Getting Started Reloading - Here's What I've Bought...

[Stangs55]

...you tell me where I went wrong and where I still need to fill in...

I really don't do what many people would consider "high volume"...a couple hundred rounds in a month. I'm a detail oriented guy (ie: OCD), so I'm really looking to tune loads for my barrels as opposed to saving money. I'm going to start off just reloading specifically for my "best" .223 (Larue 14.5" Costa Edition - twist 1/8) as well as my two "best" semi-auto .308s (Larue 20" OBR and a Larue 14.5" PredatOBR - both 1/11.25 twist).

Once I get that down (and recover from the incoming bill and wife anger), I'll pickup dies for my 300 win ultra mag and start my bolt rifle loading from there...

Here's what's arrived/arriving:

Redding Big Boss II
Redding National Match Die set .223
Redding National Match Die set .308
RCBS Chargemaster Combo
Wilson Micro Case Trimmer
Hornady OAL Guage
Hornady L&L Ultrasonic Cleaner (the smaller $99 version)
Neiko Digital Calipers
Lyman Multiprep Case Prep Tool (deburr and dechamfer)
Redding Shellholders
RCBS Universal Hand Priming Tool
Hornady One Shot Spray Lube
Sinclair Bullet Comparator and collets
RCBS Bullet Puller and collets
Lyman Reloading Manual
Sierra Reloading Manual
Lee Reloading Manual

As far as brass and powders...pickings have been slim but I've been persistent...in a few days I've managed...
6 lbs of Varget
2 lbs of N140
2 lbs of N540
1 lbs of Benchmark

500 52gr SMK 22 cal
50 62gr Barnes TSX 22 cal
100 69gr SMK 22 cal
100 77gr SMK 22 cal

100 175gr SMK 30 cal
100 178gr A-Max 30 cal
100 180gr SMK 30 cal

CCI #41 small rifle primers
Remington #9 1/2 large rifle primers

Tons of old brass...but also picked up a case of 223 and 308 Lapua Brass.

I'd love some feedback on where you think I should have zigged instead of zagged as well as what I should consider buying next...besides many hours behind the bench...that's coming as fast as the day will allow.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Oh...and I spent the weekend a couple weeks ago building a dedicated reloading bench for the garage...she's not much to look at, but she's sturdy and should suffice!

 

[Kirkd]

Man you went all in at once. I kind of pieced mine together. Ive been reloading for a year, and still am putting some stuff together. You'll love the chargemaster as the Varget doesn't meter well with a powder dropped and it comes in real handy for your workups. I use ithe chargemaster for all my precision load and for powders that dom't meter well. But i use a powder dripped on all other rifles/handgun.

Read the lyman manual as it has very good info on reloading. I don't ever us it for my loads though. I also have th LEe, hornady, and berger manual. Dont have the Sierra one though. And don't forget to go to the powder minufactorers website and download load info as well.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Looks like you purchased some good equipment there. The only thing I might add is a Flash Hole deburring tool and a Primer Pocket uniformer. You will want to sort your brass by head-stamp and then by weight to aid in consistency. Have fun!!

 

[mdmp5]

Your equipment looks fine. As far as components go, why did you get both 175 and 180 smks? They are very similar in performance. I have tried 52 smks before and they are very fast, but hard to go much further than 300 yds with them as they gas out very quickly.

 

[witchhunter]

You will want some imperial wax for lube, more loading trays, look at satern caliber specific funnels too. Looks like you got it goin on....

 

[Bill Larson]

you`ve got plenty to get started..... it`s a great hobby and good therapy... too..

 

[Stangs55]

Man you went all in at once. I kind of pieced mine together. Ive been reloading for a year, and still am putting some stuff together. You'll love the chargemaster as the Varget doesn't meter well with a powder dropped and it comes in real handy for your workups. I use ithe chargemaster for all my precision load and for powders that dom't meter well. But i use a powder dripped on all other rifles/handgun.

Read the lyman manual as it has very good info on reloading. I don't ever us it for my loads though. I also have th LEe, hornady, and berger manual. Dont have the Sierra one though. And don't forget to go to the powder minufactorers website and download load info as well.

Thanks for the feedback. Buy once, cry once!

It was hard to actually to not buy a chargemaster combo right now... The way I saw it, a good digital scale will set you back $100 to $150, while a good powder measure will be a conservative $150 (or in the $300s for a Harrel)... Or I could buy the Chargemaster Combo on Amazon for $309 then send in the $50 rebate to come away at $259 out the door. (I actually chose to buy at the slightly more expensive cost on Amazon in order to be eligible for the $50 off $300 rebate from RCBS).

