Reloading your own brass?

[brewmonkey]

I was wondering if anyone on here reloads their own brass?

My wife is buying me a Remington 700PSS which is then going to GA Precision (http://www.gaprecision.net/) and Badger Ordnance (http://www.badgerordnance.com/) for some work. In the meantime I would like to learn how to reload my own brass as I plan on shooting enough (with my son) that reloading my own will just be a better option.

I also have several handguns so I will be reloading for those as well for a few of my buddies that I go shooting with.

I am looking at some reloading equipment and was wondering what others are using and what suggestions/recommendations they have before I jump in and spend a few hundred dollars.

[Chuckee]

Sorry. I should reload, but I don't. I go through ammo like Bill Clinton goes through chubby young interns.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Chuckee
Sorry. I should reload, but I don't. I go through ammo like Bill Clinton goes through chubby young interns.

What are you shooting these days?

[zoom6zoom]

I've been on the gun boards all evening and then came here- ya got me a little disoriented at first!

I'm gonna have to start reloading .308 as the surplus is drying up and prices are soaring. A belt fed Browning 1919A is hard to keep fed!

The Lee 1000 loaders are pretty decent machines and are a good value. There's a pretty decent reloading sub-forum on thehighroad.org

[Chuckee]

Originally posted by brewmonkey
What are you shooting these days?

Mostly .45 with a few odd rifle calibers added. You?

[Chuckee]

Originally posted by zoom6zoom
I'm gonna have to start reloading .308 as the surplus is drying up and prices are soaring. A belt fed Browning 1919A is hard to keep fed!


Yeah, that’s definitely an ammo hog. I thought the 1919s were 30–06.

[steveh]

My best friend reloads all of his (uh, and mine) rifle and pistol rounds with a Dillon progressive. He's never had a problem and their customer service is outstanding.

He reloads his shot shells with a single-stage loader (sorry, I don't remember the brand) that he has set for his 12 ga. at all times, but it was a freebie machine from someone getting out of the hobby, otherwise I'm sure he'd have a Dillon there too.

S.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Chuckee
Mostly .45 with a few odd rifle calibers added. You?

.40S&W, .45 & 9mm and soon will be adding the .308. Of course I am also thinking of grabbing something in .22-250 or .223 for my oldest. He has shown great aptitude with his little 10/22 we bought him for his 10th birthday so it is time to let him step it up a bit.

I have a few buddies and we used to shoot faithfully but in the past 3-4 years we have all added to the families so hitting the range has been difficult until recently. No one is reloading and it is getting far to expensive to hit Wally World, Dicks and everyplace else.

I would love to see the 1919.

They were originally chambered for 30-06 but later on they were re-chambered for 7.62NATO as many poorer NATO countries were using them well into the 80's & 90's. I would be willing to bet you could find a few still in use in places.

Perhaps in the not to distant future we could arrange a brewfest/shoot. Do a 2 day event, shooting one day and then brewing on the other? Another board I am a member of we organize a shooting event 2-3 times a year around the country with each time being hosted by a member. It has been going on for about 5 years with great success and a lot of fun. Originally it was just the guys (mostly prior service) but through the years it has started to include the families as we have all become good friends.

[MeridianFC]

Between this and the cheese thread how long is it going to be before someone here starts the farming and housebuilding thread?

:D

[Chuckee]

Well, I raise organic fruits and vegetables, have free-range egg-laying hens and recently expanded my barn. ;)

[Quin]

I only reload for shotguns. I have a Ponsness Warren 375 single stage that I use for 12g steel shot loads for duck hunting. I also have a PW800 progressive machine that I use for 12g target loads. Don't shoot enough rifle or handgun to reload.

BIL has a Dillon progressive that he uses for handgun loads. Also my neighbor in college was a certified gun nut and had a Dillon. They both love them.

[Vienna Lager]

When I was shooting my match rifle 'over the course' I used an RCBC single station press. Now-a-days the progressive presses from Dillion and Lee are suppose to be pretty good.

Shot the .308 over the course and the 30.06 on the Palma course and barrel life was about 5,000 rounds with either the SS Obermeyer 5r or Krieger.

