Reloading handgun rounds

[Atrox88]

I'm thinking about doing some reloading my handgun rounds. I am mainly shooting 9x19, 38spcl, 45ACP. One of the reasons for contemplating this is because I am seeing more restrictions being placed on ammunition and I do not want to be prepared in case Maryland decides restrictions are a good idea.
I have reloaded in the past but it's been more than 20 years ago, mainly 223, 22-250, and 308. Is there a handgun round specific press to use or will the standard Rock Chucker fit the bill?

 

[BuildnBurn]

A Rockchucker will work just fine, just a little slow.

 

[Uncle Duke]

I'm thinking about doing some reloading my handgun rounds. I am mainly shooting 9x19, 38spcl, 45ACP. One of the reasons for contemplating this is because I am seeing more restrictions being placed on ammunition and I do not want to be prepared in case Maryland decides restrictions are a good idea.
I have reloaded in the past but it's been more than 20 years ago, mainly 223, 22-250, and 308. Is there a handgun round specific press to use or will the standard Rock Chucker fit the bill?

The single stage Rock Chucker can indeed produce quality handgun ammunition. Now whether you might want or might need to increase production capability with a turret or a progressive press is another discussion.

 

[alucard0822]

Much depends on how much you intend to load, and how much time you want to spend loading. A decent single stage setup can do around 100 an hour in usually 3 or 4 pulls of the handle per round, using old 50rd trays from ammo boxes and a bench top drum measure will help speed it up. A turret might be able to double that, especially with carbide dies, and no need to size, then tumble again to get lube off. A decent progressive with auto case feeder will do 500+ an hour, if set up well, and with a couple tweaks, you only stop to fill hoppers and primer tubes, add a bullet feeder, and it can go even faster, and can approach that speed loading rifle brass with a die mounted trimmer. Most say to always have a single stage at minimum, and that is true, it can be very useful for some things, and they work for practically every caliber, but for me, I use my LNL AP way more, even as a single stage with a single die, with the auto case feeder. If I'm just sizing rifle brass to throw back in the tumbler, or depriming mil brass to swage pockets or make 300BO, the case feeder runs them through way faster than I can place and pull individual rounds(1K+ an hour), especially if I don't need to slow down to seat primers or place bullets.

 

[Atrox88]

Thanks for the input guys. I was happy using the single stage Rock Chucker in the past and was leaning towards using it again. I had been told there are handgun specific presses but I had never heard of one.

 

[High Q]

Dillon Square Deal B is an excellent choice for handgun cartridges. Easy to set up and easy to use.

 

[tomandjerry00]

With how cheap pistol ammo is these days, I can't justify reloading it. I can find .45 ACP for less than .25 a round and 9x19 for less than .18.

If you really want to get serious about it, think about getting a Lee turret press at the very least, a progressive would be better. I reload with the Lee turret and it is acceptably quick. I think I'd go crazy doing it on a single-stage press.

But yes, it will work fine.

 

[usa259]

I've converted two rock chuckers with used piggybacks, RCBS helped greatly with worn parts. Have considered a couple of times selling both and going the blue route...

Then shotshell reloading came along.

 

[Pinecone]

How much do you shoot per year?

How much time do you have for reloading?

Do you like reloading?

If you only shoot a few hundred rounds per year, your Rock Chucker will be fine.

If you don't have much time to reload, a progressive is much faster. But a lot more money, and if you only shoot, at most, 1000 rounds per year, you are looking at using it for a couple of hours a year. I can do 1000 rounds of .45 ACP on my Dillon 650 in an hour. Others are slightly slower.

If you don't like reloading, just buy ammo.

 

[BuildnBurn]

Dillon Square Deal B is an excellent choice for handgun cartridges. Easy to set up and easy to use.

I have a SDB, it's a great pistol caliber press, but conversion kits are expensive.

 

[ohen cepel]

I like reloading .38 as there is no brass to pick up, brass lasts a long time, and I have found it to be a forgiving cartridge to reload. Also, 38 has gotten a bit $$ in the last few years so can be reloaded pretty cheaply.

9mm I'm not into reloading as it is cheap now. However, if you're worried about the future that is different.

I can do .45 cheaper than I can buy it also.

If you get into casting you can reload even cheaper if you have a source of lead or can buy it cheap.

 

[Pinecone]

Heck, when I started reloading, and casting, I was shooing .45 ACP for less per round than .22 LR.

 

[Blacksmith101]

One of the reasons for contemplating this is because I am seeing more restrictions being placed on ammunition and I do not want to be prepared in case Maryland decides restrictions are a good idea.

Everyone should remember the ammo shortage we went through. That convinced me to try to have on hand the necessary tools to reload each caliber I shoot. I don't intend to try to "manufacture" ammunition in large quantities but I want to be able to keep on shooting. A single stage press is the most versatile then you need dies for each caliber and a bullet mold for casting if bullet supplies disappear along with a lubrisizer with dies. Add some primers in each size you need, some appropriate powder, lead, lube, and a couple of good instruction manuals. Do enough actual reloading to work out the kinks then buy ammo while cheep and have fun shooting it but save the brass just in case the shortages return.

