I've been interested in reloading for a while, but have been putting it off due to time/space for a new hobby. Looking around, people suggest getting a book first. I see Lyman 51st reloading handbook mentioned a lot. Is this a good place to start or are there any other better books?
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Book for getting started
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Rick O'Shea
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The best resources are the people around you. You'll end up with 4-5 books anyway so grab what you find and read everything.
One of the mods here, @EddieCoyle runs a class with handouts that has exceptional reviews if you wish to look in to it. Good luck. Matt
www.massgunownership.com
NRA Basic Metallic Reloading Class - MassGunOwnership.com
This intensive 9-hour class covers all aspects of pistol and rifle cartridge reloading. You will not find a more complete class anywhere at any price.
www.massgunownership.com
allen-1
NES Member
Books are good for recipes, (powder, bullet, primer). A lot of that information is available online from manufacturer's sites. For example, I load a lot of pistol loads using Hodgdon TiteGroup, they have a reloading site: Hodgdon Landing | Hodgdon and I use that as a reference.
That's the book part.
The rest of it is picking out equipment and learning how to use it. I'd suggest finding someone you know who reloads and going over their house and getting a run through on how they do it. There are tons of tutorials on the web, but like everything else on the web - you need to know a bit to know what's valid and what's garbage.
Identify your goal(s). Mine was to load 9mm pistol ammo for practice and for peace of mind. I've got two presses now, and load 9mm, .38spcl, .357mag, .357sig and .45ACP. Starting to ponder loading 5.56/2.23.
People will tell you that you need to start with a single stage press. That's not true in my experience. What you do need to do is understand the process of loading, and pay attention to what you're doing.
A friend who knows what they're doing and who can guide you can save you time, effort and money...
That's the book part.
The rest of it is picking out equipment and learning how to use it. I'd suggest finding someone you know who reloads and going over their house and getting a run through on how they do it. There are tons of tutorials on the web, but like everything else on the web - you need to know a bit to know what's valid and what's garbage.
Identify your goal(s). Mine was to load 9mm pistol ammo for practice and for peace of mind. I've got two presses now, and load 9mm, .38spcl, .357mag, .357sig and .45ACP. Starting to ponder loading 5.56/2.23.
People will tell you that you need to start with a single stage press. That's not true in my experience. What you do need to do is understand the process of loading, and pay attention to what you're doing.
A friend who knows what they're doing and who can guide you can save you time, effort and money...
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The latest Lyman reloading manual is great. Get the hard cover version and read the front of the book, the rest is reloading data. It explains the ins and out of reloading.
I started with a Dillon 550 but find myself using rcbs rock chucker (single stage)more often. There is always a home and use for a single stage press in the reloading room
I started with a Dillon 550 but find myself using rcbs rock chucker (single stage)more often. There is always a home and use for a single stage press in the reloading room
All the suggestions so far are 100% correct, but I'd ask first what you are interested in reloading? Pistol, rifle, shotshell, black powder cartridge? All are very different in terms of equipment, components, etc.
Aside from books, you can find much info on Youtube, even sometimes tutorials with the exact same equipment and cartridges that you are interested in.
Aside from books, you can find much info on Youtube, even sometimes tutorials with the exact same equipment and cartridges that you are interested in.
This. Well worth the costOne of the mods here, @EddieCoyle runs a class with handouts that has exceptional reviews if you wish to look in to it. Good luck. Matt
NRA Basic Metallic Reloading Class - MassGunOwnership.com
This intensive 9-hour class covers all aspects of pistol and rifle cartridge reloading. You will not find a more complete class anywhere at any price.
walter62
NES Member
Ditto Eddy Coyle's class!!!
Also, many of the older versions of the reloading manuals are available online (pdf) and
those are fine (the information rarely changes, just new calibers are added)
Also, many of the older versions of the reloading manuals are available online (pdf) and
those are fine (the information rarely changes, just new calibers are added)
youtube rules for that. when i started around 2020 with getting into this - i was too lazy to do any classes. only book you need is a reloading guide.
most info of critical importance is not in any book - it is what dies to choose for what press, how to setup your routine, how to prep brass, a know-how that is typically quite individual.
and a millions of personal preferences for equipment types and configuration.
my setup is a dillon 750, per each caliber i use 2 toolheads, one setup for depriming/sizing/priming cycle, with a single full body redding die.
second toolhead is setup for loading - also redding type s seating die. expensive, but, it is worth it. works well for me to deal with rifle loads, but does not mean people who load pistol in bulk would use the same routine.
pastera
NES Member
Reloading is attention to detail and information - Start with @EddieCoyle's class then grab some intro level equipment and start asking questions
Along with reloading manuals the SAAMI specs are an absolute necessity to have at hand.
Along with reloading manuals the SAAMI specs are an absolute necessity to have at hand.
