Posted: 1/24/2010 9:59:41 PM EDT
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Thought about taking a NRA reloading course but cant find any around here. My friend and I decided we are going to split the cost of a reloading machine and start doing it. He has 7.62, 10mm, 357 and I have .223 .45 and 9mm. We are thinking about getting a progressive machine, such as the Hornady LNL-AP or the Dillion 650. Any suggestions on which one to purchase? |
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Yeah I am in an apartment and he owns a house and has a bench set up already. Also I think this way the initial cost wouldnt be as much, and if one of us decided we wanted to get our own press we would already have the dies and stuff. We are pretty good friends and he lives right up the road from me. |
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Check into the Reloading forum under the Armory header.
If you are near St. Louis, a class is run at Henges once or twice a year, and I suppose it's okay for a beginner, but you won't get any hands on experience. However, if you're reasonably close by I will come by to help you get started and get your first cartridges assembled. I don't recommend either of those machines for beginners, a Dillon 550 or manual progressive RCBS Pro 2000 is a better choice. The LEE Classic Turret is not a bad way to start, either. |
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look around and get a list together before you do anything. how much are you looking at spending first? also how much do you think you will shoot a month/year after you start to reload? if you have about 2-3 month before you plan to do anything, get a C&R becouse most good webstores give discounts to you that will quickly pay for itself.
btw, i am in KC if you want to come by. I load for .223 and .357/.38 right now. I have a Hornady LnL AP btw. |
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I'm in KC also. I have a 550B and am getting a 650XL w/casefeeder next weekend. I load for 223, 9mm, 40, 10mm and plan to start 308 soon. I have a complete set up with tumbler, separator, dillon trimmer, buckets of brass, dillon swager (out on loan right now to a friend), misc tools...
I taught myself to reload on the 550B. I used their instructions and also got a book about reloading which I read twice before I started. I also learned a lot from the reloading forum on here. By my calculations, I had to load 3k of 223 to recoup the expenditure for the 550B and accessories. It has already paid for itself and then some. Start with a 550B. You have to manually index it which makes it excellent for a beginner. You can also change calibers in about 5 minutes. The 650 turns automatically and can cause a beginner some frustration. You can then add a 650 if necessary or sell the 550B for almost what you paid for it. |
| I've got a Lee Turret set up on a Frankford Arsenal reloading stand that I use when I go visit my son in Texas. I reload 32acp, 38spcl, 9mm, 357sig, 40S&W, 45acp and .223/5.56. I would be more than happy to load some supplies and meet at you or your friends house to walk you through a few hundred rounds. AeroE's right. Progressive isn't a good way to start. I'm available some weekends and a few weeknights. Until the end of February I'm kind of hit and miss because of work. IM me and we'll work out something for time. Be more than happy to help. Will have you up and running match grade ammo within hours. david. |
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What took you so long?
I'd keep an eye on classified in your paper or craigslist. Usually folks are dumping some stuff off. I use the old rock chucker that my Dad bought in the 80's. (He upgraded) I don't churn out hundreds of round an hour, but enough to get me by. Especially over these cold winters. It's also nice to have a Graf's retail store close to home so I can go and get what I need when I need it. I learned it from my Dad. He churns out thousands of rounds. I reload 9mm, 38/357, 44Mag, 40S&W, 45ACP, 223, 303 Brit, 30-06 and 308. It sure is fun... Never thought of going to the reloading forum here though...I'll have to start doing that. |
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Dillon 550's are all I've ever loaded on, I have a pair now. I can't see why I'd want a 650. There's an extra bit of safety I feel from the tiny bit more hands-on required by the 550, and once I get in a groove with it I can still load 300 pistol rounds an hour. It takes focus though, and I'm ready for a beer afterward.
If Hornady is still doing the free bullets promotion, it would be worth looking into the LNL. I've used one and it's a great machine, the 1000 free bullets makes it a great deal as well. If you're going to be reloading rifle as well, I'd suggest getting a separate single stage press that you can use for some of the brass prep stages. With rifle I use my single stage to deprime and resize, then the hand steps like cleaning primer pocket, chamfering mouth, etc. Then once they're ready to load, I use the Dillon to seat a new primer (no resizer in the Dillon), dump powder, seat a bullet, and crimp. There's just too much prep needed for rifle rounds to use the Dillon for the whole operation like you can with pistol rounds. |
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So when It comes to reloading does it matter which powder you use, and what is considered large pistol primers vs small, and same with rifle. We are ordering our stuff today from Midway and want to make sure we have everything we need. All those details absolutely matter. You're getting the cart way ahead of the horse and you need to have a little more education about what components to buy. That means you need to spend a week or so reading a couple of load manuals. Reloading successfully is all about the details. If you can't pay attention to the details, you should not buy reloading equipment. Here's an example, taken from your first post: ...He has 7.62, 10mm, 357 and I have .223 .45 and 9mm ...