[fretlessman71]

Guns and beer - the perfect combination... :D

[Chuckee]

It’s fine so long as it’s done it the correct order.

I remember a Hagar the Horrible cartoon where he’s dragging Lucky Eddy by the ear away from a burned town, saying, “Repeat after me. Loot, THEN burn.”

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Guns and beer - the perfect combination...

And I used to add fine cigars to the mix. My friend and I wanted to open a brew-pub with a great humidor and a nice pistol range in the basement (following Chuckee's good advice, of course) -- figured that would save the BATF some leg work, you know? ;)

S.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by steveh
And I used to add fine cigars to the mix. My friend and I wanted to open a brew-pub with a great humidor and a nice pistol range in the basement (following Chuckee's good advice, of course) -- figured that would save the BATF some leg work, you know? ;)

S.

Bartender- "What'll it be?"

Customer- "A pint of the Fullers ESB on cask and a box of your .45 please..."

You could have craft brewed beer AND hand loaded ammo all in one place!

[fretlessman71]

And if you miss your target, you can always throw bottles in the air like skeet and keep trying! :D

[Derekt2]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
And if you miss your target, you can always throw bottles in the air like skeet and keep trying! :D

You.guys.are.nuts.

[steveh]

To quote a more level head than you chowders:

Originally posted by Chuckee
It’s fine so long as it’s done it the correct order.

S.

[Chuckee]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
And if you miss your target, you can always throw bottles in the air like skeet and keep trying! :D

Shooting thrown bottles is not a good idea. Flying glass getting in the eyes…

Cans are a different story.

Open field, pump shotgun, cans with several rocks inside for weight… throw the cans up in the air and see how many times you can shoot the can before it hits the ground.

[Vienna Lager]

...Or a page from 'Ernest Goes To The Shooting Range' 1) take a can of Wd-40, 2) duct tape a 5 min flare to the side of the can, 3) light the flare, 4) throw the can and flare in the air, 5) shoot at the assemblage with shot gun, 6) estimate diameter of fireball.

[steveh]

I prefer the open field, a few defunct hard drives, and my S&W Model 29 (second model). Many released frustrations, but always before beer time -- I like all of my extremeties, wanna keep 'em.

S.

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by steveh
...a few defunct hard drives... Are those hand-tossed or do you use a skeet launcher?

[steveh]

Originally posted by Mill Rat
Are those hand-tossed or do you use a skeet launcher?

Usually prop them on a bluff or a post. A Model 29 is not ideal for trap or skeet, but it "could blow your head clean off." Feelin' lucky? ;)

S.

[zoom6zoom]

I always thought that BATFE should be a store, not a government agency.. "Bureau of All Things Fun and Exciting"

We had a meeting at corporate recently with our new boss. He has 22 people working for him - hes's not a gun guy -and was somewhat suprised to find that almost all of us are shooters and have concealed carry permits! Gee, that might make annual reviews a bit easier!

1919A6 - this one isn't mine, but mine will look similar when finished: Pic Link (http://www.cetmerifles.com/forum/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=10059&stc=1&d=1165166054)

These were converted to 7.62 NATO (.308) by the Israelis. A nice thing about shooting them these days is that they are easily converted (interchangeably!) to a number of calibers, including 8mm Mauser, 7.62x54 Russian, 7.62x39, and several others.

[ontap78]

I just sold all my reloading equipment on Ebay about a month ago. Most handgun stuff. Haven't really shot in about 10 years. I also have enough stuff loaded up for years to come.

[wortchillergoal]

In my neck of the woods, where I grew up, we reloaded some of our shotgun shells with bacon fat and rock salt.

[fretlessman71]

You know anyone named Bill?

[zoom6zoom]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
In my neck of the woods, where I grew up, we reloaded some of our shotgun shells with bacon fat and rock salt.

Somebody's taken that a bit further. Shot made with seasonings - SeasonShot flavored ammo (http://www.seasonshot.com/How.cfm) - it breaks down and flavors the meat! No shot to pick out!