Thanks for all the great responses. I'll grab the book and do some more research (youtube, r/reloading), hopefully take a class too.
I'm most interested in pistol and rifle reloading. I'm not sure it makes sense for me to reload 9mm (yet), but I'd like to be able to. I shoot very little 45 colt (unjacketed, <850fps) loads, but would probably start with that since they're pricey and harder to come by. I don't shoot much rifle, but would like to be able to load for 308, 5.56, 7.5x55. I have a bunch of 7.5x55 brass I have saved. Most is GP11 that I believe can be converted to Boxer primer with some work.
I'm most interested in pistol and rifle reloading. I'm not sure it makes sense for me to reload 9mm (yet), but I'd like to be able to. I shoot very little 45 colt (unjacketed, <850fps) loads, but would probably start with that since they're pricey and harder to come by. I don't shoot much rifle, but would like to be able to load for 308, 5.56, 7.5x55. I have a bunch of 7.5x55 brass I have saved. Most is GP11 that I believe can be converted to Boxer primer with some work.
pastera
NES Member
As with all black powder cartridges serious attention to detail is required when charging since smokeless will only fill a small part of the case.
Hodgdon data for 45 Colt 230g RN shows max load of 231 only fills the case to about 1/3.
However reloading that load works out to be $0.22/round versus $1.00/round for commercial (not 1:1 but bump up reloading cost by ~$0.15 if you use a JHP)
Bullet ($50/500): $0.10
Primer ($80/1k): $0.08
Powder ($35/lb) $0.04
Another suggestion for purchasing the Lyman reloading manual. My first purchase prior to any equipment as i knew nothing about reloading. After much reading, the lyman manual definitely helped me make good equipment buying decisions early on.
equipment decisions really boil down to a simple dilemma - of how much space is available, and how many stations are intended to be setup.
nothing would beat a dedicated station per each caliber, but who got that much space, unless you own a spare barn or something.
of a single station approach - anything like dillon 550/650/750 is a great approach, as you only need shelves spaces for extra toolheads.
Rocky Mosasaurus
NES Member
Another +1 for Jim’s class, I also recommend signing up for a casting seminar with @38ExtraSpecial and reloading with a friend independently so you can get some hands on experience prior to reloading by yourself. Good luck and follow safety protocol always.One of the mods here, @EddieCoyle runs a class with handouts that has exceptional reviews if you wish to look in to it. Good luck. Matt
NRA Basic Metallic Reloading Class - MassGunOwnership.com
This intensive 9-hour class covers all aspects of pistol and rifle cartridge reloading. You will not find a more complete class anywhere at any price.
I would not recommend a Dillon progressive to a totally new reloader. Not only will you be learning about the handliading side of ballistics / CUP pressures and so on, but you would also be trying to learn the complexities of a progressive press operations. My personal opinion start out with a Rock Chucker single stage, then once you fully understand loading then move up to a progressive machine if you have the need for larger volumes of ammo.
i started - and ended - with dillon 750 and could not have been happier.
it was not difficult at all, there are plenty of videos and i made my own modifications to it. made the whole process just much more fun.
to each their own, though.
ps. and it is a biggest misconception that a progressive machine actually needs to be used in a progressive mode only. and i think if i had started with a single stage thing - i would drop it in a month.
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A lot of good advice in here, just remember to approach any advice you read regarding load data from forums like this with a healthy degree of skepticism. Start low, work up !
allen-1
NES Member
Depends upon your goals. I started with a Dillon 650 - now I have two of them.
My first exposure to reloading was when my wife gave me the press for Christmas. I got some help from a friend setting it up, read a bit, watched some videos and started loading.
First couple hundred rounds were a learning experience. Now I simply load ammo as needed.
Rifle reloading is a whole different animal than pistol calibers. It's a time sink with all the brass prep but it beats being limited to what TSUSA or other vendors have in stock during panics/shortages....like now lol
Converting GP11 brass to boxer primer is very labor intensive. I reload 7.5x55 and you can easily find new or once fired PPU boxer brass for like 50 cents each. So the amount of time converting brass is not worth it in my opinion.
Though I will say I have a single stage for rifle brass resizing. All other steps (priming, expanding, charging, seating, crimping) get done on the progressive. Except for coarse stick powders I use a Lee perfect powder measure to charge cases then put them on the progressive press.
The old Rileys in Hooksett used to do free reloading seminars on Wednesday nights . I attended a few before i bought any equipment and this was also helpfull to get started loading with minimal stress and mistakes.
As far as goals, I'd like the knowledge, tools, components to be able to do it. Some of that is future availability/ price concerns. Some is just because I like to learn.
I have a lot of research to do before I buy any equipment. I don't want to buy something I'll never use again if I upgrade or is worthless if I want to sell it.
I have a lot of research to do before I buy any equipment. I don't want to buy something I'll never use again if I upgrade or is worthless if I want to sell it.
