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r/reloading•
stormborn

First reloading setup - sanity check please!

I've been thinking (and reading) about reloading .357 mag and .38 spl for my GP-100 for a while. I had been planning to pick up a Lee Classic Loader set, but never ended up actually clicking the 'check out' button.

I just purchased a Lee single stage press and Lee powder scale for $50 locally, so I'm going to skip the Lee Loader and get a set of dies.

I'm looking at getting the Lee carbide 4-die 38/357 set, Lee primer pocket cleaner, and a powder funnel. I'll source powder and primers locally, and reuse my factory brass, but I'm thinking I should buy bullets now as well since I'm paying shipping already? I know I'll also need some case conditioning tools at some point (trimmer, deburring, etc) but I'm hoping to start small and buy the rest of what I need in a few months. I also have a set of cheap digital calipers that I hope will suffice for measuring case length and overall length.

TL;DR - I have: single stage press, scale, cheap calipers, Lyman manual. I am buying: Lee 4-die set, primer pocket cleaner, funnel, maybe bullets. Am I missing anything? Any changes?

Posted Mar 20, 2012, 5:38 PM UTC

411
twforemanLee Classic Cast - .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .30-30. .270 Win•

You don't usually need to trim handgun brass, so you can skip that.

You can probably get by with the three die set, but I don't reload .38/.357 so I can't really speak to that. Carbide is the way to go.

Your calipers should be fine.

A powder measure makes the loading much faster.

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Col_Psoas•

you'll want a powder measure. the lee perfect measure is ok and quite adjustable, the dippers suck big time.

I would also recommend buying your components locally to avoid hazmat shipping

in short a press and dies scale and components will get you going. then the addiction kicks in and you'll see how it gets expensive fast as you put your savings into shooting more

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[deleted]•

As far as ordering bullets goes I personally like Berry's MFG. They offer free shipping on orders over $50.

Don't forget a tumbler unless you plan on cleaning your brass by hand.

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I922sParkCirHornady LnL AP - 9mm, 10mm, .45 ACP•

Not to go off topic, but I want to ask, how's loading .223 on the LnL?

1
[deleted]•

If you want to decap, resize, prime, expand the case neck, fill with powder, seat a bullet, and crimp all in one sitting it's less than ideal. The force required to resize makes it hard to feel what is actually going on.

If you plan to just decap and resize in one go. Then trim if you are going to. And then finish the process with already sized brass it is very smooth.

I also have the Hornady Case Feeder and Hornady Bullet Feeder. The case feeder works just fine with .223 but the bullet feeder will not work [for any rifle cartridges].

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I922sParkCirHornady LnL AP - 9mm, 10mm, .45 ACP•

Good to know. Thank you.

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fenderfreekLee Challenger - 7.62x54R, 303 British, 45/70 Gov't. + many more•

Having the crimp die is important. With my lead bullets, I seat them to the cannelure and then roll crimp them.

I load all my 38/357 on a Pro 1000 now, but I did quite a lot of it on a Challenger before I bought that. If you want something simple to get your feet wet with, get a powder thrower, some IMR Trail Boss, cast lead 158gn SWC bullets, small pistol primers, and load away.

The Trail Boss is designed to be very fluffy and low-power for cowboy-shooting type loads. The noob-friendly side affect is that you pretty much cannot overcharge it and they make nice light "plinking" loads. You fill it with the prescribed load and it comes almost right up to the bullet base. You can sit down and crank out a couple hundred a night, easy, and they're quite forgiving since you have a simple powder and a cannelured bullet.

Once you're comfortable with that, pick up some FMJ's and Magnum components for those knock-your-socks-off loads, but be sure you have an accurate thrower and know how to set it up. Seating depth and powder charge are finicky things with full-power loads, and you need to be very comfortable using your measuring equipment.

Edit: for setting up batches, I use the Lee beam scale to calibrate my thrower, and then recheck the thrower every couple of dozen throws. As the level inside the hopper changes, it will dispense a little differently.

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twforemanLee Classic Cast - .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .30-30. .270 Win•

In the Lee three die set the seating die is also the crimp die. If you are not using a turret or progressive press you can set the die to seat the bullets, then when you have them all seated you can set the die to crimp them.

You can usually save a few dollars this way.

If you think you will buy a turret or progressive later, then buy the four die set.

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graknor•

you will want a powder measure. the basic lee scale is a little 'meh'. the primer pocket cleaner is an extra. i rarely clean primer pockets and i never bother with pistol rounds.

1
anilm2•

You may want to get a Hand Priming Tool.

The ram style primers that are part of most Single Stage presses are very slow to use; you need to insert each primer one at a time. With a hand primer, you put up to 100 primers in a tray/hopper and prime all of your prepped brass. Much less messing around with single little tiny primers. Not a necessity, but like a powder measure, it will make things go faster.

I would also suggest getting at least one bullet loading tray, such as this one, or this one. There are many styles and sizes and they are cheap.

Also a few small square plastic buckets or trays are useful for storing things between stages (I just stole a few from my kitchen and then got a few more at an Office supply store) when you don't really need the cases to stand vertically.

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twforemanLee Classic Cast - .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .30-30. .270 Win•

Ah yes, forgot the hand primer. Definitely speeds up the process.

As far as loading blocks, I'll just pimp my wares here. 10% off with the 'GUNNIT' coupon code. :)

1