O.K. ... I Started

[mr surveyor]

I started with 10 clean once fired .357 cases to get accustomed to the tools. Deprimed, resized, reprimed and flared the cases.... drank another cup of coffee and decided to do a test round first. Used 6.4 gr Unique with a 158 gr LRN bullet for what I think will be a decent light/moderate load that shouldn't cause excessive barrell leading. Then took it to the back yard ... hollered at the next door neighbor to let him know what was about to happen (hopefully not a catastrophic failure) and let 'er rip.

Next step was to rush back inside and reprep that single case, then finish loading the ten I started with. I'll be heading to the range to put those 10 on paper this afternoon before continuing any further.

I did caliper every round to be on the safe side, and most likely will continue that practice. The powder measure with the little Lee Classic Loader (all step by step hands on) is pretty fool proof... IF you use the proper sized powder dipper. With a proper safe loading recipe that equals the scoop volume, there isn't much chance of over charging (using a full level scoop) as long as you don't screw up and double charge.

I guess it's time to think about a tumbler now.....


surv


ETA: bang, bang, bang (X10) very little lead fouling...shot up a few reloads a buddy gave me to try, and the rest of a box of Fed AE (to salvage the brass)..... I'm hooked

[pocketgun]

Sweet, I want to get started too, just too many BS things going on right now.

[argo]

Congratulations
Boy you moved fast on this. Did you buy the equipment locally?

[magman454]

Glad to hear that you've joined the ranks.

Although sending lead down range at high velocity is always enjoyable, doing so with loads that you created is somehow more so.

[mr surveyor]

I ordered what I wanted to start with from Natchez Shooters Supply. I started with the most minimal set up possible... the Lee Classic Reloader. "Technically" the only tool that you need other than what's in the little 4"x6"x1-1/2" box of reloading tools is a plastic faced hammer .... BUT, a caliper to check the OAL of the finished product - to make certain you have the bullet seater set right, is a real plus. Also, since I'm trying to put together a very small portable package I decided to buy the Lee powdere measure dipper set to have a lot of optional pre determined volume "scoops", and bought a Lee Safety Powder Scale (which I haven't even opened yet.

I bought the Lee Loader for .357 and 9mm (they were only 20 bucks each) to test drive, and now I'm certain I will get the 45 acp, .243 and 30-30, maybe others, before they become totally obsolete. I will eventually set up a press, once I can have the dedicated space, but for the time being it will be "small scale".

I figure the best approach is what I figured before laying hands on this stuff, that being to break the process up into two "sessions". First session (with clean brass), deprime, resize the cases, reprime and flare the case mouth (if necessary) of a batch. Second session would be powder charge, seat the bullets and crimp (if necessary).

I learned a long time ago that for something to really sink in, start at the most basic, fundamental level possible. Then, if you feel really confident you can jump ahead a couple of generations. Nothing worse than trying to start at the top without a good basic foundation.


surv

[mr surveyor]

Did my first real .357 reload "session" today... actually broke into two sessions - don't want to piss off mrs surv at lunch time . Before lunch I cleaned up 50 Fed AE cases I shot yesterday, deprimed, cleaned primer pockets, lubed and re-sized and re-primed. Took me about an hour including "set-up" time. After lunch I powdered, set the bullets, crimped them all, then wiped them all down good and put up the tools. Exactly another hour. I'm sure that when I get it all down to a routine and load at least a hundred per session I should easily be able to average 50 rounds per hour including set up and clean up time. I still think for now it will be much faster to deprime all the cases at once, then re-size and reprime them all. The primed cases can be put away for another session if there's not a big enough time slot to do it all in one sitting. I suppose another reason I was a bit "slow" was stopping every 3rd or 4th round to caliper the OAL. Trying to keep them all in the 1.59 to 1.61 range.

Now I need to order some decent bullets... still thinking about the Berry's Plated bullets for range rounds. I would think they would be better than plain old LRN's. At $13 per hundred I only bought 100 LRN's at a local store the other day. It was either that or $18/100 for Nosler or Hornady .

I knew the little Lee Classic Loader would be pretty slow on volume production, but it's darned sure a good way to get down the basics. And, I normally don't shoot hundreds of rounds of ($18-22 per box) .357 magnums either in a range trip - 25 to 50 normally, due to cost. These reloads cost me $9.50 NOT counting brass, since I already had the once fired brass. Even adding cost of new brass at 22 cents per, and figuring 6 reloads, I would still only have another $1.80 per box invested in brass. Also, I did "over pay" about 3 cents per round on the bullets. I'm hoping for $7.50 - $8.00 per box for good .357 range ammo.