[Mill Rat]

We used to use rock salt loads on the two-legged varmints that wanted to go cow-tipping. Aimed for their calves as they were running past the barn. Pumps were best for this, because the real fun wasn't hitting them, it was seeing the terror and agony on their faces as they got up and tried to run when they heard you chamber the next round after you nicked them with the first shot.

[DecoJuicer]

I friend of mine does all of his own reloading. He picked up a set of dies for the 7mm mag that I bought this year. With the price of 7mm mag ammo, I'm going to have to reload.

I wish that I would have had some of his .357 handloads a few weeks ago when I shot a deer. I used old ammo(my bad, but I couldn't find my new stuff), and I had to track that sucker for 4.5 hours. Somebody else ended up shooting it in the end too. I wasn't a happy guy that day.

[zoom6zoom]

Well, since the thread's been CPR'd...

Here are my 1919's - one's in 7.62x51 (.308), the other in 30-.06. Being protected is one of my home made rhubarb pies.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g180/zoom6zoom/gun%20stuff/IMGP0088.jpg

[brewmonkey]

I would love to have an old 1919, of course an MG-34 or 42 would be even better! :D

[steveh]

Some people have way too much wealth at hand.

Or did, anyway! ;)

S.

[zoom6zoom]

Not really. Each of those 1919's was built by me from a parts kit, and cost less than $800. They are semi-auto. Registered full auto examples are way out of my price range.

I do have most of the parts to build an MG-42 but it's on the back burner for a while. Currently building mostly AK's. This one still needs to have a finish put on it, but shoots great!
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g180/zoom6zoom/gun%20stuff/romy01.jpg

[MrNate]

Originally posted by zoom6zoom
Not really. Each of those 1919's was built by me from a parts kit, and cost less than $800. They are semi-auto. Registered full auto examples are way out of my price range.


Really? That's pretty cool. I had no idea they had parts kits. Is it kind of like the way you can damn near rebuild a complete CJ from the JC Whitney catalog?

I mean, do you need to find a donor for the bolt and receiver or something, or are all the parts available in the kit?

Anyway, nice work!

[DecoJuicer]

Mmmm...rhubarb

[OntheLoose]

I have a remington 700 pss and I reload. It is a 300 win mag. Right now I am shooting 210gr berger VLD with 71 grains of H4831 sc (This is a max load) and federal 210m primers. I have chronoed this at 3080 fps. Accuracy is good but I haven't taken it past 200 yds yet. I also reload for the .308 and I have much better accuracy with that.

[Old CW4]

I am (or was) until recently a gunsmith with my own shop here in a wing of my home. I've reloaded for 50 plus years and still do for at least 20 different calibers. I'm 73 but still a special deputy with the local sheriff's dept and I teach specialized handgun shooting to selected LEOs. My handguns range from a pair of 45-70 revolvers down to 25 autos and Kahr 40s for concealed carry.
I'm badged as a detective at present but previously spent three years on vehicle patrol in this wild and wooly county. I was the only person on the force carrying a revolver and that was a S&W .41 mag with six inch barrel. I occasionally give demos around here shooting the 45-70s to 800 yards, 44 and 41 mags to 500 or more, and 357s to almost that far. Most people won't believe it until they see it done but a 45 ACP will shoot accurately to 250 yards if you know how. I can pop large cans at 400 with a 22 handgun (Ruger MKII with 10 inch barrel). BTW, I shoot standing, two handed Weaver stance, and with iron sights. Long range hand gunning can be a life saver for a LEO if a sniper catches him away from cover and a long gun. Sure, he likely won't pop the bad guy's forehead from extreme range but he will be able to keep the jerk's head down until he can get to cover.

Anyway, I recommend a RCBS "Rockchucker" as a starting press. Buy a quality loading manual and start out with pistol ammo, say 38 SP, 9mm, 45, or something like that to get your feet wet. Handloading is a neat hobby and perfectly safe if you use common sense and reasonable caution. Even after all my years at it I still take down the manual and look up the load before starting. This even though I know the powder charge and so on as well as I do my own name. Just a habit I developed a long time ago. The best advice I can give you is start small with a single stage press and work your way up. Read, read, read, and don't fall into the "hot load" syndrome, go by the book until you really know what you're doing. If I can help you out down the road, just fire me a message. Glad to help in any way I can.

