# Reloading



## Bubbas Boys (Apr 11, 2013)

Looking to learn to reload. How much does it save and where do I start the learning process?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

not a dime but you shoot A LOT more , you spend less per round , you may very well become a better shot.

to start the process I recommend getting a copy of Richard Lee's Modern Reloading read the first half of the book write down your questions , then go back to the chapter on that and re-read then if you have any questions when done with that ask them here.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Any reloading manual for metallic cartridges will walk you thru the steps from depriming the case to the finished product. You will need one once you start reloading.
You also didn't say if you were wanting to reload metallic cartridges for pistol or rifle Or just shot gun reloading.
A Lyman shot shell reloading manual works well for reloading shot gun shells.

*Also if your a mind to watch U tube there are videos on the process there.*

Depending on the gauge you can save a bunch reloading for shot guns or very little. The 16ga is hard to find shells for so you can load your own at a reasonable cost using pellets sizes you can not buy in a store.

Same with the Metallic cartridges, You can reload a premium bullet for a 260 Remington for almost half the cost of a box of 20 at the store.

There are cost calculator for metallic cartridge loads sites on the internet. For every one you need to know the cost per pound of powder you are going to use, The cost of the bullet or shot you are going to use and what you paid for primers.


http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

http://ultimatereloader.com/tools/reloading-costs-calculator/

https://www.dillonprecision.com/calculator.html

For shot shells.

http://www.losttarget.com/costcal.htm

 Al


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## Bubbas Boys (Apr 11, 2013)

Great. Thanks.


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## Texaspredatorhu (Sep 15, 2015)

If your goal is to save money you won't see it on the front end once you buy everything to get started. My main reason for reloading is I can tailor the loads to my rifles and pistols if need be. Working up loads and finding the load that keeps your groups the tightest is where it all pays off. Plus you can load as many different bullets of the same weight and get very similar performance from them instead of buying a bunch of separate boxes with different velocities. Good luck and enjoy.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

What are you planning on reloading?


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## Texaspredatorhu (Sep 15, 2015)

alleyyooper said:


> Any reloading manual for metallic cartridges will walk you thru the steps from depriming the case to the finished product. You will need one once you start reloading.
> You also didn't say if you were wanting to reload metallic cartridges for pistol or rifle Or just shot gun reloading.
> A Lyman shot shell reloading manual works well for reloading shot gun shells.
> 
> ...


The only issue with those calculators is they include the brass as a one time use. I have loaded my 300 RUM and win mag cases a dozen times a piece before seeing any issues. If you anneal which can be done with a propane torch if you are careful you can make you cases on say a 308 or 243 well over a dozen times. So instead of the brass being 70 cents for instance into your reload cost per round it can be 10 cents if you reload it 7 times. Stay off the max loads and you can make the cases last quite some time. Have fun and good luck!


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

I've found it to be pretty addicting. Finding the absolute perfect load for any given firearm is a trip. Especially when you look down range and see one ragged hole.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

strait walled cartridges you can get even more uses of , especially at reduced pressure like a 38spl wadcutter target load 

you can also do reduced loadings , I make up reduced cast loads for the 30-30 I like to sit and ring steel a hundred yards away for about a nickle a round or less the range is only 100 yards long the smallest plate is 6 inches , is it a sub 1MOA load no but trigger time is important , off had , kneeling , sitting , if you can score hundred yard off hand hits on a 8 inch steel plate very consistently then that shot you take hunting is very doable 

and you can practice with the rifle you hunt with not just the 22 , yes sight adjustments need to be made between a reduced and hunting load but some notes and you can put it back and in 3 rounds have good verification you are back to zero at the end of a practice session.

there was a guy who did some testing on the reduced loads in 30-06 he took 10 cases and marked them , then loaded and shot at the 50th reloading he decided it didn't matter how many more than 50 recordings from one case and decided to be done with the experiment none of the cases had shown any sings of failure yet. he may have annealed every 10 loadings I don't recall that part.


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## JawjaBoy (Jan 21, 2013)

I'll add an aspect that nobody has mentioned.

