gramp's Reloading Journal

[grampy]

I'll start this off by saying I know absolutely nothing about reloading. But I will start this thread for others to follow along with my progress and results. In the hope it will help someone else get started too.

There is already a wealth of good information right here on this site. I will be taking advantage of that! And also asking advice from some members here, who have years of experience to pull from.

I picked up the reloading kit from Billdogge tonight. Thanks again Bill! So the first thing I need to do, is get started here.....

[philoshop]

Enjoy your new hobby, grampy! It's very relaxing and satisfying.

[moog5050]

Look forward to learning from this thread Grampy!

[ATbuckhunter]

Looking forward to learning along with you in this thread!

[sbuff]

I'm just glad you bought it because if not I was going to.

[grampy]

First step is done.

I needed a good bench to set up, and keep everything  organized. So picked this up at Harbor Freight and put it together today. Very sturdy, with a couple of drawers, bottom shelf, peg board, and  a built in light. I love it! Will be perfect.

Next step wil be setting everything up this week. Mounting the press and powder measure.

Going slow and methodically. 

Edited April 8, 2018 by grampy

[grampy]

Just seeing what I have. And what I have to get. To get started.

Been looking at alot of this stuff too.

Edited April 10, 2018 by grampy

[Hunter007]

Here is a question I would like to know  is there one type of smokeless powder you can use to load shotgun and rifle  bullets handgun bullets or are they all specific for 1 or the other . 

Seems like there specific is that correct .

[airedale]

There are many shotgun and pistol powders that can be and are interchanged, they are all powders that burn at a relatively fast rate. Other than very small rifle cases like 22 Hornet or 218 Bee for example, rifle powders for the most part burn much slower and are not used for shotshells or pistol cartridges.

Al

Edited April 10, 2018 by airedale

[Dinsdale]

Send me a PM with address Dave, its on my old computer I had to retire; I'll mail those 277 bullets.

I might have some 270 brass too, but not sure.

 

[chas0218]

On 4/4/2018 at 7:17 PM, philoshop said:

Enjoy your new hobby, grampy! It's very relaxing and satisfying.

You aint kidding, I would even say a little addicting. I started with 30-06 with my grandfather when I was 13. Now I have my own gear and tools and keep adding more calibers. I think I'm up to around 7 or 8 different calibers. I do all my pistols, and rifles. I originally did it to save money now I'm doing it for accuracy I like experimenting with different loads and bullets to find what works best out of my guns. 

Here is some starting advice:

If you plan on reloading for multiple guns but same caliber keep the brass separate for each gun. Each chamber is different and once fired in a particular gun the brass is "fire formed" to that caliber. 

Start small, start with the lowest amount of powder and work up. Some guns have tighter chambers and will show over pressure signs before max load has been reached.

If you use mag primers in non mag primer loads work off lowest weight and take off 1 grain of powder 2 grains if you want to be really safe then work up from there. 

Be Careful! My son was helping me one day and mixed a couple 95 grain bullets into my 85 and I didn't notice. I loaded them up with the 85gr. load I previously used. I shot them without incident but definitely was over pressure.

[airedale]

Grampy I do not want to overwhelm you but there is something you might want to consider for mounting your reloading equipment on your new bench is what I call a quick change mounting base. When I did a remake of my loading benches I used both the Lee and the RCBS mounting bases for several of my presses and things like powder measures and case trimmers and even my arrow fletching tool.

What they do is is not only allow for easy quick changes of tools but it saves your bench from being swiss cheesed from having to drill the top full of holes to mount stuff and makes it easy to take everything off the bench if need be.

I have accumulated a variety of loading equipment from different manufacturers so I like the Lee system a lot because of the metal and wooden block bases that can be easily drilled and mount accessories on. The main problem with the Lee is the base is somewhat small and other manufacturers large tools will not fit.

The RCBS system is mostly for just RCBS equipment.

Your Hornady outfit has come up with a nice system of their own, I like it a lot because of it's size. Not only will all Hornady stuff mount easily it looks like to me that any loading tool from any manufacturer can be mounted on it by drilling out holes to match the tool's base.