Looks like you purchased some good equipment there. The only thing I might add is a Flash Hole deburring tool and a Primer Pocket uniformer. You will want to sort your brass by head-stamp and then by weight to aid in consistency. Have fun!!

Thank you. Any specific flash hole deburring or primer pocket uniformer tool you would recommend?

Your equipment looks fine. As far as components go, why did you get both 175 and 180 smks? They are very similar in performance. I have tried 52 smks before and they are very fast, but hard to go much further than 300 yds with them as they gas out very

Yea...I don't know why I bought them other than to say that they were available. I'm thinking that my 1/11.25 barrel may actually prefer a heavier bullet...so that's how I justified the 5gr jump at the register. I'll obviously be trying a wider range...just need to find the bullets...

You will want some imperial wax for lube, more loading trays, look at satern caliber specific funnels too. Looks like you got it goin on....

I seem to always read conflicting information on wax vs spray for lube. I think I'll just pickup both and see how it works out. Thank you.

You jumped in head first. Nice equipment. I was one of those folks that tried to fool myself into thinking I was getting into reloading to save money. Glad you already got that part figured out...

I've not used the Hornady spray lube, but I've heard a lot of bad about it. May want to consider trying something else. Hornady Unique is great and Dillon spray is good too.

Maybe I missed it, but do you have a way to remove primer crimps? With .223 and .308, a lot of the once fired brass available is crimped.

A cheap improvement on your dies would be some Lyman or Forster lock rings. Redding and RCBS have never worked well for me.

Your bench looks great. It looks like there's a pretty large overhand where the press mounts. When you start sizing, watch it to see if there's any flex in the wood.

Of the bullets you have, use the 52 smk's with the benchmark.

Thanks for the feedback.

I do not have a way to remove primer crimps...I'll fix that. Thank you.

This is the first I've read about the rings on the Redding. I'll keep an eye on how they perform.

Yea...I actually called Redding to get the specific Big Boss II bolt pattern dimensions prior to building this bench. The problem I anticipated with the bench was that the deepest bolts on the BB II required 5/16 bolts almost 3" off the edge of the bench...on most benches, this seems to be where a brace or 2x4 would be sitting. So I actually built the top out of 2x10's with just the right amount of overhand to allow the BB II to mount. It's a rock...so I'm hoping that planning it out in advance will prevent any issues going forward. I actually had a buddy crack his 3/4" hardwood plywood top recently with a Rockchucker...which is really what sparked my researching a bench build that would last.

 

[Kirkd]

I've not used the Hornady spray lube, but I've heard a lot of bad about it.

I think that us because people don't let it sit for a couple if minutes before resizing.


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[Ultraman550]

1. Dillon 600 swaging tool - If you ever plan on buying LC brass. It's amazing and you don't end up removing any brass like you would reaming the primer pockets. Since you have the Lyman (I have one as well and I love it but I also bought the Dillon Super Swager 600) you should try that first obviously as it comes with the tools to remove primer crimps.

2. Sinclair OAL chamber gauge - theres other methods of finding your chamber OAL but this tool is very handy. I like it over the Hornady OAL because it uses a fired case from your chamber, not a case provided by Hornady that is a one size fits all.

3. Sinclair Chamber length gage - another tool.

4. Stuck case removal tool - Without a doubt a necessity. Not having one and getting a stuck case will derail your entire operation until you get that case out.

5. Sinclair bump gage - measures from the case shoulder to base. You'll need this to measure how much to bump the shoulders when FL sizing. Since you already have the Sinclair bullet comparator then all you need are the inserts.

6. Imperial sizing wax by Redding - Never had a stuck case with this. The Hornady one shot I have way too many times.

7. Redding competition shell holders - not a necessity but very convenient if you have your sizing die locked into the perfect setting.

8. Thumblers Tumbler - uses stainless steel pins to clean your brass.
A) 5 lbs if stainless steel pins
B) Leminshine
C) Dawn dish soap

9. Case media sifter - separates your brass from the pins

10. Redding 3BR (powder drop) - I like this because it has a micrometer and makes changing charges easy. Theres others that are better and theres others that are worse so take a look and see what you like. These don't work well on extruded powder but they work well on spherical powders. When you find your right charge on that RCBS Chargemaster (I have one as well and its another great tool) it makes the reloading process quicker.

