
Once is adequate.
>Is tumbler fine? What do I use as media?
See above
>Is harbor freight calipers fine if I buy those?
Good enough for now.

>Will a workmate be okay as a setup for reloading bench until I get a actual table? I am in a confined area.
It will work. I drilled holes in an old heavy eating table and mounted my press there. I covered the holes with a tablecloth and plastic on top of that. The plastic you get at walmart in the fabric dept. They use it in restaurants too.,
>Any advice on powders to start with for 38/357? (I keep hearing trailboss but Id like some other suggestions too)
Never used it. I really like Power Pistol or unique.
>I also have a bunch of 9mm brass for my glock but somehow I doubt reloading that on a single stage press would be fun.
Its all about relaxation for me. I've loaded thousands of .223 and 9mm on a single stage. It gets you off the computer and tv joo.
>30-06 from garand too.
.45 acp, .41 mag and '06 are my favs to load.

>>31720127
Cont.

There are 20 dif ways to achieve the same reloading results and none of them are 100% right or wrong. You will find your own method after getting the basics down. YOu will say, I will do that step here instead of there.

.38 spec is the best place to start. Get a reloading tray that holds 50 rounds. Do each step the same way until you are comfortable.

After charging (dispensing powder into cases) inspect for too low, too high. Careful with Unique as it might be possible to double the powder charge. In other words, putting two doses in one case.

Otherwise, you will be fine. Keep asking questions. Find someone locally who reloads to walk you through setting up the dies.

Back to the caliper. With pistol cases, not much HAS to be measured. Use your revolvers chamber as a test. If it drops in with a plunk, you are golden. But be careful to take the live round out as soon as you confirm its good.

>>31720038
>Im not too worried about a progressive right nw, when i want one il just pick up a 550b.
I won a 550B years ago in a rifle club match. I used it but didn't really like it. If you spill some powder, you have to shut down and clean it.

I sold it because I wasn't using it that much. I got a used Lee Classic Turret. Once its set up, it flies.

Some of Dillon's stuff is superb like their swager and I like their dies. And their 9 X 25 pistol bullet out of a Glock 20 is awesome.
A 10mm case necked down to a 9mm bullet.
Flames shoot out the barrel. Its like shooting a .38 SUPER on steroids.

>>31720038
Forrester coax or ch4d rock crusher.

>>31720234
I know its got some kinks but its what my dad taught me to reload on. Ran like clockwork once i fine tuned it all.

Im not against getti g a hornandy press but if theres a better one out there id rathe just buy once and not have to worry about upgrading later.

Anyone reload 10mm? What's your cost per round for target and self defense ammo?

>>31720387
I actually worked this out a week or two ago. I don't load, but based on estimates/napkin math, I could load a brand new round using new brass, etc. for around 40c/rd. Compare with around 52c/rd for new factory ammo, if you look around typical retailers.

The brass was around half of that cost, so if you have your own brass, it'll be a lot less.

>>31720387
>>31720418
This is for simple RN bullets.

>>31714915
I was thinking about cutting the shot and just buying one of those kits. I don't have too advanced of a set up at all. Would it be worth is to save or should I just buy the Rock Chucked alone and get everything else on midway?

>>31714495
is that a lyman 6th gen? my scale took a shit and im in the market for a new one

>>31720127
>Frankford bullet puller
>You will eventually need it, but don't worry about it yet.
No. As cheap as that shit is, that is honestly the FIRST thing anyone thinking about reloading should buy. I just started and I wasn't sure if I loaded a couple too hot, and they sat in my range bag and too many times it went through my head "I should just fire them and see."

I guess you can just use a pair of pliers, but as someone who just started, it really worried me thinking about grabbing it by the case while twisting and turning it out.