VII. Reloading A. Introduction to Handloading 1. Pistol and rifle reloading: "My Adventures in Reloading" By Henry E. Shaffer Having become interested in reloading, and over the past year having started and gained some experience, I thought that I would share my experiences and ideas with the list. Perhaps someone will gain from this, and perhaps someone with more knowledge will set me straight(er) on something. I'm going to emphasize the .38 Special load - as that is the bulk of the handgun reloading I've been doing. (I would also like to thank the people on the net who have shared their ideas with me. I have incorporated many of their comments in revising my original story. I've reloaded for a number of pistol calibers by buying new dies and using the rest of what I already had. Also I've reloaded for the rifle, and have found that most of the equipment and experience carry over. The percentage savings is often greater when reloading for the rifle.) Before we get started, it is worth discussing - Why Reload? Most of the information on reloading shows the savings by comparing your costs vs. the retail price of a box of name brand new ammo. This is ridiculous! If you have the money to reload, you have the money to buy a case at a time - and are probably willing to buy reloads. One reference I have compares the price of home reloads (for .357 Magnum) vs. a retail price of over $20/box. The last case of .38 Special wadcutter reloads I purchased (i.e., 1,000 rounds) cost me $75 plus trading in 1,000 empties. So my bought ammo cost me $3.75/box net of brass. I buy cast lead bullets, and then can reload a box for $2.75-$3.00 in supplies. (The price of both bought ammo and supplies has gone up since then, but the relationship between the two still is roughly the same.) There is not enough margin there to pay for my equipment and time. Casting lead bullets can save more money, especially if you can scrounge wheel weights or other sources of lead - but it takes even more time and equipment so I'm going to ignore this aspect of reloading. The economics of reloading improve somewhat if you reload more than one caliber, and especially for rifle reloading. The savings can be great when you want match grade rifle ammo which is not hard to do by handloading, but which is quite expensive to buy. Also, each person has to decide how hard they are willing to work to save what amount of money. For many people, even a small savings is worth the effort to reload, and if they are shooting a less popular caliber than the .38 Special or a more specialized round (such as high performance hollow points) the cost advantage of reloading will be further increased because of the higher price or unavailability of commercial reloads. However, not everything I want to shoot is available, and even if it was, I may not want to buy in case quantities. (If you shoot a caliber for which reloads aren't available then you must compare with new prices - in case lots.) In particular, I went looking for suitable ammunition to use in a speedloader, because I wanted to practice for IPSC competition. (Why anyone would want to shoot IPSC with a .38 Special revolver is a topic I'll leave for a later day!) I couldn't find lead round nose (LRN) .38 Special ammo anywhere in town. There wasn't any jacketed round nose available either - semiwadcutter was available, but it doesn't slip into the cylinder as nicely. I could have ordered RN quite easily, but then I would be paying considerably more than I cared to pay - that would be up in the $15 - $25/box range. But even if I ordered that, I would have to take what is manufactured, and I also was wondering about somewhat heavier bullets (say in the 160-180 gr range) which can be hand loaded but are essentially unavailable in factory ammo. Also the thought of experimenting with different loads for accuracy and to fit my style and preferences was appealing. (Silhouette shooters also often want heavier bullets than are generally available in factory ammo.) All together, there was enough to get me to want to try - especially if it wasn't too expensive to fiddle around a bit. (That's where the Lee Reloader press offer attracted me - but that's getting ahead of the story.) So given that you want to try - here's what I recommend. First - read up on reloading. The Hornady Reloading Manual set (2 volumes) 4th ed. is an excellent reference for a beginner since it has such good illustrations and a glossary. Lyman's Reloading Handbook 46th or 47th ed. is another good first reference. It contains history, theory, how-to-do-it, and a large reference section giving suggested loads and data on quite an array of rifle and handgun calibers (with outline drawings and dimensions of cartridges.) It is not very expensive, and it is a useful reference even if you are not going to reload. The Sierra reloading handbooks are excellent, but more advanced. Most of the powder companies give free small handbooks which mostly have loading data - fine - but not much discussion and so not very good for beginners. The Speer manual is also on a somewhat advanced advanced level. The Nosler is oriented towards hunting. There also are books which have much more discussion, lots of photos, etc. I particularly enjoyed The ABC's of Reloading by Dean Grennell, 4th ed. (DBI Books). Reading that would be