Starting Reloading

[Moccasin]

Tell me what I need to begin reloading. I know I need a reloading press, dies, brass, bullets, primers, and powder along with several other things. The main thing I'm looking for is what are the basic tools needed. What reloading press would be a good starter? I'm looking at the RCBS Rock Chucker (RCBS 9356) to begin with, looks like it can be upgraded to a progressive system too. I think it'll do both rifle and pistol calibers and to begin with I'd want to try .30-06, .380 acp and .40 S&W, adding a few other calibers later. I know I'll need dies to fit the press for those calibers along with shellholders.

I suppose I'll also need something to measure powder with and a case tumbler to clean used brass. Am I missing anything here?

From what I can tell RCBS offers a starter kit that has most of what I'd need to start-it includes- press, scale, powder measure, reloading manual, priming tool, powder funnel, deburring tool
and a couple other things. I'd have to get the dies seperately.

[gfost1]

Howdy,

The only other thing that comes to mind would be a dial caliper for measuring case and loaded cartridges, and a case trimming tool. Might also want to get some plastic cases to keep your finished loads in, although peanut cans work ok, too. Some self stick labels would be handy for recording load data on the cartridge boxes. Oh, they make a plastic tray to hold the cases while you are working on them. Real handy.

Regards,

George

[Moccasin]

Thanks, the only thing that RCBS kit doesn't have is the dial caliper and plastic cases to keep finished loads in. I had dial calipers at one time but I think my son claimed them. I keep all my empty ammo boxes so I can load them back up with bulk or, soon maybe, reloads.

THIS is the kit I'm thinking of getting. Anyone have thoughts or experience with this one?

[gfost1]

Heya, Gary,

The Rock Chucker has had a good rep, so I don't think you'll go wrong. One other thing you might want to consider is using carbide resizing dies. They eliminate the need to lube the brass, which saves a couple of steps in the process and you don't have to worry about getting lube inside the cases.

I have a die set for 9mm that uses what is known as a taper crimp die. It crimps the case mouth but leaves it straight rather than turned inward so the cartridge can headspace on it reliably. I think that might be peculiar to the 9mm, but it might be worth looking in to for your semi-auto handgun rounds.

Regards,

George

[Moccasin]

I saw the carbide dies in the Midway USA "Just About Everything" catalog, it said the same thing you just said about not needing lube if you used carbide dies so I was leaning towards them.

Looking at the Midway USA catalog it appears that RCBS dies for semi-auto ammo all use the taper crimp, revolver ammo dies all appear to use roll crimps.

[zephyp]

Thanks, the only thing that RCBS kit doesn't have is the dial caliper and plastic cases to keep finished loads in. I had dial calipers at one time but I think my son claimed them. I keep all my empty ammo boxes so I can load them back up with bulk or, soon maybe, reloads.

THIS is the kit I'm thinking of getting. Anyone have thoughts or experience with this one?

I used one of those kits years ago and you cannot go wrong. Its got almost everything you need to start out and RCBS is a leader for reloading. Carbide dies are an absolute must for pistol dies [good luck finding any dies at all for .380] Its been a while since I've reloaded rifle calibers and for those I think you are still stuck with needing case lube or you will get stuck.

A couple of points about the kit. You will need to get shell holders for each caliber you reload. You can also get a set [recommended and cheaper in the long run]. They are inexpensive. For priming I suggest you start with a hand priming tool and a primer tray to fit. You'll be happier with it until you gain confidence using the press to prime the brass.

Also, I would start looking for primers now unless you already have some. I am unable to find any here in NOVA and finally got some on gunbroker.

A note about safety. I would start with a pistol caliber - 9mm is a good one. Try to find a powder recipe where you can't put in a double charge without overfilling the case. Use a flashlight to check your charged cases while they're in the reloading tray to make sure they're uniform. You'll soon gain confidence with your gear and will develop your own safety checks to make things run smoother and quicker.

Happy reloading. Hope to see you on the range again soon.

[Moccasin]

Yeah DK, I know about double charges. My uncle had a nice S&W revolver 35 years ago. He still has it AFAIK but it's totally useless. He let my cousin (not much older than me) reload without direct supervison (he may have been 13/14 years old) and he doubled the charge in several rounds, split the top of the gun wide open.

I believe that kit comes with a hand primer so that's covered. If not I can get one seperate. I knew I'd have to get shellholders but didn't know a set was available so I'll look into that since plan to reload more than what I mentioned above.

[zephyp]

A double charge will indeed hose a revolver. I hope no one was hurt by the accident. RCBS and Lee make shell holder kits and I'm pretty sure they are readily available at Midway and Cabelas.

[Moccasin]

My dad was shooting it, he couldn't hear for a while afterwards. I'm sure that he had some hearing loss because of it but that's better than hand or eye loss I guess. He didn't know what happened other than the shot was louder than it should have been. He dropped the revolver to hs side and looked over, everyone was pointing and saying something he couldn't hear so he looked at the revolver and nearly crapped hisself. My uncle never could get the remaining rounds out of it but others from the same batch were taken apart and found to have a double charge so we suspect all of them had it.

[zephyp]

He's very fortunate they all didnt explode like a grenade.

[Paliden]

Reloading can be a lot of fun and rewarding! Now having said that it is also a labor of love. Today you can buy good ammo off the shelf where as years ago you could reload better rounds. I've been reloading since mid 80's. Mostly I use a Lee Turret becauce I can shift from one caliber to another with ease and no reseting dies. I also go from single stage to progressive at will. Just my choice that's all, it's what you get comfortable with.
When your reloading don't have a buch of other stuff going on around you, focus on what your doing, it may save your life or mine!!!!!!
Problems relaoding today are: SUPPLIES ex primers. hard to find sometimes and your not going to save big bucks reloading. The feds are going to target ammo and reloading supplies instead of your guns.
Now reloading, pistols are a good starting point. Bolt rifles are my favorite, you can necksize only(collect dies) and really dial in a round. But you use this round ONLY IN YOU RIFLE!!!!!!!! I took my 270 and went from .5 in. groups factory to one hole reloads, now that fun I don't care where your from
Semi-auto rifle is a LOT more work, each case demands indivalual attention from lenght, sizing, primers, overall lenght and crimp. Not to mention your powder measuring. .223 are the hardest, don't start there!!!
Hope some of this helps

[0007dad]

One other thing you might want to consider is using carbide resizing dies. They eliminate the need to lube the brass, which saves a couple of steps in the process and you don't have to worry about getting lube inside the cases.

I use carbide dies for everything I reload (but) in necked down cartridges say rifle or in my case .223 you have to lube the inside of the neck. Nearly broke my press to finding out.

[Vahunter]

You can't go wrong with RCBS. Their customer service is excellent if there ever is a problem.