Reloading is the only way to keep some guns shooting. I have my Grandad's old Remington Model 14 chambered in .30 Remington and loaded ammo is next to impossible to find. Heck, the brass is hard enough to come by and is about $1 per piece.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

JawjaBoy said:


> I'll add an aspect that nobody has mentioned.
> 
> Reloading is the only way to keep some guns shooting. I have my Grandad's old Remington Model 14 chambered in .30 Remington and loaded ammo is next to impossible to find. Heck, the brass is hard enough to come by and is about $1 per piece.


I will add another component , it won't work for 30 rem becuase it was the parrent case and it isn't easily made form anything else 

but a lot of cases can be made form other cases 6.5x55 sweed was made from 30-06 cases for a long time because they were plentifully and cheap 

300 AAC BO can be made form 223 cases 

as can 22TCM 

30-30 cases are used to make 300 savage cases as well as 7-30 waters and 25-35 and 219 zipper 38-55 was actually the parent case to 30-30

30-06 the parent case to 6.5-06 , 270 , 35 wheelen, 338-06, 8mm-06 and 25-06 

you can also make 7x57 and 8x57 mauser form 30-06 brass

there is an entire sub forum on one of the reloading sites dedicated to what you can make form other cases.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

JawjaBoy said:


> I have my Grandad's old Remington Model 14 chambered in .30 Remington and loaded ammo is next to impossible to find.


Don't know what your tooling is like, but my understanding is that .30 Remington can be made from 30-30 brass. 

You need to turn off the rim, and add an extraction groove. That might be a simple project for you if you can get access to a hobby lathe.

Here's a reference about making it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30_Remington


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## JawjaBoy (Jan 21, 2013)

MichaelK! said:


> Don't know what your tooling is like, but my understanding is that .30 Remington can be made from 30-30 brass.
> 
> You need to turn off the rim, and add an extraction groove. That might be a simple project for you if you can get access to a hobby lathe.
> 
> ...


I've read up on the process and spoken with some folks that have done it. It is fairly straightforward, if a bit time consuming. One of the additions I most want in my shop is a lathe, so maybe one of these days I'll get to give it a try.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

30 Remington brass. You can still buy it and yes is a $1.00 a pop.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categor---/742

*Whew *loaded ammo.
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/608280709

 Al


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## dirtfarmer (Apr 5, 2013)

Reloading is God's gift to shooters, hunters and the like. Reloading enables one to produce just about any load variation for just about any caliber. You can save a ton of money on ammo reloading. If you pay $0.30 per round retail then you can do the same thing for about $0.07 cents per round if you buy your supplies in bulk and have the once fired brass. The learning curve is not bad at all. If you can read a dial caliper, have good common sense, self discipline, and can understand a basic reloading manual then you are a prime candidate. In fact, most shooters will be great at reloading. Typically reloads ( once refined ) are much more accurate than any factory load. The combinations you can dial in for popular calibers are staggering. Reloading is for rare and unpopular calibers as well. I reload everything from .222 Rem to 458 Win Mag and just about all pistol calibers. I've casted my own lead bullets since the 70's and never looked back. I use many different brands of jacketed projectiles too - many. Reloading can become very addictive and one can get consumed by its possibilities - in a good way. You can start off cheap by buying used reloading equipment from eBay if you want. You may want to enlist the help of an experienced reloader to assist you with the decision making process in order to cut the chase and save time. If you have money to spare you can dive into the progressive Dillon presses for volumes of ammo or you can get an RCBS Rock Chucker single stage press and have fun reloading every metallic cartridge you shoot for the rest of your life using that same press. I still use a Rock Chucker I've had since 1973. I still churn out some very accurate ammo on that thing. I also have progressive presses too. You can keep it basic or go as deep into that rabbit hole as you want.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

dirtfarmer said:


> Reloading is God's gift to shooters, hunters and the like. Reloading enables one to produce just about any load variation for just about any caliber. You can save a ton of money on ammo reloading. If you pay $0.30 per round retail then you can do the same thing for about $0.07 cents per round if you buy your supplies in bulk and have the once fired brass. The learning curve is not bad at all. If you can read a dial caliper, have good common sense, self discipline, and can understand a basic reloading manual then you are a prime candidate. In fact, most shooters will be great at reloading. Typically reloads ( once refined ) are much more accurate than any factory load. The combinations you can dial in for popular calibers are staggering. Reloading is for rare and unpopular calibers as well. I reload everything from .222 Rem to 458 Win Mag and just about all pistol calibers. I've casted my own lead bullets since the 70's and never looked back. I use many different brands of jacketed projectiles too - many. Reloading can become very addictive and one can get consumed by its possibilities - in a good way. You can start off cheap by buying used reloading equipment from eBay if you want. You may want to enlist the help of an experienced reloader to assist you with the decision making process in order to cut the chase and save time. If you have money to spare you can dive into the progressive Dillon presses for volumes of ammo or you can get an RCBS Rock Chucker single stage press and have fun reloading every metallic cartridge you shoot for the rest of your life using that same press. I still use a Rock Chucker I've had since 1973. I still churn out some very accurate ammo on that thing. I also have progressive presses too. You can keep it basic or go as deep into that rabbit hole as you want.



