[Lysander]

Hey, I've been considering learning to reload my own ammo for a while now, and have finally decided to. That said, I don't have any convenient access to people who have done it before. Pardon any of my stupid questions:

1) What do I need to get started?
2) Are there any books I should read first?
3) Where can I find good loads for .45 ACP, .380, 9mm, and .357mag?
4) Whats the safest way to test my first loads?
5) Living in Atlanta, wheres a good place to get Brass and Bullets?

Any other pertinent information yall have, I'd be much obliged if you'd share it with me.

 

[10ring]

This forum is certainly a good place to ask questions. Most of the folks here will be glad to help out.

If you have any sporting goods stored in your area which have some reloading supplies I would suggest taking a look at the Lyman reloading manual. Most of the available reloading manuals have step by step instruction on how to get started in reloading but the previous version of the Lyman manual was great. I haven't taken a close look at the current version but I suspect they kept that excellent section of the book. This book will have an excellent selection of loads for the cartridges you asked about.

You have to decide what quantities of ammo you plan on loading. I highly recommend a single stage press to start out with to learn the basics of rifle and pistol reloading. But if you shoot large quantities of pistol, and maybe rifle for that matter, you might be better off going for a progressive press right off and use it as a single stage until you get the hang of it. The bad thing about progressive presses, IMHO, is that it's easy to not pay attention to all the steps taking place and you can easily make a boo-boo which could blow up a gun. Not good.

 

[snokid]

1. It depends on how much you plan to reload/shoot a month. There is no majic number but a good start might be 200 and less a week you could get by with a single stage press, rcbs makes a nice one. over 200 a week you should look at a progressive press, Dillon builds some of the best ones. if you get up towards 400-500 a week then in my opinion the best press is the dillon 650.


2. Pick as many reloading books as you can, lee has a pretty good one, but you will want more than one.


3.see answer #2 and the manufactors websites also have load data.

4. start at the low end of the load data, I do have to admit that the first time I pulled the trigger on one of my reloads I was nervous.

5. brass it's hard to beat e-bay just buy it in large enough volume that the shipping doesn't eat up your savings. Bullets from what I have found, it is also hard to beat the internet, unless you can get a group of shooters together to order a bulk order of bullets with. one internet place I have ordered from with good result's is berrysmfg.com.

powder and primers both can be expesive to order online, because of the hazmat fee. Buy in bulk to save on just about everything to reload. my last order of 9mm 124 grn cost me 33.00 if I had only ordered 1000 it would of been 50.00

sno

 

[dodgestdshift]

Start out with a good reloading manual. Read it and understand it. When you are done most of your questions will be answered by the book and you. I like Speer #13, but Hornady's and Hodgdon are excellant. Another option would be to get a reloading book from the public library, but when you start to acquire equipment and load ammo, the first purchase is the manual.

Your manual will give you the information on loads for any conceivable caliber.

The safest way to test your loads is to never exceed published maximums given in your manual. Shoot at a range or a place with a good backstop. Wear ear and eye protection. Why ear protection, at 61 I listen to crickets all year around, whether they are there or not.

I don't know Atlanta, but there must be gun shops and outdoor stores around. Finally, you can look at Midwayusa.com for midway, they have everything you need and stuff you don't need. That's why you need to read the manual first.

 

[pinheadbob2002]

Dillion has video's on how to use there press. But the 550B video it is under 10 bucks.
The Video will show you how to set up a press and reload ammo. It will also go into all the things you need to watch for. Reloading is time consumeing.