[got_homebrew]

I gotta ruger 30-06 a couple shot guns but.... rather shoot my 2007 hoyt trykon the reloading is free on it :D

[DecoJuicer]

Zoom,

Could we use that big bastard to hunt us some Bigfoots?

On a different website that I post at(not beer related), there is a thread about Bigfoot. I seem to be in the minority of people who don't believe. So I was thinking that if I am going to continue to spend time in the woods, I should get me something in case Bigfoot attacks me.

By the way, I do believe in Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine.

[xtalman]

Originally posted by DecoJuicer
Zoom,

Could we use that big bastard to hunt us some Bigfoots?

On a different website that I post at(not beer related), there is a thread about Bigfoot. I seem to be in the minority of people who don't believe. So I was thinking that if I am going to continue to spend time in the woods, I should get me something in case Bigfoot attacks me.

By the way, I do believe in Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine.

You know Bigfoot has been seen an Mars now.

[hockeynut]

While I am still investigating reloading for my Glock 27 at .40 I would love to know if any of you have any thing in the handgun category up for sale. I am finding that being in the probation field definitely calls for a CCW.

Social Worker with a handgun, who'd a thought!

[zoom6zoom]

I had no idea they had parts kits.

A parts kit is basically an entire gun with the exception of the receiver ( the part that's legally considered the "firearm"). To be importable, the receivers are cut up with a torch. Sometimes you get the receiver scraps with the kit. It can be sorta sad to look at what was in many cases a brand new gun before somebody cut it up. Under the current rules, the barrels cannot be imported either, so now you also have to find or make a new barrel for kits imported after a certain date.

You can only rebuild these as semi-autos. New receivers have to be constructed so they will not readily accept the old full auto parts. Ignoring this can earn you a federally-funded vacation. In addition, there's a list of specific parts of which no more than ten may be of foreign origin. That means you have to take perfectly good parts and replace them with pretty much identical parts that were made in the US. Like it makes any difference whether the grip was made here, or in Romania. Just bureaucrap stuff. (on an AK, for example, there are 16 counted parts; no more than ten can be imported, so 6 have to be replaced.)

Some kits are pretty simple to build, AK's are a good example. Not too many specialized tools required. Others, like the MG42 require a lot of welding or machining.

Good resources if you're interested in learning more are www.weaponeer.net or www.1919a4.com , among others.

[brewmonkey]

I am (or was) until recently a gunsmith with my own shop here in a wing of my home. I've reloaded for 50 plus years and still do for at least 20 different calibers. I'm 73 but still a special deputy with the local sheriff's dept and I teach specialized handgun shooting to selected LEOs. My handguns range from a pair of 45-70 revolvers down to 25 autos and Kahr 40s for concealed carry.
I'm badged as a detective at present but previously spent three years on vehicle patrol in this wild and wooly county. I was the only person on the force carrying a revolver and that was a S&W .41 mag with six inch barrel. I occasionally give demos around here shooting the 45-70s to 800 yards, 44 and 41 mags to 500 or more, and 357s to almost that far. Most people won't believe it until they see it done but a 45 ACP will shoot accurately to 250 yards if you know how. I can pop large cans at 400 with a 22 handgun (Ruger MKII with 10 inch barrel). BTW, I shoot standing, two handed Weaver stance, and with iron sights. Long range hand gunning can be a life saver for a LEO if a sniper catches him away from cover and a long gun. Sure, he likely won't pop the bad guy's forehead from extreme range but he will be able to keep the jerk's head down until he can get to cover.

