The Official Reloading Thread

[EJR914]

Alright, well I've got my Lee 4 hole turret press from Unbroken and its awesome.  I've already made my first bullet man very cool.

I'm sure I'm going to have questions and the like.

Where do you guys get your reloading accessories from?  I need some case lube and a case lube pad.  What kind of case lube do you guys like and where should I go to get the good prices.  Can you buy case lube locally or is that something I'll probably have to get off the net?

Where do you guys buy your once fired brass?  Where do you guys buy your bullets?  Where do you guys buy your primers and powder?  Where can I find the good prices to shoot as cheaply as I can?

Do any of you guys make your own bullets?

Just put any answers to questions below, ask your own questions below, and have the experts here come tell us where they buy their stuff, and also help us out with your questions.  Feel free to sticky it Mods if you think this is something worthwhile. 

Thanks everyone in advance.   [url=http://www.freesmileys.or

[thatGuy]

I get my powder and primers at gunshows and in town at the Sportman's Warehouse. Primers are cheapest at the shows and powder is cheapest at the chain store. 8lbs of Unique for $109. 8lbs of 3031 for $139.

Buy your powder in BULK it costs soo much less.

Lube pads are all the same (as far as I know) but lube, like a bottle of lube is way better than using the one shot spray... Some guys are getting 10,000 rounds out of a single bottle of RCBS waterbased case lube. Try that with a can.

Just don't run too much or you will dent your necked cases and lube every 3-4 case when doing pistol cases. It keeps the die nice and fresh and also makes it easier to size them.

First Class Bullets and Brass is the hook up check them out. Thanks MountainRedneck

Good luck and enjoy.

[EJR914]

Thanks guys!  I appreciate the help, that's huge.  I missed a really good gun show that Wild Turkey got to make it to because I was working.  Ohh well, hopefully I can make it to one soon, as there is about one every weekend somewhere around here although it might be a drive. 

That's a huge help, especially when it comes to me saving money.  Awesome.   [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co

[gapatriot]

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[gapatriot]

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[thatGuy]

Another thing to think of is full sizing necked cases.. if you only size the neck the cases that were fired out of your rifle won't feed someone else's rifle

[NOLA556]

IMO the lube you choose will depend on what you want to do. if you're looking to crank out alot of rounds very quickly, Hornady's "OneShot" lube is fantastic, but if you're not in a hurry, the RCBS stuff with a pad that TG suggested is a bit slower but WAY more cost efficient.

also, allshallperish, I'm not any kind of pro either, that's for damn sure, but I don't think it's all Lee dies that don't have to be lubed. I don't actually own any of the kind that you're referring to, but I'm pretty sure those are called "carbide" dies. (yes, Lee makes them, but not all Lee dies are carbide)

what I started doing to keep my production rate up, but also operate a little more cost-efficiently is I started using 2 x 50rd loading blocks (trays) at the same time and spraying one tray of brass down with OneShot, and leave the other one dry. I just alternated between the two trays when resizing and there's still enough residual lube left in the die for the dry casing. so essentially I'm using half the lube with the same effect.

EJR, you're really gonna have to take your time getting used to that turret press. I stress: TAKE YOUR TIME. all your dies have to be pre-set just right before you start cranking rounds out. It's alot slower, but I prefer a single stage press just for sipmlicity. I'm such a dumbass that I'd fuck shit up left and right with anything more complicated than a single stage, lol.

now, I actually have a question that hopefully someone can help me with.

ok, your resizing dies... the little hex-head at the top of the die.. from what I can see, all it does is tightens down on the depriming pin to hold it in place. so what I'm asking is, can resizing dies be adjusted in any way? or is it just the depriming pin that can be adjusted. (it's not like I need to adjust them, they resize just fine, but I want to make sure that playing with that bolt on top isn't going to mess with how the die resizes)

[EJR914]

oh and one more thing for the guys in ga that are close enough moss gun and pawn has good prices on reloading gear. check out iraqvetren8888 on youtube he works there and show the reloading selection, i get most of my reloading gear from them.

LOL yeah, and I forgot to add something that I meant to put in the OP.  If it were not for WildTurkey's help in making my bench and completely helping me figure out what was what, and setting up my reloader for me, I would have been hopeless and helpless.  He totally helped me out and gave me tons of reloading equipment, powder, primers, dies, ect, not to mention the knowledge to what everything was and how it works.  If it weren't for him, I'd be totally lost.  He was actually the one that turned out my first bullet.  Its a nice one, I might add.  I'll pictures of it when I get a chance and get it set up the exact way I want.   

[EJR914]

Another thing to think of is full sizing necked cases.. if you only size the neck the cases that were fired out of your rifle won't feed someone else's rifle

An interesting note, WildTurkey reloaded some .223 that was shot out of his daddy's M16, and he only sized the neck cases, and we shot probably 100 rounds flawlessly through my M4.  Pretty weird.  That ammo ran really good through my M4 as well.  Pretty flawless.

[EJR914]

IMO the lube you choose will depend on what you want to do. if you're looking to crank out alot of rounds very quickly, Hornady's "OneShot" lube is fantastic, but if you're not in a hurry, the RCBS stuff with a pad that TG suggested is a bit slower but WAY more cost efficient.

also, allshallperish, I'm not any kind of pro either, that's for damn sure, but I don't think it's all Lee dies that don't have to be lubed. I don't actually own any of the kind that you're referring to, but I'm pretty sure those are called "carbide" dies. (yes, Lee makes them, but not all Lee dies are carbide)

what I started doing to keep my production rate up, but also operate a little more cost-efficiently is I started using 2 x 50rd loading blocks (trays) at the same time and spraying one tray of brass down with OneShot, and leave the other one dry. I just alternated between the two trays when resizing and there's still enough residual lube left in the die for the dry casing. so essentially I'm using half the lube with the same effect.

EJR, you're really gonna have to take your time getting used to that turret press. I stress: TAKE YOUR TIME. all your dies have to be pre-set just right before you start cranking rounds out. It's alot slower, but I prefer a single stage press just for sipmlicity. I'm such a dumbass that I'd fuck shit up left and right with anything more complicated than a single stage, lol.

now, I actually have a question that hopefully someone can help me with.

ok, your resizing dies... the little hex-head at the top of the die.. from what I can see, all it does is tightens down on the depriming pin to hold it in place. so what I'm asking is, can resizing dies be adjusted in any way? or is it just the depriming pin that can be adjusted. (it's not like I need to adjust them, they resize just fine, but I want to make sure that playing with that bolt on top isn't going to mess with how the die resizes)

Thanks for the reply NOLA. 

I'll probably be pumping them out very slowly and carefully as I'm getting used to the turret press and I understand its very easy to screw up one of these.  So it looks like I'll be going with the pad and the case lube that WildTurkey found and is going to give to me, which is awesome.

Also, good question, NOLA, that's why I made this thread so we could all learn more about reloading.