Need advice about reloading.

[Georgezilla]

Any day now I'll be getting a call saying a Les Baer .45 Hardball pistol is ready with my name on it If I shoot this as much as my .22 I wont be able to eat unless I reload. So needless to say I'm looking at getting into reloading.

So I'm wondering what equipment I need and which brands you guys recommend. All I'm looking to reload is .45ACP. A couple people around some of the ranges I frequent have told me that if I'm not looking to reload rifle ammunition or some of the high velocity handgun rounds that I don't need a case trimmer or a brass polisher, is that true?

I'm going to be using the pistol for leg matches and Bullseye. What would be good loads for those purposes and also what is a good brand of bullet/powder (I know I have to find what works best in the pistol, I just want some good starting points). As far as what brass to use, is it best to buy brand new brass, so called "once fired brass" or buy a box of ammo shoot it and use that brass?

Any info is much appreciated. Thanks!

[bearandoldman]

Georgezilla, you can buy some once fired at guns show usually goes for less than .05 each but the price of metals may have driven that price up also. I used to buy low cost ammo and just save the brass and the range owner used to let me just scrounge the bucket or clean up the floor now and then. I just use Lee 4 die set and a simple Lee single stage press and it works fine, all depends how much you want to spend and how fast you want to go. You will need a tumbler and media to clean up your brass but you rarely ever have to trim a .45ACP case they just do not stretch like hot rifle loads. I use one of those Frankford Arsenal vibrators from Midway USA.

[John fox]

I use a single stage press with Lee dies and load with 3.5 gr. of Bullseye powder for a target load. The bullet is 200 grains and it is accurate.

[Yleefox]

Georgezilla,

I would suggest that you check out this website: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lo ... w_reld.htm

I think it gives a good overview of just what you're asking. The dollar amounts are outdated, so disregard the numbers, but I think you will find the rest of the information quite informative.

I've been reloading the .45acp for about 25 years and I use Bullseye powder, with CCI large pistol primers, and usually hard cast lead bullets. The lead bullets are considerably less expensive than jacketed bullets and work for what I use them for, which is target shooting. I start with loaded factory ammo and save the brass. With .45 acp, you can get many handloads from a piece of brass, before it needs to be discarded.

Hope this helps.
Yleefox

[greener]

I use a Lee Pro 1000 3-die turret press. With .45's I need to use the factory crimp die. Once I figured out the length and crimp to get rounds to fit my PT1911, reloading is fast and easy. Any money I save on reloading gets shot up. It just allows me to shoot more centerfire.

[Georgezilla]

Thanks very much for the info, guys! Great link Ylee. I think I will be going with the Dillon Square Deal B, does anyone here have any experience with this one -- good or bad? From the looks of it I can get one of them for 3 bills, thats a bit cheaper than I thought it would be. Before I was really into gun stuff one of my friends told me to get one if I ever started shooting Centerfire a lot. He mentioned that their customer service was awesome. Plus this one really seems like a good deal.

As far as tumblers go are the hand cranked ones any good, or would I be better off with a motorized one?

[Yleefox]

As far as I'm concerned, Dillon's customer service is excellent. I'll share my, rather embarrassing, story with you. I reload in an area that is also my workshop. It's a small area and one day I was had been busy reloading when, my wife asked me to repair something for her. I stopped what I was doing to take care of her request. The repair was going to require a little grinding on a piece of steel, so I clamped the part in my vice and using a hand held grinder, I started grinding away, with sparks flying off behind me. Suddenly, my workshop lit up from behind me and I could hear this whooshing sound. As I turned in that direction, I saw this huge flame shooting out of the top of the powder reservoir of my Dillon 550B. A spark from my grinding had managed to land it the powder reservior and ignite the powder. The fire only lasted a matter of a few seconds but the intense heat melted the reservior. I called Dillon to order a new one and the very polite gentleman who I spoke with, asked me what was wrong with the one I already had. I told him I melted it by accident. Dillon sent me a new one at no charge and it arrived in just a few days. In my opinion, that is great customer service.

I've had that Dillon press for at least ten years and I have loaded tens of thousands of rounds on it. Other than the incident I described above, I haven't worn out or broken anything on the press.

BTW, I learned two very quick lessons because of the above. #1. Make sure you put the lid back on the powder reservior after filling it and ignore the wife's request until you do. #2 Grind outside.

I use a vibratory tumbler so can not comment on the style you mentioned.

Good luck with the reloading.
Yleefox

[toyfj40]

I'm a little late with this... but I have other "motives" to
make a beginner-reloading-equipment WebPage...

I'll just share it here and hope it helps.
As usual, opinions/experience abound, but due to time/typing
we often just mention some "brand" and hope the new reloader
enjoys making-bullets.

I'm not addressing the plethora of Dies, presses, "loads", bullets, etc.
but the other "stuff" that is on the reloading-bench and helps to
make the process more complete.

enjoy... feedback is welcome. -- toy

Reloading Tips

[greener]

Not bad. Blue on black gave my eyes a workout, but pretty good info.

[mes44317]

I will be going with the Dillon Square Deal B, does anyone here have any experience with this one -- good or bad?

As far as tumblers go are the hand cranked ones any good, or would I be better off with a motorized one?

