Reloading can save you money, particularly on rifle and large-caliber handgun ammunition. You can also produce more accurate rifle ammunition than any factory because:<\/p>\n
You can build up hot loads that push your gun to the limits of its performance, or you can build extra light or subsonic loads for quiet and easy practice.<\/p>\n
I began reloading in 2009 for all of these reasons, and also because I became fascinated by the science of ballistics. \u00a0Initially reloading can look like an overwhelming hobby. \u00a0But after a few months of research I compiled a list of equipment and processes that should serve as a good starting point for anybody.<\/p>\n
If you’re reloading to save money, the first thing you should do is get a Curio & Relics (C&R) License, a.k.a. FFL 03, from the BATFE<\/a>. \u00a0This allows you to get dealer pricing from MidwayUSA<\/a> and Graf & Sons<\/a>, the two best mail-order sources of reloading gear, as well as at Brownells<\/a> and other popular sources of shooting accessories. \u00a0Request Form 7CR from the ATF<\/a> and send it in with the $30 fee. \u00a0This will pay for itself on the first order you make at dealer prices. \u00a0And since you will easily spend over a thousand dollars just on initial setup and stocking of your reloading bench the savings will really add up.<\/p>\n All prices are what I paid (dealer rates) to buy this gear in 2009.<\/p>\n If you want to take full advantage of the turret press’s more automated, high-volume loading capacities then you will need to get the following components to automatically dispense powder:<\/p>\n For each rifle cartridge you want to reload you will want the caliber specific:<\/p>\n For each pistol cartridge you want to reload you will want the caliber-specific Lee Carbide Deluxe 4-Die Set ($34).<\/p>\n You will want a large bench for your press that will absolutely not budge as you carefully measure out powder and then crank out rounds. \u00a0Inspired by this article<\/a> I built one of my own out of a solid wood door screwed onto two pieces of carefully levelled framing lumber: One anchored to a concrete wall, and the other screwed into two iron pipe legs anchored to the concrete floor<\/a>. \u00a0It does not move. \u00a0It’s perfect.<\/p>\n I also cut and painted accessory plates from thin plywood that I can clamp to the edge of the bench when I need to use my powder measure, trimmer, or brushes.<\/p>\n Keep rifle brass segregated by firearm. \u00a0This allows you to take advantage of the fire-forming to your chamber that occurs the first time the brass is shot in a gun. \u00a0It also allows you to neck-size only, which reduces wear-and-tear on your brass as well as the need to lubricate and trim your cases.<\/p>\n Reloading can save you money, particularly on rifle and large-caliber handgun ammunition. You can also produce more accurate rifle ammunition than any factory because: Your spent brass is “fire-formed” to perfectly fit your rifle’s chamber You can fine-tune your loads to your gun’s unique barrel harmonics You can adjust bullet seating depth to your gun’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-182","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/Po3d1-2W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions\/192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Step 1: Buy Equipment<\/h2>\n
Gear<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n
Supplies<\/h3>\n
\n
Step 2: Build a Bench<\/h2>\n
Step 3: Reload<\/h2>\n
Prep Brass<\/h3>\n
\n
Load<\/h3>\n
\n
Further Reading<\/h3>\n
\n
![one of my own out of a solid wood door screwed onto two pieces of carefully levelled framing lumber: One anchored to a concrete wall, and the other screwed into two iron pipe legs anchored to the concrete floor<\/a>. \u00a0It does not move. \u00a0It’s perfect.<\/p>\nI also cut and painted accessory plates from thin plywood that I can clamp to the edge of the bench when I need to use my powder measure, trimmer, or brushes.<\/p>\nStep 3: Reload<\/h2>\nKeep rifle brass segregated by firearm. \u00a0This allows you to take advantage of the fire-forming to your chamber that occurs the first time the brass is shot in a gun. \u00a0It also allows you to neck-size only, which reduces wear-and-tear on your brass as well as the need to lubricate and trim your cases.