I think you've said it all!
I still use my Rock Chucker (RCBS), it still is the main reloader on my bench and like you I've had it since I was a teenager in the 70's. It is just more versatile then any of the other reloaders. 
I also have a Dillon Square Deal and an old 45o upgraded to a 550. Which I use for pistol rounds.
I also still use my MEC's also. I have old 500's for 410, 20 ga and 12 ga and a 650 for 12ga. 
I'm always buy box lots at auction and expanding the parts and acc. I think I have enough charge bars to fit any load 

As you stated; this rabbit hole can get very deep if you want it to or it can be as simple as a RCBS with a the Dies for your caliber of choice..


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Hey guys, question?
I used to reload a lot, still have all of the gear, now just load some ammo a couple times per year.

Yesterday I got started with some .223 varmint loads, deprimed and sized the brass, then put in the tumbler. I don't know what the media is but it looks like kitty litter. Anyway the green dust from that media is clinging to some of the brass and very hard to rub off. Is it just time to change media? (this stuff is old)


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## Texaspredatorhu (Sep 15, 2015)

Fishindude said:


> Hey guys, question?
> I used to reload a lot, still have all of the gear, now just load some ammo a couple times per year.
> 
> Yesterday I got started with some .223 varmint loads, deprimed and sized the brass, then put in the tumbler. I don't know what the media is but it looks like kitty litter. Anyway the green dust from that media is clinging to some of the brass and very hard to rub off. Is it just time to change media? (this stuff is old)


This may sound crazy but I have tried everything to tumble brass. tried ultrasonic and I wasn't a fan did the steel pins and it gets them clean as all get up. Found an article where it said to use rice in a vibratory and there's no dust and it's probably cheaper than any media. I tried it and now that's all I use. If the rice gets stuck in the flash hole push it through or break it off and the rest falls through. Good luck.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Rice is all I use in my tumblers since the mid 1960's, when a gun shop owner was telling me about it when I was griping about the dust and corn cobs stuck in the 243 brass I was reloading at the time.



Yup some rice kernels do get stuck in the flash holes so I only tumble after I deprime because those kernels can and will break the decapping pins in dies. I keep one of those small flat screw drivers handy to push the rice out of the flash holes.



I find reloading a enjoyable hobby to go with my shooting and hunting hobby's. When I had a paying job I had to go to, and Kids at home, I would set down any time I had a free hour or two and reload. Now that I work for free I normally do all my reloading in the winter a day like today. No snow, unsafe ice 17F, and 23MPH winds for a 1F wind chill.

I think RCBS came out with the rock chucker about 5 years after I bought my RCBS press, Still reload my 16ga shot gun shells with the MEC 650 JR, so old they didn't have bushings so to change the power, You had to buy the whole bar. I now I use the # 2 bar for red dot powder. 

I bought a pair of Mec 9000G's when my son and I were shooting a lot of sporting clays and 5 stand. A 12ga and a 20 ga one.
We were shooting 400 rounds a week end and some times 600, mostly on the New years day shoot.

I also discovered I could still squirrel hunt with a 22 when there was no 22lr or 22 mag ammo to be found and at a decent price now. Just down load a 22 center fire to 22LR or 22Mag speeds.
Speer # 11 and up manuals have the recipes.

 Al


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Update -
Got some good advice from a buddy before reading your responses. Took the green tarnished brass out of the old media and gave it a little soaking in vinegar / water which got rid of all of the green tarnish. Replaced media with new, then put the dry brass in new media for a couple house and it looks great. Vinegar water soak was the key.

Thanks, will try rice next time I replace media.


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