Thinking about starting to reload

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  • mdmack

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    Well I am thinking about getting into reloading and looking for a few answers/ advice.

    First and formost, I would be reloading 9mm, .45 ACP, .223, & .308 (the .308 is optional because I dont shoot as much of it)

    Questions:

    1. About how much per load for each of those calibers can you load plinking ammo for? I know when you get into specialty bullets and powder it can vary a lot, but I want a realistic price per round on plinking loads.

    2. Is there really a difference in the brands of presses and dies? If I am going to do it I am going to do it right and get atleast a turret press if not a progressive. I see the Dillon RL 550B is $440 with no dies and the Lee loadmaster is $384 with dies for 1 caliber of your choice. I have heard that all the brands are really about the same, but I dont mind spending the money up front if there is a good reason why I should.

    3. IF there is a difference in the press brands and dies, which one do you like the best and why? (not limited to lee and dillon those were just used as an example)

    4. Whats your favorite place (local or on the web) to buy reloading supplies from?

    5. When it comes to case cleaning is there any real advantage to ultrasonic or is it just a prefrence thing? if not is there a real difference in different media materials?

    6. From what I have read some people act like rifle loads are a real PITA compared to handgun loads. I assume this is because of having to trim rifle cartridges ? or are people just divas about spending a little extra time trimming cases?

    7. This is not just a money thing for me I think it will be a good hobby that could potentially save me a little cash in the long run.

    8. Is there anything I did not ask about that you believe to be a very important factor in my decision to begin reloading or not?

    Thanks a ton for taking the time to read this and give a new guy a little advice.

    -Mack-
     

    rick1967

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    Let me trying to answer your questions:
    1) 9mm will cost you about 10$ and that's excluding the brass. Bullets 115 grains are 70$ / 1000 shipped from SNS casting, primers are 22$/1000 plus shipping and hazmat, the rest is powder.
    The 45 ACP bullet costs more, primer and powder about the same as the 9mm.
    .223 bullets are 12-14$ per 100, you need about 25 grains of powder so a pound will give you 280 rounds. You do the math based on the cost of the powder.
    .308 bullets cost 20$ per 100 FMJ or about 35$/100 if match grade. A 168 grain bullet needs from 42 to 50 grains of powder depending on the type. A pound is 7000 grains so again you do the math.

    2) I use a Lee turret press. The cheaper aluminum one lasted me a couple of years , I am now using the much sturdier cast iron one called "classic". I can load 200 rounds of 9mm per hour. Takes few seconds to change calibers once you have the extra turrets (12 dollars each).
    Lee does not make good progressive presses: Dillon does but they get expensive quickly. Forget the base price of 550 $ for a dillon 650, by the time you add the case feeder and other gizmos you are around a 1000 dollars. A dillon 650 can crank 800 rounds of 9mm per hour but switching calibers is expensive and takes time.

    3) Lee dies for me work great and they are inexpensive. I tried other brands like entry level Reddings or Hornady but I like the Lee dies better.

    4) Bullets from SNS casting for pistol plinking, for rifle I buy from Grafs but I have a dealers account. Wideners has good deals too. Midway or Brownells have good deals from time to time.

    5) I love my new Frankford arsenal wet tumbler. No more dust, no media, no dirty hands. No need to use the boring stainless steel pins if you do not need the inside of the cases and primer pockets cleaned up.

    6) Rifle cases need to be lubricated, resized, chamfered, primer pocket cleaned and if you want accuracy you also have to ream the necks, deburr the flash hole and uniform the primer pockets. You also need to weight each powder load if you want good accuracy.
    Takes time and patience.

    7) The fun part wears out quickly. You do it to save money in plinking rounds and get the best accuracy out of your rifles.

    8) You need time and a quite private room where you are left undisturbed. You better have the right personality as it does not take a lot of a screw up to blow up a rifle case.

    Good luck!
     
