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I must say, I'm feeling a little bit pleased with myself. After procrastinating for the best part of a year, telling myself "well, perhaps I should read just one more reloading book from cover to cover, before I start" I finally bit the bullet (if y'all will pardon the pun) and assembled my first ever ammo.

It was nothing fancy, just some low pressure .38 Special plinking rounds for a 1922 Colt Army Special. I used 4 grains of Unique and some (more expensive than necessary) 125 grain Hornady JHPs, because that was what was in my Lyman book and I thought it best to follow the instructions to the letter, for my first attempt. I made a few rounds, took them to the range and fired 5 from a Charter Arms Southpaw, as a first test, then the other six from my Colt. They worked great, so I came home and loaded a box of 50. Next time, I'll find some cast bullets, for economy.

Flushed with my success, I ordered two new sets of dies in .303 British (for my Enfields) and .38 S&W (for my Webley). My next mission is to find some cheap (expensive is easy) .360" or .361" diameter 200 grain bullets, so that I can have a go at replicating the pre WWII .38/200 round. I'm talking with the chap at Western Bullet Company about that and he's kindly offered to see what he can do next time he casts a batch.

I think that I'm beginning to understand what folks see in reloading. In some ways, it reminds me of 1911s - I never understood the fascination with those, either, until I got one.

Congratulations. It sounds like you are off to a great start.

I haven't officially joined the fraternity yet. I have procured the press, dies and most other hardware, but still need to source a suitable, portable cart/bench to work on, as well as consumables. The brass I have on hand in 9mm and .380 is nice and shiny, though, since its trip through the vibratory tumbler. I am anxious to get loading, but it'll be a couple more weeks due to other commitments.

Best of luck in this new hobby. Sounds like you may be pondering a foray into bullet casting soon???

AndyC wrote:Hard to forget the feelings of anticipation and apprehension while pulling the trigger on your first round

Ah, I avoided that by putting my first ever round in a place of honour on the top shelf, where it shall remain.

I did experience all those feelings while pulling the trigger on my second round, however.

chartreuse wrote:

AndyC wrote:Hard to forget the feelings of anticipation and apprehension while pulling the trigger on your first round

Ah, I avoided that by putting my first ever round in a place of honour on the top shelf, where it shall remain.

I did experience all those feelings while pulling the trigger on my second round, however.

I did the same.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=31133&hilit=first+reload" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Welcome aboard! Reloading is tons of fun and a hobby all to itself. I have long ago recouped equipment and component costs with some more expensive rounds and just barely beat the cost of factory with my 9mm loads but I have a great time doing it!

Oh and my first ever load was a pretty warm 45 colt (Ruger blackhawk) 300gr. bullet over 10 gr. of Unique with the home cast bullet and recipe given to me by a friend's grandpa. Do not use except in Ruger class guns! I now shoot "plinkers" of 255 gr. over 9 gr. Unique and they are a hoot. Hot enough so you know something is going on, but not so bad that your hand hurts after a session! Safe in my gun, work up to loads carefully.

NcongruNt wrote:

chartreuse wrote:

AndyC wrote:Hard to forget the feelings of anticipation and apprehension while pulling the trigger on your first round

Ah, I avoided that by putting my first ever round in a place of honour on the top shelf, where it shall remain.

I did experience all those feelings while pulling the trigger on my second round, however.

I did the same.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=31133&hilit=first+reload" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Me too.... we're all so proud of our babies. Although I sent my first one downrange with the rest of 'em

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I love looking at all my 30.06 loads when I've finished them and they are all nice and orderly in the box. The I grin even more when I start to load them into the EnBlocs....

I load for .303, 30-06, 7.62x54r, .223 rem, and am starting to load .38spl. I use nothing but Lee Classic no frills dies. You have to hammer in the shells and use a ram to get them out. I really like doing it super hands on for some odd reason. My arms hurt though after sizing 30-06 for my garand with the Lee hand press. Thats a workout!!!

olafpfj wrote:I love looking at all my 30.06 loads when I've finished them and they are all nice and orderly in the box. The I grin even more when I start to load them into the EnBlocs....

I load for .303, 30-06, 7.62x54r, .223 rem, and am starting to load .38spl. I use nothing but Lee Classic no frills dies. You have to hammer in the shells and use a ram to get them out. I really like doing it super hands on for some odd reason. My arms hurt though after sizing 30-06 for my garand with the Lee hand press. Thats a workout!!!

For those 7.62x54R, do you use .308 bullets? I'm planning on loading that caliber, but the Lee dies are apparently made for .308 projectiles, rather than .311-.312 in the spec. I asked them about it, they said they I could replace the decapper/expander in the sizing die with the one for a .303 British at a cost of $3.

Since my reloading will be only for my 91/30 and it's a bolt-action, I asked about a neck-only sizing die. They said they could custom make one at a cost of $55, sending them 2 spent cases and a bullet. Before doing all that, I think I'm going to slug my barrel and see what the diameter really is.

What reloader / dies are you using? Roll or taper crimp on the 38? My first solo reload was .44 Magnum for my Ruger SuperBlackHawk which I used for Hunter's Pistol Silhouette - 10 grains of Unique, 240 gr SWC HardCast Denver Bullets. For HP Silhouette, I quickly gravitated to the .32 H&R Mag - 5 grains of Unique for a Hornday 85 gr JHP in a Thompson Center Contender.

I believe single-stage reloaders are the best place to start - gives you the chance to learn all of the adjustments without having to watch multiple stations. All my rifle loading is on a RCBC RockChucker. Pistol reloading takes place on the RC, Star Universals and Dillon 1050.

Just back from the Shot Show and RCBS and Hornady have bullet feeders for their progressives.