Advice needed to start my reloading addictin

[Bowers]

Be advised....
The reloading addiction / OCD is a powerful one. Stronger than any man's will. It never ends. You start out real simple. A guy at the range says to you "Pssst... Hey buddy. You wanna try some good ammo?"
It's all downhill from there. Next thing you know, you're taking the kids X-Box to the pawn shop so you can get cash for an annealer. The wife starts to notice missing jewelry and wants to know where all those cans of powder came from.
You know you've hit bottom when you quit your job, lock yourself in the reload room & no one hears from you for days at a time.
You look at things & wonder how many grains of IMR 4064 will fit in it.... Like a salt shaker.
Good luck with your new addiction.[/QUOTE]


I got to laughing at what you said after i sold some Xbox 360 games and stuff to help pay for my Lee Kit. My wife didnt seem to mind either.

[fgw_in_fla]

You see.

And you guys thought it was a joke. ^^^^^^^

[davemuzz]

Good post!! Good info and some funny stuff mixed in. (IMR 4064 will fit in a salt shaker box.....sold your X-Box games to pay for you Lee kit!!!....It IS an addiction!!)

But your getting some great reloading advice for the .308 here!!

Dave

[Bowers]

I got a quick question. I know a lot of people use tumblers with crushed walnut shell, or media to clean their brass. I have saw videos of people using ultrasonic cleaners to clean theirs as well. My question is, I have access to Large 30-40 gallon Ultrasonic cleaners at my job, they are used to clean aluminum tubing after being brazed. The water is hot "not boiling" in most of them and some luke warm, would I be able to use them to clean my brass or would that not be good for them. I may take a handful and give it a try when I go back in tonight just to amuse myself.

[davemuzz]

I have one of the first Hornady ultrasonic cleaners. It does not have a heater in it and does a great job on brass. From what I have read, you only use the heater when you are cleaning parts or metals other than brass. (Don't use the heat when your cleaning your brass) The heat will tarnish your brass and not clean it as well as will cold distilled water. I have no proof of this. I'm just telling you what I have read from the experts that write for the reloading magazines. (Not internet dwebs)

Dave

[missed]

I have one of the first Hornady ultrasonic cleaners. It does not have a heater in it and does a great job on brass. From what I have read, you only use the heater when you are cleaning parts or metals other than brass. (Don't use the heat when your cleaning your brass) The heat will tarnish your brass and not clean it as well as will cold distilled water. I have no proof of this. I'm just telling you what I have read from the experts that write for the reloading magazines. (Not internet dwebs)

Dave

I can believe that on the hot water, I hot water washed some 38 in my stainless pin tumbler and it all came out funky colors and that was the only time I used hot water and it did that so the same reaction could occur in the ultra sonic.

[Bowers]

Ok thanks guys. i will try the ones without heat and see how it turns out.

[Bowers]

What are your opinions on the Lee deluxe 3 piece die set. I have read complaints about the lock rings moving in my researches, but having the option to buy different lock rings if that becomes a problem.

[davemuzz]

What are your opinions on the Lee deluxe 3 piece die set. I have read complaints about the lock rings moving in my researches, but having the option to buy different lock rings if that becomes a problem.

I hate to make blanket statements…..so I'll put it this way….All Lee dies I have purchased have the locking ring that have a rubber "tension ring" at the bottom. The other die makers have a set screw. So, it's easier to bump, or move the Lee die from the setting that you like the most. However, in order to check to see if your die has moved, simply take a black marker and mark the "parts" that can move from alignment…and you don't want them to….in a line beginning at the decap pin, the decap nut, the die itself, and the locknut. Then a quick look at the die will tell you if all is good.

DAve

[missed]

All my dies are lee, I have a breech lock press, and use the set screw breech lock bushings. I do also mark mine just to make sure there has not been any inadvertent movement.

[Rifleshooter308]

The manual "A-B-C's of Reloading" is a good one, too. Easy to read & understand with lots of pictures.

Be advised....
The reloading addiction / OCD is a powerful one. Stronger than any man's will. It never ends. You start out real simple. A guy at the range says to you "Pssst... Hey buddy. You wanna try some good ammo?"
It's all downhill from there. Next thing you know, you're taking the kids X-Box to the pawn shop so you can get cash for an annealer. The wife starts to notice missing jewelry and wants to know where all those cans of powder came from.
You know you've hit bottom when you quit your job, lock yourself in the reload room & no one hears from you for days at a time.
You look at things & wonder how many grains of IMR 4064 will fit in it.... Like a salt shaker.
Good luck with your new addiction.