Anyhow I posted a few pictures so you can see what I am blabbing about, these Items are surely not necessary but they sure do make it easier to manage equipment in a small area.

Al

Edited April 10, 2018 by airedale

[philoshop]

A good friend of mine reloads for about 20 different rifle and pistol cartridges. He has a big dovetailed slot in his benchtop and corresponding wooden bases on all of his presses and accessories. It's a pretty slick system when done right. The swap-n-go is seamless, without having to worry about nuts and bolts.

[grampy]

On Monday, April 09, 2018 at 9:21 PM, Dinsdale said:

Send me a PM with address Dave, its on my old computer I had to retire; I'll mail those 277 bullets.

I might have some 270 brass too, but not sure.

 

Got them today! Thanks Dan!

Hoping to get out this weekend, to pick up more of what I'll need to get started.

These 270win, will be the very first ones I'll make up.

[rachunter]

I'm not sure how true it is but I've read that flowrecent lights and cell phone can throw off a digital scale.

i like these little caliber specific manuals https://www.cabelas.com/product/shooting/reloading/reloading-manuals-videos/pc/104792580/c/104761080/sc/549335880/loadbooks-usa-caliber-gauge-specific-reloading-manuals/704597.uts?slotId=4

 

 

[moog5050]

Fluorescent lights can mess up chrono readings.  Not sure how they could possibly affect a scale.   Interesting.  

[grampy]

29 minutes ago, rachunter said:

I'm not sure how true it is but I've read that flowrecent lights and cell phone can throw off a digital scale.

i like these little caliber specific manuals https://www.cabelas.com/product/shooting/reloading/reloading-manuals-videos/pc/104792580/c/104761080/sc/549335880/loadbooks-usa-caliber-gauge-specific-reloading-manuals/704597.uts?slotId=4

 

 

Manuals look nice! Thanks!

 

13 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

Fluorescent lights can mess up chrono readings.  Not sure how they could possibly affect a scale.   Interesting.  

Since I'm new to this, I'll look into it? I'm learning lots of interesting stuff.

Can't wait to start feeding some fire formed rounds into our Sako! Still have a few boxes of ammo that you sent me, to shoot up and use the brass! 

 

[moog5050]

7 minutes ago, grampy said:

Manuals look nice! Thanks!

 

Since I'm new to this, I'll look into it? I'm learning lots of interesting stuff.

Can't wait to start feeding some fire formed rounds into our Sako! Still have a few boxes of ammo that you sent me, to shoot up and use the brass! 

 

Just a few.  Lol

[rob-c]

few tips I learned that may be helpful

I use the Lee case lube and guys were taking it and mixing it with water in a big gallon freezer bag, this way you can batch lube cases instead of doing them one by one.  I can fit about 50 cases in the bag (300 savage or 30-30) and I slosh them around to get a good coating then put them on old newspaper to dry .  the case lube on the inside of the  shell casings  has no effect on the powder.

I batch load my rifle cases on my single stage press .so I will resize 50 then prime 50 etc. so I am not changing dies all the time. so what I did is I  bought a red and a blue reloading trays, the blue tray is for non charged casings. so when I have resized and installed the primers, I pull one case from the blue tray and drop my powder charge and then the charged case goes into the red loading tray and I know its (hot), after all my cases are in my red tray,then I take a L .e .d light and shine over all the casings and do a visual of my powder charge.

I have a separate shelf that I use for my powder scale, this way I never have to move it, bump it on accident or the reloading bench jiggling it throwing it off  from running the press  . 

Edited April 14, 2018 by rob-c

[grampy]

22 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

Just a few.  Lol

I've put close to 200 rounds through her in the year I've had it. Smiled after every shot too!

[grampy]

Solid advice Rob. Thanks!

[rachunter]

Sometimes i read to much 

https://www.shootersforum.com/handloading-equipment/67248-fluorescent-light-effects-powder-scales.html

https://precisionshooter.info/digital-powder-scales/

[rachunter]

I had to dig this up for someone thought you might like to read it as well.

understanding-pressure

[grampy]

Almost ready to get to work!

[airedale]

Looking good Grampy!