Could somebody give me a brief rundown on reloading? My equipment arrives today. It consists of a progressive press with .223 dies, .223 brass and .223 bullets. Primers arrived a week ago. I would like to start reloading this weekend but am a bit hesitant because of my lack of knowledge. Actually, I am a bit nervous. Have many questions that have not been answered. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I remember talking to TBTROUT a while ago at BA. We met up by chance. I had no idea about NJGF until he mentioned it to me. He was firing 308 reloads for his CETME. He told me about reloading and gave me some advice. I followed his advice with my reloader. I hope you remember me TBTROUT cause I could use some help.

Check out the videos on this site http://ultimatereloader.com/ .

The videos show different presses, processes and components.

what did you end up buying? Is it a kit that comes with a manual?

I bought the Lee 1000 Pro. I have yet to receive it but assume it comes with a manual.

The Lee manual is Ok. I sugest you give it a good reading and also pick up The Lyman #49 if you plan on doing pistol or the Speer#14 or Sierra #5 for rifle. You can never have enough manuals, but with manual deviations it is good to have at least two. My understanding of the Pro 1000 is it will run good ,but is a litttle finnicky to set up so be patient. read the manuals and take it slow. Ask any questions you want, there are a bunch of experienced reloaders here.

 

I do not remember recommending the Pro 1000 to anyone, normally I say the Classic Turret. How long ago did we meet?

We met quite a few months ago. I had just bought a Springfield XD40 fron TJ's and was firing it for the first time. You did recommend the Classic personally. I went with the 1000 cause it was described to what I think might be better suited to what I want in a press.

Bingo, now I placed you.

 

Did you buy a complete reloading Kit?

Where are you located in NJ?

Yes. I bought a complete kit for .223 reloads. I bought my powder, primers, brass and bullets. I also purchased a universal decapping die.

 

I am located in S. Jersey

What I mean is does it come with a scale, case trimmer, chamfer tool, primer pocket cleaner, caliper etc? there are a bunch of little things needed for rifle loading that are not needed for pistol.

No, I don't think it comes with any of that stuff. It was described as a Lee Progressive 1000 for .223 kit. It is due to arrive today by UPS. I will let you know the contents of the package after it arrives. If those items are not present, I am basically dead in the water until I acquire them?

Yes and no. I just read about the Pro 1000 and it will let you do 1 at a time to learn which is good. When you get the hang of it you can speed it up. But you will definately need some more items. This is going to give you time to read the manual cover to cover and pick up another one. I know I keep repeating this, but you will see that load data differs by manual and the ones I mentioned are better ,in my opinion, than the Lee. I have all 4.

 

And ask questions, lots of them. Patience is paramount to quality, safe reloading.

Could you recommend the items I need to purchase to have a complete setup for rifle reloading. I was under the impression the I would be able to start reloading once the press was setup.

well Tim it sounds like he bought all of his components new so his first set he won't have to trim or clean out the primer pocket or anything but he will needed them shortly.

 

I will give one piece of advice, don't jump into this in a rush just because you have the equipment. Take your time, read the books, maybe meet up with someone so they can show you what to do.

 

I'm 3/4's of the way through my first reloading book, about to pick up the second one to start reading. I've sat down and reloaded both rifle on a single stage and pistol on a progressive and I've ordered most of the tools needed for the job, and I don't even have a press yet

 

But there are a lot of guys who reload on here, so ask away if you run into problems, but I would suggest reading a lymans or etc as it will answer A LOT of your questions.

 

M

I will give one piece of advice, don't jump into this in a rush just because you have the equipment. Take your time, read the books, maybe meet up with someone so they can show you what to do.

M

 

I sent him a PM a month ago saying I'd be glad to show him how it's done. Never heard back from him.

Get a good scale and a digital caliper.

Hey Mauser,

 

I remember your offer. Didn't reply cause I felt like it would be jumping the gun. Although I might take you up on the offer if your still willing. I set up everything and have press cycling smoothly. I primed all my brass last night. I am very confused on the powder part of this press. It has a chart of what disk to use, but it's all Greek to me. Could someone give me an idea on how this shoould be setup.

Hey Mauser,

 

I remember your offer. Didn't reply cause I felt like it would be jumping the gun. Although I might take you up on the offer if your still willing. I set up everything and have press cycling smoothly. I primed all my brass last night. I am very confused on the powder part of this press. It has a chart of what disk to use, but it's all Greek to me. Could someone give me an idea on how this shoould be setup.

 

Can't help you there as I use only a single stage press. However I'm still willing to aid in any way I can. PM sent with email address.

I am certainly no expert but here is my take on the disk system. I only do pistol reloading but I guess it is the same for most cartridges. Once you decide on what powder you are going to use, look at the disk chart and it will tell you how many grains a particular disk dispenses. You want to run the disk several times and just put the powder back in the hopper and then use your scale to see what the charge really is as it can vary a little with different batches of powder. You have to realize that every different manufacturer's powder is going to dispense differently because of it's unique grain size. Anyway, after I decide I have the right disk, I cycle about 10 rounds and just dump them back in and then re-check the weight of the powder before actually completing the re-load cycle. Make sure you look at each cartridge before inserting your bullet to make sure it has powder in it so that you do not get any squibbs (they are a pain to get out of your barrel). I also have a bullet checker that I got from Dillon that I check each round through to make sure the case is not bulged or too long so that I won't get a FTF or FTE. It all sounds a lot harder than it really is, just take your time and don't rush anything.

One of the things I like to do is use 2 scales. I normally use the beam scale, but I also have a digital. I use 2 just for a check against each other - just a safety measure.

 

Once I get the charge set, I'll weight 10 to make sure it's close.

 

Another thing - don't let anyone bother you while you reload. It's easy to make a mistake if you're distracted.