The Best Way Into Reloading

Over the years I've been considering reloading, but safety had always come up by those I spoke to about it and it made me think twice every time I considered it. I'm at the point now with bags and buckets of brass I kept over the years that I want to start getting things together to start reloading. What's the best way to get started? I figure progressive presses make the job easier, but at the same time make it much more likely for an error to be made and either over charge a cartridge or squib it. So I'm thinking go with a single stage and learn with it until I've got a solid idea of what I'm doing to get into the progressive market down the line. What I'd like to do is a handful of pistol and rifle calibers and then spread out to more niche calibers. For now I've got the following in mind for reloading:

9mm Parabellum/Luger
.40 S&W (might hold off on this one)
.45 ACP
.223/5.56
7.62x39


In the long run I'd like to start reloading for a few niche cartridges to play around and/or dial in a round for a surplus rifle. Specifically I'd like to reload the following:

7.65x53 Argentine
7.7×58mm Jap
6.5x50mm Jap
7.62x25 Tokarev
9x18 Makarov
9mm Largo

Is it worth buying used setups? Anything I should be looking for as signs of a good/bad deal? Any manufacturer better than another? Tips on this would be great!

jimbobborg said:

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=137551

Click to expand...

^^^^What he said.

Welp had some good reading on that thread. Thanks guys! Now onto the links and links and links and off to Amazon to buy some books.

OP, get yourself a copy of the ABC's of Reloading. It provides a good general overview to the hobby. And you'll need a good reloading manual, regardless of what else you do. Lyman just released a 50th edition. Hornady 9th edition is very good as well. There are certainly others. Bottom line, spend a little money on 2 books before you spend ANY real money on equipment or components. Then read them and read them again.

ABC's will begin to answer a number of questions you'll have. It will also (and more importantly) get you thinking along the lines of what questions you haven't yet thought to ask. Lyman 50 is the more generic of the 2 manuals mentioned. You're going to need data, which ABC's doesn't give. But read also the individual topic specific chapters in Lyman.


One BIG and multi-faceted question you'll need to think about is this: How much do you shoot? How often do you shoot? And what sort of a premium do you put on your time generally? You make mention of a number of cartridges that CAN tend to be volume intensive for many people. You may or may not be one of them. The other cartridges you mention, not so much likely to be a high volume cartridge. Not for you or most anyone else.

Just by way of example, if you're going to shoot 300 rounds of 9mm a week, that's one thing with one set of considerations. If however you shoot 300 rounds in a range session, in 9mm or mixed cartridges combined, but you only shoot 6 times a year? That's a whole other animal.

You've waited this long. Do yourself a favor and get some good reading under your belt. Best advice I know to give you. Best inexpensive expenditure you'll ever make with this hobby. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll have to add that to my reading. I'm trying to see if I can find digital copies of the media so I can read them on the plane for an upcoming 18 hour trip. Having books on making something that explodes seem like I'm going to get some weird looks by TSA. Plus having digitals means I can print out pages and take notes on them without manking up the originals. General handbooks though I'll be ordering by tonight.

Just to give a general idea of how often/much I go shooting it's at most bi weekly (twice a month) on an average of 100-300 rounds of mixed caliber. Generally go with a 50-100 9mm Luger or 50-100 40 S&W, 50 45ACP, 100 .223/5.56, and/or a box of 20 of something for an old rifle. Shooting bi weekly isn't too bad as I bulk purchase ammo and ration it out and never try to go low in my personal ammo depot, but it does happen based on availability or cost on occasion. With the misses shooting with me, the general ammo being brought to the range has gone up in volume and I want to limit the amount I'm buying if I can reuse the brass/supplement new brass into the rotation. The only cartridges I want to be ordering are home defense frangible ammo for practice/drills, 22LR and shot shells. I figure the rest is general ball ammo that I should be able to reload simply without getting too crazy from what I was reading. A good friend of mine and I have been on the fence about starting based on safety, but as OCD engineers we just need to find a documented process along with someone who has been doing this for a long time correctly for us to know what we are doing and what to avoid. As of recent we've been discussing setting up our own benches, but sharing dies between us to get stuff done.