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    Snow Bird

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    I say Dillon all the way. Do you really need all the fancy gismos (sp) if you are just starting to load. The Dillons except for the Square Deal B will take regular dies I beleave. I dont think I would have the case Feeder myself to start. One thing for sure you can spend ALOT on stuff when you do get into it if you want to.

    I started with 1 Square Deal and ended up buying another 1 and then dies for 9 mm and ALL the stuff to go with it. Just about everything I have is Dillon from the scales to the flip tray.

    Edit Square Deal will only load hand gun loads but it will do 400 an hour and you don't really have to work hard to get it done.

    Don't take anyones load to start Get 2 or 3 loading manuals and go by them. If its not in a manual I would never try it myself.
     
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    bluedsteel

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    For years I have only loaded .223 for service rifle competition and started out using a single stage Rock Chucker as advised by others since I was a newb to reloading.
    When you do things in stages like priming, powder drops, and bullet seating a hundred or so at a time, you really learn get everything in your head so you will see something wrong quickly so you can stop and check it out.

    That being said (and since I plan to start loading pistol), this fall I got a Dillon 650. Showed the wife a video of the 550 and she said, "you have to turn it yourself?" So I ended up with a 650 and auto indexing.

    Put a clamped John Whidden floating toolhead on it and the run out was no different than a single stage (none).

    BUT do go slow if you decide to get a progressive. There is a lot going on, last week I put a powder check on the toolhead which will let you know if something goes really wrong with the powder drop. Also the installed the casefeeder cuz stopping to put 10 cases at a time in the tube is a drag.

    I like ultrasonic cleaning, decap first and it cleans most of the primer pockets and inside the case looks like new. I still polish after sizing. Case prep for rifle is a necessary evil, not having ammo problems in a semi-auto rifle on the line is your best friend in a match.

    If you decide to go Dillon, shop BrianEnos.com. He gets drop ships from Dillon for lower shipping rates than what Dillon will charge.
     

    jakec

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    do it man. i love it. i use the real slow single stage presses but its safer to me and i aint racing nobody anyways. i have no idea how many rounds per min i can do but i do know i never have to worry about not having ammo. just about all my stuff is lee. loading is theraputic (spl?). cant sleep at night? go pull on some levers in the shop. ol lady being a bitch? go pull some levers. had a bad day? go pull on levers. the ammo piles up quick.
     

    M.O.A.

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    The above posts pretty much covered it. Once the cost of setup are factored in you'll pay about 3-4x the bulk price for ammo that you could buy it for.
     

    Stagman

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    I am new to reloading and my advice is to buy the Lyman 49th edition and read through the reloading steps in the front half of the book a couple of times, it will tell you anything and everything you need to know. Also a SouthBound a forum member here made several step by step reloading videos that are extremely helpful, here is the link http://www.pensacolareloaders.com/
     

    bohica793

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    I cast my own and load. From a purely financial standpoint, here are the numbers:

    Primers: .03 / round
    Powder: .004 / grain @ $28/lb (7000 grains/lb)
    Lead for bullets: $1.10/lb (7000 grains/lb)
    Jacketed bullets are more costly, but can be computed on a cost -per basis.

    Given these numbers, you can do the math easily:

    For cast lead (casting your own): (1.10 / (7000 / bullet wt)) + (powder wt * .004) + primer cost = cost of reloaded round
    For jacketed or cast lead you purchase: bullet cost + (powder wt * .004) + primer cost = cost of reloaded round

    .45ACP 200 grain SWC with 4.5 grains of powder: (1.10 / (7000/200)) + (4.5 * .004) + .03 = ~ .08 / round
    .45ACP 200 grain SWC purchased ($55/500) with 4.5 grains of powder: .11 + (4.5 * .004) + .03 = ~ .16 / round (purchased bulletover half the cost of load)

    9MM 125 grain with 3.5 grains of powder: (1.10 / (7000/125)) + (3.5 * .004) + .03 = ~ .06 / round

    .223 55 grain Hornady ($44/500) with 25 grains of powder: .09 + (25 * .004) + .03 = .22 / round (the jacketed round is almost half of the cost)