You will be able to keep shooting without worry while others are trying to scrounge sources for suddenly high priced ammo.
These threads were started for a reason, go back and read the early posts to remember how things were:
https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?112152&p=2266490#post2266490

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=104625

“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.”
― Edmund Burke
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/doomed-to-repeat-it

 

[Uncle Duke]

Remember that reloading components were very difficult to obtain during that time also.

Primers, bullets, brass and powder were ALL difficult to obtain.

The old seeming cliché of "buy it cheap and stack it deep" is cliché for a reason.

 

[alucard0822]

I have a SDB, it's a great pistol caliber press, but conversion kits are expensive.

That is the #1 reason I went with the Hornady LNL over a Dillon. Already have dies for the 20+ calibers I load, just had to buy all 4 case feeder wheels for about $100, and it includes every other critical part. The LNL bushings are nice in that you can swap dies around without needing to readjust them, just store dies in the bushings in trays, although they fit in some of the original die boxes too. Funny thing is the cost of the "conversion kit" with 6 LNL bushings and an adapter for a single stage press is less than half the cost of the bushing bulk pack that includes 10, in fact cabelas had them on sale for a while at $15 for essentially 6 bushings sitting right next to the $40 10 bushing pack. Some use multiple poder measures, set up for whatever rifle or pistol calibers you load a lot of, but for the $100 it costs, I'll just swap it over, or readjust it being I check it often, and sometimes have to adjust it anyway with different lots of powder. The Hornady drum powder measure is the best in the buisness too IMO. Outside of that, just took a little deburring to get the primer shuttle to run 100%, chamfering the detents to keep from knocking powder out of the cases when they click into position, and a little bit of tweaking in some calibers like 300BO to get it to run reliably. Takes maybe 5 minutes to swap rifle-rifle or pistol-pistol calibers, maybe an extra 5 minutes to swap from rifle to pistol or vice versa or swap the large/small primer feeders. The ONLY time I go back to use the Rock chucker over the progressive is to size/ deprime small numbers of cases in milsurp calibers.

 

[Not_an_outlaw]

FYI - of you reload and have s problem with you firearm, you may not get any service from the manufacturer. I have a Kimber Stainless Target II with about 400 rounds through it. I reload in the middle of the recommended range. It blowed up at they say in Southern Maryland. Kimber said the gun was cracked and offered me a new one at cost. Said no thanks and it was returned. I cannot find the cracks and have put another 500 plus rounds through it. I check it pretty close. I never want to miss an opportunity to tell the facts about Kimber.

 

[alucard0822]

FYI - of you reload and have s problem with you firearm, you may not get any service from the manufacturer. I have a Kimber Stainless Target II with about 400 rounds through it. I reload in the middle of the recommended range. It blowed up at they say in Southern Maryland. Kimber said the gun was cracked and offered me a new one at cost. Said no thanks and it was returned. I cannot find the cracks and have put another 500 plus rounds through it. I check it pretty close. I never want to miss an opportunity to tell the facts about Kimber.

Almost every gun manufacturer states to never use reloaded ammo, only use genuine parts, never modify the gun, and a few other things sold by about 1/4 of the firearms industry. If they can't prove it, and the problem is unrelated to ammo, then they should warranty it. Obviously if the gun blows up from a bad load, and they don't honor the warranty as a result, then that is a risk, along with blowing off fingers, hurting bystanders and so on. Have heard reloading is like a math test, where a wrong answer can blow off a hand, it can be true.

 

[Blacksmith101]

Remember that reloading components were very difficult to obtain during that time also.

Primers, bullets, brass and powder were ALL difficult to obtain.

The old seeming cliché of "buy it cheap and stack it deep" is cliché for a reason.

Yes but things got scarce in stages.
The ammo disappeared first.
Next reloading tools got scarce.
Then primers.
And last powder.

So if you see ammo getting scarce jump the line and start stocking primers and powder deep. Because you already have the tools. And a good reloading library can help you find recipes for powders and components you don't normally use.

 

[Blacksmith101]

FYI - of you reload and have s problem with you firearm, you may not get any service from the manufacturer. I have a Kimber Stainless Target II with about 400 rounds through it. I reload in the middle of the recommended range. It blowed up at they say in Southern Maryland. Kimber said the gun was cracked and offered me a new one at cost. Said no thanks and it was returned. I cannot find the cracks and have put another 500 plus rounds through it. I check it pretty close. I never want to miss an opportunity to tell the facts about Kimber.

Did you look for the cracks with Magnaflux or ultrasound, commonly used in industry for finding cracks not visible to the naked eye?

 

[GuitarmanNick]

Reloading .38 Special, 9 x 18mm Makarov and 9mm Luger gives me something relaxing to do that I enjoy. It saves some money on the .38s and Maks for sure. Buying components when on sale or even finding deals in the classifieds can also make reloading very cost effective. I have been using a brass catcher on my shooting hand with decent results on my semi-autos. I am able to recover almost all of my brass and usually only lose a handful of cases per outing.
Just started reloading recently, so I am still acquiring gear a little at a time and building my inventory of components for what I shoot.