This is another aspect of shooting sports. The process is not difficult to learn, but you have to be 100% ATTENTIVE & FOCUSED on what you are doing, i.e. you shouldn't be watching TV, talking with your buddies on the telephone etc, but I usually listed to the radio. IT CAN BE DANGEROUS. And you must keep your work area neat, clean and organized.
Where to start? Go to a gun store that carries books, and get 2 books on reloading, because for me I want to double-check what the other manual says just to be on the safe side. I personally suggest the Lyman Reloading Manual and the RCBS manual. These manuals will also list loads with for different powder/bullet weight combinations. Read the manuals. Dillon Precision, a maker of reloading equipment also makes a video for a nominal charge on how to reload using their machines[url]www.dillonprecision.com[/url] you may want to buy their video and see the process. I believe the NRA also has a reloading video available for a nominal cost also[url]www.nra.org[/url]
Talk to some of your fellow shooters about reloading, and ask them questions, and see if they if would teach you how.
Here is the process for straight walled cases such as 45ACP, 38/357 Rem. Mag:
1) tumbling step. Clean all your cases with a tumbler, optional, some skip this step, but I like it because it makes your cases look shiny, and it gives me a chance to cull out the defective ones such as cracks in the case mouth, etc. This step should be done outdoors and/or away from living space and away from food handling area to prevent lead contamination, i.e. in garage, patio etc.
2) The sizing step. Squeeze the expanded fired cases back into pre-fired dimensions and poke out the old primer.
3) Priming step. Push in a new primer.
4) Belling step. Flare the case mouth, so that the new bullet goes in easily.
5) Powder charge step. charge the case with the recommended quantity of smokeless power. THIS IS STEP THAT YOU MUST PAY STRICT ATTENTION TO. You MUST charge only the correct amount of powder into the case and no more, double charging can be EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, and can result in destroyed guns, personal injury and/or death! To cut down on the chance of double-charge problem, I use a medium speed powder such as Alliant’s Unique. There is a bunch of powders out there.
6) Put a bullet on the case mouth.
7) Seat the bullet to the correct depth. and you’re finished. This step bullet seating step.
For me personally, it would not be feasible to reload 223Rem because you can buy factory loaded ammo for a few pennies more than it would cost to reload them, it is not worth the extra trouble considering the amount of labor required. Here I am talking about general shooting