worthwhile, and I strongly recommend it for a beginner. I especially like the author's emphasis on safety and practicality. (The 5th ed. is now out. I haven't seen it yet.) SAFETY NOTE - This can't be over emphasized! Be careful, and set up everything, including your routines, so that the chances of an accident are minimized. Wear safety glasses, don't have distractions such as a TV around, don't eat or smoke when reloading, don't reload when affected by alcohol, drugs or when over-tired, wash your hands after working at reloading, ... It wouldn't hurt to find a local gunshop which carries reloading equipment and supplies, and spend a little time looking around, seeing what they carry, and perhaps go ahead and buy some books and manuals. See if you can identify someone there who is technically knowledgeable, and maybe even buy some supplies at this time. I like to buy from local stores, but I also like to pay low prices, and these two may conflict. Still, you can buy many of the items locally and so support your local people, and also have a local source of expertise. This is likely to save you money, time and effort in the long run. But note that there are substantial savings available through mail order. (At the very least, get catalogs from: Gander Mountain, Midway, Wiley Outdoor, Mid-South Shooters Supply, and Natchez (listed in no particular order). Also get catalogs from the major manufacturers of reloading equipment, and pay the $1 - $2 charge if they have one. Certainly include Hornady, Lee, Lyman, Omark/RCBS and Dillon.) (Sometimes Midway sells a package of assorted catalogs which is an easy way of getting a bunch. If you need addresses, look at the ads in any technically oriented firearms magazine, such as Handloader, or in the addresses section of Gun Digest or Shooters Bible which are two valuable firearms reference annuals.) The individual manufacturers' catalogs are more likely to give detailed information, pictures of equipment and supplies, and so help you in ordering material about which you aren't expert. OK, now that you feel comfortable with what is involved, and are confident that you want to get started - let's go. Buy a reloading press and a set of dies. I strongly suggest starting with one caliber preferably a straight sided pistol caliber (such as the .38 Special :-) so that you can get a carbide resizing die and skip the case lube and clean-off-lube steps. (These steps are really not so much effort and the .38 Special has other disadvantages discussed below. Basically, you'll want to start with whatever it is that you shoot.) I strongly suggest a simple, single-die-at-a-time (single stage) press. It is cheap, it lets you do everything (just not as fast) and right now you are trying to learn everything about reloading, rather than to turn out bulk ammo. The simple press lets you concentrate on technique and the meaning of what you are doing, rather than on complicated machinery. I even suggest that you get a separate priming thing (tool), rather than priming with the press - to further uncomplicate things. (I keep talking with beginners who are attracted to the progressive presses because of the allure of turning out large volumes of ammo quickly. I try hard to discourage them from starting that way. Mainly because I want them to learn how to do it well and safely. Also because of the possible discouragement factors of price and complication - they might never get started if they have to buy this relatively expensive thing. Even if they spend the money then they have to get it working just right - before they have experience - and so might get discouraged before everything gets going satisfactorily. On the other hand maybe they might get bored working more slowly.) I've talked with many reloaders who have started with a progressive press and who are very satisfied. One common element is that they all did it slowly and carefully at first. They read up on what they needed to do, and they carefully ran cases through until they understood what was going on and how to reload safely. A progressive press can also have some benefits, such as it being much harder to double charge a case because a case will only stay in the charging station for one handle cycle. So I'm not saying that it is wrong to start this way, just that it is simpler and less expensive to start with a single stage press. The simple presses (called single stage presses) come in two varieties - hand held and bench mount. The hand held type is the ultimate in small, portable and easily stored, but it is less convenient to use. The bench mounted type is much easier and faster to use, since it is mounted to the bench and has more leverage and can be operated with one hand, with the other one free to move components, etc. You can actually bolt it to a reloading bench, if you have a dedicated area. But it works just as well and is more convenient, to bolt it to a piece of wood, and then clamp the wood to your workbench with C-clamps when you want to use it. I used a piece of hardwood 1 x 4 long enough to have the press just in front of my bench, and the end of the board goes to the back edge of the bench. I use one clamp at the rear, and one at the front edge. It takes me less than a minute to mount or remove and it is very solid during operation. Some people use a shorter wider board