I use a square deal I picked up on ebay for 2 bills came with both 45ACP dies and the Quick change kit for 38 Special. I have to say even at three bills the square deal is a good deal.

The powder alarm is not needed. If you get into such a funk you don't notice the big powder bin in front of your face is running low you probably should not be reloading until you can pay attention to what your doing. The primer alarm on the other hand is kind of nice although I used a piece of brass brazing rod with a washer on top for weight for a long time until I bought the alarm. Even if you run out of primers you will feel it in the handle when you go to seat the prime and there is not primer to seat.

As far as how well they work stay away from CCI primers. I have found for whatever reason my square deal likes Winchester primers the best but seems to have a real distaste for CCI primers. Besides occational primer issues the press has always worked perfectly. The entire system is easy to understand and adjust as needed. The powder measure is accurate and very consistant. With practice and a little effort you can load 200 - 300 rounds an hour. Buy a few extra primer magazines that are used to pick the primers up with and store them ready to load. Also buy a couple of extra primer tips that go on the tube that is in the press. (either tell the guy from dillon the above or look at a exploded veiw and you will understand what parts I mean) The extra magazines speed up reloading when you get on a roll. For whatever reason the primer tip that is on the tube in the press gets bent out of place when a primer gets sidways. (this is usually only happens with CCI primers for some reason)

I can not tell you how much better the square deal is than the other progrssives I have tried. I used a friends Hornady for a while but it is very big , heavy, and complex. Works great but a PHD helps out trying to get everything set up. I also have Lee experiance that was okay but you can't always get the pwder throws you want and the set up is kinda time consuming. The Dillon is easy to set up. It operates wonderfully. Easy to switch calibers with the quick change kit. I can't say enough good things about them. Just buy the Dillon Square Deal and never look back.


I think the hand crank trumbler your talking about is really the media seperater.

I have heard the Dillon tumblers are good.

I got mine at harbor freight and it works great for a whole lot less money. http://www.harborfreight.com/ some media from the local gun shop and your in business.

I have heard that the newer dip method of brass cleanig works well. I don't know much about it. From what I have heard you have a 5 gallon bucket with some cleaner and you just soak then let sit out and dry.

I have known guys who just throw thier brass in a mesh washer bag then throw it in the washer with thier towels. Then they lay it out in the sun to dry. They claim it works well enough.

[Georgezilla]

Thanks for writing that up, Toy. Helps a lot, my general reloading knowledge is very lacking so info like that is very helpful.

Mes, thanks for giving me your opinion on the Dillon.

So am I understanding this right: A tumbler is something that uses some sort of abrasive polishing material to polish used brass and the media separator is what you use to clean said polishing compound out of the cartridges?

If so, is all that really needed for just reloading .45 acp? The reason I ask is because when I was searching to see what the difference between the tumbler and separator on a few guides I skimmed over stated it was only necessary for rifle and magnum brass unless you just like your brass to look pretty.

[mes44317]

You understand the tumbler and seperator perfectly both components and function.

[toyfj40]

Thanks for writing that up, Toy.
So am I understanding this right: A tumbler is something that
uses some sort of abrasive polishing material to polish used brass
and the media separator is what you use to clean said polishing
compound out of the cartridges?

If so, is all that really needed for just reloading .45 acp?

you're welcome... it wasn't much, but I started for a different motive.

Tumbler: as mentioned, I don't have/use one, so I probably should
not respond
I believe the "media" is Crushed-Walnut-Shells, down to little nuggets
about 1-2-3mm and you tumble for 2-3-4 hours... not unlike the process
for a RockPolisher... and the seperator is basically a strainer.

When all is said and done... it makes the brass nice and shiney for
you to mess 'em up. If you've ever examined/bought any bulk
ReLoaded ammo at a GunShow... that brass has likely been tumbled.

for me... a Qtip with some powder-solvent will clean-out most any
crud in a casing... just sit it aside for a few days to evaporate!
if the brass is so bad... just toss it in the scrap-bucket.
I don't perceive any "need" for tumbling rifle brass more than pistol.

just ease-into the 'hobby'... and postpone the tumbler for a while...
you'll decide if you want to mess with one or not... my 'vote' is "no".

I had original intentions of tweaking some loads for 200yd .308 Benchrest,
but find that I spend more time with 9mm and .223 because it's an interesting
and enjoyable passtime...
I've loaded my .30-30 to have some range-loads that aren't trying to
kill a deer at 150yds... and my .30-06 just to be able to shoot it
more than four-times in an afternoon!! and still lift-a-cool-one later.

keep us posted. --toy

[toyfj40]

Not bad. Blue on Black gave my eyes a workout,
but pretty good info.

Just for you... I made the "links" Greener
actually, I had a few typos in my ".css" specs...
and I re-arranged the list of "tools" to include the Image/Links...
-- toy

[Georgezilla]

just ease-into the 'hobby'... and postpone the tumbler for a while...
you'll decide if you want to mess with one or not... my 'vote' is "no".

keep us posted. --toy

Toy, thats what I was leaning towards. I just started reading a reloading book and it said unless you are using resized rifle brass the polisher wasn't a must. It said that the major bonus is that it makes tiny imperfections in the cartridge (usually near the mouth of the cartridge) more visible, but that they are usually so small there isn't anything to be worried about.

I just realized that I should have put this thread in the "work shop" forum