Reloading BS thread

40 cal Glocks make me nervous in general. Brass shouldn't bulge like that. You can always buy an aftermarket barrel with a fully supported chamber and spiral cut rifling so you never have to worry about lead or reloads...

I load:
38 Spl
45 ACP
223 Rem
32-20 WCF
300 BLK
308 Win

I don't load 9mm, even though I shoot a lot of it, because I do everything on a single-stage RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme and the savings aren't worth my time.

 

38/357
223/5.56
257 Roberts AI ( most accurate gun I own )
300 win mag
12 gauge

And as Ben said the hand primer works amazing compared to the press primer, at least for me. I've been known to destroy many primers using the press.

 

Never used a press primer. We always had the RCBS hand priming tool.

I need to get a powder dispenser. I have a scale but individually weighing each round takes FOREVER!

 

The RCBS automatic charge dispenser works wonders, perfect amount of powder every time!

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/121744/lee-challenger-breech-lock-single-stage-press-kit

So, I was looking for a cheap startup, found this.

I don't need a progressive press, just want to take my time. looking to load .204 ruger to start. then move up to my big bores. I know I need a few more things that do not come with the kit, but the price is better for my budget. Any opinions? keeping in mind it isn't top of the line and I know there are much better options out there for more $$$.

 

I'd skip it. It's a collection of the cheapest stuff you could possibly buy - is that what you want to start with? The press isn't bad, though I like the RCBS Rock Chucker a lot more. If you love that press, I'd go with this setup:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/176078/lee-challenger-breech-lock-single-stage-press

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/758842/rcbs-model-505-magnetic-powder-scale-511-grain-capacity

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/329291/rcbs-hand-priming-tool

This gives you an OK press, quality primer tool and quality scale. Add dies, a shellholder and you can reload new brass. Add a tumbler and a trimmer of some type (can be as cheap as a Lee hand trimmer for a few bucks) and you can reload used brass. If you're starting with 204 Ruger, you can get away with measuring each load so you won't need a powder measure for a while until you start reloading in serious volume.

I highly recommend you spend a little more and start with quality gear that will serve as a foundation for a setup, not crap gear that you will just want to/need to replace in a year. I shoot quite a bit and still get by with a single stage press, though I've had my eye on a Hornady Lock N Load recently.

 

Yeah, I would not run an aftermarket barrel on a dept gun, and I wouldn't switch them back and forth for a lot of reasons, so I'd stick with factory. Don't most departments offer an allotment for training/practice ammo?

The die that flattens out Glock 40 brass doesn't solve the problem of bulging brass in the first place of course, it just allows you to reload it. So overpressure reloads are still a no-no for the factory Glock 40 S&W chamber.

 

If you have a single stage press, I can't recommend this accessory more. It allows you to change dies in seconds, and once you have your dies adjusted, you never have to adjust them again.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/858110/hornady-lock-n-load-press-and-die-conversion-bushing-kit

Every die I own gets one of these bushings. You buy this kit once and then you can buy extra bushings for about $4/piece.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1165277407/hornady-lock-n-load-die-bushings

 

pretty interesting! nice post

 

Only downside is that the dies sometimes don't fit back in the die boxes just right.

 

do these work on the RCBS rock chucker? Is it really that much of a pain to swap dies when you need to load something different?

Ill mostly be doing only 223 and 9mm. maybe 22-250 down the road

 

When it comes to reloading, Workman uses a handheld Lee Loader. A cheap, very portable, very effective, and proven way to reload ammo. Workman likes the old school nature of Lee Loaders.

Workman reloads his .223, .243, 7mm, .357mag, and 30-06 all using different Lee Loader kits. They are handheld, and can pretty much fit in any back pocket. It takes Workman around a minute per shell to reload any of these calibers. Not fast enough for some folks. When it takes that long to reload a shell though, you make that one count during practice or hunting. Workman took his Elk this year using a 30-06 shell he reloaded by hand, damn that felt good. Workman's Lee loaded ammo is way better than anything you buy off the shelf.

Workman grew up around bench loaders, and finds them great if you have the space and are in a permanent spot. They are much faster, and easier to reload with. Workman gets more satisfaction out of pounding out ammo on Lee Loader though. Check em out sometime.

 

I use it in my rock chucker supreme - you can see it in my pic above. Your older rock chucker should work as long as you have a threaded bushing in your press. I don't know if the older ones did or not, but now just about all presses do. You should be able to tell easily if you look at the threads on your press. If they're mahined directly into the green cast metal, it won't work. If you have a steel hex bushing with threads in it, then it should work. You have to muscle that bushing out of your press with a big pipe wrench and replace it with the one from the kit.

As far as the regular ring system being a pain, it is for me. When you use a normal lock ring on your dies, it not only sets the depth of your dies but it also creates the torque that keeps the die in place on the press. When you have to switch out a die, I'd often have to take a wrench to the lock ring, and the lock ring would invaribly move, which for me caused way too much variance when I'd put the die back for my next round.

The Hornady setup has locking lugs like the bolt on an ar-15, so you drop the die/bushing in and in 1/8 twist it's locked in place. The die lock ring maintains its interface with the die bushing and so the die seat depth never changes.

I loaded my first several thousand rounds without the Lock-n-Load bushing setup, and I lament all the wasted time I spent adjusting die depth before I figured out how well the bushing setup works.

 

Yeah, the lock n load setup is pretty sweet. I bought extra sets for all my dies and never take them off. I just made sure the shells measured dead nuts to where I wanted them and locked that bushing down. Then whenever I start a new batch I just measure the first one through the press and then about every 50 after that.

I would recommend holding off until you can get a quality setup. I've wasted lots of money trying to save a few bucks and getting complete junk when I should have gone with a reputable item. Personally, I don't want to skimp on anything when I'm squeezing bullets and powder into a shell that's 3 feet from my face!

 

Why does Workman post in third person?

 

Sweet. after I sell some of the stuff Im not needing Ill pick one up.

Ive always wondered the same thing He doesnt care though

 

So add in this...
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/456506/lee-factory-crimp-die-223-remington

and this...
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/786187?cm_vc=S014

and one would be totally ready to reload, correct?

 

And a few good reloading manuals.