Yup. Been there, done that and have all the T-shirts. :becky:

The equipment you get really depends on your goals. If your looking to produce good all around shooting ammo then sure get the Lee dies and other inexpensive stuff. I started out that way...as a volume guy trying to make as much ammo as possible. I have several presses including a Hornady LnL Ammo Plant. In the volume mode you can made decent ammo but it's not precision ammo. I now have moved full circle from volume to quality and do them one at a time. My LnL now only makes pistol rounds. I do all of my precision rounds one at a time on a Lee Challenger just like your buying. I use Forster Benchrest dies or Redding S Dies. They are incredibly more accurate, especially in bullet seating than the Lee's. Don't get me wrong Lee makes good dies, especially for pistols. I still have all my Lees but for precision work you need better dies to accurately control shoulder bump, body sizing, neck diameter and run out. You can accurately full size with a Lee die but you can't accurately seat bullets with one. You need a seater that holds the neck and seats the bullet with minimal runout. The Forsters are the best for this. If total precision is your goal then the micrometer is the best but standard benchrest does very well.

For precision work I have found the best set up is the WFT trimmer by little crow is the cats meow for trimming. The RCBS 1500 Chargemaster is awesome for weighing powder. You must weigh by weight not volume for precision work. A good digital or balance scale is mandatory. The Chargemaster just makes it easier and more effecient. I would not part with mine for nothin.

Powder, primers and bullets will be dictated by what you want to shoot. Just try to be consistent and not change up. I stick with CCI primers because I can find them and have a good supply. Powder is dependent on caliber. For .308 there are dozens that work great. Use what you can readily find. Much is dependent on where you live. For example it's very hard to find Varget around me so I don't use it anymore. I can easily find XBR 8208 and Power Pro 2000MR. So I worked up loads with these and have had excellent results. Same for bullets. If you want to shoot long range then you'll want heaviers of 175g or longer. Inside 300 yards the 150's and 168's work fine. If hunting there are tons of options.

The best part (or worse) of this addiction is the endless choices. Never take what someone else say's as gospel. There is no one perfect powder, bullet or load. Each rifle likes something different. Experiment and experiment some more. Try some of those bullet packs you can get with several different weights. Load them up and shoot them to find what works best for you and your rifle. The most important thing to do is shoot and shoot alot! A chronograph is a good investment. Most start out thinking they won't need one but you'll eventually own one if the bug gets you. I have a Magnetospeed and I use the crap out of it.

Welcome to looney ward. If you start on the path you will be a resident member. No doubt about it! :cool:

[Bowers]

so today I bought a quick n ez case tumbler by Frankford Arsenal. 6 pounds Lyman turbo tumbler media corncob green. 1 pound of Hodgdon Varget powder, 200 Winchester large rifle primers, and a bag of the FMJ 308 bullets. I could not find any lee dies or a case trimmer. in all I paid roughly 150 bucks.

can I use FMJ in a regular case without having to put a crimp in it? also the guy said that he uses Hornady dies and they were instock but I passed on them for now.

[davemuzz]

Your FMJ bullets are fine for punching holes in paper. Not a good choice for hunting. Remember that just about every bullet maker's bullet of the same grain weight will impact at a different place (different POI) even if you use the same powder charge. So, working up a load using your FMJ bullets may not be "the load" for your rifle if you then choose to buy say…..Hornady SST bullets.

Hornady dies are fine dies. That's all I've used to load my .308. OTOH, for one-hole groups at 200 yards for my 6.5x55 I use a Redding neck sizer competition die, and an RCBS cop. seater die.

BTW, I like corn cob media much better than walnut because walnut always leaves RED residue all over the cases.

FWIW

Dave

[Bowers]

Your FMJ bullets are fine for punching holes in paper. Not a good choice for hunting. Remember that just about every bullet maker's bullet of the same grain weight will impact at a different place (different POI) even if you use the same powder charge. So, working up a load using your FMJ bullets may not be "the load" for your rifle if you then choose to buy say…..Hornady SST bullets.

Hornady dies are fine dies. That's all I've used to load my .308. OTOH, for one-hole groups at 200 yards for my 6.5x55 I use a Redding neck sizer competition die, and an RCBS cop. seater die.

BTW, I like corn cob media much better than walnut because walnut always leaves RED residue all over the cases.

