Cheap Start to Reloading?

[4570Man]

If you’re shootings them out of the same gun I think you can get by without resizing them. The rest of the practice left a lot of room for improvement.

 

[k0ua]

38/357 is one of the cheapest combos to start reloading for. 1 die set, both cartridges, you can use inexpensive bulk purchased or hand cast lead projectiles, its a big roomy case and uses little powder, very forgiving to learn on a rimmed, and a revolver cartridge. Oal and headspace are a no brainer. You can run anything from full wadcutter to swc, lrn, or truncated nose or hollow point and have no feedramp issues like autos have. If you get too aggressive with the crimp, they still headspace, you just wear the brass a little, minimum charges don't bother a revolver like they can an auto that might short stroke or stovepipe on lower charge rates.

Lead and 38/357 love each other, some cartridges and guns just don't like lead due to rifeling type, etc.

With a 357mag revolver you can make 38 wc target loads, full 38's, you can shoot 38+p, as well as full blown 357mag loads. Lotsa ammo versatility.

You can get decent 357's in the 400$ range.

Yep. What he said.

 

[paulsharvey]

OUCH!... um.. how did you properly seat the primer below flush, and for that matter sensitize it properly? Don't do that. How did you properly crimp the bullet into the case to provide proper neck tension?.... don't do that... Folks, while this is a great tutorial on how to crudely load a couple of rounds in a SHTF type of situation, don't do this. Please. Don't follow these instructions..Reloading ammunition inherently carries some dangers. You must take all steps to mitigate those dangers at all times. Just because he got away with it, and can still see out of both eyes. All well and good. That don't mean you will be so lucky.

I've heard of old timers smacking primers in with a metal spoon, tapping gently.

Note, that's 208 shotgun primers I'm talking about using a spoon to tap in

 

[Soundguy]

So, I ordered the Lee C-Clamp press ($32.09), Hornady American 3-Die set ($34, but you get 100 free bullets with mail in rebate), WAOAW digital scale ($19.99), Hornady funnel ($3.47), Lee Powder scoops ($10.99). Still need powder (Hs-6, CFE pistol, Universal; depending on what's in stock), Primers, projectiles, Lube ...

I'll be right at $150, with 1 pound of powder, 200 projectiles, reusing by Blazer Brass,

I went 9mm Para, even though I know the savings won't be there. More as a first step, see if I'm going to actually enjoy it, then next would be 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel.

you will need a case trimmer and calipers before you do bottleneck rifle.

 

[Soundguy]

Sorry I'm late to this party, but in my opinion, the Lee Classic Cast turret press is about the best beginner press available for someone who wants to reload both rifle and pistol calibers, and eventually will want to load pistol fast enough to produce a good amount of ammo. The quality is high enough that it is also a long term answer, even as a lifetime purchase.

Forget any negative comments you've ever heard about Lee's equipment. The Classic Cast turret came along at a time when they really started to improve quality. It's a very good piece of equipment. Well designed and well built. DO NOT confuse it with the earlier Lee turret presses, which are made out of cast aluminum. The Classic Cast is linked below. Check out the reviews on MidwayUSA. Near universal praise from many reviewers.

It takes 10 seconds to convert between single stage for rifle (or learning pistol) and auto-indexing for fast production of pistol rounds. Caliber changes take about 30 seconds, if you have spare turrets (less than $15) set up with your other die sets. Produces very good ammo in either single stage or auto-indexing mode. 150 to 200 pistol rounds an hour is realistic, although at the upper end of that rangem it requires a pretty quick pace, maybe faster than some people would be comfortable going.

In my 15 years of reloading, I've had Hornady, RCBS, Forster and Lee presses, single stage, progressives and turrets. About eight years ago, I settled on the Lee Classic Cast turret as the only press I need.

Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press - MPN: 964

Those turrets are great presses. I have one and now use it more than any of my others. changing out a tool head is fast n easy.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks everyone. I don't doubt anyone is happy with their purchase. I really wanted to stay cheap, small, and cheap. I probably should have scrounged up an additional $30 to go to the Challanger type, but it was really a pretty firm budget. I can't really justify $750 start up for a toy. Heck, I may not want to bother with the whole mess after a few months, who knows.

One minor complication was of the $150 budget, $75 was in Amazon gift card, and they don't sell components...

So far I'm happy, but already I want a bigger space than a 24" x 12" square of plywood c-clamped to a TV tray.

BTW, Hornady says no lube needed for pistol with their titanium nitrate or whatever, but works SO much nicer with some bow string wax as lube.

You can get dies on amazon about as cheap as anywhere else. you can also get SOME components, but not many on their as well.

Hint.. some of the sellers on amazon also have their own website. there is one camera place that sells lee molds and die sets on amazon, on their website they sell other things amazon won't allow, etc.

 

[dodge man]

I have been reloading for over 20 years and have yet to trim a case. What I have discovered is that in pistol I have never found a case that is to long even after reloading several times. With rifle, I load both 223 and 30-06. You can reload both at least once without trimming. I've found that once the 30-06 has been reloaded once it needs trimming after being fired again. In 223 it seems like it takes 2 or 3 times before they need trimming. I will soon be buying a trimmer though. In theory you should trim all your cases to the same exact length for the best accuracy though.

 

[k0ua]

I have been reloading for over 20 years and have yet to trim a case. What I have discovered is that in pistol I have never found a case that is to long even after reloading several times. With rifle, I load both 223 and 30-06. You can reload both at least once without trimming. I've found that once the 30-06 has been reloaded once it needs trimming after being fired again. In 223 it seems like it takes 2 or 3 times before they need trimming. I will soon be buying a trimmer though. In theory you should trim all your cases to the same exact length for the best accuracy though.

I have never trimmed a pistol case, and I agree that .223 can usually go a couple times without trimming, but you will need to trim eventually .

 

[Soundguy]

I trim all bottleneck rifle for uniformity of crimp, every time. I havn't had to trim straight walled pistol.. ever..

 

[FarmWrench]

Trimming for me has been dependent on where the brass started, what it was reloaded to and how it was resized. (.308Win loading only for me, ymmv)
Quality factory brass I've bought as loaded ammo has been very consistent and not grown with neck sizing. Some have even started leaking at the primer pockets before needing trimming.

The "on sale" once fired military brass, if it was run through a machine gun will grow depending on how hot the chamber it was fired from was.

I'm using a Lyman universal trimmer. It looks like a little lathe and disappoints me. Lee trim die and head is in route.