UpNorthMI
Well-Known Member
How many rounds do you load at a time? How do you reload? More and more I find myself trying to standardize on loads and bullets and to reload larger batches of ammunition for efficiency and consistency.
First off I'll disclose that I split my time between the US and the UK and live in both countries, most of my reloading takes place in the US for a number of obvious reasons, mainly cost, availability and the fact that I shoot a lot more rounds in the US compared to my UK foxing, deer and target use. In the US we have no restrictions on ammo quantity held or how it is stored.
Brass - For me I process brass separately from the reloading task, for rifle I fully resize all cases and clean the brass, I typically have about 500 rounds of brass as a minimum for calibers that I do not shoot a lot and a minimum of 1,000 cases for my active calibers such as .308, 30-06, .243, 6.5 CR and 2,500 cases for .223. For pistol calibers I typically have 1,500 cases for .380, .38, .357, .40, .45 and at least 5,000 cases for 9mm.
Batch Size - If I'm loading a hunting round I try to load 250-300 rounds at a time with a known load I've used before, if I'm loading pistol rounds I try to load at least 500 rounds in a batch, 2,000 if 9mm. We shoot a lot of .223 so again I like to load 500-1,000 rounds at a time.
How I reload :
Cases - Once I'm done with resizing, trimming and cleaning, I will put my brass in a case checker or ammo gauge, this has become very important for me as a final quality check prior to starting the reloading process. I have a EGW 7 round 5.56 case and ammo checking block, a Lyman multi caliber block, .243, .308, .30-06 etc and multiple Lyman single case / ammo checkers. Why do this? I found that I would have zero bad rounds that were tight on the bolt etc. If I'm hunting, I check all rounds including factory ammo. I recently had some Federal premium ammo that would not fit in a double rifle while hunting driven boar, they did not fit in the ammo checker that I purchased shortly afterwards!
Priming - I like to use a Lee hand auto prime tool as I can sit watching TV with the wife and prime cases. If I do it at a press I like a Lee ram prime on a small single stage press. Even though I load pistol rounds on a Lee Progressive 1000 press, I run brass through separately for resizing (removing other dies), once pistol brass is clean, I hand prime.
Rifle Reloading - I like to use the MTM 50 round plastic trays with small and large holes for holding cases.
Powder Measuring - I currently use an RCBS powder thrower to throw powder directly into the cases. Depending on how fine the powder is and the use of my ammo, I generally empty each case into an RCBS powder scale and adjust the load with a powder trickler until the weight is perfect, then pour the powder back in the case using a small funnel. This is the most time consuming part of reloading for me and I keep meaning to move to an electric powder thrower for this task. My old method has worked well for me for over 40 years in providing accurate and consistent reloads. I'd love to hear what you do and if you are as anal as me!
Bullet Seating - I use the bullet seating die to only insert the bullet to the correct adjusted depth, I do not contact the neck of the case as I typically use a Lee factory crimp die on my ammo.
Quality Check - I do a quick visual and run the finished ammo through an ammo gauge checker, If I don't have a gauge checker (typically small use larger rounds) I will run the ammo through the gun that I plan to use, for me this is 7mm Mag, .300WM, .338 WM, 9.3x62, .375H&H, .416 Rem Mag, .500/.416NE.....
Label & Storage - I typically use the molded plastic 50 or 100 round ammo boxes and put a label on each box with the load data and date.
Pistol Reloading on a Lee Progressive Press
Cases - As stated above I process brass and priming as a separate task.
Reloading - I set the press up as follows: sizing die without de cap rod, powder through expander die as normal with Lee auto disk powder thrower, bullet seat / crimp die as normal. I feed primed, sized brass into the press, operate press with right hand, load bullet onto case with left hand, throughput is fast and accurate. Taking priming and sizing out of the sequence removes 99% of press issues. Out falls a round every pull of the handle.
Quality Control - I run my pistol ammo through an ammo checker gauge, I normally get a 99%+ pass rate, it's all about setting up the press and dies correctly.
Label & Storage - I have a lot of plastic ammo boxes or sometimes sealed bags and cardboard boxes for overflow ammo. I label all boxes / bags with load details & dates.
My Reloading Bench - I have a steel framed custom reloading bench that I fabricated 40 years ago, it has multiple presses installed on it, I have a large RCBS Ammo Master 2 and a simple small Lee single stage press for rifle reloading and use Lee Progressive 1000 presses for most pistol rounds. I use small plastic bins that hold brass and bullet heads for each caliber, at the last count I load 17 rifle calibers and 9 pistol calibers.
