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Beginner Reloading Questions
Posted on 9/4/24 at 4:59 pm
Posted on 9/4/24 at 4:59 pm
Bought a reloading kit. Realize it's probably going to have several items quickly upgraded, but it allowed me to start. Spent last weekend setting up a workbench area. Already resized some .223 brass.
Any tips and advice not captured in the sticky?
Reloading to start with some plinking 55 grain fmj, H335 powder, and CCI 400 small rifle primers. Confident in the bullets and powder, but read some negatives on the primers. Should I be looking for something different for .223 our of an AR?
Also need to figure out a case trimming setup, what's a good, but cost effective system.
Spent enough money for a little while.
, but excited to get started 
Any tips and advice not captured in the sticky?
Reloading to start with some plinking 55 grain fmj, H335 powder, and CCI 400 small rifle primers. Confident in the bullets and powder, but read some negatives on the primers. Should I be looking for something different for .223 our of an AR?
Also need to figure out a case trimming setup, what's a good, but cost effective system.
Spent enough money for a little while.
, but excited to get started 
13
Posted on 9/4/24 at 5:09 pm to Jon A thon
One powder at a time on the bench.
Especially when just starting out stick to reloading manual loads.
Especially when just starting out stick to reloading manual loads.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 5:13 pm to Jon A thon
That my exact recipe for 223. Perfect for plinking. I like the lee case length guages for trimming. Makes it really easy but you need one for each caliber you reload.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 5:14 pm to Jon A thon
You really don’t need a trimmer for .223/5.56 unless you’re shooting them in a bolt action for accuracy. What kind of brass are you using?
If anything start adjusting you bullet seating depth (get a good digital caliper)
Those CCI primers are great primers. Better than Remington or Winchester.
If anything start adjusting you bullet seating depth (get a good digital caliper)
Those CCI primers are great primers. Better than Remington or Winchester.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 5:19 pm to Jon A thon
quote:
Spent last weekend setting up a workbench area.
Hope you don't plan on doing much standing up. Get a good working stool, $215 on ULINE for the one I have. Also think about doing some kind of industrial mats under your working area, going to suck traying to find dropped brass, primers, and bullets with what you have now.
quote:
Confident in the bullets and powder, but read some negatives on the primers. Should I be looking for something different for .223 our of an AR?
You can try to find #41's but to be honest you don't need them if your AR is in spec as far as firing pin protrusion and even then if it's out of spec enough to slam fire 400's then the slight margin of safety the 41's will have is a toss up.
As for your setup, get ready to add on more bench area for case prep. I have mostly RCBS stuff too and I quickly upgraded to a powered case trimmer, case prep center, and a Charge Master 1500. I can prep brass far faster than I can load it, which for my purposes is perfectly fine as I am not a high volume shooter but I can knock out a chunk of quality loads in an hour. Get a direct light over your work surface, articulated workbench lights are great for this kind of work as you can put the light exactly where you need it. I got lucky sourcing an ALD model that a local dental school was tossing out but ULINE has one for about $275 that is a clamp on.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 5:39 pm to Clames
Do plan to get a stool. Also plan to get some mats for the bench area. The powder dropper and press/stand come off quickly. I put threaded inserts in the bench top. Will use that as a gun cleaning area as well, so want some rubber mats to stay there. Don't have much room to expand workspace there. It's a pop out area of the garage. I do have a large woodworking area on the other side of the garage with a lot of workbench space to perform some of the case prep that doesn't require the press set up. I was close to buying a case prep station, but figured I should get some loading done before making those decisions. Cleaning 150 primer pockets by hand yesterday has me eyeing the prep station sooner than later.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 5:56 pm to Jon A thon
If you mainly plan on reloading for an AR 15,i would have bought a turret style press. The single stage is best for bolt action but a turret would give you a box of plinking ammo much quicker.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 6:05 pm to Jon A thon
I like the little Lee caliber specific case trimming kits.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 6:05 pm to saintsfan1977
Although .223 and .300 BLK will be the largest volume, I still plan to expand to 7mag and 6.5 creedmore. I may eventually get a progressive press for 9mm which is what I really burn through, but picking that as the main justification for press selection wasn't financially worth it.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 6:07 pm to Jon A thon
quote:
Lee caliber specific case trimming kits
Are these the ones you attach a drill to and you just pay ~$15 for the case specific trimming die and use the same cutter?
This post was edited on 9/4/24 at 6:21 pm
Posted on 9/4/24 at 6:34 pm to Jon A thon
quote:
It's a pop out area of the garage.