    All of the math aside, I started doing this because I like working with my hands and I like the challenge of being able to still shoot even when the world goes more insane than usual. I wanted to be able to creat loads tailored to my way of shooting and my weapons and not to be restricted to what the manufacturers throw out there as acceptable rounds (As an example, can you find .38Spl target wadcutter loads at retail today?). As Jake stated, it IS therapeutic as it allows me to focus on a specific action and block out all of the extraneous bullshit from work, etc. If you are getting into this just to save money, then my advise is DON'T. You will waste you money, become frustrated and may even injure yourself or others. Reloading is a craft and should be undertaken as such. Otherwise, it just becomes a chore you do because you fell you have to, not because you want to.
     

    Stagman

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    As Jake stated, it IS therapeutic as it allows me to focus on a specific action and block out all of the extraneous bullshit from work, etc. If you are getting into this just to save money, then my advise is DON'T. You will waste you money, become frustrated and may even injure yourself or others. Reloading is a craft and should be undertaken as such. Otherwise, it just becomes a chore you do because you fell you have to, not because you want to.

    This is spot on! Reloading is a therapeutic hobby for me and the money savings is only a bonus.
     

    mdmack

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    Okay I am convinced, I am going to jump on in. Anyone have any old equipment Laying around they would like to sell? I think I am going to go with a turret press (lee classic turret is looking like the one right now unless I find a great deal on something else) so I do not have to adjust my dies so much. I will be reloading 9mm, .45 ACP, .223, and .308 so if someone has some old dies laying around that they want to get rid of I would be interested for sure. I will also be looking for case trimming/prep tools (trimmer, reamer, pocket shaper, etc.) Any little accessories as well like manuals, flip tray, scale, powder measure/drop. Anything you might have laying around that is in your way that I could use I would be interested in buying so let me know if you have anything. Thanks again for all the useful info and hopefully I can get what I need and get up and running pretty soon. Now im off to convince mom that for Christmas I need a turret press and not more socks.
     
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    rick1967

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    There was a fellow from Milton who had a classic press kit for sale for 150 $ but looks like it sold it few hours ago... that was a good deal.
     

    flowman007

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    A word of warning and I'm sure everyone here will agree.

    Reloading is awesome but it is a never ending journey of buying new toys to add to your setup. I have 4 presses now and am experimenting/buying new dies, gadgets and feeders all the time. Best to start out with a single stage and work your way to progressive. I still do all my rifle on a single stage since I'm all about accuracy. (more money right there) Concentricity gauges, neck measuring devices, etc. I have every type of brass cleaner - Dry tumble, Ultrasonic (2 sizes), and Wet tumble w/stainless (which is the best IMO for getting super clean like new brass with less fuss). Then there is brass trimmers...manual, powered, etc.. The hornady Brass prep center was a very worthwhile investment for me.

    It's worth every penny - But be warned of the blackhole of fun!!!
     

    Stagman

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    I just picked up the Speer Reloading Manual #14 from BPS and I would also highly recommend getting this one along with the Lyman 49th to lean the steps of reloading.
     

    FrankT

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    It has to be for other reasons than to save money as that will take a very long time and a lot of bullets over the cost of buying plinking rounds when factoring in the equipment costs and your time. The real advantage is specialty rds and rifles rds not plinking rds. In rifle rds you just cannot buy as good a rd as you can reload.

    You never see folks add in the time cost, the area of the house(mortgage, ins, heat/cold, taxes and loss of space) into their number as reloading will most likely never save you money if you do the math properly...So it better be because you enjoy it and need a new hobby.
     
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    Snow Bird

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    ^^ This from a man that dosen't reload!!!!! I can't even start to add up the money I have saved reloading hand gun ammo. It's in the THOUSANDS!!!!!!
     
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    Umma ok if u say so at .08 cents a pop for .45 bullets. So $4 for 50 rounds isn't cheaper? I guess my math is wrong.
     
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