Thinking about learning to reload.

[gryphnrider]

Thanks. Yea hopefully things will calm down and I can get into the setup for a reasonable price.

The one range I’ve been to said they don’t allow reloaded ammo. Is that normal?

Yes because they can't make sure your firing rounds that are "safe" you could have overpacked etc. And they are liable if you are hurt

 

[42769vette]

If you had a reloading set up already what is your cost for making 9mm ammo? I have always wondered.

Pre craziness, I believe I was at 19 cent per round (buying brass). I haven't loaded 9 in a few years, so my memory could be a little off.

 

[gryphnrider]

Pre craziness, I believe I was at 19 cent per round (buying brass). I haven't loaded 9 in a few years, so my memory could be a little off.

Wow yea when this craziness dies down I will have to look for a setup

 

[42769vette]

Wow yea when this craziness dies down I will have to look for a setup

Second loading is always where you save money because you don't have to buy brass. That said, I do not believe components will ever go to pre crazy prices. They will settle down some, but I would expect a 10% increase over prices from 18 months ago.

 

[Chance]

If you had a reloading set up already what is your cost for making 9mm ammo? I have always wondered.

Simple. Bullet cost is $/100 so $10/100 is $0.10 ea. Powder has 7000 grains per pound so divide cost per pound by 7000 to get cost per grain. Take cost per grain times your powder charge in grains. $30 per pound divided by 7000 equals $0.0043 per grain. My 4.2grain load costs $0.018 per round for powder. Primer cost calculated using $/100. If primers are $6/100 they are $0.06 each. So total is $0.10 for bullet plus $0.018 for powder plus $0.06 ea for primer. $0.178 per round with these costs.

 

[d.kaufman]

If you had a reloading set up already what is your cost for making 9mm ammo? I have always wondered.

Prior to all the shortages I could reload 9mm for about .10-12 cents per round.

 

[Chance]

Not to make anyone cry but with my current powder stock, primers and casting bullets my .45acp rounds are $0.04 ea.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Common Sense Advise...

1. Start with some kind of EDUCATION, particularly in safety!
2. DO NOT spend a ton of money on a top end press, all the 'Gadgets' until you learn the basics.

The first press I bought was a RCBS 'Rock Chucker' and they are still reasonable priced, do excellent, repeatable work.
A second choice would be something like a Lee Classic 'Turret' that allows you to keep dies set up.
*IF* you decide to do more laters that single or tool head press partners with the much more advanced and higher production presses as a tool/teardown/small batch press. View attachment 121551

No 'Mystery' rounds on the bench EVER.
If something doesn't make the grade, is suspect, then tear it down immedately.

3. Don't believe ANYTHING you find on the random internet sites!
Between misprints, bad ideas and outright lying... If it doesn't come from the manufacturer, and you don't have 3 sources of load data to cross check, don't do it.
Every manufacturer has load data on their web sites, and every manufacturer has booklets they give away through retailers for free.
Just no excuse for not double/triple checking the load data.

4. Decide WHY you want to reload.
If it's to 'Save Money' on random ammo, that's never going to happen.
If it's to make random/crap ammo, that's dangerous.

If it's to make premium ammo (which takes quite a lot of education/time/attention to details) then you might be into something.
You *CAN* make premium ammo for 35¢-65¢ a round that you would normally pay up to $1-$3 each for, but the education is a big time consumer.

For what it’s worth ... in looking at the pic for a loading bench... one might use southern yellow pine or oak for bench top and legs and relocate scales off of same bench as loader. Scales should not be subjected to constant vibration /movement/ moving air.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Saving money was never the driving force for many handloaders. A well rounded involvement in the whole gambit of this hobby/career will be both rewarding and experienced in a great thing. The money that you may end up saving allows you to buy more guns.....

 

[JeepHammer]

For what it’s worth ... in looking at the pic for a loading bench... one might use southern yellow pine or oak for bench top and legs and relocate scales off of same bench as loader. Scales should not be subjected to constant vibration /movement/ moving air.

With all respect,
When you are measuring propellants you aren't loading/rocking the bench.
Or did I'm miss your meaning?

I use laminated plywood, glue & aggressive screws (no nails).
I don't much care what it 'Looks' like, it's the engineering for it to be rock steady,
Or steady for the weight/circumstances.

I'm MUCH more interested in function,
Everything at the PRESS has a place, everything in it's place.
What doesn't need to be on the bench isn't there,
Trimmers, tumblers, all that stuff isn't on the bench, just like I don't keep powder, primers or bullets I'm not working with on the bench.
No mistakes/clutter that way...

I blew an original Colt .45 up when I was very young (about 15 or 16) by using a powder that WASN'T what it was marked.
Someone dumped powder into an empty can and it wasn't marked correctly...
I won't make that mistake again.

When a round doesn't pass QC, or there is some question about it,
It's immedately pulled down into components.
It's just not that hard to do it over when something is suspect...

No 'Mystery Rounds' on the bench, EVER.
Doesn't matter who you *Think* you are, on my bench the rounds pass QC and are labeled/boxed or they get torn down for components.
Since I'm not a one or two caliber reloader, and you CAN wind up with .222 or .204 in a batch of .223,
OR,
9x18mm mixed with 9x19mm,
I just don't allow stray rounds of any kind on the reloading bench.

As for stability, I have a weight/size constraint since my benches have to be portable.
I also maximize the use of standard lumber to keep cost reasonable.
I have designed my benches for stability vs. weight/portability.
If someone can screw into wall studs, more power to them!

The presses are inset into bench top to put FORCE over the legs, no cantilevering the press off the side of the bench that increase the leverage over stability of the bench design.
It also reduces the elbow/hip knockers when moving around the benches...
Allows for easier movement in confined spaces,
AND it protects my presses/equipment.

I wish I had a 'Man Cave' with unlimited room, custom built in benches, but mine are workhorses, not show pieces.

Scales are an issue to consider, and I do.
The beam scale gets the beam turned up side down in the cradle when it's not in use.
Digital doesn't care what's going on around it with the exception of some lights screwing with them.
Transducers don't care if you store weight on them when not in use...
I don't use digital very often, you can't SEE when it fails/false reads, the battery never goes bad on a beam scale, etc.
Worked for 10,000 years before digital, so I'm betting it will still work today.
If you have a secondary platform for your scale, I give that a big thumbs up.

 

[JeepHammer]

Saving money was never the driving force for many handloaders. A well rounded involvement in the whole gambit of this hobby/career will be both rewarding and experienced in a great thing. The money that you may end up saving allows you to buy more guns.....

I agree.
No one should set out to make 'Crap' ammo...
Saving money on calibers that are outrageously expensive when you find them at all (try finding 45-120 Sharps Creedmore!) is an option.

Making ultra premium ammo for match/long range shooting is most common.

There can be cost savings on the actual ammo there, but you will trade time for education to make that ammo.
The better your ammo is, the longer you will spend learning to make it.

Most people these days don't understand the factories know EXACTLY what they are doing, and the price is equal to the time, material, education & equipment required to produce that ammo.
'BoobTube' or basic reloader's handbook won't get you the education needed for ultra premium ammo, it's an education you have to piece together, connect the dots to aquire...