reloading manual..

[texasgunhand]

I have some noob questions. I bought a rcbs kit to start realoading..have read the sticky also..
1. I have a speer manual #14 that came with it, do i need to buy a hornady manual to reload hornedy bullets or can i use the speer manual? As long as bullets are the same weight are the work loads good for any bullets.ie hornady,berger,Sierra etc or do i need to buy a realoding manual for each company?

2. Iam just reloading for me and my wife 9mm , .45, 223, 6mm rem. , 30.06 . Mainly 9mm,223,45. Should i buy the regular dies or carbide? Of course carbide cost more,dont know if i need them..

3. Do say hornady or lee shell holders and dies fit rcbs or are each proprietary to brand.

This is a new hobbie ive done a little in the past,my dad had the stuff.Iam still in the reading everything i can stage right now. Went looking for books today ,no luck really in a small town. Thanks for your help..as always..

[lunchbox]

Here's a free Sierra Manual https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?109135-Free-reloading-manual
Hopefully someone with more reloading exp than me will chime in.

[Onyx Z]

I have some noob questions. I bought a rcbs kit to start realoading..have read the sticky also..
1. I have a speer manual #14 that came with it, do i need to buy a hornady manual to reload hornedy bullets or can i use the speer manual? As long as bullets are the same weight are the work loads good for any bullets.ie hornady,berger,Sierra etc or do i need to buy a realoding manual for each company?

No, you don't need a special manual for each brand of bullet until you start getting specialty hunting and match bullets. But I wouldn't mess with either until you are pretty comfortable with reloading.


2. Iam just reloading for me and my wife 9mm , .45, 223, 6mm rem. , 30.06 . Mainly 9mm,223,45. Should i buy the regular dies or carbide? Of course carbide cost more,dont know if i need them..

You don't NEED carbide dies, but they are nice to have. Rifle carbide dies are hard to find as not many folks make them. Everyone makes carbide pistol dies. With that, I use carbide dies for pistol and normal steel dies for rifle. Carbide dies typically do not require case lube, but there are some calibers do. The cartridges you listed do not.


3. Do say hornady or lee shell holders and dies fit rcbs or are each proprietary to brand.

Lee shellholders do fit RCBS presses. From what I've seen, most shellholders are fairly interchangeable.


This is a new hobbie ive done a little in the past,my dad had the stuff.Iam still in the reading everything i can stage right now. Went looking for books today ,no luck really in a small town. Thanks for your help..as always..

Read, read, read. There is a wealth of information all over the web (but mainly here :)).

[texasgunhand]

Thank you for your help everyone... Ive been reading so much my eyes hurt.lol,think i just need dies , case trimmer, vib.media shell cleaner.
Altho i was measuring some federal brass last night and it was 1.740 i guess it will stretch when resized so i will go find a trimmer later.

[markm]

Carbide dies are nice for high volume stuff like .223 or .45. But with Dillon case lube regular rifle dies are just fine.

[texasgunhand]

Iam getting dies tomorrow for the m-4 iam guessing the black box rcbs .223/5.56 small base tapper crimp will be ok?I only own an ar in .223 no bolt a action rifles.
Iam also assuming the 9mm and .45 are taper crimp, but the 6mm remington is roll crimp its a bolt action. The 30.06 i guess is also roll crimp its remington semi auto. I ve read so much over the last couple days my eyes hurt. And am still trying to just get started. Iam thinking it will help to get everything setup and finally start tinkering. Ive Watched a ton of you tube,that helps.. Thanks again for helping a noob..lol

[davidz71]

I haven't used small base dies for any of my three AR's and haven't had problems.

[oldandslow]

tgh,

Reloading is a great way to shoot more but you will not save any money as you will end up shooting more often.

I reload for pistol- 38sp, .357mag, 9mm, .45acp, 44sp and for rifle- .223/556 AR, .270win, 30/30, 30.06. For shotgun- 770 grain full-bore 12 gauge lead slugs (real pig thumpers).

