handloaders

[XRpredator]

I'm looking at getting myself into handloading, with the boy starting to want to shoot a lot nowadays, and with the various weaponry I happen to have, and all the spent brass I seem to create.

Couple questions:

1. has anyone spent the time to reload 9mm?
2. can you reload aluminum cases, or is it brass only?
3. can I use the same powder for pistol and rifle cartridges
4. is it worth it to do shotshells?

thanks

your pal

pred

 

[Rich Rohrich]

your pal

pred

... future Dateline NBC lead story. :whoa:

 

[Shaw520]

has anyone spent the time to reload 9mm?

Yes, A turret press is best for 9mm, you'll want to pump them out in quanity.

can you reload aluminum cases, or is it brass only?

Yes, I have loaded aluminum, nickle and brass.

can I use the same powder for pistol and rifle cartridges

No, pistol powder is much faster burning than rifle, but you can use shotshell powder for pistol cartridges, (same speed powders)

is it worth it to do shotshells?

Yes, I believe my press is a Lee Turret, and I can do several boxes in a couple hours, (about 20 boxes)

Pred, what it boils down to is; if you shoot alot, reloading is great and will save $$$$
Also, when reloading rifle cartridges, you can make more precise and 'taylor' the rounds to your specs, (a chronogragh will be needed to measure bullet speed) with that said though, many manufactures are now making Premium Cartridges that are hard to beat,... But I still think I can! LOL!

 

[Okiewan]

I just ask cops I know for some range ammo.
Works for me.

 

[Green Horn]

and I can do several boxes in a couple hours, (about 20 boxes)

:yikes: Can I do that for .357 rounds? What's the initial investment for tools/ supplies? Hell, I might be able to afford to shoot mine again. :laugh:
[If only I could make my own gasoline at home to get me back and forth to the range.] :cool:

 

[Shaw520]

It really all depends on the press that you buy, multi functional presses will pump out more ammo per minute, But not really something you want when dialing in precision rifle rounds. When I make hunting loads for my .300 WinMag, I measure each charge individually on a triple beam scale, but I only do maybe 20 of those. When loading for pistol or shotgun, a multi-functional press will produce most rounds per min.
The press is the biggest investment, ... dies, powder, primers, and bullets are relativley inexpensive. You will need a good scale to correctly set the powder charge.

 

[XRpredator]

I'm sure there are better deals out there, and I'm really going to have to spend some time with someone who knows what they are talking about before I get too carried away, but for just the hardware (no bullets, shells, primers or powder) it would run me about $450.00 to get started. I'm sure it would pay for itself in a couple years.

 

[Green Horn]

A couple years? Depends on how much you shoot. :) Of course it's been almost 10 yrs but I could easily drop $50-80 on (100-150 rounds) ammo for my .357 EACH trip to the range. I liked to shoot the good sh--. :) An hour later and I was all spent. LOL Gone are the days of being kidless and only spending money on me, me, me. :)

 

[Shaw520]

Heres the ones I have, they are reasonably priced:
Rifle & Pistol;
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lymanproducts/reloading.htm#T-Mag II
Rifle & Pistol;
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1208376446.5965=/html/catalog/ldmas.html
Shotshell:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...navAction=push&catalogCode=IJ&rid=&parentType

 

[Shaw520]

Or this will get you going for under $150
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1208376446.5965=/html/catalog/anivers.html

 

[XRpredator]

ah, good stuff. These are the things I wanted to know.

Now, can I mix and match dies from other manufacturers, or am I stuck with having to buy Lee for a Lee press, or can I use RCBS dies?

 

[Shaw520]

Now, can I mix and match dies from other manufacturers, ?

Yes, they are standard thread and will fit any press, just buy the dies as you go along.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

I started shooting 2 years ago and started reloading a little over a year ago. When I got ready to reload, most of the people I talked to either had started with cheaper presses and worked their way up to a Dillon or had something else but wanted a Dillon. I decided to skip the intervening steps and start with a Dillon 550. I reloaded more than 30K rounds last year (yep, me and the kids shot all of them). A little while ago I did the calculations for another board I'm on:

340 Dillon 550 (came with 9mm caliber conversion)
40 .40 caliber conversion
40 .45 caliber conversion
34 2 extra toolheads
34 2 extra powder dies
30 2 toolhead stands
21 cartridge case bin & bracket
36 bullet tray
54 12 extra primer pickup tubes
40 strong mount
40 case/media separator
100 vibrating cleaner
140 D-Terminitor electronic scale
0 Fowler micrometer (already had it)
===
949.00

The numbers below are fom last year, so the prices are higher now for both components and factory loaded rounds.

Using: http://TheMXTrack.com/ReloadTracking.xls
http://TheMXTrack.com/ReloadTracking.htm for those of you without Excel

14.95 for a pound of TiteGroup
4.00 grains
25.00 per 1000 Winchester primers
0.00 cases free
65.00 per 1000 124 grain FMJ Precision Delta
=====
98.54 cost per thousand

WWB is running about $16 per 100 round Value pack, so $160 per thousand.

So I'm saving roughly $60 per thousand and the $949 was covered by the time I reloaded approx 15,800. I save more when loading .40 and .45, but most of the 30K rounds I've loaded this year (I started in Jan) have been 9mm.

I did a similar rough calculation earlier this year when prices were lower and it also came out around 15,000 rounds to pay for it all.

As to some of the other things raised... much of the aluminum cases that I end up with have Berdan primers that require a different de-priming/priming process, so I just throw those away. Berdan primers, when you look down into the empty case, have two holes above the primer instead of one.

