Originally posted by: JudeinPa on 2/27/2006 6:55:19 AM
BASIC RELOADER RULES & REQUIREMENTS
By Mike D Woolum
1. Do you have the patience to do detailed work away from distractions, (TV, Children, guests)?
2. Do you have a secure area that can be dedicated strictly to a loading bench?
3. Do you thoroughly understand what goes on inside a cartridge when you pull the trigger?
4. Are you mechanically inclined? In other words can you understand and follow instructions exactly, to make needed adjustments to equipment? Do know how to use measurement tools such as calipers and micrometers?
5. Read the front sections of several reloading manuals. I suggest one manual, printed by a company that sells reloading equipment AND bullets. The other one should be by a company that sells only powder. Case in point Hornady then Hodgdon. After reading and understanding the “HOW TO†section in those manuals, find someone who already loads to show you how and talk you through a box of shells. Better yet find a NRA Metallic/Shotshell Reloading instructor and take a basic reloading class. See links below for locating an instructor.
6. Never be in a hurry. If you are pressed for time, this is when a mistake will be made.
7. Do not under any circumstances smoke, eat or drink, especially alcoholic beverages. The reasons are obvious, but I’ll state them anyway. Smokeless powder burns at a very high temperature; it makes a dandy accelerant to start a fire. Drinking causes loss of motor skills and judgment.
8. Wash hands thoroughly when you are through. You are dealing with lead in many forms when handling bullets and primers.
9. Walk before you run. Buy a single stage press to start out with. The progressives are neat and useful when doing large quantities of ammo. You will always have uses for the single stage loader for special loads later.
10. Stay with the basics at first. The tools for neck turning, flash hole uniforming, primer pocket uniforming and checking concentricity will be useful after you get some experience.
11. To start with, stay in the mid-range of the suggested loads for medium power levels. Save the maximum loads for when you have more experience.
12. Buy the best equipment you can afford. It will last a lifetime; the cheap stuff will wear out and need replacing.
13. Have ONLY the bullets, powder, primers and empties on the table that you are loading at that time. Put everything away as soon as you are done, in a separate place.
14. The only stupid question is one that doesn’t get asked. If you’re not sure, ask somebody. Use common sense, logic is a great tool for a Reloader.
15. Maintain a log of all loads developed with the test results. Label all boxes with the load data and date of the load.
16. Every Step is an inspection point.
17. The last thing you do before the bullet goes in " Look in every case to verify the powder charge".
18. There are no shortcuts! What we mean is; there is no "one load" that works best in any one individual rifle. Load development is an experimental process with the components you choose. By working carefully and keeping good written records you will develop the needed experience that will be useful to your future efforts.
Links for Reloading help and instructors
http://www.sierrabullets.com/ Bullet company, very good ballistic support group.
http://www.speer-bullets.com Bullet company
http://www.nosler.com/ Bullet company
http://www.hornady.com/ Bullet company
http://www.barnesbullets.com Bullet company
http://www.hodgdon.com Powder company
http://www.lapua.com VihtaVuori Powders
http://www.bluepress.com Dillon Loaders
http://www.mayvl.com/ Mec loaders
http://ww.sinclairintl.com/ Precision Reloading and Shooting specialist
http://www.lymanproducts.com All Lyman Products.
http://www.shooting-hunting.com Great hunting and shooting site with list of instructors
http://www.mynra.com/ NRA with links to NRA certified instructors
Basic steps to reloading. This is a short edited version from the "NRA GUIDE TO RELOADING".
There are 17 steps of which most are for both rifle and pistol and one for pistol only. This is marked with an * .
- 1. Inspect cases,
- 2. Clean Cases
- 3.Organize cases by batchs
- 4.Select proper shell holder
- 5.Insert and set up sizing die
- 6. Lubricate cases
- 7.Resize and deprime cases
- 8. Measure case length
- 9.Trim cases
- 10 Deburr and Chamfering
- 11.Clean Primer Pocket
- 12.Expand Case mouth (*)
- 13.Prime Cases
- 14.Measure powder chargeand charge cases
- 15.Check powder charge in case
- 16.Seat bullet in case
- 17. Identify the reloaded cartridges (Mark the box etc.)
================================================
Here are some links to help out with locating supplies for all your reloading needs.
http://www.grafs.com/ Graf & Sons
http://www.lockstock.com/ Lock, Stock, and Barrel
http://www.midwayusa.com/ Midway
http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/ Powder Valley, Inc.
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/ Midsouth Shooters Supply
http://www.loadammo.com/ Load From A Disk
http://www.neconos.com/ Neco (QuickLOAD)
Powder info:
http://www.accuratepowder.com/ Accurate Arms
http://www.alliantpowder.com/ Alliant Powders
http://www.hodgdon.com/ Hodgdon Powders
http://www.imrpowder.com/ IMR Powders
http://www.ramshot.com/powders/ Ramshot Powders
http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html GI Brass Jeff Bartlett
Jude
<!--graemlin:;)-->