Reloading Tool for the Super-Anal

[legion]

Yep, just set mine up today. Now I know exactly how concentric my bullets are set.

Hornady Lock-N-Load Ammunition Concentricity Gage - MidwayUSA

[sc_rufctr]

Looks cool... But measuring each round like this would take ages.

Would it minimize miss loads or jams?

[legion]

I just used it on 100 rounds of .223. Probably took around an hour to check and correct all of the rounds.

Considering that it took me about 4 hours to trim, chamber, deburr the inside of the case mouth, deburr the flash hole, and clean with my ultrasonic cleaner the same 100 rounds, then another hour to lube and reload them (progressive press), another hour to check the concentricity wasn't so bad.

If you have a problem with rounds jamming, this wouldn't be a bad thing to check. Most likely, you should just replace your bullet-seating die.

I'll probably only bother with this in the future with match-grade ammo.

[Gogar]

I'm green to reloading, so . . . . .

How much does 100 rounds of good .223 cost?

Are the reloads you make better than what you can buy?

How much does 5 hours of your life cost?

I'm really just asking because I have no idea, but it's interesting to me.

[Taz's Master]

Legion, is this a problem with factory ammo, and can this tool help correct it? What improvements in accuracy/function have you made with this tool?

[ODDJOB UNO]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I'm green to reloading, so . . . . .

How much does 100 rounds of good .223 cost?

Are the reloads you make better than what you can buy?

How much does 5 hours of your life cost?

I'm really just asking because I have no idea, but it's interesting to me.

gogar go to dillonreloading.com and start reading.

1st what rounds do you have and what rounds do you aspire to have in future. its really stoopid to buy a reloader that does just one type of bullet, unless you have only (1) wunder round that you own. most of us run a myriad of rounds and dillon will explain which reloader will do the rounds you own or will own. yes you need a shotshell reloader to do shotgun rounds. and then a centerfire reloader to do pistol/rifle rounds.

2) reloading is exactly like a menu. you have crap cheap azz rounds for plinking and dinking, you have middle range powders and bullets, match powders and bullets, and finally full blown spendy hunting rounds.

3) each spoon shoots a fave round very well. the secret here is to mimic reloading the round yer spoon likes. does it group better with federal/winchester/remington/hornaday. then buy a RELOADING BOOK and start looking at the menu and decide what werks for YOU!


4) a dillon 550 is in my horizon. why? well heres the rounds i have and the rounds it will do:


9mm
38
.380
.357mag already have dies
.44 mag already have dies
.45
.30/.30
.30 carbine
.308 already have dies
.338 win mag already have dies.
.45/70

i would not waste my time with reloading .380/9mm/or .45 as these can be had in bulk fairly cheap. .30/.30 is another in bulk is fairly cheap as well as .30 carbine.


start with the dies you shoot the most and then move on as time and ability progress. remember when properly setup and the menu right in front of you, and all the powder/primers/shells bullets..................you can crank out a POO LOAD in a couple of hours.

it aint a big deal. we was doing .357 mag rounds when we waz freshman in high school. actually a no brainer. and back then we never double loaded a round nor short changed a round(squib). not bad for stoopid kids.



warning drinking and smoking while reloading sooner or later WILL get you a double charged round(KA FEEKING BLAMMO-BAD JU JU!) or a NO CHARGE ROUND (a SQUIB which =KA FEEKING BLAMMO) if ya dont know what the hell a PFFFFT is when it should GO BANG! trust me if it goes PFFFT and you light off another round...............IT WILL GO KA FEEKING BLAMMO and quite possibly kill you or others. so it aint a hobby that you take lightly. and the obvious gunpowder storage gig(cool dry place.)

[legion]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I'm green to reloading, so . . . . .

How much does 100 rounds of good .223 cost?

The cheap stuff is about $40 for 100, unless you buy in bulk. The good stuff can cost double that.

Originally Posted by Gogar

Are the reloads you make better than what you can buy?

Some yes, some no. I'll make match-grade rounds on a single-stage press and it will take much longer than 5 hours to make 100, but they are much better than the cheap factory ammo.

Originally Posted by Gogar

How much does 5 hours of your life cost?

No idea, but I do reward myself with more reloading toys.

Originally Posted by Gogar

I'm really just asking because I have no idea, but it's interesting to me.

The bottom line is that if you buy pre-made bullets like I do, at best you will be able to make high-quality ammo for the price of the low-quality stuff. Really, it's more hobby than cost consideration for me.

Now I have to go reload some .32 S&W Long. (Which I have to reload because I can't find it to buy.)

[azasadny]

I really enjoy reloading, it's my winter hobby...

[sc_rufctr]

I can understand how reloading would be a Zen like activity for a competition shooter who is also a perfectionist.

Is it possible to reload rounds so they are identical in weight and charge? (compared to bought rounds)

[azasadny]

Peter,
What I like about reloading is that you can be as "anal" as you like. I concentrate on making good, consistent ammo, not "match grade" since I'm not a competitive shooter. I find what works best in my pistols and rifles, than I make that "recipe" and tray to stay as consistent as possible. I use range brass, standard primers and bullets and I have never had a round that I reloaded fail in any way.
What I also like is that I can make exactly what I want to shoot and it feels good to shoot well at the range with ammo that I reloaded myself.

[sc_rufctr]

Being able to loud you own rounds has a lot of benefits. For instance...

An old timer taught me how to make and use paper patched rounds when I was a teenager.
He showed me how to cut the paper and wrap it around the bullet in the correct direction so it would tighten as it traveled down the rifling of the barrel.
I can't remember the calibers involved but he could effectively use smaller rounds in a very large caliber side by side "Elephant" gun... And the rounds were pristine and unmarked by the rifling in the barrel.
He had a water trap setup at the back of his own range on his property in the country.

His gun looked like a 12 gauge shotgun but fired large caliber bullets instead.
I saw Pete Postlewaite caring a similar gun in the last Jurassic Park movie.

RIP Peter.

[Rick Lee]

I want to get back into reloading, as I miss shooting SWC in my handguns. But .223 is pretty much an outdoor-only round for me and I can buy it all day long for $25 per 100 rds. or less. I don't mind shooting the cheapo Russian stuff. I don't think reloading that will save me anything. Though I wouldn't mind making some custom .30-06 stuff and I do plan an AR build in .308 in the coming months. Dillon is right down the street from me too.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by legion

I just used it on 100 rounds of .223. Probably took around an hour to check and correct all of the rounds.

Considering that it took me about 4 hours to trim, chamber, deburr the inside of the case mouth, deburr the flash hole, and clean with my ultrasonic cleaner the same 100 rounds, then another hour to lube and reload them (progressive press), another hour to check the concentricity wasn't so bad.

You planning on shooting an Olympic match?

A couple of my princesses have actually expressed an interest in learning to reload. They both love to shoot, and want to save money on ammo so I can take them to the range more. I'm probably gonna buy a simple single stage press so they can learn how to do it, and so i can see if they actually enjoy it before i spend a lot of money.

[legion]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

You planning on shooting an Olympic match?

No, but I think I have everything I need to make the ammo.

What I really need to do is to sort all my brass and bullets by weight, and make whole batches out of the same weight components.

[emcon5]

All that stuff it probably a waste of time with a factory chamber.

Do a blind test. Give 10 of the rounds you just did, and 10 normal reloads to your Wife/kid/neighbor. Have them put them in boxes marked A and B. Then go shoot them, and see if you can tell which is which.

You shoot an AR right?

Just out of curiosity, chamber a couple of the ones you just measured (bolt locked back, seat magazine, trip bolt release, let the bolt slam the round home) then eject it and measure it again. Pretty easy to remove the firing pin if you are nervous about cambering live rounds.

As to handloading saving money, .223 and 9mm are the probably the cheapest centerfire ammo there is (ignoring surplus Warsaw Pact military stuff).

I load .223 for good varmint and match ammo. For blasting ammo, or for carbine matches that don't require that level of precision or quality of bullet, I buy whatever I can find cheap.

9mm, I buy. Not worth the time for the minuscule savings.

[azasadny]

I recommend a good quality turret press to get started. I think you could get everything you need to get started reloading for $500, but then add $ for each caliber you want to reload. It takes time, attention to detail and patience, but it's fun and rewarding, too!

I saw an RCBS starter kit with turret press at Cabela's last month on sale for less than $350.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

You planning on shooting an Olympic match?

A couple of my princesses have actually expressed an interest in learning to reload. They both love to shoot, and want to save money on ammo so I can take them to the range more. I'm probably gonna buy a simple single stage press so they can learn how to do it, and so i can see if they actually enjoy it before i spend a lot of money.

My thoughts exactly. Unless someone is shooting match, this is simply not needed.

Grogar, listen to what OddJob posted, its simply the best there is. That said, if you do not have time to reload, then buy your ammo. This is not something that you sit down and do in 15 minutes, it takes a bit and no TV, loud music and so on or there could be a loud noise... but its a lot of fun!