My first reloading experience

[byf43]

45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth. Just take the bell out from your expander die step.

^^^This!

I'm finding that I have to make sure I do batches - do the same task over and over, then move to the next operation. Size, deprime, neck size, trim, primer pocket, chamfer/deburr, tumble, sort, check flash holes, prime, charge, press bullet.

I still screw up though. This morning I grabbed a bag of sized, trimmed, cleaned, primed cases and trickle charged 40 match rounds. Perfect charges. It took about 40 minutes. I examined the cases with a flashlight - all had powder. GTG.

I pulled the first case to load a bullet and there are powder grains in the bottom of the shell holder rack. No primer. No primers in any of them!

Had to dump em all back in the hopper and then prime the cases. Ah well.

What cartridge(s) are you loading?????

I get a couple of the plastic containers that lunch meat comes in, from Sam's Club, and after they're emptied/washed/dried, they get used in my loading room.

Using short-production .223 as the example, I tumble, lube, size on the single-stage machine, then tumble the lube off.
These get separated from the media, then go through another 'eyeball inspection', then put into one of the plastic containers, and the lid is labeled, using "painter's tape" and a magic marker.

Once they're trimmed/de-burred and the primer pocket cleaned, the cases go into another container, labeled.

When I'm ready, the cases are primed, using the Lee "Auto Prime", then, the cases are put casemouth DOWN into a .38 Special cartridge box, until all cases are primed.

Then, one-at-a-time, I look at the primed cases (and check to make sure the primers are seated correctly), and they go into the loading blocks to be charged w/ powder.

As I get 5 or 10 cases charged w/ powder, I use a bright light and do a final 'look-see' into the cases, to make sure they're charged, then, I insert/seat the boolits in those cases and continue until I'm done.


Here's what those .38 Special boxes look like:





I really like these!! (I must have 20 or 30 of 'em!) They hold the .223 cases securely, plus they're tall enough that the cases won't dump, easily.

 

[Sticky]

When starting out, ALWAYS make a 'dry run' throught the press cycle.

This! I make up a dummy round for every cartridge/bullet combination that I load, no primer, no powder. I label them all, but the no primer is the tipoff that it's a dummy round. Once its verified that all is good, including seating depth, I'll take a marker, draw a couple rings around it ( to further identify it as a setup round) and write what it is on the case. Next time I go to load that combo, I have a dummy round to setup with and get things really close with no effort.. I still load old school on a single stage press.

 

[Sticky]

I am loading .45 ACP.

My google result is "little to none"

I see a very thin ring of taper at the edge of the brass. And the case mouth width is at what my reloading manual states.

I just not sure that defines little. LOL.

Do you have some factory loads to compare to? I can shoot a couple pics tonite when I get home of typical 'factory crimps' for you

 

[kennyc01]

Congrats, and welcome to the school of hard knocks. It took me around 6 hours to get my Lee Pro 1000 set up and get familiar and comfortable with the operation. This man has some excellent videos on the entire process. Just paste this url in your google url bar and look for the videos by Cowboy T: https://www.google.com/#q=cowboy-t+lee+pro+videos
Good luck
OB

Yep! I have been watching a lot of youtube! The instruction that came with the press is pathetic!

I'm finding that I have to make sure I do batches - ...

I pulled the first case to load a bullet and there are powder grains in the bottom of the shell holder rack. No primer. No primers in any of them!

Had to dump em all back in the hopper and then prime the cases. Ah well.

LOL ouch!

Do you have some factory loads to compare to? I can shoot a couple pics tonite when I get home of typical 'factory crimps' for you

Great idea.. I do have a round I was using to set the initial bullet depth. But I did not think to use the same round to compare the crimp. Thanks!

 

[kennyc01]

Well, here is what I have after two nights.

64 good rounds plus 7 from last night = 71 good rounds. Today was much more confident but still weigh at least once every 2-3 rounds. Visually inspect every single round before inserting boolet.

I had to pull three loaded rounds, all because primer did not seat all the way in.

Much more learning. But at least I had fun doing it.

 

[Infantry23]

Good job. Glad you had fun!

 

[DaemonAssassin]

Congrats on rolling your first rounds, OP! Everybody was there at one time, so as you get more comfortable with your setup and start seeing consistency across multiple batches, you will find that checking every 5th to 10th round will be acceptable. <--- What I have learned after reloading for 20 +/- years.

On the flip side of this, if you are loading precision/match loads, you will want to check everything on each step, just like you are right now. It takes me 1-2 hours to make 50 rounds of precision 308 ammo, because I am making sure the powder charge is perfect, and so is the seating depth. The only difference is that I am using a Dillon 550 in single stage mode/operation. I can still get the precision on the dies that I would get off of a single stage press.

Keep up the good work and if you want some help, just holler and we can meet up.

 

[Pinecone]

When I load on a single stage, I also do batch work. If you set your lock rings properly, there is no setup when switching dies. Just screw in until the lock ring touchs the press, then hand tight. And you are there. Of course check, but I have virtually never had to adjust.

I prime using a hand priming tool. Lee Auto Prime, similar to this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/962031/lee-auto-prime-ergo-prime-hand-priming-tool

But if you can find one of the old ones with the round trays, they work better. And as a further upgrade, 21st Century has a MUCH better handle setup. So even if you can find just the round trays, pick it up.