At some point (probably years) this will become a mindless process for me once I get into a routine, and those are things that I find somewhat relaxing.

One thing I'm still tying to find is the pro's vs. con's of a tumbler vs. an ultrasonic cleaner. Based on noise and being able to use for parts cleaning, I'm thinking I'd like to invest into an ultrasonic cleaner as it's less abrasive to the finish on the brass. I know for the FN 5.7 this is almost mandatory, so I don't see why it shouldn't be done for other brass. Also, when I'm not using it to clean brass I can drop in pistol parts or bolts to get cleaned while I'm doing other things.

FWIW, all I can add is to, as already mentioned, read everything you can get your hands on. Watch some YouTube videos on specific techniques and tools. Pay attention to details and, just do it.

I taught myself and it really isn't all that complicated or difficult.

But I'm basically an anti-social self-starter. I taught myself to ride a motorcycle, sail a boat, run a diesel powered trawler, build a computer, etc.

And, I still have both eyes and all my fingers & toes!

It is only partly about *how many* rounds you shoot, the important consideration is how many of exactly the same round do you shoot.

Different cals, load development for specific guns. Obsessive compulsive engineers, with a buncha calibers, including 4 that are essentially handloading only ? Trust me, you will be doing lots of load workups and testing. And loving it as an enjoyable hobby in its own right.

Yes , you will definitely want a single stage set up. Optional for you to add a progressive for mass produced pistol blasting ammo.


If you really are wanting an ultrasonic for cleaning complete pistols, or component groups w/o disassembly, then get one, and occasionally clean some brass if you like. For simply cleaning brass, a tumbler ( or more likely vibrator) is fine.

When I started, about the time you joined mdshooters, in late 2010, early 2011, I went back to page one of the Reloading Section and read posts. Some of the best ones that come to mind are the trouble shooting tips.

I wouldn't start on something like 9mm, being it's a high pressure load. I cut my teeth on .38 sp. In your list I'd start with the .45acp.

Read, read, read

Check, double check and check again.

Safety, safety, safety.

Tihsho said:

Over the years I've been considering reloading, but safety had always come up by those I spoke to about it and it made me think twice every time I considered it. I'm at the point now with bags and buckets of brass I kept over the years that I want to start getting things together to start reloading. What's the best way to get started? I figure progressive presses make the job easier, but at the same time make it much more likely for an error to be made and either over charge a cartridge or squib it. So I'm thinking go with a single stage and learn with it until I've got a solid idea of what I'm doing to get into the progressive market down the line. What I'd like to do is a handful of pistol and rifle calibers and then spread out to more niche calibers. For now I've got the following in mind for reloading:

9mm Parabellum/Luger
.40 S&W (might hold off on this one)
.45 ACP
.223/5.56
7.62x39


In the long run I'd like to start reloading for a few niche cartridges to play around and/or dial in a round for a surplus rifle. Specifically I'd like to reload the following:

7.65x53 Argentine
7.7×58mm Jap
6.5x50mm Jap
7.62x25 Tokarev
9x18 Makarov
9mm Largo

Is it worth buying used setups? Anything I should be looking for as signs of a good/bad deal? Any manufacturer better than another? Tips on this would be great!

Click to expand...

I say yes because that's exactly what I did in 2012...I bought a used RCBS RockChuckerII single stage press and a few used dies from a co worker and then a few months I bought a LEE Classic Turret press off of a member here. I bought both set ups for less than I could've bought a new single stage combo kit. Everything was in good to excellent shape. I made a few posts here, read some books, picked the minds of members here like Uncle Duke, and read some more. I say go for it. Just take your time and always er on the side of caution.

DarrellA said:

FWIW, all I can add is to, as already mentioned, read everything you can get your hands on. Watch some YouTube videos on specific techniques and tools. Pay attention to details and, just do it.

I taught myself and it really isn't all that complicated or difficult.

But I'm basically an anti-social self-starter. I taught myself to ride a motorcycle, sail a boat, run a diesel powered trawler, build a computer, etc.