and which doesn't go far back, and they C-clamp it on both sides of the press. I can do everything, including full length resizing of .30-'06 cases with it. So far I've been able to reload 5 handgun calibers and 3 rifle calibers with this equipment (with additional die sets), so I don't feel limited by this simple setup. (It has been pointed out to me that the .38 Special case is very large compared to the typical amount of powder loaded - and this makes it dangerous compared to the usual rifle case in which a normal load fills it up or nearly so. With the .38 Special it is possible to double charge or worse - which may lead to blowing up the gun and serious injury. Therefore it is *very* important to be careful when reloading. I did start with the .38 Special so that is what I'm discussing.) (There are also dangers in reloading for the rifle. The length of the cartridge and the neck thickness take on more importance, and inattention can lead to over-pressure conditions. There is no simple way to be safe. You have to learn about what you are doing, and then pay attention all of the time.) I bought the Lee Reloader Press, in a bundled deal which made it very inexpensive when also buying a set of dies - I got the carbide dies - and a priming tool - I got the Auto-Prime with a shell holder. Since the die set includes a powder scoop and a shell holder, it is possible to get started with nothing but this purchase! (Well, I also bought a small powder funnel, a reloading tray, and a primer pocket cleaner. Also one needs supplies - further discussed below.) There are many presses which can be bought in some kind of bundled deal or "kit" with a set of dies, etc. Sometimes this is a very good buy, so look over prices and equipment carefully. Note that a vibrator/tumbler for cleaning cases is not an essential item, although it is nice, and you will probably buy (or make) one if you continue in reloading. (Also there are many very high quality brands of equipment, and I don't feel that Lee is any better than the others. It may even not be as good, but it was the best buy I could find, and it has worked very well.) A neat trick when using a vibrator/tumbler is to put in a paper towel, torn into quarters, with each load of brass. This picks up the black junk cleaned off the cases and keeps the whole process and your hands a lot cleaner and less messy. Don't worry about this until you get a vibrator/tumbler - but be sure to try it then. The steps in reloading are (briefly): (Note this is with a carbide resizing die which doesn't need case lubricant and with a res the case mouth and which also allows dumping powder through it.) Also this is with the use of a powder scoop which means that the purchase of a mechanical "powder measure" isn't required. Lee includes a scoop in their die sets and also sells an inexpensive set of scoops. I wear eye protection for the entire process and also keep the case pointing away from my head when I'm priming it. 1. Wipe off the old cases with a rag. (Not necessary if you've cleaned them some other way.) 2. Resize/deprime. (first die) 2a.(optional, but recommended) Clean out primer pocket with a cleaner brush or scraper. 3. Prime with the Auto-Prime. 4. Expand/flare with second die, and also 5. Dump in scoop of powder through this die. (The scoop is on the conservative side regarding the charge, and so a scale/balance to weigh the charge is not necessary.) 6. Place bullet on top of case and seat and crimp (third die.) 7. Voila! Since this is a single die press, all the cases have to be run first through the first die, then the second step is done, etc. This is one reason why reloading trays/blocks (or pieces of wood with a bunch of holes drilled in them) are so nice. You have to change dies, and do a little readjustment at each change - but so what - you are getting great experience and practice each time you do that! There are some tricks which minimize the work of adjusting dies - I've included some discussion as a postscript on this essay. (Also, even if you later buy a fancier press, there are lots of things which a single stage press can be used for - such as bullet sizing/lubricating, depriming and bullet extraction. So it won't be wasted later on.) Depending on the die set there may be a slightly different sequence of steps, but the same operations will still be done. The Lee Speed Die Set costs only about 60% of the usual 3-die carbide set, and actually is slightly easier/faster to use in a single station press. There is one body part, and then the other attachments just are put on and off with relatively little adjustment. However it can't be used conveniently in a multi-station press (turret or progressive) because there is only one body. Still, it might be worth starting with this, for a handgun, to minimize the initial cost and fuss. I very strongly urge using two loading trays, and keeping them on opposite sides of the press. Then you can transfer each round systematically as you work on it. This helps assure that you don't skip any and don't double charge any. Without this help you are very likely to lose track, especially if ever interrupted, and to end up making a dangerous mistake. Now, what supplies should one purchase? Keep it simple! Don't buy anything exotic - and keep away from peoples' favorite oddball loads! (I.e., shotgun