7.62X39, 7.62X51, 7.62X54? We'll assume 10mm means 10mm Auto; by the way, I hope he has been saving brass. .357 Magnum, .357 Sig? .223 Remington, .223 Remington Magnum? .45 Colt, .45 Linebaugh, .45 ACP? 9mm Luger, 9mm Corto? All that detail matters. If we make assumptions about what cartridges we think you want to load, you need at least two gunpowders, one for the rifle ammo and one for the pistol ammo, and you would be better served with two different pistol powders. Depending on the bullet weights you shoot, you may need more than one gunpowder for the rifles. I recommend you buy components for one cartridge and learn how to load that first. 9mm Luger or .45 ACP are an excellent place to start. There are at least a dozen gunpowders suitable for .223 Remington, and you need to do some reading first to find out what they are. The same thing pretty well applies to every cartridge. |
| Whooa. The stage coach has run away with an outlaw hitch. To load all those calibers your looking at weeks of research to choose components. If you bought all those dies and powder drops your going to want turret heads for each caliber I hope. Your looking at two days for set-up. You'll need another two days to to clear some of the fog you'll create in your heads from the confusion you've generated for yourselves. With all this going on you'll be lucky to turn out junk ammunition. AeroE's right. It would be in your best interest to slow down and do one caliber at at time. |
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ShowMe, if you're intent on buying supplies right now, I'd suggest just starting with the pistol loads as others have said.
Get your dies and brass gathered for each pistol caliber. In the beginning I'd suggest just having a few "staple" powders on hand to load mild to moderate loads in all of your pistol calibers as well as standard, non-magnum primers in large and small size. Winchester 231 is available and if there's a common pistol cartridge in which it cannot be used, I'm not aware of it.  It will produce usable loads in everything from .25ACP up to .44mag. Be sure to follow published load data.
When you start loading your rifle calibers, I would again suggest picking one "staple" powder with which to start. Winchester offers 748 which should allow you to load mild to moderate loads in everything from .223 Remington to some of the bigger Magnums, though they will be on the very mild end of true Magnum loads. Downloadable Winchester manual. |
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ok, here's your list.
Lee 4 hole turret kit...caliber specific 9mm or 45acp. caliber specific factory crimp die..... I don't care what you've been told or will hear. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION. .... . 
caliber specific flash hole deburr tool. .. . most guys shooting pistol don't use this, then sit back and wonder where those flyers come from. .. . 
Frankford arsenal reloading stand. You guys might be buddies but his wife or girlfriend ain't gonna like you at his house all the time... or maybe your wife or girlfriend. .. . 
2 extra hoppers for stand. .. because 2 is more than 4. 
Bullet Puller. shit happens. .. . 
Micrometer... Frankford Arsenal will more than work. 
Lee 2nd Edition reloading manual. .. Because Lee smokes the others. .. . You'll buy more later. trust me. .. . 
Here's where you splurge if you can afford it. RCBS Trim Mate Center. This is where your accuracy comes from. .. . 
What caliber are you loading first ? and for what type weapon ? ETA: I can host a reloading class at AMMO ALLEY. I've got access after hours via members only swipe card. We can set up in their class room. You bring your equipment and we'll set it up right the first time and reload a few hundred rounds and then you can shoot'em up there. |
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Frankford arsenal reloading stand. This is on my list...maybe for my birthday. I've heard pretty good things about them. Not from me. That stand is about a piss poor piece of furniture for this application. It's precisely the opposite of the bench that is needed. No one could design such a crappy stand on purpose. But, my opinion isn't going to sway anyone until they buy one. |
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Frankford arsenal reloading stand. This is on my list...maybe for my birthday. I've heard pretty good things about them. Not from me. That stand is about a piss poor piece of furniture for this application. It's precisely the opposite of the bench that is needed. No one could design such a crappy stand on purpose. But, my opinion isn't going to sway anyone until they buy one. It's the only stand I've used to date. Lets me sit in front of the TV while reloading. Which is a cardinal sin when reloading. There shoud be peace and quiet when reloading with no outside distractions. For rifle heavier than .223/5.56 your going to need a hardmount. For a progressive you need a hard mount. But for my little Lee the Frankford Arsenal works fine. Have loaded well over 10k rounds just in the last 6 months on that little stand. I've plans to build a gunsmithing/reloading room in one of the kid's bedrooms. There gone and not getting back in, I hope. Anyway, I'll still be using the stand upstairs I'm sure.
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So when It comes to reloading does it matter which powder you use, and what is considered large pistol primers vs small, and same with rifle. We are ordering our stuff today from Midway and want to make sure we have everything we need. It wouldn't be exactly "normal" to consider what powders or primers to order until you at least understand the differences between types. You should really start with a good manual or 2. They will answer about all your questions on what equipment you will need. Some even indicate which loads were the most accurate or had the best velocities, in their rifles on the day they did the testing. I have about 4-5 and use them all every time I start reloading. I have Nosler, Hornady, Speer, Hodgdon, and another one or 2 I can't think of right now. If you compare loads from a couple of manuals you will get a good idea of what powders might work well across the board. |