And, I still have both eyes and all my fingers & toes!

Click to expand...

You and me both brother. In cases that involve 'explosions', unless we are talking nitro methane or nitrous or just forced induction, I generally try to ask questions before getting started. But, did the whole ground up PC starting in '04 and did the whole motorcycle thing in '11. The internet is thankfully free education if you choose your sources correctly to learn from and I'm taking advantage of that with many things. Doesn't help with the ADD that I'm basically putting a college course load on myself again on learning new things.

Biggfoot44 said:

It is only partly about *how many* rounds you shoot, the important consideration is how many of exactly the same round do you shoot.

Different cals, load development for specific guns. Obsessive compulsive engineers, with a buncha calibers, including 4 that are essentially handloading only ? Trust me, you will be doing lots of load workups and testing. And loving it as an enjoyable hobby in its own right.

Yes , you will definitely want a single stage set up. Optional for you to add a progressive for mass produced pistol blasting ammo.


If you really are wanting an ultrasonic for cleaning complete pistols, or component groups w/o disassembly, then get one, and occasionally clean some brass if you like. For simply cleaning brass, a tumbler ( or more likely vibrator) is fine.

Click to expand...

If I can crank out 50-100 carts of some general ball ammo of whatever I shoot weekly I'd be content until the bug really bites. Problem is, I've been raised in the mindset of "do it right or don't do it at all" so I want to make sure I start out on the right path rather than with a bunch of 'entry' level junk that gets me no where and walking down a dangerous path.

Bikebreath said:

When I started, about the time you joined mdshooters, in late 2010, early 2011, I went back to page one of the Reloading Section and read posts. Some of the best ones that come to mind are the trouble shooting tips.

I wouldn't start on something like 9mm, being it's a high pressure load. I cut my teeth on .38 sp. In your list I'd start with the .45acp.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that tip. I'm definitely going to look into what the smartest caliber to start out with is and take the 45 ACP into consideration. Might mean I'll pull out the 1911's more. That said though, if there is a cartridge/caliber that is more forgiving and basically the best way of getting into reloading? Figure something bigger might make sense because you can actually see a lot more things going on. I'm not too worried if it's a caliber of something I don't have as that can change, mainly just want to start with something that's straightforward and forgiving. It's like learning to cook/bake. Gotta start with learning to bake a cake before going off making a flaming Baked Alaska.

Doobie said:

I say yes because that's exactly what I did in 2012...I bought a used RCBS RockChuckerII single stage press and a few used dies from a co worker and then a few months I bought a LEE Classic Turret press off of a member here. I bought both set ups for less than I could've bought a new single stage combo kit. Everything was in good to excellent shape. I made a few posts here, read some books, picked the minds of members here like Uncle Duke, and read some more. I say go for it. Just take your time and always er on the side of caution.

Click to expand...

Guess I need to keep my eyes open on a deal before it gets snagged. If anyone has a bundle of stuff they want to sell off to get me started, let me know.

See "Topher" here on the forum. He teaches an NRA reloading course. One day course in Frederick.

I started out looking at the high end single stage presses because I'm a quality nut but ended up with the Lee Classic Cast because the others had little quirks that I didn't like. For single stage work I hand prime for better feel while watching YouTube or Television which takes some of the oddball single stage priming systems out of the picture. I really like how the used primers drop through the center of the ram directly into a trash can. They have a very similar model with a breech lock already installed but you loose the primer exit through the ram. I almost ordered that one by mistake. Also very happy with the Hornady AP for a progressive.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/317831/lee-classic-cast-single-stage-press

Start slow, you may not like it, then work your way up. Stay with published data and don't push the limits until you have a full understanding of what you are doing and why.

1. Read several good reloading manuals first. "Modern Reloading" by Richard LEE and the Lyman manual are two I always recommend.

2. The simplest reloading set up is the classic "Lee Loader" lovingly called a Wack-A-Mole because you use a hammer rather than a press. Thousands of reloaders have started this way. I keep several calibers of Lee Loaders in my Bug Out supplies. https://www.natchezss.com/lcl-45-acp.html

3. For a press start with a single stage, it won't go to waste since most reloaders have at least one single stage they use for special jobs instead of tearing down the progressive.

