Any Reloaders Out There?

[Bronco90]

I have considered getting into reloading, but I know it will be the same as some of my other great ideas, and end up in the closet because I can't seem to find the time.
If Anyone reloads and has ammo to sell or will reload in my empty brass I am interested in .243win, .303brit, .357mag, .38spl, and 9mm.
If you have the dies let me know how much?

[Marmot_Militia]

I have considered getting into reloading, but I know it will be the same as some of my other great ideas, and end up in the closet because I can't seem to find the time.
If Anyone reloads and has ammo to sell or will reload in my empty brass I am interested in .243win, .303brit, .357mag, .38spl, and 9mm.
If you have the dies let me know how much?

Honestly, if you don't think you will have time, you probably won't reload much. Sure is easier to run to the store. Up-side is that it can save you over half the cost of new rounds, and you can tune the load to your rifle.

If you are not in it for the accuracy, and don't spend the time working up and shooting your loads, you won't much care for it, IMHO.

IF you are still interested do what I should have done first. Buy the best of everything. No sense in having to upgrade, which you will once you find the quality lacking in "beginner" reloading product.

My suggestion, if you only shoot one gun of each caliber, is Sinclair Arbor Press and hand dies. All the BR guys use them. Getting a Rockchucker or similar will leave you wanting for consistency. If you have multiple guns in each caliber you'll have to full-length resize and that will require a full-size press.

That's where I'm at now, and wish someone would have told me this $500 ago.

Go to e-bay for dies.

MM

[trust me]

I've reloaded for shotguns, handguns and rifles for years. I don't do it to worry about savings, but having all my father's gear does make it cheaper for me. Components for a 12 gauge shotgun shell cost me about 3.00 per box, and I can buy decent shells at Wally World for 3.97, so if you figure in my labor I'm in the hole.

If you do a lot of shooting, then it's worth it. By a lot I mean cases of ammo a year, not just a few sight in's before opening day. You can really save if you shoot a lot of centerfire rifle, or if you're in some kind of IPSC handgunning or something.

I can improve on factory accuracy with some rifle loads. For the 22 Hornet, I gave up and just buy factory now. I can't match Remington.

I have about as much fun reloading as I do shooting. But savings is not my main reason. I just like to do it myself.

[Bronco90]

Thanks for the info, I am not really looking at saving money on ammo, but am more interested in being able to shoot the types of bullets that I want, especially in the 303. I looked on midways web site and there are a lot of diffrent bullets avaliable that you can not get from factory loaded ammo.

[Auk1124]

303 brit is a good one to reload, cause decent factory ammo is hard to come by. Brass life is kinda limited because those old Enfields have loose and sproingy actions, but with neck sizing you can get a number of reloads from your brass. Lee makes a nice collet die set that will neck size your 303 for you.

I've heard brass lasts longer if you resize 30-40 Krag brass to 303 in a full length sizer and then trim it but I hate trimming so I've not tried it yet.

[aceoky]

You most likely won't save money, since you'll likely shoot much more, thus it's a "wash".....(or push in Vegas):D

Auk...... the ONLY way to trim is to get a Lee guage(cheap too), a drill and place in a vise(not vice) LOL chuck the shellholder that comes with the Lee trimmers in the drill, while drill is in vise,( I use my sight vise-double duty)

place shell into holder, turn drill on, place trimmer guage into the cartride(fits into the primer pocket, the trimmer then trims it to length MUCH quicker than it takes to read that.......

Then debur and chamfer while still in drill, rinse repeat(ok don't rinse) :D :D .....

...you can do 50 real quickly, with the .243 for example trimming is mandatory for safety.....(they tend to stretch for some reason more than most) the best thing is you CAN'T trim too short!!! Easy, quick, and fool proof.... right length every time!

You buy one for each caliber, and they're sized for the correct trim length!!! (really it's great)

You may want to give that a try, sure changed my opinion on trimming brass!

[Auk1124]

I use the Lee trimmers too, just never chucked em in a drill. I'll have to try that, thanks for the tip! Trimming is the most tedious part of the whole process, IMO. Guess that's why I like collet dies so much.:D

[aceoky]

That's what the little "nipple" is for on the back,(of the trimmer shell holder).... chuck it in a drill, and you'll LOVE 'em! Also a good way with a little fine steel wool to "shine" em without using a tumbler quicker too! Trust me on this, once you do it that way, trimming will no longer be a chore at all, in fact it's almost fun! :)

[Born to Hunt]

Oh boy! I remember getting started with handloading to save money. My wife has been ready to divorce me at least 50 times because of the new RCBS boxes that keep popping up on our carport!!:D

Someone else already said it...I'll second it...I like handloading the ammo about as much as shooting.

If your like me, you'll have 10 different weights and brands of bullets for each caliber and at least a dozen varieties of powder. The main thing IMO for a new handloader to remember is record keeping. If you're not careful, you'll load some rounds and tuck them away. Then, when you bring them out, you've forgotten type of powder or charge weight. That can be frustrating if the ammo shoots really well and you want to duplicate it or if it is bad and you want to avoid it.

Find someone else who loads and buddy with them. When you want to try something new, borrow a few bullets or ounces of powder to try it before you buy it...then return the favor to your friend.

Last but not least...buy an Oheler 35P chronograph. That will tell you a lot about the consistency and perhaps safety of your loads.

[schuyler olt]

I handload for my .338, my 25-06 and my 45LC, as well as shotgun ammo. The rifle and pistol ammo I do for accuracy and to get specific loads I want. My 25-06 has a target barrel and is very impressive with carefully done reloads.

I wouldn't bother with the 9mm, 357 and 38 special--too much cheap ammo out there and none of those calibers get much accuracy benefit from reloading.

[ptbrauch]

I know you'll hear alot of people with a different opinion than what I'm going to tell you, but if you think you want to try reloading and especially if you want to do it for mainly just one caliber, try a Lee Loader. It'll cost you about $20 and it has all the parts you'll need except a hammer to reload in one caliber. I bought one to reload my .30-06 in the different bullet types that are available. Using that plus the price of powder, etc, I've figured the price out to be about $30-$35 for 100 cartridges (about $7 per box). It's easy to use to get you started with reloading and either way you end up with reloading (shelving it or getting into it) you'd only be out $20. It certainly meets the needs for me to be able to reload several boxes of cartridges each year.