Advice For A Reloading Noobie

L

Lord_ManHammer

Inactive
Hello! I am very new here to the forums because I have decided after a long long time of shooting bullets, I would make them instead thru reloading.

I am very familiar with most weapon types except shotguns which I do not care for, I like putting tiny bullets where I want them in things I want them to go into hehe.

I recently purchased Sig P226 in .40 cal which I am not too concerned about reloading for as its basically a personal carry gun. What IS getting me into reloading is the Rock Island 10mm I just purchased that I want to explore loads with in a very precise, calculated manor.

I Plan to reload mainly 200 gr bullets and dabble in 180/220/230 grains. 200 gr seems to be the sweet spot ballistic-wise but I will find out.

Thats the background and I apologize for going on an on but I am about to purchase a Lee 4 Hole Turret Press with Auto Index Value Kit from MidwayUSA and have 2 questions about that kit so far:

1) I hear nothing but bad things about the low end powder measures that it comes with. Is there a reliable, accurate powder measure that can be fitted on the Lee auto index press?

I do NOT like taking chances with this kind of thing so I will measure powder by hand for each shell if I have to and plan anyways to hand measure anything above a medium load as the 10mm can create pressures I do not want to mess with by dropping charges from a powder measure as good to go.

So is there a reliable powder measure system that will work or is it worth it to slow reloading down and have a seperate powder measure or use other items like tricklers and what not? Or am I panicked over nothing and the stock measure it comes with works as long as I use it correctly?

2) On a similar note the scale it comes with is good enough for double checking the measures and calibrating everything? I am not sold on digital scales as of yet so are there any other scales head an shoulders above the stock one that comes with this kit?


There will be other questions I am sure but these are the 2 most important to me as I am very worried about mistakes and I know I'm human so the last thing I need is the equipment to make things worse haha. BTW MidwayUSA's support is horrible when you ask them specifics like this. Over a dozen emails and still I haven't gotten an answer and hours of google searching is tough because you have to figure out which part works with each press and equipment you already have and there's no room for mistakes imo.

Thank you very much guys for any and all advice and again I am glad to be here and excited, with caution, about my new hobby!
 
Lee has powder dispensers that attach to the powder through die. The auto disk system. 4 disks with 6 different size holes per disk come with the kit along with charts. Info can be found here at www.leeprecision.com and take a look at the help video's and the product page. There customer service is top notch
 
You can go with either the Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measurer or the Lee Auto-Drum Powder Measurer. I have both and use both.

I am kind of lazy and have the Pro Auto-Disk set up on all my handgun turrets. They are already set-up with the dies and the proper powder measure disk. In other words, I load for 9 different handgun rounds and have 8 turrets set with the dies adjusted and a different powder measurer set on each turret. I own a lot of powder measurers.

The Auto-Drum Powder Measurer has only been out for a year or two, and I have one currently for my .40 S&W round loading turret (the only exception to the above paragraph set-ups). The nice thing about it is you can also use it for rifle round reloading whereas the Auto-Disk Powder Measurer is only for handguns.

My way is rather expensive way of going about things, but it saves a lot of pulling apart and resetting my dies and the powder measurers. I can simply slip off the turret for one caliber and slip in another turret with everything ready for another caliber.

If you choose one of the above methods and you have the auto-primer on the turret, then you will also need at least two up-risers for the powder dispenser to clear the primer dispenser.
 
Unique is often said to be among the worst powders to consistently measure, and my Pro Auto-Disk typically gives me about a 0.3-grain spread for the amounts of Unique I use for handgun rounds. If you are pressing the absolute upper limits on your loads or making precision rifle ammo you want to be more accurate, but that spread is find for most handgun purposes.

Mine works fine on a LCT with one riser. I am trying to visualize why I would need two risers, and I am not seeing it.
 
^^^ This is true with the newer Safety Primer with the triangle shape upper primer holder tray, but I have always needed two powder uprisers for the older round primer tray to keep it from scraping.

By the way, I have just started using the newer, triangle shaped, Safety primer and do not like it as well as the old one.
 
Wow thank you guys for that advice! I might skip the Lee Kit and just buy the 4 turret auto press and buy the components that are highly rated seperately.

Is there any benefit to the digital scales or the old style bar scales just fine because I am trying to figure out my next step which is how does one go about efficiently reloading, say, 200 rounds of 180 gr jhp with , for example, 8.2 gr of Longshot powder, will I have to measure 8.2 grains by hand everytime since powder droppers aren't reliable to drop the same weight everytime?

I do not mind hand weighing every single round, and will certainly when working up to higher loads with the 200gr, but when going from 8.2gr of longshot to 8.6gr of longshot, will the powder disks be anywhere near able to handle that kind of change in load?

I just want to make sure I'm not missing a step that could save some time, like tricklers and other add ons that might help.

Thank you all for your answers so far, I want to have a decent idea of what I need before I just jump in an order.
 
Why not buy a single stage press? You can set up a powder measure, through power and trickle into the pan until your scale reads zero.A good powder measure, and well metering powder like HP-38 will give you acurate throws were you'll rarely need to use the trickler. For a measure I like my Redding BR measure...it's very accurate.
 
The turret press MJ was chosen as more of a future proof hedge for myself. I knew and know, that I am going to be reloading an obscene amount of 10mm ammo to find out what 180-200gr bullets can do. I do not think I need to jump to progressive, but I thought the single press might be too little.