4. Try to find a mentor just watching and asking questions can be a big help.

5. Keep us informed of how you are doing and post things other first timers may want to look out for as you go through the learning process. Some of us old timers have forgotten some of the first steps we went through.


Here are some digital books for your reading pleasure. I think I have seen an older manual and if I locate one I will note it. The rest are good reading and historical background.

Townsend Whelen's Classic "Why Not Load Your Own":
http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/ClassicWorks/WhelenWhyNotLoad.pdf

Other classic gun books:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/book-dvd-reviews/free-downloadable-classic-gun-books/

Plenty of Reloading reading including the first edition of the Lee Manual, also plans for a home made stand, and others.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=Reloading

Right now I've found a couple 'kits' that refer to a lot of the basics that a lot of books, stickies and videos have mentioned over the past week. Seems like RCBS has what I'm looking for in the Single Stage and Turret Style presses. Thinking I'll go with the Single to start after a good bit of reading and then upgrade to a turret. If I get confident enough after a while of this I'll look into a progressive to speed up the process.

From what I can tell the threads of the major manufacturers of the dies are identical; i.e. you can run Lee dies on an RCBS press for example. Is there a specific company for dies that are just known for getting the job done for years more so than another? I see carbide dies are the way to go and plan on going that route.

My other question now comes into primers and powder. I have a lot of reading to do before purchasing either, but my question is what regulations are there per local laws for MD (or it's counties) as well as the ATF on volume? From what I remember there is some law stating you can only have 'X' amount of one or the other, but I'm allowed to own as much cased ammo as I please.

Also, before starting I'm looking to see what I can find as an off the shelf bench to get this going. I don't want to start taking over any of my garage benches with this as I know it's going to most likely take over and then they will lose their purpose. Plus, I really don't want to be doing any of this in the outdoor heat/humidity and or mixing with any fluids that might be used out in the garage for engine or trans work I'm doing. Does anyone have any mobile or somewhat compact recommendations? I would like to be able to store this in the gun room when it's not in use as well as have it easily torn down as I'm looking at moving in the next year/year and a half to a more permanent location.

Im not as salty as these guys but have learned a few things. The safety of reloading is no light matter but at the same time the guys who have done it for decades, processing countless rounds, very rarely have an incident. If you do a google search you will be hard pressed to find enough incidents involving an injury (requiring professional medical attention) that culminates to more than 1% accident rate in relation to the amount of people who reload. This is my speculation that i made during a college statistics class that required us to use StatCrunch and collected source data to do hypothesis testing.
The rest is just from face to face conversations were I'm told how dangerous primers are and how OCD you have to be but they cant recount a single incident but always know a guy and they usually have an unorganized reloading bench with a tv and a fridge dedicated to beer!
These are great people by the way and do not intend to be disrespectful in anyway to the beer drinking, tv watchers out there. Just an observation.
To conclude, get a press.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tihsho said:

Right now I've found a couple 'kits' that refer to a lot of the basics that a lot of books, stickies and videos have mentioned over the past week. Seems like RCBS has what I'm looking for in the Single Stage and Turret Style presses. Thinking I'll go with the Single to start after a good bit of reading and then upgrade to a turret. If I get confident enough after a while of this I'll look into a progressive to speed up the process.

From what I can tell the threads of the major manufacturers of the dies are identical; i.e. you can run Lee dies on an RCBS press for example. Is there a specific company for dies that are just known for getting the job done for years more so than another? I see carbide dies are the way to go and plan on going that route.

My other question now comes into primers and powder. I have a lot of reading to do before purchasing either, but my question is what regulations are there per local laws for MD (or it's counties) as well as the ATF on volume? From what I remember there is some law stating you can only have 'X' amount of one or the other, but I'm allowed to own as much cased ammo as I please.