Anyway, I recommend a RCBS "Rockchucker" as a starting press. Buy a quality loading manual and start out with pistol ammo, say 38 SP, 9mm, 45, or something like that to get your feet wet. Handloading is a neat hobby and perfectly safe if you use common sense and reasonable caution. Even after all my years at it I still take down the manual and look up the load before starting. This even though I know the powder charge and so on as well as I do my own name. Just a habit I developed a long time ago. The best advice I can give you is start small with a single stage press and work your way up. Read, read, read, and don't fall into the "hot load" syndrome, go by the book until you really know what you're doing. If I can help you out down the road, just fire me a message. Glad to help in any way I can.


Thanks Chief, appreciate the info.

My father (retired Army ossifer) told me two things I should never forget as I was shipping off to Fort Benning almost 20 years ago...

Never volunteer that you know how to drive something and never ever piss off a CWO! :D LOL!

[DecoJuicer]

When I was a police reserve officer, I used to carry a S&W 686 .357 with a six inch barrel. We had to supply our own guns, and I could only afford one gun at the time, so I went with the gun that I had bought for competition shooting. The only modification that I had done was to have the action polished.

I got a custom made level 2 security holster, and I practiced a lot with it. I got to the point where I could draw and fire accurately very quickly.

Then I went to a firearms survival training class. Almost everybody else was using semi-autos, and I took a lot of ribbing because I was one of about 4 people with a wheel gun. Even the instructor said that I would be at a huge disadvantage when we practiced quick drawing. When it came time for the quick draw section, they made it into a competition. Two guys would shoot against each other and the faster and more accurate would advance. To everybody's surprise(even mine) I was the winner that day. At 4 yards(short, but a very common distance for most firefights in law enforcement) I could draw and fire 2 shots into the x-ring in just over a second. I was also one of the top 5 when it came to shooting at anything past about 10 yards.

When people asked me how I did so well, I just said, "practice". Old CW4 is right on. I always found that the quality of the music is because of the fiddler, not the fiddle.

[Old CW4]

Hey Decco,

Thanks, Man.

I surprise a lot of people with what a "wheel gun" can do in the proper hands. You are also right on about your revolver. If I could own only one gun, it would be a 357 mag with six inch barrel! Without going "hot," a 357 with 158 grain bullets can be loaded up to almost 1800 fps and still be perfectly safe yet able to deliver a projectile accurately w-a-y down range. I follow the same methodology with a 41 mag and can launch a 210 or 220 projectile way out there (to 500 plus yards) .

Sure, autos can load a lot more ammo. However, and it's a big however, all autos carry their ammo in metal "things" called magazines. There are myriad things that can--and do--go wrong with magazines. Dirt and lint can jam them, springs can weaken or be hindered by dirt, followers can become canted so the rounds won't load, etc. Revolvers don't have those problems and, more importantly, they are intrinsically safer. You have to really work at it to accidentially discharge a revolver. That's expecially true in double action mode where the trigger pull is 12 lbs or more. You can also make a revolver absolutely safe by opening the cylinder, ejecting all the cartridges, and carrying it that way, something I require when teaching on the range. Students carry their revolvers with the cylinder swung open and their fingers through the opening, thus no chance of an accidental discharge.

I do own and carry autos but wheel guns are my true love. I've often demoed the ability of my 41 mag to go through both doors of a sedan or pickup truck, all the way through a vehicle from side to side even with both door windows down and in the path. It will also (and so will a 357) penetrate sloping windshields and rear vehicle windows when autos such as 9mms and 40s deflect.

BTW, my long range handgun shooting is no magic or mysterious skills. Anyone can do it if they use the proper grip, sight picture, and trigger squeeze. I have students popping tin cans regularly at 100 yards in a half hour of less using a 22 revolver or auto. That's a major breakthrough and their confidence soars. Then it's on to larger calibers, i.e., the 357 and shooting out to three and four hundred yards. You can't drive tacks at those ranges but you can sure consistently hit a human sized target.

Anyway, best to you and your choice of firearms was a good one!

[Mill Rat]

I've often demoed the ability of my 41 mag to go through both doors of a sedan or pickup truck, all the way through a vehicle from side to side even with both door windows down and in the path. Remind me to never park my cars anywhere near your range!

[zoom6zoom]

Of course, results vary. You can go through one '56 Buick door, or both sides of seven Toyotas.