Reloading- Here I go...

[ftncityfatboy]

press is in place, primer bought, powder ready, lots of brass, waiting on dies, should be here end of week...woo hoo!! should be loading this weekend. load about 30 rounds to try out. can't wait:D

[ukerduker]

I have been working up to this moment for some time. I am excited to get my first lesson in the near future from a fellow TGO member. I'm already to looking to expand my ammo production(Dillon press) before I load my first round. Some have stated this is an addictive hobby. I agree!

The rewarding part will be creating consistantly loaded rounds at a much cheaper price. Can't argue with that.

[ftncityfatboy]

quick question to you reloaders......i have set up my press, a Lee Breach lock single stage, reloading 9mm. got my lee dies today, and when inserting the shellholder, #16 Lee, it was very difficult to get into the press. i had to "give it some help" to get it to go in and seat. should this have been this hard??? i had to "tap" it rather well even after using a drimmel to persuade it. its in, don't plan on using any other dies, but i'm afraid it might not come out. should it be this tight???? thanks

[Rightwinger]

Sounds a little tight to me. I usually have to put my thumb on mine to push it in, it's a Lee also, but I have never had to alter it or tap it. Its only a wire spring in there that your pushing out and it snaps back in the recess on the shell holder. You might want to look in the top of the piston and make sure that wire isn't bound up or broken. Lee will make it right. If you call, you might just talk to Mr. Lee himself or his boy.

[ftncityfatboy]

made first batch of reloads and went to range last night. 50 lead bullets, 125 grain, charge 4.1 gr 9mm, 50 fmj bullets - 115 gr - 4.0 gr 9mm. all went bang. good groupings, fmj seems tighter grouping, maybe just me. i was nervous at first, afraid i might blow up gun or something. even though i read my books and followed instructions, there's always that uncertainty. but....all is right with the world. thanks to all who have helped with advice.

[ukerduker]

EXCELLENT! Glad to hear you had good results. I am getting ready to load my first rounds. I will probably have the same fear when I pull the trigger on my first few reloads.

RW- My schedule is open day/evening Thur, Sat, or Sun, if you are available.

[Rightwinger]

Sunday night is looking like the best date to start. I'll firm that up with you tomorrow night. Got baseball practice till 930 Thur night and will be hunting Saturday. Will also give me a chance to finalize the clean up that I never get around to finishing so you won't think I'm as disorganized as I am.

[ukerduker]

Well, things progress slightly beyond my Rockchucker this week. The Santa-Patrick-Bday-Easter-XMAS stork showed up at my door with a little surprise- a Dillon 550B with all the accessories for loading .233.

After several hours of assembly and reading and adjusting.....I loaded my first couple rounds (talk about nerve racking). This is a great system and very easy to use. I was interrupted a couple times during the process, which caused me to not prime 2 rounds. This would explain all the powder that suddenly appeared on my press.

Couple things I learned:

1- LOCK THE DOOR! No interruptions.

2- Establish a simple routine, with lots of checking steps

3- Slow is fast

4- Measure, measure, and measure (your caliper is your best friend)

Special thanks to Adam out at The Reloader Bench for answering all my questions.

[Rightwinger]

Nice purchase on the case gauge. That thing will catch any sizing issues.

Now time to change the Avatar....mullets scare me.

[ukerduker]

That case gauge is one of the best "tools" I have. It makes quick work of verifying completed rounds. Thanks for suggesting it.

I'm ready to look into reloading .40S&W.

EDIT- The mullet pic stays until I can find something better!

Edited March 29, 2009 by ukerduker
Justifying the Mullet

[ukerduker]

Reloaded ammo report...Range Day

I went out to Gallatin Gun Club to verify that my rounds would be successful in my SBR. After checking for potential slam fires, and checking to see if my bullet would be pushed further into the case, I was ready to pull the trigger.

I made 3 shots at 25yds. They were ALL OVER the place. I wondered if I had the wrong powder charge. I continued to shoot the remaining 10 rounds in the mag, and still a very wide grouping. Now I'm thinking WTF?!?!? As I dropped the mag, identified my problem. My mount for my Aimpoint came loose. After tightening everything up, I shot another 3 shots. These were damn near through the same hole. I didn't attempt any distance beyond 50yds today. I wanted to make sure my rounds did what they needed to do without any issues.

Each round cycled properly and made the requisite bang sound when promted. I inspected my cases afterwards to see if any problems. No deformed brass and the primer hits were solid. The primers also remained seated.

All in all, I was nervous about shooting my first reloaded rounds. Now I'm smiling ear to ear. Let the addiction begin (or continue)!

[Guest Mugster]

Good deal, sounds like your hooked.

[Rightwinger]

Nice job and well done process for safety Uker. I'd shoot with you any day.

[MudBugjr]

Question I have a lil money set aside thought about another gun. But I think i might take up reloading my 223 .45.40. anyway with things harder to find is it still worth doing?

[ftncityfatboy]

Question I have a lil money set aside thought about another gun. But I think i might take up reloading my 223 .45.40. anyway with things harder to find is it still worth doing?

yes, its still worth it. even with components hard to find, sometimes i find what i need at the gun shows, if you go early. i was shootin BB @ .20/load. started reloading, cost less than .10/load. i collect brass everytime i go shootin, so that cost is nill. approx $30 for 1K primers, bout $20/# powder, lead bullets .03/each or hp .17/each and the math adds up to savings. plus, i factor in the "hobby" issue. this is a very addictive hobby, once you start, you have no specific time you have to finish, no one looking over your shoulder, and no one cares what the loads look like but you. so, IMHO, yes its worth it. Enjoy....

[ukerduker]

Question I have a lil money set aside thought about another gun. But I think i might take up reloading my 223 .45.40. anyway with things harder to find is it still worth doing?

YES, it's worth it. The front-side costs will be as high or as cheap as you want to make them, but the return is MUCH cheaper ammo. Right now things are getting much tigher because people are still nervous about the A$$hat that got elected to the White House. I think in time, this will subside and prices and will return to a more reasonable level.

Check out this site for good bargins: ReloadersAuction.com, reloading, shooting, online auction

[MudBugjr]

I'm gonna have to go back and search old post for a good single stage I guess. Brands prices etc.

[gsbell]

It's fun stuff for sure! I shot my first batches of reloads yesterday after a match. I had 5 different loads for 147 grain 9mm and 5 more for 124 grain 9mm. Shot them all across my chrono no surprises and they all went bang

Today I loaded 200 of the 147's and 200 of the 124's. I'll shoot these in a match and see which I like better.

[Punisher84]

Glad you're stuff ran good Uker! That's always good to hear.

[ukerduker]

After waiting a little more than a week, I got the final components I need to start reloading .40S&W. Today my dies arrived from Dillon. I had already purchased my chick change and caliber conversion kit. Now I need some small pistol primers.

[gsbell]

Good luck on the small pistol primers. Just place an order with Graf's or Powder Valley and wait and wait.

[ukerduker]

Good luck on the small pistol primers. Just place an order with Graf's or Powder Valley and wait and wait.

I only need 5000 or so.

[MudBugjr]

Went by the reloaders bench this afternoon and picked up some primers for .40 .45 and .308. They are still out of .223. said he had 8 million on order!

[ukerduker]

I can imagine. I called today looking for small pistol primers. I knew the answer before I called, but I have to go through the motions.

[ukerduker]

After locating a few primers, I finally had had all the components to start reloading 40S&W. It took me about an hour to get everything setup. After tinkering with the powder charge I was all set. I reloaded my first ten rounds tonight.