Any recommendations or methodology input is welcome, I keep trying to improve and learn new things.
First off I'll disclose that I split my time between the US and the UK and live in both countries, most of my reloading takes place in the US for a number of obvious reasons, mainly cost, availability and the fact that I shoot a lot more rounds in the US compared to my UK foxing, deer and target use. In the US we have no restrictions on ammo quantity held or how it is stored.
Brass - For me I process brass separately from the reloading task, for rifle I fully resize all cases and clean the brass, I typically have about 500 rounds of brass as a minimum for calibers that I do not shoot a lot and a minimum of 1,000 cases for my active calibers such as .308, 30-06, .243, 6.5 CR and 2,500 cases for .223. For pistol calibers I typically have 1,500 cases for .380, .38, .357, .40, .45 and at least 5,000 cases for 9mm.
Batch Size - If I'm loading a hunting round I try to load 250-300 rounds at a time with a known load I've used before, if I'm loading pistol rounds I try to load at least 500 rounds in a batch, 2,000 if 9mm. We shoot a lot of .223 so again I like to load 500-1,000 rounds at a time.
How I reload :
Cases - Once I'm done with resizing, trimming and cleaning, I will put my brass in a case checker or ammo gauge, this has become very important for me as a final quality check prior to starting the reloading process. I have a EGW 7 round 5.56 case and ammo checking block, a Lyman multi caliber block, .243, .308, .30-06 etc and multiple Lyman single case / ammo checkers. Why do this? I found that I would have zero bad rounds that were tight on the bolt etc. If I'm hunting, I check all rounds including factory ammo. I recently had some Federal premium ammo that would not fit in a double rifle while hunting driven boar, they did not fit in the ammo checker that I purchased shortly afterwards!
Priming - I like to use a Lee hand auto prime tool as I can sit watching TV with the wife and prime cases. If I do it at a press I like a Lee ram prime on a small single stage press. Even though I load pistol rounds on a Lee Progressive 1000 press, I run brass through separately for resizing (removing other dies), once pistol brass is clean, I hand prime.
Rifle Reloading - I like to use the MTM 50 round plastic trays with small and large holes for holding cases.
Powder Measuring - I currently use an RCBS powder thrower to throw powder directly into the cases. Depending on how fine the powder is and the use of my ammo, I generally empty each case into an RCBS powder scale and adjust the load with a powder trickler until the weight is perfect, then pour the powder back in the case using a small funnel. This is the most time consuming part of reloading for me and I keep meaning to move to an electric powder thrower for this task. My old method has worked well for me for over 40 years in providing accurate and consistent reloads. I'd love to hear what you do and if you are as anal as me!
Bullet Seating - I use the bullet seating die to only insert the bullet to the correct adjusted depth, I do not contact the neck of the case as I typically use a Lee factory crimp die on my ammo.
Quality Check - I do a quick visual and run the finished ammo through an ammo gauge checker, If I don't have a gauge checker (typically small use larger rounds) I will run the ammo through the gun that I plan to use, for me this is 7mm Mag, .300WM, .338 WM, 9.3x62, .375H&H, .416 Rem Mag, .500/.416NE.....
Label & Storage - I typically use the molded plastic 50 or 100 round ammo boxes and put a label on each box with the load data and date.
Pistol Reloading on a Lee Progressive Press
Cases - As stated above I process brass and priming as a separate task.
Reloading - I set the press up as follows: sizing die without de cap rod, powder through expander die as normal with Lee auto disk powder thrower, bullet seat / crimp die as normal. I feed primed, sized brass into the press, operate press with right hand, load bullet onto case with left hand, throughput is fast and accurate. Taking priming and sizing out of the sequence removes 99% of press issues. Out falls a round every pull of the handle.
Quality Control - I run my pistol ammo through an ammo checker gauge, I normally get a 99%+ pass rate, it's all about setting up the press and dies correctly.
Label & Storage - I have a lot of plastic ammo boxes or sometimes sealed bags and cardboard boxes for overflow ammo. I label all boxes / bags with load details & dates.
My Reloading Bench - I have a steel framed custom reloading bench that I fabricated 40 years ago, it has multiple presses installed on it, I have a large RCBS Ammo Master 2 and a simple small Lee single stage press for rifle reloading and use Lee Progressive 1000 presses for most pistol rounds. I use small plastic bins that hold brass and bullet heads for each caliber, at the last count I load 17 rifle calibers and 9 pistol calibers.
Any recommendations or methodology input is welcome, I keep trying to improve and learn new things.