<\/p>\nPrep Brass<\/h3>\n\nTumble, Sift, Wipe<\/strong>. \u00a0Tumble brass in cleaning media until it is as clean and shiny as you like it. \u00a0You don’t want to put dirty brass through your dies since that can gum or scratch them up. \u00a0After tumbling, sift the cleaning media out using your rotary separator. \u00a0Take each case out one at a time, hold it upside down to make sure there is no media or dirt left in it, wipe the outside with a cloth to remove cleaning dust, and then put it in a case or tray in preparation for step 2.<\/li>\nBrush, Size, Deprime, Clean Primer Pockets<\/strong>. \u00a0I have a cleaning brush screwed vertically into one of my accessory plates, and before putting a case into my sizing die I twist the neck over the brush. \u00a0This is a second chance for any debris to fall out, and it wipes away dirt that could scratch not only the neck sizer but also the bullet that’s going in there in the end. \u00a0Put the case on the press and run it through the sizing die, which will decap the spent primer. \u00a0If you want your brass really clean at this point you need to take it off the press and scrape the primer pocket clean with a twist of the primer pocket cleaner<\/a>. \u00a0(If you happen to be using once-fired military brass on which the primers were crimped you’ll need to re-cut or swage the primer pockets. \u00a0The best way to do this is with the $90 Dillon Super Swage 600<\/a>, since it doesn’t remove any brass like cutting\/reaming does.)<\/li>\nGauge, and if necessary Trim and Debur<\/strong>. \u00a0You can put your cases into case length gauges at any point to see whether they need trimming. \u00a0As said before, if you are only neck sizing you will only rarely have to do this. \u00a0But when they need it, this is the time to do it. \u00a0After cutting them down be sure to deburr the neck with a few twists of the chamfer tool. \u00a0You might also want to debur if you haven’t reloaded the case before and the neck is rough, since that could scratch and apply uneven pressure to the bullet. \u00a0The most demanding benchrest shooters also take measures to uniform their neck thickness at this point, but neck turning requires extra equipment and time, and it has the potential to cause more problems then it solves.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nLoad<\/h3>\n\nPrime<\/strong><\/li>\nCharge<\/strong> the case with your selected load of powder. \u00a0Note that the powder type and weight is one of the key variables you get to modify as a reloader that can affect the accuracy and performance of your gun.<\/li>\nSeat<\/strong> the bullet. \u00a0Seating depth is a second-order factor in accuracy that you can use to optimize the performance of your gun.<\/li>\nCrimp<\/strong> the bullet. \u00a0Some claim that a consistent crimp can increase accuracy over relying on neck tension alone to hold a bullet against the pressure of firing. \u00a0This is an optional step for low-recoil or single-shot rifles. \u00a0For any situation where the bullets need to withstand field handling, or where they might be in the magazine or cylinder of a heavy-recoil gun before being shot, crimping is more important. \u00a0The Lee Factory Crimp Die is the most versatile tool for applying a crimp, and it can even provide an adjustable crimp to bullets that do not have cannelures.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nFurther Reading<\/h3>\n\nLee has instructional videos for their equipment<\/a>.<\/li>\nHodgdon\/IMR provides load data online<\/a>.<\/li>\nFr. Frog has excellent pages on ballistics<\/a>. \u00a0Start with his page on Developing an Accurate Load<\/a>.<\/li>\nDan Newberry has a good breakdown of reloading gear by Necessary<\/a>, Nice<\/a>, Unnecessary<\/a>.<\/li>\nThe High Road’s Equipment Basics<\/a> thread.<\/li>\nIllustrated step-by-step instructions at this SniperCentral thread<\/a>.<\/li>\nDavid Wilson has several good illustrated articles on load development and reloading<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reloading can save you money, particularly on rifle and large-caliber handgun ammunition. You can also produce more accurate rifle ammunition than any factory because: Your spent brass is “fire-formed” to perfectly fit your rifle’s chamber You can fine-tune your loads to your gun’s unique barrel harmonics You can adjust bullet seating depth to your gun’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-182","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/Po3d1-2W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions\/192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/david.bookstaber.com\/Interests\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/ReloadingBenchS.jpg\"){kind=link}