powder in pistol, weird weights or two bullets in one case, etc.) Not that there is anything wrong with these "favorites" but when you are gaining experience you should keep in the mainstream. Your load should be chosen from a manual (*not* from someone's memory!) and preferably should be checked with another manual or two and be in the moderate power range. In understanding what is "mainstream", a knowledgeable person at the gunshop can be a big help. Buy one box of brass (whatever they carry new is fine) preferably unprimed, a single box of primers (the smallest box which usually is 100 primers) and a box of bullets (100 to a box) and *one pound* of powder. (I don't care how much you might save by buying an 8 pound keg - just buy one pound.) Why new brass? - so you have one thing less to worry about. Unprimed so you get the experience of priming. One box of bullets - you're just getting started and gaining experience, not trying to save money by buying in bulk. One pound of powder because it is *safer*. (Think safe and play safe - don't do anything to cut corners on safety - don't smoke around the reloading bench ...) With new brass, a chamfering tool (handheld - try not to pay over $5) is not a bad idea, but is not necessary. (Although if the curved cuts on your fingertips bother you, you will prefer to lightly chamfer your new cases inside and outside.) I got a box of Winchester brass, a box of CCI 500 (standard small pistol) primers, a box of Hornady 158 gr. LRN bullets, and a pound of Bullseye. I fiddled with the equipment, fussed around and loaded up a whole box (50) of ammo. Went out to the range and every round went bang - very satisfactory. But the loads felt kind of light, sort of closer to target wadcutter loads than to factory loads. Reloading and shooting the same cases confirmed the feeling. (I should note that the scoop which came with the dies was too large for Bullseye - so I bought the inexpensive set of Lee Powder scoops and used a smaller one.) What to do to increase the power? Well, I was an expert by now :-), and looking for new horizons to conquer. The clear next step was to be able to handle heavier loads - that meant an adjustable powder measure and then a balance to be able to check for accuracy and consistency. (It has been pointed out to me that Bullseye is one of the most "energetic" powders used. I.e., it takes the smallest volume to get a given amount of energy. That means that a very small amount is used, and so it will be harder to notice a double charge if you slip up and do that. Even if you peer at the cases in the loading tray from the top after charging with powder it is not easy to see the small amount extra of this powder. However Bullseye is very popular, and this is what I have been using. It does make it even more important to be very systematic and avoid overcharging any of the rounds. With a loading tray, the brass is held upright and lined up - this makes it much easier to look in and make sure that powder is in every case and gives you the best chance of seeing a double charge, if one is present.) It is also important to make sure that every case is charged with powder. The energy in the primer alone is enough to drive the bullet into the barrel, but not enough to have it surely leave the barrel. (This is referred to as a "squib load".) If you fire one of these and don't notice the lighter than usual recoil and report, and then fire a fully loaded round - the second bullet will violently encounter the first one, and the result can be a bulged barrel or worse. Sometimes much worse, with injury as well as equipment damage resulting.) However, with the primed brass in the loading tray after powder charging, when looking in from the top it is *very* easy to see an uncharged case because of the glint from the primer reflecting from an overhead light. Since I only used Bullseye at the start I didn't have to worry about the possibility of mixing powders or of confusing powders. Such errors can easily lead to disaster. With more than one powder around, one should be very careful to avoid these errors. Now that I use several different powders, I take such simple precautions as only taking out one container at a time. A less obvious danger, but one which is easy to avoid, is lead poisoning. No kidding, the amount of lead you get on your hands when working with lead bullets and with fired casings is dangerous if it gets into your body. Don't touch food or smoke until you have scrubbed your hands clean! Assume that all of your reloading gear has lead on it, and then you'll be extra careful. Lead poisoning is slow and insidious. The danger of working with primers is more dramatic and sudden. Primers can detonate when crushed, and so it is important to avoid this, particularly when priming cases. If a primer is going in "hard", stop and check - don't just push harder. Keep primers in their original boxes until use - these boxes are designed to protect the primers from impact. Don't keep primers in a glass jar - an explosion would produce particularly unpleasant effects. Most of the reloading guides discuss the need to keep primers clean and dry, and particularly to avoid getting oil on them - all of this is to ensure that they go off when needed. The safety issue is to make sure that they don't go off any other time, and to limit