Even though it's slow, it is very reliable with proper attention paid to detail. With my .243, slow re-loading won't be an issue. That will be my next Lee "Kit". Then I will use the scales, pay premium for the better bullets, and find the 1/2 MOA groups I know the gun is capable of


surv

[Preacher Fred]

The Lee Loader is a great start. Like potatoe chips loading just a few at a time will make ou hungry to shoot more. I started with a Lee Loader and quickly went to a press when my wife complained about the noise of that plastic hammer beating .357 cases into the die.

[mr surveyor]

I'm sure that the next move up the ladder will take place by summer, but not until I have experienced at least one semi-auto caliber and one rifle caliber with the little Lee Loader. I have read about these little kits for many years, particularly about the high precision, well tuned rifle rounds folks have cranked out with them, and have plans to really work on the .243 round for my M77.

Another thing that's always in the back of my mind is portability. Not that hauling reloading equipment out during a serious SHTF bug-out situation would really make sense, but it's still a thought. It wouldn't make any sense at all to haul components in place of "ready rolls", but the tools to make the finished product just might be justified under certain conditions. Since everything you need fits in a very small container, it wouldn't be out of the question to pack it along in the bug out vehicle just in case the components to roll your own just happen to be available along the way. Naaaahhhhh... sounds too much like a lame hollywood b rate movie

I'll order the 250 boxes of Berry's bullets for both .357 and 9mm in the next week or so, then try the 9mm loader sitting all lonely on the shelf.

(p.s. ... I still have all my fingers )

[mr surveyor]

since this thread has ended up being my personal beginner's reloading journal, I'll bring it up to date. This past weekend I decided to clean up some 9mm brass and get it ready to load. I deprimed, resized, reprimed about 250 cases Saturday to be ready if I had a chance to make a run about 12 miles away to search for some bullets (also needed a chamfer tool). Since we had some nasty weather today, I made the run and found what I thought I really wanted.... a 250 cnt box of Berry's plated bullets at $24+tax, which would have been still less than the $20+shipping from mail order.... also got the deburring tool, and a can of Accur #7 powder.

First, I decided to load a single round somewhat below starting load just to make sure it would load and go bang. First attempt, bullet seated 5° out of plumb.... damn! Second attempt, repeat of first.... double damn. Finally got a straight one on the third attempt and took it to the back yard for a test. Loaded fine, went bang, but didn't cycle the slide.... and, locked it up tighter than a drum. I figured it may have been underpowered enough that the primer backed out and hung up the striker. Finally managed to get a thin blade between the breech face and the barrel hood and apparantly broke the hangup apart and was able to forcefully rack the slide. Not feeling like I had enough data points to make the connection to being underpowered, I put another identical round together...same results., same cure. Then, stupid me (I know better), I decided I would chamber one of the previously mis-aligned (now primed, empty casing) and pop the primer. Duh.... what does a primer do if there ain't enough force to slam the case head back against the breech face, resetting the primer. Had to use the blade again . After the underpowered "tests", I put another round together with a true mid range load... took two attempts this time to properly seat the danged plated bullet. But, that round cycled perfectly, felt right, sounded right, and hit the spot it was aimed at. By then, I was ready to load a couple of magazines full to give it all a function test. Ended up squishing three more cases before I gave it up for more study.

The de-priming base with the Lee Classic Loaded is also used as the charging/bullet seating base (keeps the primer protected by the hole in the bottom of the tool). I noticed in the beginning that it looked as if the casings were actually sitting a bit out of plumb in the tool, and the ID of the tool measures about 0.486... lots of room for it to move around anyway. For some reason, the 9mm casings just will not sit straight in this tool. I started to blame it on the plated bullets, but the more I think about it, I think the tool is out of spec. Surely it ain't that hard to hammer out 9mm rounds. Another thing that probably contributes to the relaod difficulty of the 9mm is the fact the casings are tapered rather than straight walled.

Any suggestions? I'll try to call Lee tomorrow to pick their brains. I should have gotten the .45 acp stuff like my original plan.... that's where the re-load savings would have been.


surv

[mr surveyor]

looks like I shouldn't have even tried the Berry's plated bullets with the Lee Classic Loader. I talke to the folks at Lee today, and they said for the 9mm kit to use nothing but jacketed bullets. I tried several dummy rounds today, and still couldn't get them to properly headspace. What a pita. Now I have 230+/- plated bullets I can't use, and nothing to replace them.