Reloading Ammo

Introducing the sport and hobby of reloading usually places emphasis on saving money to get and make quality ammunition. I started reloading when I was very young and I used a Lyman 310 hand tool. In todays world with all the political problems and facing a possible nuclear attack on us having your own ammunition factory is of great benefit to the gun owner. A person does "NOT" have to spend a fortune to start reloading ammunition.

To initially get started a person does not need a high dollar progressive reloading press. Basically all you need is a single stage press. Your ammunition will be just as good if not better. I always liked a "C" type press better than an "O" type press because the "C" type press gives you much better visibility but it is not as strong as an "O" press. For handgun ammunition there is no reason to have a super strong press. It would only become important when you want to resize large rifle cases.

You will need some type of wooden bench to mount your press, you could use a desk like I did or if you live in a confined area there are foldable tables they make for reloading. You will need a good scale to weigh your powder, I think the best scales are electronic, although mine are not. You will need a good powder measure, or if you do not want to make a great deal of ammo quickly you can just use your scale to weigh each powder charge

I always had single stage presses until I bought a Redding Hunter (Just called Redding now) Turret press, which was excellent. So now you have your press and your powder measure and your scale. You will need a set of reloading dies for each caliber and a specific shell holder. In the case of 38 special/357 magnum you use the same dies. In the case of 44 special/44 magnum the same applies.

All these presses have a priming arm that comes with each press and is used with the press to install your primers into the brass cases. I have owned all brands of products you could imagine. Buying a Redding, Hornady (used to be called Pacific), RCBS, or Lyman, or a Lee press would work fine. As for a scale buying an Ohaus, RCBS, or Lyman product is good. For a powder measure the only one that I found that was super accurate was Redding, although more money.

You will need to buy Tungsten Carbide pistol dies for each caliber so you do not have to lube your cases in the resizing process. About $200.00 will get you started in one caliber with very good equipment. I did not mention Dillion high dollar presses because you do not need it. The other things you will eventually need is some way to clean your brass like a tumbler or a case vibrator and a "GOOD" dial caliper. A case trimmer will come next, then the components.

I own all brands of dies, I have about 50 sets of Hornady (Pacific), RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Lee, CH, etc, dies. They are all basically very good. I always liked the control knobs on Lyman and Redding and Lee dies, but the internal finish of RCBS in my opinion was always better. If the inside of a die is not polished well you will have scratches on your brass cases. I will cover dies in a future commentary.

One pound of powder contains 7000 grains and if you were to reload just 38 special ammunition using 3.5 grains of Bullyseye powder per each bullet, you will be able to load 2000 rounds of ammo with one pound of powder. You will need one primer for each loaded bullet. You will have to start stocking brass, bullets and primers. I never used lead bullets as I do not like them. I always bought SPEER, SIERRA, HORNADY, REMINGTON, NOSLER, WINCHESTER, etc, bullets.

I will continue this reloading commentary into many segments as it can get very detailed. I could write an entire book on reloading. I will explain it all to you in due time. Please email me if you are interested in this subject.

AUTHORS PERSONAL NOTATION: This commentary as well as all my previous commentaries are my opinion only. I mean what I say and I say what I mean. For those that come here and complain about me and my commentaries (on the forums) "LEAVE", I DO NOT NEED YOU OR WANT TO TEACH YOU ANYTHING AS YOU ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING, GO ASK "TEDDY ROOSEVELT" IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS. I know who you are.
I am dedicated to helping the sincere honest gun owner that wants to learn.
I thank those that are honest and have integrity.
COMPROMISE DOES NOT EXIST IN MY WORLD OF REALITY.



Teddy Jacobson / Pistolsmith
www.actionsbyt.com
281 277 4008
tjacobson@houston.rr.com
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