sequence of steps for a beginning reloader...loading 38 Special on a RCBS single stage.

de-prime and size my brass, then clean it (vibratory), prime, powder, crimp....?

 

29 minutes ago, Nucrunner said:

sequence of steps for a beginning reloader...loading 38 Special on a RCBS single stage.

de-prime and size my brass, then clean it (vibratory), prime, powder, crimp....?

 

If you are not wet tumbling your brass then no need to deprime pistol brass before cleaning. Do your cleaning first then do the rest.

1 hour ago, Nucrunner said:

sequence of steps for a beginning reloader...loading 38 Special on a RCBS single stage.

de-prime and size my brass, then clean it (vibratory), prime, powder, crimp....?

 

you pretty much got it,   The one thing I do for most of the calibers I load for is to use a separate crimp die on the last step.

prime, powder, seat than crimp.     I find it extremely hard to get consistent repetitive loads trying to seat and crimp in the same step.and if your crimp starts before your fully seated you will shave off some lead.  

 

I've been using same brass for many years no sizing or anything  just shoot load shoot load.

On 9/20/2018 at 10:56 PM, revenger said:

I've been using same brass for many years no sizing or anything  just shoot load shoot load.

You rarely (never) need to trim pistol brass.  You need to resize every time.  A bullet will slide right in (and out) of a fired piece of brass.

1. Tumble / Inspect

2. Size and deprime

3. Prime

Edit: (thanks heavyopp i forgot a step)

3a. Slightly expand mouth

4. Charge

5. Seat

6. Crimp

5 and 6 can be combined depending on your needs

My order is a little different...

 

1 - deprime using a universal decapping die -- do not size

2 - clean using a wet tumbler and stainless pins -- I like clean primer pockets

3 - prime and inspect using a Lee hand primer

4 - lube 9mm only -- 9mm sticks in the dies

5 - size -- remove decapping pin from sizer dies

6 - expand case mouth -- lyman M die if I'm using the hornady press - dillon press expansion gets done with charge

7 - charge 

8 - seat

9 - crimp

Thanks for the great responses. 

‘This is all new to me, I’ve got some hesitations but your responses build up my confidence. 

14 hours ago, Nucrunner said:

sequence of steps for a beginning reloader...loading 38 Special on a RCBS single stage.

de-prime and size my brass, then clean it (vibratory), prime, powder, crimp....?

 

Lee Universal deprime....

Wet Tumble brass

Size with carbide die

Prime

Powder

Bullet

Crimp

 

And it seems I was late to the game - 

To add to what everyone else has here, I always run through a case gauge each and every round after reloading.

I meant to say I never trim to length on my pistol brass,     sorry.    

21 hours ago, RichP said:

To add to what everyone else has here, I always run through a case gauge each and every round after reloading.

Sage advise... 

 

My whole reloading experience changed when I bought guages for all the rounds I load...

 

The only die I would ever run dirty brass through is a depriming.

For pistol, I clean my brass first. Then deprime/resize, primer, powder with thru expand, seat bullet, crimp.

 

23 hours ago, Nucrunner said:

Thanks for the great responses. 

‘This is all new to me, I’ve got some hesitations but your responses build up my confidence. 

What bullets are you using? --  if it's lead HBWC you'll need to be fairly heavy with the expansion die 

I believe the whole purpose of cleaning brass is to not damage or introduce grit into the dies.  It would not make sense to me to size prior to cleaning the brass.  I use standard dry tumble with corncob or walnut media. 

When I reloaded 357 lead swc for my revolver, I did not separately clean the brass.  Used it as is from the resizing die. Thousands of rounds never a problem.  All on a lee single stage press.  Maybe they stayed clean as the brass never touched the ground?  Bucket to cylinder to bucket. 

22 hours ago, SW9racer said:

When I reloaded 357 lead swc for my revolver, I did not separately clean the brass.  Used it as is from the resizing die. Thousands of rounds never a problem.  All on a lee single stage press.  Maybe they stayed clean as the brass never touched the ground?  Bucket to cylinder to bucket. 

I've heard of plenty of people reload strait walled cases without cleaning. I just don't see the point of introducing carbon soot and possibly unburnt powder into the dies. There is also the factor of lead, but if your already handling it you would take precautions. 

Most my casings get swept up from the floor, so I just clean as a matter of caution for my dies and final product.

I’ve been able to keep my Ammo cost down by buying in bulk, but for all the regular reasons I want to learn the reloading game. I’ve been looking forward to getting into reloading for the past year or so. I have 3 Homer buckets of brass to get started. 

‘Someone mentioned not cleaning revolver brass, sounds reasonable seeing most reloads are over a surface, and a lot of times the brass never touches the ground. Even with the brass looking clean I’d be concerned with the burnt and unburnt residue inside of the brass. 

My plan is to start (and learn) with .38 on the single stage, next step will be 3006 Springfield, after that I’ll look into a progressive press. 

I do appreciate to tips and comments I’ve been getting on this forum. 

.38 is a great starter for beginners,  30-06 more steps involved like annealing the cases and trimming if needed.  i load 5.56 and 30-06 for bottle neck cartridges 

 I started back in the early 80's with .38 spl using old tong tools and a scoop for powder, it did the job.

I tried a progressive press back in the late 80's and never liked it,  spent more time clearing cases ,  maybe they have gotten better since than.     I use the Redding T-7 turret and a few O frames  and Frankford priming tool .   hand held priming tool is good as I can Prime all my cases at work.    

I've been reloading for about a year and my process for pistol ammo is:

Case prep:
- Clean (wet tumble with ss pins)
- Air dry (I do batches in advance so to have a surplus, so they dry for several days at least)

Load:
- Deprime/size
- Expand
- Charge
- Seat/crimp

I use a Hornady Lock n Load progressive.

I use a case gauge and caliper to measure a few rounds out of each 100 I load.  Once the press/dies are setup it's very consistent.

 

 

 

47 minutes ago, 124gr9mm said:

I've been reloading for about a year and my process for pistol ammo is:

Case prep:
- Clean (wet tumble with ss pins)
- Air dry (I do batches in advance so to have a surplus, so they dry for several days at least)

Load:
- Deprime/size
- Expand
- Charge
- Seat/crimp

I use a Hornady Lock n Load progressive.

I use a case gauge and caliper to measure a few rounds out of each 100 I load.  Once the press/dies are setup it's very consistent.

 

 

 

If you are wet tumbling, try getting a universal de-priming/de-capping die and de-prime prior to tumbling. Your primer pockets will be squeaky clean.