rjhans53

reloading can save you money but not if in the process you end up with a hospital bill. You need a A RELOADING MANUAL, (it can be an "out of date" as long as what you are going to reload isn't one of the wsm or 338 feds or some of the newer rounds), press, dies, a scale lets talk about that a bit. You can get a digital anything scale cheap, if you then want to use a dipper to throw a "start charge" that would be ok and then finish the charge with a trickler. I would hit every gun show, every forum classified ads section and place WTB in all of them for a manual powder measure, (A lot of us use electric powder measures and have our old manual measures in the back just in case we ever need it). You need a set of calipers (yes you do need them) don't have to be top of the line but something decent, something to prime the cases with (I use a $15 lee auto-prime works well for me). AND then the dies for the rounds you are going to reload for. THere is less expensive in this gig, but there aint no cheap

Wolf killer

Reloading ammo is not cheap regardless what you hear before you start. I have been reloading for several years and I have yet to break even. Stick to factory ammo until you have the extra money to spend on the proper reloading equipment.
Pick up a reloading manual Nosler makes a good one, I think the latest Nosler manual is number-5? You would be suprised at the information even a non-reloader can gain from a manual.
The RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme is a great all in one set up for around $300. Plan on spending another $300 just to have a reloading bench, dies, primers, bullets, powder & shell holders.

keyshunter

Since this was posted on April 1, I assume that it is a troll, or April Fool's joke. If not the answer is simple: one should not load smokeless powder ammo without a good scale.

n5638b

Check ebay, craigslist, gunbroker for used scales. I paid $30 for an old RCBS scale, also paid $30 for a new cheap digital scale. Both work great. The one thing you need to have is check weights to make sure your scale is calibrated every time you load. If you use a powder measure, scale the loads before, during and after to make sure it's throwing an accurate load. Pretty dangerous otherwise.

spaniel

Given I am reloading bottleneck rifle shells for about 1/3 the cost of buying loaded ammo, sometimes less, I am guessing you must not shoot very much. My quality setup paid for itself in the first year. Buying factory ammo at $30-$60 a box is a good way NEVER to be able to afford reloading equipment!

brasskeeper

Do your self and your family a favor and buy a reloading manual

Daveboone

Every body here pretty much summed it all up...but as an example, the .38 special was originally loaded for black powder. It maintaining popularity for over 100 years, of course smokeless powder has been loaded for it for many decades. A typical wadcutter powder load of Bulleye powder is only about 3 grains. You could probably fit over 20 grains into it if possessed to. 3.5 grains is the max load for my reloading book, so probably 5 grains would blow up many older revolvers. Skip buying beer for one week and you probably have your reloading guide and scales paid for.

Bernie P.

The Lee manual lists the "Useful case capacity" in cc's for all rounds.Not sure what you expect to get from it but there it is.

mauser06

wolf killer, like spaniel said, it shouldnt take long for your equipment to be "paid for" through reloading....


im loading accubonds in my 35 whelen...they run 50+ a box of 20...im loading them for right around 20$ a box...im saving 30$ or so each box i fire...

loading for the 22-250 i will save a bunch...bullets are about dirt cheap...ballistic tips for it run about 30$ a box...i will be well under 20$ a box for it..

and, im loading better ammo...and, it makes me shoot more lol...in the end, im not saving...im shooting more..lol


like the others said, save your money till you got enough to start off RIGHT...a good manual, and a scale are a MUST...you can use dippers or a thrower to get the powder on the scale and get it "close" then use a trickler to get the charge on the scale right where you want it...

reloading is a simple process...but it needs to be done properly or very bad things WILL happen.