New To Reloading - Research Phase

[contender]

Ok,,, now we need to see if anyone near you can offer hands on instruction or advice.

I'm across a few ridges in WNC!!!!!! Knoxville is about 1-1/2 hours drive from me.

 

[old sarge]

There is a lot of really good information here, I have been reloading 11 different calibers. I have 2 presses both Lee, one is a single stage press the other is the classic turret press. The single stage is used more for rifle case conditioning and de-priming a bunch of once fired unprocessed brass.

 

[Big Old Boy]

Henry if you want to come to Columbia TN pm me and I will share what knowledge I have.

 

[Kevin]

To the OP? Did you get any reloading equipment? Just curious if any of the posted hints and information helped...

 

[gramps]

Wow! Conflicting information. I have NEVER seen a recipe for a load in mg. Only in grains (gr). You do NOT NEED a tumbler. Adequate cleaning can be done with dawn detergent and citric acid. Only takes 15 minutes in solution then dry on a cookie sheet. More info here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?83572-Citric-acid-brass-cleaner. Good luck. PM me, I live under 100 miles from you, I would be happy to help. I started with the Lee whack a mole, and quickly graduated to the "hand reloader"( actually two hands), then found a Lee classic at a pawn shop. It is set up on a Black and Decker folding table permanently.
gramps

 

[grobin]

Thanks for the link on critic acid. I use to remove rust from hand tools. Looks much faster than ultrasonic.

If you do precision long range rifle or load near maximum and don't enjoy blowing up Glocks you work in mg. Why? Well mg scales are generally more accurate and cheaper. You start load development converting from grains to mg then work in mg. Mg is more accurate than grains; a grain is 64.79891 milligrams, ​1⁄7,000 of an avoirdupois pound. I've seen cases where 10 mg makes a difference-not a real big one but noticeable.

 

[gramps]

As a nurse I am well aware of how to go between grains and milligrams. My problem with that, is it breaks up a process, and injects another variable. Something else to go wrong in other words. I have seen nurses screw up a medication doseage, with untoward effects, newbies to reloading don't need that.
gramps

 

[grobin]

I don't see how it breaks up the process. You convert your initial (minimum load) to mg and proceed from there. As a EMT I've seen 'fool proof' procedures screwed up in the field and the hospital!! Complexity and better precision are the price of accuracy and performance.

 

[woodsy]

The simple fact that ALL loads given by published sources (books, manufacturers' websites, etc.) are expressed as grains makes the use of milligrams by anyone to be much less than acceptable, useful, or accurate. It's almost like saying that "I have a 250,000 square inch lot which my house is on" rather than the equivalent in fractions of an acre (a unit everyone understands). Give us a break, already. Or, get really squirrely and use an analytical scale, calibrated in micrograms, along with its microgram weights. And wait five minutes for each weight check.

 

[BucolicBuffalo]

You do not need a scale at all really. Gazillions of rounds have been loaded with those Lee powder scoops. Follow their charts. Update as necessary.

I like a decent reloading beam type scale. I have an old Ohaus, but use a newer RCBS. Just wish the dang thing was cast iron instead of the thin metal it is.

 

[woodsy]

You do not need a scale at all really. Gazillions of rounds have been loaded with those Lee powder scoops. Follow their charts. Update as necessary.

I like a decent reloading beam type scale. I have an old Ohaus, but use a newer RCBS. Just wish the dang thing was cast iron instead of the thin metal it is.

Wouldn't work for "grobin", who only believes in milligrams. For the rest of us, however, we've been doing it for decades, without killing ourselves.

 

[grobin]

Back in the last century I had and used the Lee to reload a lot of plinking, practice and some hunting rounds. Worked fine so long as you had the right correction for the powder you were using. You could even develop loads without it.

I work in mg for critical applications. When I'm reloading 9mms for range and even home defense i just use the powder measure. No need to be overly fussy.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Considering the cost of a cheap powder scale I think anyone would be foolish to load without checking powder weight once in a while. I use the Lee powder scoops often to put powder on my scale. They get me in the ball park to start off.