the dangerous effects if a primer does go off inadvertently. So, for example when using the Auto-Prime I only put in 1/2 box (50 primers) at one time to limit the extent of any possible detonation, I tilt the tool so that the case tilts away from my face when I'm squeezing in the primer, and I wear a face shield (an ordinary full-face shop protector. Hearing protection would probably be in order, as well. I got the Lee Auto-Disk Powder Measure (the Deluxe model, I was on a roll) and a Hornady balance (hm, I bought mail order, but asked the order taker if I could talk to someone who knew a lot about reloading, and I asked that person about quality of different brands of balances - and gotsteered to the Hornady vs. the Lee. I've been very happy with it. Whatever brand you buy, make sure that you get one with magnetic damping. This is an important feature which makes the balance much easier to use because it makes it settle to a stop much faster without harming accuracy.) A set of balance check weights is be a good idea, or at least someknown weight objects (such as a small jacketed bullet) to check for gross problems in operation of the balance. The Disk Powder measure screws into the Lee die in place of the funnel, and is actuated by the press when expanding the case. Works like a charm, and for a while I also weighed every charge. I always weigh the first few charges. I used to weigh every tenth charge - now I weigh every twenty-fifth charge - I've never found one as much as 0.1 gr off the usual. (The charge runs consistently 0.05 gr less than the chart says it should be - but it is very consistent.) However there can be changes in lots of powder or in conditions so that there is a different density and therefore there will be a different weight for the same powder measure setting. This is one of the important reasons to use a balance to check. Now my loads run as hot as factory ammo, which is where I want them. There are digital electronic scales which are much faster and easier to use, but they are considerably more expensive than the traditional beam balance. Most people don't weigh stuff enough to make it important to have the extra speed and a beginner certainly can save the money. One more tool is very handy - a dial micrometer caliper - to check the overall lengths (OAL) of stuff, and see if and when cases need to be trimmed, and lots of other uses. I use my stainless steel machinist's caliper, but an inexpensive plastic one would work well enough. A vernier caliper could be bought for a few dollars, but is a pain to use compared to a dial caliper. A reasonable stainless steel dial caliper will last for many decades, and have many uses, and so should be considered to be an investment, and prices of these are quite reasonable. Since I'm firing mild loads, I've not yet had to do any case trimming. One reason why checking length is important is that the crimping die's action will vary if case length varies. Variable crimping hurts accuracy, and excessive crimping can lead to over- pressure conditions. (Note that a roll crimp is fine for revolvers and single shot pistols. Semi-automatics commonly head space on the mouth of the case, and so can't work with a rolled-in crimp. A taper crimp is used in those cases, and taper crimp dies are available from many die manufacturers.) Another neat gadget is a loaded cartridge check gauge (available for such sources as Wilson, Midway, Dillon, etc.) This is usually a steel cylinder (perhaps the size of a 35 mm film can for the handgun cartridge sizes) with a hole bored in the center, with it sized just so that a properly sized cartridge will be able to fit in, and not poke through the far end. So it checks all the critical dimensions of the cartridge just by putting in a cartridge. This is not a necessary gadget, but it can be very helpful, especially when you are first getting started. I couldn't stop there - since I was reloading them over and over, the cases were getting just a bit sooty and tarnished, and cleaning them with a rag wasn't enough - so I needed a tumbler/cleaner. It makes the cases so nice and bright! I also bought some more cases, primers and bullets (in quantity this time, and got a reasonably nice price break. Price breaks usually start when you reach quantities of 500 or 1000.) It took quite a while to finish my first pound of Bullseye, but I did that and have gone through a lot more powder since then. What I'm doing has added up to a bit more money by now than my start-up costs - but I didn't spend the extra until I was sure that I wanted to go on to do the extra stuff in reloading. It has turned out to be a nice way to spend an occasional evening. It hasn't been too expensive, and I've had no problems. Note that I've been *very* careful - check everything twice. I'm never in a rush to get out more rounds, but rather very systematic and if in doubt I do it again. (Really the only very dangerous part in handgun reloading is double charging a case. It is hard to spot by the usual recommended technique of shining a light down the cases and looking at the powder levels. So I do that anyway, but first I am very careful to move cases from the uncharged tray to the charged tray as I charge them, and to only work the lever once, ... Also, I turn over each case before charging it - so I check the primer and