For straight walled pistol rounds you should get carbide dies as you will not have to lube the cases to resize. For rifle rounds even with the carbide dies you will need to lube the cases so most of us use the regular steel dies (not the small base dies).

For reloading manuals I have and like Speers and Lymans. Another website that is great for reloaders is www.stevespages.com. Click on "my pages" and you have to work your way to his reloading section but it has a lot of useful info.

If you're looking for reloading books, dies, etc online then there are a number of good places to shop. I like Sinclair International or Brownells and occasionally use MidwayUSA but often their shipping rates are outrageous.

For Full Metal Jacket bullets I use Grafs.com or Wideners.com. For reloading powder and primers I use Grafs, Wideners or Powder Valley.

I also have a RCBS Rockcrusher supreme single stage press. It's great for low volume reloading but if you get into serious amounts of .223/556, 9mm or .45acp then you will want a progressive machine. I prefer Dillon but many like the Hornady just as well.

Bottlenecked rifle cases will stretch when fired and are usually trimmed after resizing/depriming. There's no use in measuring or trimming straight walled pistol cases. You will need a case trimmer early on if you reload rifle cases.

So do a lot of reading and research, ask a lot of questions and let us know how things are going.

Happy New Year- oldandslow

[texasgunhand]

Thanks for the links and advice, Iam leaving right now to go get more stuff, should have everything to start. Tumbler, trimmer,etc i guess ill just get reg .223 dies if i dont need the small base. Whats shocking is the amount of startup,but it should last a long time... Thanks guys.

[markm]

Whats shocking is the amount of startup,but it should last a long time... Thanks guys.

Worth it if you ENJOY doing the work. If you're not the kind of guy who likes putting in the time and effort, then it's not a good investment.

[nate89]

Reloading can become a hobby in and of itself. I still consider reloading more of a necessary chore to keep me shooting, but slowly I find myself liking my time with the press.

[Lead Foot]

One or two items. Find a local friend to help you get started. I have started a lot of people reloading both here in NC and down in south FL. The more reloading books the better. You can get a lot of good data on line but I would recommend you stay with the company sites like Hornady, Speer, Nosler, etc. The powder companies give you a lot of data also for free. I have a bunch of RCBS die sets and love them all but started buying LEE 10=15 years ago and see no difference in the finished product. Now I am not a bench rest shooter looking for a single whole after 5 shots and if I were then I may want a couple of specialty dies. As far as .223/5.56 I have never used any special dies and have never had a problem with a Mini 14, many bolt actions and my new AR, so you can avoid that expense as others have suggested.

Have fun, Lead Foot

[texasgunhand]

I went with the lee factory crimp for .223 and lee carbide for the 9mm. I like doing precision work and times not really a factor,so iam sure ill like it. I spent 10 years in my family's machine shop and liked it. I got both lee dies almost for the price of the 1 set of rcbs carbide pistol dies. Bought the cabelas brand tumbler kit(made by berrys in the usa.)and the lymans universal case trimmer , the reviews on the tumbler were great 394 of them, very quiet. And the trimmer i couldnt pass up on sale for 69 bucks.
Probably a little much for the amount of reloading ill be doing right now,i coulda bought a lota target load for 600 bucks but i dont want to be cought in another ammo rush again when the 2016 elections come up and sooner or later it will pay for itself.
Also is there a problem useing a plastic top table? (Static charge etc.) is this a no no,if so i need to find or build another bench.

[bowietx]

Hodgdon has a great website at http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/ that you can get some great reference data from for free. Additionally they have published their 2015 guide which comes in thee form of a magazine. As you gain experience you can compile some more reloading manuals. I started with the RCBS kit and added more and more manuals as I went. Welcome to the reloading experience.

[Lead Foot]

The loading table has one requirement. Strong and heavy if you can. My first table was a 3x4 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood with 2x4 legs. I put 2x4s around the edge of the top and bolted the legs to the 2x4s. Added to the 2 sides and back another 2x4 to act as a brace and then put a third one along the back. Final addition was a shelf attached to the side and back braces. The shelf was only 16 inches wide to allow my legs to go under the table. I stored on the shelf all my bullets and brass which was not all that much in the beginning. The weight again helped stabilize the table even further. Still use it out in my shed to hold my 20 lb casting pots while I go and cast by own pistol caliber and black powder rounds.