FWIW

Dave


The man at the shop recommended me to use the fmj until i got the routine down. Otherwise i would be waisting money on premium bullets just to learn, as that does make sense. He also said the walnut left a residue just like u mentioned. im going to do more research on the Hornady dies for now.

.

[Bowers]

Got a question. has anyone used the Lee case trimmer cutter and lock stud, with the Lee case length gauge and shell holder?

I was researching trimmers and these kept poping up as cheap and very great product, now them words hardly go together in my book. together they cost less than $15 at midway.

[missed]

Got a question. has anyone used the Lee case trimmer cutter and lock stud, with the Lee case length gauge and shell holder?

I was researching trimmers and these kept pooing up as cheap and very great product, now them words hardly go together in my book. together they cost less than $15 at midway.

I have one, it works, easy and simple just not as fast and you have to chamfer in a separate step. I have gotten the lee quick trim deluxe and use that now. It is faster and chamfers the inside of the case mouth at the same time so production is higher with it.

[Rooster 50]

Got a question. has anyone used the Lee case trimmer cutter and lock stud, with the Lee case length gauge and shell holder?

I was researching trimmers and these kept poping up as cheap and very great product, now them words hardly go together in my book. together they cost less than $15 at midway.

I have a Lee trim stud for every cartridge i load except the ones they cannot make. 204 ruger. I also have 2 lathe type trimmers that never get used. The Lee system is the only way to go. Safe, easy to use, repeatable and virtually foolproof! Good luck with your new addiction!

[Bowers]

i orderd the lee case trimmer cutter and lock stud with gauge and holder. Also orderd the Lee 3 piece delux dies. Then realized my kit had the trimmer but not the gauge, so now got and extra coming.

Also i put some casing in my vibrator bowl with the corn media, man does that work great, but i noticed media in my flash hole, i hope when i deprime it the media will come out. Also does the corn media smell give anybody a headache. wooh

[davemuzz]

i orderd the lee case trimmer cutter and lock stud with gauge and holder. Also orderd the Lee 3 piece delux dies. Then realized my kit had the trimmer but not the gauge, so now got and extra coming.

Also i put some casing in my vibrator bowl with the corn media, man does that work great, but i noticed media in my flash hole, i hope when i deprime it the media will come out. Also does the corn media smell give anybody a headache. wooh

I usually "stick" or place my vibrator bowl outside of my garage when I do that. First, I can't stand the noise….but I've never noticed a smell with it. (Reloading too long???) As for the media getting stuck in a flash hole….Remember that (well, this is what I do) you toss in your fired cases BEFORE you size and decap 'em. Why? Because you want nice clean brass going into your dies so you don't have a build up of grit inside your dies to cause 'em to get scar's 'n scratches.

Now, when you remove your fired cases from the media, your going to have to turn 'em upside down to dump out media that is going to be in each case. (Yup…one by one. I haven't found a better way yet. Usually I grab 'em three at a time and "tap" 'em against a plastic surface) Then when you do your size\decap there is nothing in there to be concerned about. (There should be nothing in there.)

Dave

[Bowers]

I usually "stick" or place my vibrator bowl outside of my garage when I do that. First, I can't stand the noise….but I've never noticed a smell with it. (Reloading too long???) As for the media getting stuck in a flash hole….Remember that (well, this is what I do) you toss in your fired cases BEFORE you size and decap 'em. Why? Because you want nice clean brass going into your dies so you don't have a build up of grit inside your dies to cause 'em to get scar's 'n scratches.

Now, when you remove your fired cases from the media, your going to have to turn 'em upside down to dump out media that is going to be in each case. (Yup…one by one. I haven't found a better way yet. Usually I grab 'em three at a time and "tap" 'em against a plastic surface) Then when you do your size\decap there is nothing in there to be concerned about. (There should be nothing in there.)

Dave

Yep that's exactly how it done it, I wiped the brass off, checked for defects "found 1 stressed casing out of 350". Then threw about 30 at a time in the media for about an hour without being deprimed or resized which I cant do yet anyway because the dies haven't came in the mail. Then as mentioned I tapped the media out, and wiped the casing off again, but still had the corncob media in the flash hole, but I have been reading and found this to be fairly common and when I do resize and deprime that the rod should just push it on through the hole and out with the old primer.

The noise of the vibrator doesn't bother me, I'm used to working in a factory and just zone it out. But was amazed how clean they where, I did put some case polish in with the media however. I found that a microfiber cloth will really help shine the brass also.

Thanks again