 

[bruddah]

...you tell me where I went wrong and where I still need to fill in...

I really don't do what many people would consider "high volume"...a couple hundred rounds in a month. I'm a detail oriented guy (ie: OCD), so I'm really looking to tune loads for my barrels as opposed to saving money. I'm going to start off just reloading specifically for my "best" .223 (Larue 14.5" Costa Edition - twist 1/8) as well as my two "best" semi-auto .308s (Larue 20" OBR and a Larue 14.5" PredatOBR - both 1/11.25 twist).

Once I get that down (and recover from the incoming bill and wife anger), I'll pickup dies for my 300 win ultra mag and start my bolt rifle loading from there...

Here's what's arrived/arriving:

Redding Big Boss II
Redding National Match Die set .223
Redding National Match Die set .308
RCBS Chargemaster Combo
Wilson Micro Case Trimmer
Hornady OAL Guage
Hornady L&L Ultrasonic Cleaner (the smaller $99 version)
Neiko Digital Calipers
Lyman Multiprep Case Prep Tool (deburr and dechamfer)
Redding Shellholders
RCBS Universal Hand Priming Tool
Hornady One Shot Spray Lube
Sinclair Bullet Comparator and collets
RCBS Bullet Puller and collets
Lyman Reloading Manual
Sierra Reloading Manual
Lee Reloading Manual

As far as brass and powders...pickings have been slim but I've been persistent...in a few days I've managed...
6 lbs of Varget
2 lbs of N140
2 lbs of N540
1 lbs of Benchmark

500 52gr SMK 22 cal
50 62gr Barnes TSX 22 cal
100 69gr SMK 22 cal
100 77gr SMK 22 cal

100 175gr SMK 30 cal
100 178gr A-Max 30 cal
100 180gr SMK 30 cal

CCI #41 small rifle primers
Remington #9 1/2 large rifle primers

Tons of old brass...but also picked up a case of 223 and 308 Lapua Brass.

I'd love some feedback on where you think I should have zigged instead of zagged as well as what I should consider buying next...besides many hours behind the bench...that's coming as fast as the day will allow.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Oh...and I spent the weekend a couple weeks ago building a dedicated reloading bench for the garage...she's not much to look at, but she's sturdy and should suffice!

That's a lot of $$ dropped right there all in one shot!

 

[Stangs55]

A quick question...

Is it worth it to try measure the ogive and customize the bullet seating depths for an AR-15 and AR-10 platform if I plan to magazine feed my rounds? Or should I just start at maximum magazine OAL allowed and forget it? I ask because I wonder if using the Hornady or Sinclair OAL gage in an AR-15/AR-10 is just going to leave you with a desired bullet seating depth that is going to be beyond your maximum magazine length...is this typically the case?

That's a lot of $$ dropped right there all in one shot!

Buy once, cry once!

 

[lte82]

Load mag length. 2.25 for 223 and 2.81 for 308. Use non-vld bullets like the smk or berger btlr and bullet jump is a non issue.

 

[Stangs55]

Do you crimp if you mag load SMKs?

 

[lte82]

Do you crimp if you mag load SMKs?

Some do, but I dont. As long as you have sufficient and consistent neck tension there is no reason to imo. Some people also uniform primer pockets and ream flash holes. I dont do that either. If I shot benchrest or something then maybe, but for banging steel or hitting a 2 moa 10 ring at 600 yards, I find it to be a waste of prep time.

 

[JGorski]

Do you crimp if you mag load SMKs?

Yeah, some crimp, then there's the right way of doing it, Do not crimp! If you have some Mink Oil lying around use it for sizing smaller projects, like less than 50 rounds, you dont need much, it's so much cheaper than Imperial wax(works as good) and works even better than One Shot, I used the Hornady One Shot just last week on over 700 223Rem shells and didn't have 1 issue, stuff works great, just shake the can for a least a min. before using it. I personally wouldn't waste my time with flash hole deburring for an AR platform, and if you have good brass you wont have to worry about primer pocket uniforming either, everytime i check some new brass it never needs it in the first place.

 

[ldunnmobile]

Tag interesting

 

[MeanDoggy41]

Good Lord man, you went straight for the deep end on your purchases, good job! The only two things I would like to recommend is a powder tricolor and a Dillon 600 swaging tool for military crimped brass. The Dillon swagger will save you a ton of time when taking the crimp out of military crimped brass.

I hope the wife goes easy on you brother........