also verify that it is empty. All in all, it has been fun - I've learned a lot about the technology, and I can make loads of the sort I want. I still shoot more bought ammo than I reload - but I went into this for fun, not to replace the store. But even this way, if I had bought all the ammo that I've loaded, it would have cost much more than I've paid for all the supplies and equipment I've bought. So I can argue that it also has saved me money compared to what I would have had to spend to get this type of ammo. For rifle shooting I've worked out loads which have given me match accuracy ( < 1 MOA!) and not only has it been much less expensive than factory match ammo, it has been *very* satisfying. Where next? If I buy another press, I think I want one with a turret disk so I can leave all my dies mounted and not have to do any readjustment. I don't think I want a progressive press, because there is more which can go wrong. I could change my mind if I ever wanted to reload larger quantities, but my interest is still going in different directions. I'm still interested in accuracy, and possibly also in heavier bullets. If I experiment in these areas, I still will load relatively small quantities. I've bought a few other inexpensive tools, a case trimmer, a few brushes, reloading trays and storage boxes, some more manuals, ... . I've tried some other powders, - lots of interesting projects under way. (Safety note - to avoid the danger of mixing (or mixing up) powders, only take out one container at a time. Then it is clear what powder you are using and you won't ever return powder to the wrong can.) I bought dies and supplies to load ammo for my rifle (.308 Win. bolt action) which has turned out to be a worthwhile effort. Other than the set of dies, the only other equipment needed was a new guide for the case trimmer. (It was good to get to use it - the .38 Spl cases don't seem to ever need trimming. I have a group of cases I've reloaded 36 times and they are still too short to touch the trimmer cutter. Also note how the cost of the brass per shot goes down very fast when it can be reloaded many times.) I use the very inexpensive Lee Case trimmer which you rotate with your hands. It is reasonably fast and works very well, but is tiring to use if a lot of trimming is necessary. My first rifle die set was the Lee Collet Die set - this is one of the types of dies sets which does neck sizing - rather than full length resizing. Neck sizing is easier to do because it takes less force on the die and it doesn't need any case lubrication. It is easier on the brass. There is much argument over whether it provides superior accuracy versus full-length resizing. Some people say it is more accurate because it doesn't affect the body of the cartridge which has taken on the shape (and headspace) of the particular rifle in which it has been fired. But this can work only if the cartridges are being reloaded for the same bolt action rifle in which they were fired. Neck sizing is not recommended for semi-automatics because they need a bit more clearance between the cartridge and chamber walls to function easily. The question of which provides superior accuracy probably is not important until you get to very elevated standards of performance, and then you'll be able to decide for yourself. It appears that the best high-power shooters use full-length resizing, while the best benchrest shooters neck size. I've been very happy with neck-sizing, but haven't run any careful experiments comparing it to full-length resizing. I picked a powder which was recommended by a knowledgeable salesman at a local shop (IMR 4895) and the bullet he recommended (Sierra 168 grain HPBT Matchking) and tried a few charge weights. I used once fired Federal brass from the American Eagle ammo I had fired, and CCI Standard Large Rifle primers. With the original ammo, I was getting about 3" groups (100 yards, sandbag on bench.) My first (light) reload gave me 2" groups. A one grain increase in the charge reduced the groups to under 1", and one more grain gave me a 6 shot group of 0.7". (One grain can make a big difference in accuracy!) My best 5 shot group is now 0.4", and I consistently average well under 1". Note the change from mediocre groups to excellent groups - that alone made the whole reloading exercise worth it for me. Also, this is where there are reasonably big savings from reloading. I don't shoot the rifle enough to want to buy match grade ammo by the case, so the savings per round are reasonably large, and there was very little additional investment in equipment needed. I also have done some reloading for the .222 Remington. Again, only an additional die set and a cutter guide was needed. (Oh well, I might as well admit that there are always a few extra gadgets which do something nice or necessary. Things like extra primer pocket cleaners or reamers, various brushes, etc. But they aren't big items, and you don't really need to buy them, especially not at first.) I guess I shouldn't mention the match grade powder measure that I just got - but I'm sure that I can always find new things worth buying! OK - that's my story. It would be nice to hear about others' ideas and experiences. (It was help from others which got me going and helped me continue - so let's all keep this hobby going.) --henry schaffer