Reloading

[bhooper]

Yesterday my grandfather in law showed me how to reload rifle shells. I realize supplies right now can be hard to come by so my questions are. What websites are good to get supplies from? What brand of reloading equipment do you prefer and why? Are there any good books on reloading you would recommend? And are there any tips and tricks you have found really useful?

Thanks for any replies.

 

[dun]

The older reloding manuals from Speer, Sierra and Hornady used to have a section on how to reload, I would assume the newer ones would too. For a press I like the RCBS Rockchucker, for dies Lee, Redding, Hornady and RCBS all make good dies. Small variations in them but they're all good.

 

[bhooper]

My grandfather in law gave me a Lee press he kept the RCBS and now I know why

 

[Caustic Burno]

My grandfather in law gave me a Lee press he kept the RCBS and now I know why

Good recipes site's
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

http://www.reloadammo.com/reload.htm

 

[dun]

The only tips I preached when I taguht reloading was a)Close the door and don;t allow distractions, b) make sure you have the proper powder & bullet for the load you are doing, c) only one powder on the bench at atime, d) when returning unused powder to the can make sure it's the right can, e) for bottleneck cartridges make sure they are properly resized, don;t set the shoulder back and make sure they will chamber smoothly.

 

[Caustic Burno]

The only tips I preached when I taguht reloading was a)Close the door and don;t allow distractions, b) make sure you have the proper powder & bullet for the load you are doing, c) only one powder on the bench at atime, d) when returning unused powder to the can make sure it's the right can, e) for bottleneck cartridges make sure they are properly resized, don;t set the shoulder back and make sure they will chamber smoothly.

All very good advice I would only add one thing is to get a Wilson length and headspace gauge for your caliber's.
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1& ... onid=12801

 

[3waycross]

The only tips I preached when I taguht reloading was a)Close the door and don;t allow distractions, b) make sure you have the proper powder & bullet for the load you are doing, c) only one powder on the bench at atime, d) when returning unused powder to the can make sure it's the right can, e) for bottleneck cartridges make sure they are properly resized, don;t set the shoulder back and make sure they will chamber smoothly.[/quote]

I would add to that like Caustic says get the headspace guages and have someone teach you how to use them properly. THEN only set the shoulder back a thousandth.

Any more than that will work harden the brass and cause case head separation. Otherwise Dun gives some great advice here. Especially the powder part. Also make absolutely sure that it is the right powder to begin with. I got to watch my buddy blow up a Wincherester 223 WSSM by using the wrong powder. He asked the clerk at the gunstore for XXXX powder and she gave him something else. He never even looked at the bottle and just assumed it was the correct powder. It cost him a good rifle and some pieces of his face and hands.

I would add. DO NOT handload when you are in a hurry or stressed out. You WILL make mistakes and they can prove fatal at worst and painful at best.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Great advice so far. I will add that the cast iron Lee Press is much much better than the old alumnium ones, and is fairly cheap. Also, Hornandy One-Shot case lube is the best that I have found.

 

[bhooper]

Setting the shoulder back is done by the resizing die correct? And to know if the die is setting the shoulder back a .001 then you have to use the headspace gauge ,a cartridge that as been shot in the rifle you are reloading for and a pair of calipers?

 

[3waycross]

Setting the shoulder back is done by the resizing die correct? And to know if the die is setting the shoulder back a .001 then you have to use the headspace gauge ,a cartridge that as been shot in the rifle you are reloading for and a pair of calipers?

That's correct!

 

[justindabney]

definitely keep up with the newest load data as some of the powders have a slightly different burn rate than they did 20 years ago.just take your time and don't go for full maximum velocity right off the bat.some of my most accurate loads in my long range rifles are modest loads.this is a good thing for barrel life,using less powder,extending the life of your brass and the best thing about it is the fact that a full power load might be safe in 50-60 degree weather but when the temps hit 90 degrees it could cause a rise in pressure.