Part of the reason I got the Dillon 550 rather than the Square Deal B was that the 550 can also do rifle. The 550 dies are also cheaper. I only use carbide dies so that you don't have to mess with lubing each case. All of my Dillon dies are carbide, not sure about other brands.

As far as time...once the brass is sorted and cleaned and the primer pickup tubes are loaded, I get 400-500 an hour through the 550. For me, sorting the brass is the biggest pain.

Greenie... Reloading .357 Mag should cost you between $10 and $13 per hundred. The nice thing about that is that you never lose your brass when shooting a revolver. I have been told that people who shoot taller brass (like .38 and .357) often trim their cases because they "stretch". I don't have any case trimming equipment, as it isn't needed for 9, .40, and .45.

 

[XRpredator]

Thanks Gomer!

More researchin' for me to do.

(I'd love to find someone who's dumping their old stuff for cheap -- gotta watch the estate sales)

 

[Papakeith]

Don't be afraid of a progressive press.

Not all dies work in all presses. The first one that comes to mind is the Dillon square Deal B. Proprietary dies.

I ended up with the lee progressive. It has served my needs, and was a very, very low entry price point. The Lee equipment is for people who don't mind tinkering with the press; but if kept clean and adjusted it can do the job just fine.

I only reload a couple thousand .45 a year so I didn't need a Cadillac.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=351321

I did end up buying a single stage press for the lee factory crimp die. For that reason I would probably get the loadmaster or another 5 position loader if I were in the market today.

 

[Green Horn]

I
Greenie... Reloading .357 Mag should cost you between $10 and $13 per hundred. The nice thing about that is that you never lose your brass when shooting a revolver. I have been told that people who shoot taller brass (like .38 and .357) often trim their cases because they "stretch". I don't have any case trimming equipment, as it isn't needed for 9, .40, and .45.

Wow! That's some impressive numbers. Thanks, Gomer! Agreed that I never lose my brass (if I chose not to). Is there a point though where the casing becomes weak and dangerous to use? Is there a "rule of thumb" to go by when reusing brass? Trimming down stretched brass just sounds a bit scary I gott admit. That's my naive opinion on it though. I know I am not gonna run out tomorrow and get started but this is all something to think about when I get back shootin' again...which I will. :p Thanks again for all the info Gomer and Shaw. :cool:

 

[Papakeith]

I don't know about Gomer, but I look for cracks in the cases when they come out of the tumbler. I don't shoot "hot" loads so I hardly every find one.

 

[Shaw520]

When a case has reached its limit, it will show a hairline crack (usually down low on the case), time to throw it out. Years ago I can recall reloading some 30-30 rounds to the point where the cases began to crack, no bid deal as the pressure is contained within the chamber, but you dont want to reload a case the shows a crack. trimming is common on shouldered rifle cases, they tend to stretch more. I have loaded my .44 Mag cases several times and are still with length limits.

 

[James]

Thanks Gomer!

More researchin' for me to do.

(I'd love to find someone who's dumping their old stuff for cheap -- gotta watch the estate sales)

I have a Dillon 550 that I am willing to part with for a reasonable price (not "cheap").

Also, unless they have changed aluminum cases dramatically, you aren't supposed to be reloading them.

Don't bother trimming pistol cases, they dont stretch that much if at all.

The cases wil work harden even with normal loads. It is best to circulate them out of use after about 10-15 loads to avoid having one spilt while you are shooting it. In a pistol, the case can split beyond the support of the chamber and you'll get a face full of gas and some brass fragments. Not real dangerous...but how cheap do you need to be?

 

[Senior KX Rider]

From my experience 9mms are a little more finicky about the loads they will shoot accurately. 45s and 40s are much easier. When you get started dont load up a bunch of rounds without checking them in the firearm for accuracy. I learned that the hard way. Lot of good info in this thread.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Greenie: I have reloaded many of my 9mm cases 10 times. The guy I buy my reloading stuff from told me that he has some .38 Super cases that he has used 30+ times. With a fully supported chamber in a .357, you should be fine for many reloads. The common reload failures that I've heard about have been in Glock .40s with less-than-fully supported chambers.

PK...I also don't shoot hot loads....just enough to make 125K power factor for 9s and 165-170 for .40s and .45s.

Pred...anything you would get from James will be in perfect condition. I kicked myself after buying mine when I found out he had one.

 

[Offroadr]

Pred, I can only speak to shotgun reloading and I have done a bunch. Mainly stuff for clay shooting. I would go with MEC reloader. IMO the best and most popular on the market. I got my progressive used and super cheap ($50). It loads a shell every pull.

Its the way to go

 

[Green Horn]

Greenie: I have reloaded many of my 9mm cases 10 times. The guy I buy my reloading stuff from told me that he has some .38 Super cases that he has used 30+ times. With a fully supported chamber in a .357, you should be fine for many reloads. The common reload failures that I've heard about have been in Glock .40s with less-than-fully supported chambers.

Cool thanks! As you and someone else stated the pressure is more-so against the chamber/ cylinder than on the casing itself. Makes sense...

 

[a454elk]

Now, this thread scares me, Pred will have access to ammo after hours.

"Bigfoot seen in Idahoe mountains, somewhere around Moscow. But this isn't your ordinary sighting, word has it, he's carrying a gun!"

 

[Rich Rohrich]

"Bigfoot seen in Idahoe mountains, somewhere around Moscow. But this isn't your ordinary sighting, word has it, he's carrying a gun!"

... and a fried baloney sammich. :whoa: