The main reason I use Nosler brass now is to cut down on prep time. It comes trimmed, deburred and weight sorted. Even the flash holes are deburred. The only extra thing I do is uniform the primer pockets.That's probably not necessary, but I feel like I need to do at least something to them. Otherwise you just prime 'em, charge 'em, seat a bullet and you're ready to go.

Goodness, I am such a cheapscate at heart, that I forget to put a value on my time. But I am learning. How would you compare Nosler to Norma or Lapura?

Well, time is valuable, especially when you have children. Instead of spending an inordinate amount oftime sitting at a reloading bench doing mindless trimming or whatever, I decided my priorities should be elsewhere. I don't want to wake up 15 years from now with my son out of college and grown up and wishing I had spent more time with him instead of sitting at a reloading bench tinkering on reloads. So anything that'll cut down on my reloading time now is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

As far as how Nosler compares to the other two you mentioned, I'd say it compares very, very favorably. I'm probably set on brass for the next 3 or 4 years, but if I needed to buy some more right nowI'd consider Nosler first followed by Lapua because of the extra prep work the Nosler gets.

Good planning because yes you are correct, and I know from personal experience how fast our kids grow up. Before you know it, they're asking for the car keys and are busy in there lives...

I don't do all the reloading steps at one shot. As I shoot my different rifles, I dump all the empties in a box. When I get some time I will tumble/clean them.

When I get time next I will inspect, trim if needed and punch the primers out.

Then when I get time I will lube and resize.

Then when I get time I willinspect and prime.

Then when I need some ammo I will sort our Rem/Win groups, measure powder for each and inspect the powder level in each cartridge.

Then I will seat the bullets.

I do not load a bunch at a time. 22-250s I will load a 100 or so at a time. 300/7mag I will load 20 to 40 at at time.

The important thing is to INSPECT, MEASURE, CHECK, NO HURRY.

I also log each batch. Number, Calibur, primer, powder, bullet, OAL, date. I store them in a ammo box and put the same info on the bax as I log.

I have some ammo (small amount) that I don't know what they are. Thought I would always remember but I don't.

How much time does it take? It takes as long as it takes.

Thats really interesting and all, but the point of the thread was, asupposal friend thought ittooks like an hourto whip up some loads for him. And don't think he believed me when I told him 4 hours is conservative.

bigcountry,

Since reloading is a hobby in itself, I don't pay much attention as to the time it takes. I'm a big believer in loading it right and loading it safely to be the two major considerations. I tend to be be a nit-picker, so it takes me awhile to load virgin cases. I usually get about 150 cases in the hopes of ending up with sixty cases when I'm finished. So I'm not exaggerating when I say it will usually take me two weeks, working two hours a night, and a trip to the range for fireforming before I can usually have a load I'm refining.

I do a couple of things that you might find interesting. First, I don't load for anyone. I must know someone quite well before I'd expect them to put up with the cost of the way I do things. So I invite them in to the house, set them down at the bench and teach them how to reload. This is the standard method of reloading. But along the way I also introduce them to the steps I take. Usually some of these steps are used, usually weighing cases and uniforming primer pockets. It's not uncommon that by the time a loads has been found for his rifle he has opted for additional steps as well. The fact that my groups are smaller seems to lead to following the same steps I use. Second, I use the Lyman VLD deburring tools for both the inside and outside of the case mouth.I chuck these in a small variable speed drill and adjust the drill to the slowest speed and set the trigger in the on poition. This results in an even slower speed. Since I'm right handed, I hold the drill in an upright poition with my left hand and my right hand to take cases from the loading block and place them on the deburring tool. The cases are case mouth down in the block, so I don't have to turn them over. I'll do all the inside the mouth, and after changing the deburring tool do the outsides. This is the quickest way I've found to do the job. I hold the case with my thumb and middle finger with my index finger on the fase of the case head. this works great for me.

But back to your question on time. It takes what it takes to do it right and safe, and not a second less. Nor should any steps be taken to shortcut it. But 4 hours sounds pretty quick.

This is one of the reasons why I got "lazy" and started buying all new brass every year. This way I have very minimal (if any) trimming/deburring. One of these cold winters I am going to sit down in front of my tv and trim/size/deburr all my spent cases (probably 500 + 7mm and close to 1,000 of 243 all once fired). I have a buddy that comes and helps me every once in a while cuz he likes to learn new things, so that makes it more enjoyable to me when I have someone to BS with. This is where I screwed up a few years back, I bought 1000 cases of once fired Lake City brass for my 223, I trimmed/deburred/sized all of 'em, and seated benchrest primers in all of 'em. Now they are sitting in my cupboard collecting dust until I buy another 223 to bang 'em out of.

The only part I hate is powder charging and beburring. Seating the bullet is the best. I like prining too. All in all, it's a perfect way to waste my time and I love to do it.

Yep. At least 4 hours, since I weigh each charge-I throw the charges with a powder measure, then dump and weigh each individually before seating the bullet in each case.....