Consider getting some plastic sheeting to cut to fit over the work surface at least, you do not want crud getting into dies and everything else. I have a cheap soft 2" paint brush I use as a duster, all I need as my reloading station is inside with my office area.
quote:
Cleaning 150 primer pockets by hand yesterday has me eyeing the prep station sooner than later.
Wait until you need to remove military ammo primer pocket crimps if you want to reload LC XM855 brass, you'll do more than eyeing it. Also, whatever trimmer you have, upgrade to a carbide cutter head as soon as you can.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 9:20 pm to Jon A thon
quote:
Any tips and advice not captured in the sticky?
Be ready to spend wayyyyyy more than you anticipated
Get a manual, follow it, don't get too far off in the weeds.
Posted on 9/4/24 at 10:26 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
You’ve got a really good start.
Reloading manuals are your best friends.
Quality items aren’t cheap but buy once cry once as they say.
What works for others might not work for you.
Never get in a hurry or get distracted.
Like someone said earlier, never ever have more than one jar of powder on the bench at a time.
It’s a great hobby
Reloading manuals are your best friends.
Quality items aren’t cheap but buy once cry once as they say.
What works for others might not work for you.
Never get in a hurry or get distracted.
Like someone said earlier, never ever have more than one jar of powder on the bench at a time.
It’s a great hobby
Posted on 9/4/24 at 11:14 pm to Jon A thon
Congratulations on your new hobby, Jon A then. I've been hand loading >35 years and have found it a very satisfying hobby. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. I like your reloading bench. I'm in the process of setting up my first reloading bench. I've always used my Lee Turret press that's attached to a large wood box it came in. For anyone reading this, I have a suggestion on how to find a sturdy and possibly free reloading bench. A friend got mine for me at a local hospital. Periodically they have to replace a door and they keep the old door in storage. I'm using the 7'x3' door as the table. I saw a video on Youtube that had a nice suggestion. The man attaches each tool to its own small piece of plywood. Four holes are drilled in each piece of plywood, matching up w/ 4 holes in the table. A T-nut is inserted into the table. When he uses the tool, he attaches the piece of plywood to to the table using 4 screws. That should help keep tools off the table when they're not being used.
Here's some other suggestions I have from an earlier post. It's quite lengthy and many won't apply to you at your early stage of handloading, but many do.
Here's some other suggestions I have from an earlier post. It's quite lengthy and many won't apply to you at your early stage of handloading, but many do.
Posted on 9/5/24 at 9:21 am to TigerOnThe Hill
You will enjoy it. I’ve been reloading for about 10 years and don’t buy ammo anymore. The best part is when either my wife or kids kills a deer with ammo we made. I typically load when it’s raining outside and there isn’t much else to do.
Today’s project is to load some 180 accubonds for my 300 WSM.
Today’s project is to load some 180 accubonds for my 300 WSM.
Posted on 9/5/24 at 9:43 am to pdubya76
quote:
180 accubonds for my 300 WSM.
This is exactly what I shoot in my 300wsm. Badass round
Posted on 9/5/24 at 9:49 am to magicman534
I don’t shoot it much so ammo lasts a long time . I finally used all the federal fusion. I’m using ram shot hunter powder for this one .
Just fyi…you can get some decent deals on nosler bullets from shooter pro shop. They sell all the nosler factory 2nd’s for a very good price . I’ve checked the bullets over extensively and can’t find any flaws and the weights are consistent.
Just fyi…you can get some decent deals on nosler bullets from shooter pro shop. They sell all the nosler factory 2nd’s for a very good price . I’ve checked the bullets over extensively and can’t find any flaws and the weights are consistent.
Posted on 9/5/24 at 10:05 am to bbvdd
quote:
You really don’t need a trimmer for .223/5.56 unless you’re shooting them in a bolt action for accuracy.
Not true, being new brass they are going to stretch a bunch. Being shot out of an auto you will need to full length resize which is going to stretch the bras. As mentioned before the lee is cheap and does a good job trimming to length.
Posted on 9/5/24 at 10:08 am to pdubya76
quote:
Just fyi…you can get some decent deals on nosler bullets from shooter pro shop
Thanks for the heads up. I was in the Jackson area for a swim meet in March and stopped by Vans. 1000$ later I had several hundred nosler bullets, primers, and powder lol.
I use 67g of H4831sc. I put a Q thunder chicken on the rifle and get around 2900-3000fps typically
This post was edited on 9/5/24 at 10:47 am
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