Also I never mentioned the powders I will be trying, the first will be Longshot, then 800x an then finally Blue Dot to see which is the best for a nice balance of accuracy and velocity with a 200gr wfn lead bullet and I am certainly going to try the bullets from the Missouri Bullet Company at this link: http://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=243&category=5&secondary=11&keywords= and really would like to see what they can do.
 
95% of all competition shooters run Dillons. The 550 is a manual indexing progressive, uses standard dies and can load rifle. All Dillon powder hoppers will throw +/- .1 grain, depending on if its a sugar powder (TiteGroup/BE-86) or corn flake powder (Unique). Dillons cost more than Lees, but you pay what you get for. I load about 2,000 rounds a month. But you best be careful with a 10mm, that's a high pressure round, like a .357SIG. Small changes can make a big difference. Hodgdon shows 7.0 grains starting for LongShot on a 200, and 8.2 grs max with OAL at maximum of 1.260" Where did you find 8.6 grains? Remeber, you can't measure pressure, only velocity with a chrono, then look for physical evidence of over pressure, which is not linear. You won't know that until you pull the trigger.

Left, happy case, ready to load again, right, unhappy case, about to KaBoom

image37184.jpg


Digital scales are fine, the AWS Gemini 20 is accurate to .015 grains and cost about $25. You also need a caliper for OAL, the $20 digitals are fine also.

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Lee's turret is an OK press to learn on, but I'd suggest you disable the auto-index for starters, until you get all reloading steps down pat. Hand indexing (I've been doing it on my Lee turret for 14 years) isn't necessarily slower than using the auto index and going "semi-progressive".

I do not trust any powder measure 100% and check often, after the measure is adjusted and "settles down". For a new to me cartridge or nearing max loads I weigh every charge. Also when working up a load, I'll weigh each charge. Then after I decide on a load, I'll ease up on the "precision" of checking each load, and use the powder measure "normally" (set up measure, check first 5-10 charges, and check every 5th one after that.). I have a few (4) powder measures and all are adjustable, no fixed cavities/charges (a Lee PPM, a C-H 502, a Pacific, and an ??) . Often powder density will vary from use to use and I wanna get an "exact" weight, not an approx weight by volume (not getting into the volume vs. weight argument). I had a fair digital scale ($125.00), a couple years ago and it was affected by fluorescent lighting, and wandering zero. So, I went back to my Lyman/Ohaus D5 beam scale, 100% reliable...
 
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If you haven't purchased your press yet, consider the kits at Kempf Gun Shop. They put together their own kit with a LCT, disk or drum powder dispenser, primer feeder, and your choice of die sets, all at a reasonable price. The Lee scale gets mixed reviews, so they don't include it, and you can pick a scale that meets your needs.

The thing about the disk powder measure is that it dispenses a set volume of powder, and the dispensed weight jumps a bit between adjacent orifices; you don't get to choose you dispensed weight down to 0.1 grain. Also, if you go that way, don't trust the provided charts. You almost always need a bigger orifice than the charts indicate to drop the weight you want. It is repeatable when you change disks for different purposes, but you will want to write down the orifice size you want for a given powder and drop weight.
 
First of all go buy you a good reloading books LYMAN ACCURATE LEE LYMAN is first read it then reread it again. That will save you a lot of trouble in the long run.Lyman has jest came out with the 50th edition Midway have them for sale. And if you have some one that could help you out ask for help after you have read your books. GOOD LUCK I have been loading for years and still use the LEE turret press 3 hole for 223 down to 32ACP I have a T MAG 2 turret press For 243 up to 30.06. I loaded over 5000 rounds last year and was gone for 3 Mo did not load when it was hot out.
 
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I just started reloading not too long ago as well. I also have the Lee Classic Turret with the pro powder measure. The entire system is not all that bad (minus the scale) and if you read the books and stay within safe measures, you should be fine. I second reading and re-reading the books.

To date, I have loaded over 300 rounds of .45ACP with no issues to include some XTP. Yes, the measuring system leaves a little to be desired, it will do the trick for pistol. Just make sure you weigh your powder a few times to make sure it is where you want it and then, as always, watch as you load to make sure you are getting a charge and/or not double charging.
 
Oh I apologize 9X45 for the misleading info, when I said 8.6gr I was just throwing an amount off the top of my head cause I didn't have any info up at the time. For longshot and 800x I am planning to go slow all the way thru for sure once I break the RIA in. I am going to post what I think I am going to buy here when I get home.

I decided it might be better to buy pieces seperate as some items that come with the kits, like the powder dispensers and scales, aren't quite up to snuff.
 
Powder measures can be fickle beast, the posters above obviously have more experience with them than I do so Ill leave them to it.

A digital scale is a tad faster imho. When Im reloading match-ish ammo I set the powder measure to throw a charge just shy of what I want the use the trickler to fill into the pan while on the scale till I get it exact.

Presses. I always suggest to people that they learn on a single stage press, and a single stage press is ALWAYS useful. As mentioned above, the lee turret presses are not the best, dillions are, but if your budget is set might I suggest the hornady or rcbs progressives. And if you plan to load rifle (223/556) yo will want more than 4 holes. Ypu dont ave to fill all of them but if you are doing large amounts of rifle you will thank your self later.

Good luck and welcome to your new addiction.
 
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