Want some .45?

[dcphoto]

Yes, I'm not kidding. I have several hundred cases, already tumbled. If I provide supplies will you teach me how to reload? In exchange for your expertise I will part ways with some of the spoils. I live in North Austin, on the Border of Round Rock.

[Broncrider]

If you were close to North Texas I would be willing to help.

[longtooth]

Give it some time. THere will be a response before the night is over I bet.

[ghostrider]

what equipment do you have? what calibres (besides 45) do you plan to reload? what kind of information or help do you need?

(yes, its all questions, but I didn't want longtooth to be proven wrong and its almost midnight) :-)

[longtooth]

See thar dcphoto.
Told ya help was on the way.
Thank you ghostrider.

[dcphoto]

what equipment do you have? what calibres (besides 45) do you plan to reload? what kind of information or help do you need?

(yes, its all questions, but I didn't want longtooth to be proven wrong and its almost midnight) :-)

Heh, I have no equipment and don't know anything about reloading, other than you are stuffing a new bullet in an old case. I plan to start with .45, and eventually set up to reload 9mm and .223. I've started reading about it, but I'm not the type of person that *gets it* after reading about doing something. For me to have any hope of understanding how to reload safely I need to actually do it.

If somebody was willing, I would really appreciate any help you could give me. I've looked at equipment before, but I don't really want to run out and buy gear without knowing what I truly need, and my wife will shoot me if I go out and buy a bunch of stuff I don't really need.

Edit: I take that back, I have a vibratory rock tumbler that I've been using to clean my brass.

[particle]

http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/video.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=238214" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A good progressive reloading kit would be a good start. Something like the Lee at Cabelas...

Lee Classic Turret Press Reloading Kit
Item:XJ-216337
$189.99

You'd still need a few more tools, like a case trimmer, calipers to measure seating depth and case length, bullet puller to yank the bullets if you mess up or seat the bullet too deep, as well as consumables (powder, primer, bullets, case lube).

Read the article I linked above on The High Road - it's a good start, and also watch the videos on Lee's site. Youtube has a ton of videos too.

[dewayneward]

If I wasnt at work (they block it here), I'd give you the links to youtube for reloading. Go to http://www.youtube.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and type in reloading and there are a number of videos that walk you through the process.

Good luck. I, myself am in the market for a reloading system (eyeing the Lee anniversary system, but dont want to pay $80). Looks like fun to do.

[tfrazier]

For newbies who only plan to reload one caliber for the foreseeable future, you can't beat the Dillon Square Deal B, IMO. Pretty much everything you need in a progressive reloading machine (mechanically) to get started except for a powder scale for $350. It all comes pre-adjusted (except for powder charging) from the factory and it takes less than 30 minutes to put it together.

Click here to read my review on the Dillon Square Deal B reloader if you want.

[CDH]

For newbies, I recommend avoiding a progressive reloader unless you plan to disconnect the progressive feature during your learning stages. With a progressive, you have to have EVERY station properly adjusted and working all at once. That is unlikely for a new guy. Get a single stage kit like the starter kits from RCBS, load a few hundred in batches of 50, one step at a time, and learn every step.

It is much better to make and find the mistakes one at a time rather than when you find out that your progressive was not throwing powder and you have 500 cases with primer, bullet, and no powder (for example).

If you have a tutor, go for it and be careful. If you're mostly learning on your own, a single stage is the way to go. You can always sell it (good quality like new equipment holds it's value well) and move up later. It is a lot cheaper getting started as well, just in case you find out (a high % do) that it really isn't for you.

My 2 cents worth...

[ghostrider]

other educational options include talking to reloaders at local gun clubs, or possibly a reloading clinic:
http://www.krtraining.com/KRTraining/Cl ... ading.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghostrider]

As for equipment, I recommend:

# single stage press (even when you move up to a progressive, you may still find use for the single stage)

# multiple sources of reloading data. See my post: http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 62&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

# powder scales
- either balance scale or digital.

# calipers and case gauge
- bullet seating depth is very important, especially in high pressure cartridges
- case gauges are to verify the newly loaded cartridge meets dimension specs and will actually chamber in your gun

# reloading dies
- several brands available; I prefer dillon for pistol and hornady for rifle seating dies

# bullet puller
- you will make some loads that will need to be disassembled :-) trust me

# safety glasses
- its really a good idea to wear safety glasses while reloading

# components
- brass, bullets, primers, power -> good luck finding primers in stock anywhere

### extra's for rifle reloading
# case lube
- even if you use carbide dies, lubrication is required for bottleneck cartridges
# precision mic
- very helpful for adjusting rifle dies if you full-length resize

##### nice to have if money isn't an issue

# progressive press - its a 'gotta have' for high volume reloading
# chronograph - published data often has optimistic velocity data; you won't know for sure how fast a load is in your gun without a chronograph



I'm sure I missed something.

[TLE2]

So...