I prime and glance at each one as I prime, then toss them into a container. Once you do it a bit, you can feel the primer bottom out (even easier with a hand primer).

I do not use loading blocks or similar. I take my container of primed brass, a box of bullets, and powder measure and go to work. I charge a case, seat the bullet, and put it into bin. I normally tumlbe my loaded rounds (vibratory tumbler ONLY), for about 15 minutes to remove finger prints and such.

For powder measuring, ball or flake powder, I use a Lyman 55 powder measure. For extruded powders, I now have an RCBS Chargemaster. When I was looking at loading 500 precision .308 rounds, I decided it was worth it.

Precision rifle rounds go into an plastic box, like the MTM boxes. Most other ammo goes into a bulk container, like an ammo can. I have started boxing some rounds with cardboard boxes. I will have to find the source, they are nice and take up less room.

 

[kennyc01]

Congrats on rolling your first rounds, OP! Everybody was there at one time, so as you get more comfortable with your setup and start seeing consistency across multiple batches, you will find that checking every 5th to 10th round will be acceptable. <--- What I have learned after reloading for 20 +/- years.
...
Keep up the good work and if you want some help, just holler and we can meet up.

I think I just have to get my confidence up as well as trusting (but verify) the press. I see myself check every 5 rounds eventually.

Thanks for your offer to assist. I am sure I will have many questions down the road. I will eventually get a 550.

... I prime using a hand priming tool. Lee Auto Prime, similar to this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/962031/lee-auto-prime-ergo-prime-hand-priming-tool

But if you can find one of the old ones with the round trays, they work better. And as a further upgrade, 21st Century has a MUCH better handle setup. So even if you can find just the round trays, pick it up...

I just bought a lee hand press and will probably hand load another caliber. Thanks for the info.

I was looking at the autoprime xr but that 21ST century priming tool looks amazing! Also 6x as expensive. Pretty short on funds after the "initial investments" so that will be sometime down the road.

Thanks!

 

[Pinecone]

You can get the Lee Auto Prime, and use it until it breaks, THEN buy the 21st Century handle.

That is what I did.

 

[ihriec]

I have a Lee hand press and love it. It's very easy to use and I can reload while sitting using a dinner tray table.

 

[Sticky]

You can get the Lee Auto Prime, and use it until it breaks, THEN buy the 21st Century handle.

That is what I did.

I been tryin to break mine for over 30 years.. still primin.... LMAO

 

[Klunatic]

I did weigh the final rounds but I am getting variances ~ .7gr Should I be concerned? Should all rounds weight close to the same?

They are all loaded in the same brass.

Kenny

.7 shouldn't be a problem as long as your aren't loading to max charge. I weighed my boolits before I started to make sure the variances are reduced. I separated the boolits by weight and then started loading. I was rolling .300AAC rounds and max variance was .02 gr , except for the double charged round (+11gr).

Are you loading rifle or pistol?

 

[byf43]

I been tryin to break mine for over 30 years.. still primin.... LMAO

My Lee Auto Prime has been doln' the job since '79.
The only thing about it is, the clear plastic cover, isn't 'clear' any longer. It has "yellowed" badly!!!

 

[kennyc01]

.7 shouldn't be a problem as long as your aren't loading to max charge. I weighed my boolits before I started to make sure the variances are reduced. I separated the boolits by weight and then started loading. I was rolling .300AAC rounds and max variance was .02 gr , except for the double charged round (+11gr).

Are you loading rifle or pistol?

45 ACP. Sorting out boolet/brass by weight is brilliant!!!

Don't laugh at the newbie.

 

[Sticky]

My Lee Auto Prime has been doln' the job since '79.
The only thing about it is, the clear plastic cover, isn't 'clear' any longer. It has "yellowed" badly!!!

Same here, but it still works great and I like that I can really 'feel' the primer seating, especially working with milsurp brass...

 

[DaemonAssassin]

I think I just have to get my confidence up as well as trusting (but verify) the press. I see myself check every 5 rounds eventually.

Thanks for your offer to assist. I am sure I will have many questions down the road. I will eventually get a 550.

Let me know when you are ready and you are welcome to check mine out and make some ammo on it for yourself as an orientation.

 

[Pinecone]

I been tryin to break mine for over 30 years.. still primin.... LMAO

Mine went a LONG time, but finally broke. What happens is the very top piece cracks around the edge.

Lee used to see replacement pieces, but stopped about a year or so ago for the original round tray one.

There are several replacement handles, but the 21st Century one seemed to be the best to me, and was also the cheapest.

 

[Pinecone]

I have a Lee hand press and love it. It's very easy to use and I can reload while sitting using a dinner tray table.

Lee Hand Press is a different thing.

We have been talking about the Lee hand priming tool, the Auto Prime.

A real press is a whole lot easier to use than the hand press. Especially if you get to doing rifle cartridges.

 

[Pinecone]

The problem with weighing is, the cases can vary be almost as much as the powder charge for pistol.

I managed to get a few .40 through my Dillon without charging. So I weighed them. And got weights all over. So I separated them into 1 gr "lots." I pulled the lightest lot first, and they were all uncharged. Went up the lots until I found a lot that was all charged. And then pulled a couple of each of the higher lots. They all had powder.

But the total variance was well over a grain for both uncharged charged cases.