Lead Foot

[1_click_off]

It is pricey, but get a RCBS gold metal seat die. Part number 11149 for your 223. They make it for 308 as well, but I do not reload as much 308. The nice thing on this die is not only the micrometer dial on the top to precision seat, but the fact you drop the projectile in from the top side of the press. No more guiding the case and bullet up by hand. Lines it up perfect every time so the neck tension stays uniform from not starting a bullet slightly crooked.

They make 2 types, you will need the one listed above if you go to a progressive press later.
Like I said pricey, but well worth it to me.

[Onyx Z]

It is pricey, but get a RCBS gold metal seat die. Part number 11149 for your 223. They make it for 308 as well, but I do not reload as much 308. The nice thing on this die is not only the micrometer dial on the top to precision seat, but the fact you drop the projectile in from the top side of the press. No more guiding the case and bullet up by hand. Lines it up perfect every time so the neck tension stays uniform from not starting a bullet slightly crooked.

They make 2 types, you will need the one listed above if you go to a progressive press later.
Like I said pricey, but well worth it to me.

The Forster BR seater die guides the bullet up and hold the case while it is being seated. They also have a spring loaded bottom to get the case in perfect alignment before the bullet even begins to seat. I have had zero noticeable runout with this die. IMO, Redding and Forster are way ahead of RCBS.

[texasgunhand]

Just about got everything together,now looking for bulk supplies bullets etc. Do you guys have any favorite places to order from? If anyone is from Austin tx., could you tell me a place to buy powder besides cabelas....

Thanks..

[Onyx Z]

Just about got everything together,now looking for bulk supplies bullets etc. Do you guys have any favorite places to order from? If anyone is from Austin tx., could you tell me a place to buy powder besides cabelas....

Thanks..

I would avoid MidwayUSA for the most part. They are overprice on components (mainly bullets) when you can buy online from Powder Valley and Widener's. I've found Widener's to be the most reliable online source on powder supply. Powder Valley sells out almost immediately when they do get shipments, but they do post new shipments on Facebook.

Be aware, most local stores are more expensive than online. But online orders require a haz-mat shipping charge. If you order enough powder, it's negligible. Find some friends to split it with maybe?

[markm]

I would avoid MidwayUSA for the most part. They are overprice on components (mainly bullets)


I get OTMs at midway for competitive prices quite often. If you check in every so often, you'll find good sales.

[Onyx Z]

I get OTMs at midway for competitive prices quite often. If you check in every so often, you'll find good sales.

Yeah, I've noticed that they have unadvertised sales every now and then. They had boxes off 500 77gr SMK's for ~$100 once. But, for the most part they are $10-$15 more than Widener's or Powder Valley. IT seems like they are going up everywhere though...

[masan]

OP, in regards to your question about bulk bullets, I would highly reccomend Montana Gold Bullets http://montanagoldbullet.com/ (I am in no way affiliated or compensated by them)

I buy all of my pistol bullets from them. The bullets are very consistent, well priced, and ship quickly.

As for rifle bullets, shop around, I generally wait for Midway to run a sale on SMK's or Nosler CC's, then buy in bulk. As stated above Wideners often has some of the best pricing.

For powder, as mentioned earlier, you will either pay more locally or pay HAZ MAT shipping costs. My personal reccomendation would be to get some powder locally until you find what works well for you and then buy in bulk online in the future. From the calibers you mentioned you should be able to start off with a relatively narrow selection of powders and if needed expand to more types of powder in the future. For example I bought 8lb of Varget when I was 16, used it for all of my loading (I only loaded for my familys deer rifles), still have about 1lb left because I eventually branched out into the Vihtavouri powders as I began to load for more purposes (I wouldn't reccomend this as the Vihtavouri powders are... addictive powders).