If I'm only going to reload .45ACP and I'm only going to reload fifty to maybe a couple of hundred at a time, which press/kit will get usable (read good) results with the least outlay for the kit/press?

I have been shooting Blaser Brass with good result. And I started policing the brass as soon as ammo got scarce.

I've looked at a RCBS Rock Chucker kit, and it looks good to me, but as seasoned opinion would be welcome.

Is there something more economical (OK, read cheap ), that would do the job??

Thanks,

P.S. Are there any reloading classes at PSC?

[CWOOD]

I'll put in my 2 cents.

I am fairly new to reloading. I have reloaded .45ACP mostly but am preparing to start 9mm soon, and .223 when primers arrive...if ever. I have gotten to the point where I feel comfortable going to an IDPA match and shooting my reloads without worrying about bringing along back up ammo...just in case my reloads don't work well...they do now.

I was going through the same decision making process that you have. I wasn't looking for a NEW hobby, I was just looking for a way to make my current hobby a bit more affordable. I only shoot a max of about 2000 rounds per year.,,sometimes not that. I initially started looking at a progressive press. I like the Dillon SDB, but I wanted to eventually load .223 and I didn't like the fact that the dies were propriatary to that press only and fairly expensive to boot. I then thought about a Lee Loadmaster. I almost bought a used one locally but the deal fell through. That may have been just as well.

If you read comments about the Loadmaster you can read several folks that just love it and are satisfied with it, but mention having to "tinker" with it from time to time to keep it functioning well. There was a significant percentage of others who just really disliked it and felt strongly about it that way. I am pretty handy and figured that I could keep it running but I wanted a tool I could work WITH rather than one I would have to work ON. All the other progressives were just to pricey for my needs and would take years to break even, so I ruled out progressives for now.

Single stage presses did not appeal to me for the most part. They are good for learning and being able to batch component processing but they are SLOW. Then I found a middle of the road machine which provides plenty of learning opportunities like a single stage but can reload considerably faster when the time comes without having to buy a new set of equipment. It has been my exerience that it is usually a bad deal to UNDERbuy. That is true for weapons, cars, motorcycles, etc. If you just buy something comfortable initially, you will often become dissatisfied with it after your skills improve.

I decided on the Lee Classic Turret kit. There are two sources of pretty good kits. One is at Cabelas here:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The other is as Kempf's Gun shop here:

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php?pag ... &Itemid=41" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are both good kits. The list of equipment is a bit different by in the end the price will come out pretty close.

I chose the one from Cabelas and am very pleased with it. I am sure the other would have been fine, too. I chose Cabelas because they had an online coupon for $50 off on any order over $150 and they have free shipping with pick up at any of their stores. I only live about 8 miles from the Buda store and had it shipped there. I got a very good deal. They have since had a price increase but so has Kempf's...and so have ammo sellers. If you get Kempf's kit, definaterly get the upgrade.

The beauty of the Classic Turret (much better than Lee's Deluxe Turret Kit...more sturdy) is that you can set it up as a single stage and batch rounds one function at a time. When you are ready you can reactivate the autoadvance mechanism(very easy and quick) and have a "semi-progressive." When you get skilled at it and have your components organized you can crank out between 150 -200 rounds per hour. That is plenty fast for me.

As for cost, my .45 reloads with jacketed bullets(stock Glock) cost about 15 cents per round using cleaned/polished range brass. If you were to purchase and use lead bullets you could knock of at least 6 cents from that. With what I paid for the press kit, tumbler kit (also Cabelas) and books, calipers, bullet puller and incidentals, I will have recovered my setup costs in under 2000 rounds.

I have never hit the 150-200 rounds per hours rate yet, but I am still being very careful and checking overall length and powder weight every 10 or so rounds. I CAN see that it could be done once the skills and confidence are there.

A real convenience of the Lee Classic Turret is that you can change calibers VERY quckly and easily. The turret heads are only $10 and a 4 die pistol set is about $35. I have gotten one for each caliber, mounted the dies and adjusted them. To reload another caliber, you can just pull one turret/die combo and install another turret/die combo. It takes all of 90 seconds and you do NOT have to readjust the dies each time. Set it in and go.

This press is VERY sturdy, works well with esentally no fiddling. I feel that for the amount of ammo that I shoot, it has proved to be a really great choice. If I were to need 4K-10K rounds per year I would go for the Dillon 550B, but I just couldn't justify that level of expendature for the amount that I get to shoot these days.

I hope this has been helpful.

[y5e06]

I'm in wellsbrach. I wouldn't mind showing you how I do mine. Right now I do .32Long, .38/357, 9mm, and some rifle. No .45 yet but maybe when I finally end up w/ a 1911. Not planning on loading within next few days, but waiting on new shipment of lead boolits before I load up more .38 & 9mm.
If you really intend to handload, go ahead and buy a few reload manuals. they have information in the front that is good to digest. Also "ABC's of Reloading " is a decent read.