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Reloading?

TRIGGER

TRIGGER

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Joined
Sep 25, 2011
Messages
10,600
Location
Cunningham TN
I have always wanted to reload but never had the space available to do it. I have done some rearranging around here and now have an empty garage that I'm going to turn into a man cave and will have the room now. I know nothing about reloading so I'm starting from scratch. I would like to be able to reload rifle,pistol and shotgun. I may not be able to purchase all of the equipment rite away but I do want to go ahead and build my bench and storage area. How much room will I need? I am also open to suggestions on reloading equipment. I shoot quite a bit so I am willing to spend the money to do it correctly in a timely fashion. Any input would be appreciated.
 
I currently load on the dining room table. When I buy a house I'll have a room for it. You could do it in a closet or a room. Depends how much room you want and how much stuff you accumulate. When I started i had plenty of room. Now it's all in a mess


Big or small, kill em all
 
I have been reloading since the mid-1980's. When it comes to room, you never have enough so lay out as convenientand efficient and large a space as you can handle.

Go to the Reload section and page backwards in time and read the many threads.

Go to
http://handloadersbench.com/
and shadow or join, same price as TNDeer. Tons of very valuable information in both sites.

Do you have anyone to mentor you? A buddy you can watch?
 
A mentor is best but, IMO for a beginner, a reloading manual is 2nd. Just buy a current nosler or other reloading manual. It will take you through case prep, safety, and even ways to get more accuracy. Keep in mind that these manuals place safety as priority number 1 and many experience loaders have more efficient methods.
 
These 2 videos are long but very informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUnrYp0NH38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igse-APgpEc

Personally, I'd start with a lighter caliber rifle that you can shoot quite a bit to get your feet wet on case prep, sizing and load work-ups without spending a ton on components. Once you develop your own method of doing things you can swap over to other rifle calibers and then to pistol and shotgun.

For equipment, I've always used an RCBS Rockchucker Supreme press and a mixture of RCBS, Redding, Forester and Lee dies. Each brand his their perks but prices vary so it's pretty much up to you on how much you want to spend. A RCBS Rockchucker Supreme kit will contain the majority of what you need (minus dies and components) to get started, or you can buy each piece individually as funds allow.

As far as the amount of room you'll need goes, if you have a "Man Cave" you should have plenty of room. I will suggest that you set your bench up in "stations" to help keep everything organized and save you the headache of trying to remember what step you need to do next. Try to keep everything tidy and all of your loose brass in labeled batches so you'll know how many firings they've had, which gun they've been shot through, etc. Notes are the name of the game when it comes to reloading.
 
First thing to get is a good reloading manual and read it before you buy anything, it will help you decide if you really want to. Next have a friend who reloads that you can ask questions and you will have them. There are some good starter kits to buy that will get you started, you can go broke later adding to it. Do not and I mean do not take loads off the internet with out checking them first with a good load manual.
 

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