Also, before starting I'm looking to see what I can find as an off the shelf bench to get this going. I don't want to start taking over any of my garage benches with this as I know it's going to most likely take over and then they will lose their purpose. Plus, I really don't want to be doing any of this in the outdoor heat/humidity and or mixing with any fluids that might be used out in the garage for engine or trans work I'm doing. Does anyone have any mobile or somewhat compact recommendations? I would like to be able to store this in the gun room when it's not in use as well as have it easily torn down as I'm looking at moving in the next year/year and a half to a more permanent location.

Click to expand...

Since we have plans for this week, I'll give you the run down on reloading, when I see you. I'll show you how a Dillon progressive works too. Just a hint, it can do single stage and progressive operations...

Maryland limits the amount of powder to five pounds, it is in the fire code. But no limit on primers I have heard of.

The mounting threads on dies are standard with a few rare exceptions like .50 BMG other than that it is the price/quality/name recognition trade off for standard dies but some specialty dies are not made by everyone.

Lee makes a press stand.
http://leeprecision.com/lee-reloading-stand.html

And also a quick change bench plate for swapping presses.
http://leeprecision.com/bench-plate.html

Some people bolt their press to a sturdy plywood mount and "C" clamp it to their work bench when they want to reload.

Eventually you will want a chronograph and you will probably look into bullet casting and/or swageing but those are advanced topics for after you get bit by the bug.

I just started reloading in the past few months. I saw a lot of people recommending a single stage first. I got a Dillon progressive. I used it as a single stage to just familiarize myself with the operation of the press. It did not take very long to feel comfortable with it. It's not like there is THAT much going on that you will confuse yourself. Don't talk yourself out of a progressive.

I have a dry media vibratory tumbler and a stainless steel media wet tumbler. The wet tumbler is MUCH better, IMO. The inside of the cases and primer pockets are very clean.

ads.midwayusa.com/product/426185/thumlers-tumbler-model-b-high-speed-rotary-case-tumbler-110-volt?cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-Reloading+-+Metallic+Reloading+Equipment+(Not+Presses)-_-Thumler%27s-_-426185&gclid=CIylkLXZxs4CFcEmhgodH6EIqg

DaemonAssassin said:

Since we have plans for this week, I'll give you the run down on reloading, when I see you. I'll show you how a Dillon progressive works too. Just a hint, it can do single stage and progressive operations...

Click to expand...

You're just luring me in more and more man...

Blacksmith101 said:

Maryland limits the amount of powder to five pounds, it is in the fire code. But no limit on primers I have heard of.

Click to expand...

Perfect! Ok I just wanted to make sure I could keep a few different sets of powder for general factory ball loads, older style powder for lower pressures, and a few odds and ends for consistent rifle cartridges.

Blacksmith101 said:

Lee makes a press stand.
http://leeprecision.com/lee-reloading-stand.html

Click to expand...

Welp, poop. Was looking at RCBS, but this would make it easy.

Blacksmith101 said:

Eventually you will want a chronograph and you will probably look into bullet casting and/or swageing but those are advanced topics for after you get bit by the bug.

Click to expand...

Casting is definitely on my list for sure. Considered getting into percussion revolvers a while back and casting was definitely part of what interested me. Right now I just want to get comfortable with doing the job right with off the shelf parts.

teratos said:

I just started reloading in the past few months. I saw a lot of people recommending a single stage first. I got a Dillon progressive. I used it as a single stage to just familiarize myself with the operation of the press. It did not take very long to feel comfortable with it. It's not like there is THAT much going on that you will confuse yourself. Don't talk yourself out of a progressive.

I have a dry media vibratory tumbler and a stainless steel media wet tumbler. The wet tumbler is MUCH better, IMO. The inside of the cases and primer pockets are very clean.

Click to expand...

The only thing that's holding me back about the progressive is the space. Once you get the progressive features rolling it's just more and more accessories that get attached and need mounting and I don't have the space for a dedicated reloading bench at the moment. Dillon's are at the top of the list for progressives though. Priced fairly decently, and seem to be the most reliable of the bunch with amazing customer service to boot. Right now mastering a method, mindset and getting a good range of dies comes first, the fancy toys come later