Reloading - Step 1

If you’ve bought commercial ammo, you have noticed recent shortages and price increases. Materials have been diverted to other uses, the cost for manufacturers rose, and they have passed the price along to consumers. One of the motives to start reloading your own centerfire ammunition is to cut the expense of shooting. Another motive is the ability to custom tailor ammunition to a particular rifle. However, the most pleasure comes from the satisfaction of crafting your own product and seeing it work in the field.

There are a many “old wives tales” that scare people away from starting this hobby. I remember a fellow talking of punching holes through his basement floor, anchoring the corner posts of his reloading bench in two feet of concrete, and lag bolting the tops to floor beams. Back then, I wondered how much pressure and strength it took to resize cases or seat bullets. I also heard of people blowing up weapons without doing anything wrong, and I heard people say they tried reloaded ammo and it would not chamber when depended on.

Done properly, handloading is a simple, easy, and safe operation that produces ammo that is more accurate and dependable than factory ammunition. In a few short sessions, I hope to introduce you to reloading and get you down to the local sporting goods store to begin. This month, I want to make some suggestions for working up a basic bench.

Strictly speaking, reloading is the term used when a person is recharging fired cases with a new bullet, primer, and powder. Handloading is the term used when assembling ammo from all new components. For all practical purposes, the terms have been interchanged through the years.

If you’re ready to embark on this lifelong hobby, the first thing you need is knowledge. There are many purveyors of myth out there, and knowledge will put the worries they create to rest. I have heard people mean-mouth reloading, and they were people who did not reload or who claimed they had a bad experience with someone else’s reloaded ammunition.

The good sources of knowledge are usually close by. If you contact a local sportsmanís club, you will find several members with years of experience who are eager to share their expertise. Most people who work in a dedicated sporting goods store have a good knowledge base. In addition, a local gunsmith can often provide good information. Lacking a personal contact, I recommend purchasing a good reloading manual or buying a good DVD on reloading. They all lead the beginner through the process. In addition, there are a number of websites geared to the beginning reloader through the advanced match expert.

Before you buy a single piece of equipment, you should understand the process of reloading. It’s really a series of three simple steps. Once fired, a cartridge has expanded to fit the chamber of the weapon in which it was fired, and the primer has been used.

• The first fundamental step is to return the case to original dimensions and eject the spent primer.

• The next basic step is to seat a new primer and charge the case with a precisely measured powder charge.

• The final step is to seat a new bullet to the proper depth and, if desired, add a crimp to lock the bullet in place.

Of course, there are specific operations within each of these three steps, but in essence there are just three basic steps: resize and deprime, prime and charge, seat and crimp.

With the proper equipment, this is an easy process to master. But before you shop for equipment, you will need a space and a reloading bench. We have all seen the “reloading laboratories” in the major magazines, and if a person has the room and money there is no limit. However, most of us have a limited amount of space and money. Once, I built a simple bench from some scrap lumber left over from the construction of a pole building. I built the frame with 4×4 corner posts, 2×4 framing and topped it with a sheet of plywood anchored with deck screws. A couple of 2×6 risers and a 6” strip of plywood made a shelf across the back to mount a powder measure. The top surface was perhaps thirty inches wide by twenty-four inches deep. I don’t remember how high it was, but it was comfortable to sit on a stool and work without bending. A coat of gray floor paint finished the job. I gave it to a friend when I no longer needed it, and to my knowledge it is still doing the job in his basement.

One old friend, now passed on, kept his reloading equipment in a toolbox. He had bolted his press to a small piece of plywood, and he simply C-clamped the press to his garage workbench. It was handy when he wanted to use it and out of sight when he was done.

And I knew one fellow who got by for a while with a used chipboard computer desk as a loading bench. It was not very sturdy, but it did the job until he could have something better. I would not recommend a flimsy desk, but that person made do with what he had.

A number of retailers make portable reloading benches, which are pedestals with a top surface drilled to accept common reloading presses. I am reminded of the old grinder stands in the farm shops of my youth that were made by welding a pipe upright to an old auto or truck rim and welding a flat plate on top for a mounting surface. These “benches” are small and portable.

The point is that a bench does not need to be huge, ornate, or anchored in concrete to function. Yes, the compound leverage of the loading press creates thousands of pounds of pressure, but almost all of the pressure is contained within the mechanism of the press itself. One manufacturer recently came out with a fixture that bolts to a bench surface and accepts plywood bases that bolt to a loading press. Using this device, a loader can swap out entire presses easily.

All that is necessary is a sturdy flat surface that provides enough room for the press, a powder scale, and a loading tray to hold the brass being processed. Every person has different tastes and desires. A bench can be simple and plain or could be made from furniture quality hardwood. As long as it provides a sturdy place for the reloading press, it will work just fine.

So, to eliminate a couple tales that scare people off, number one is that you do not need to cause major alterations to your home to set up a reloading bench. Secondly, the only people who I know have damaged weapons were running charges far in excess of any published data or proceeding with nonstandard procedures.

As for those who claim that reloaded ammo will not chamber, that is possible if the reloaded ammo has not been full-length resized and was loaded into a weapon other than the one it was originally fired in. Factory ammunition is sized to minimum allowable dimensions, as it has to fit every chamber. Once fired, the brass swells to fit the chamber of the rifle in which it was fired. If that weapon was a bolt action and if the ammunition will be fired again in that specific rifle it can be neck sized only. This means that the neck will be squeezed back to original dimensions to hold a bullet tightly. The rest of the case will be an exact fit in the chamber, which should produce better accuracy. However, if Joe-Bob borrows a neck-sized round from Billy-Bert’s rifle it may not fit in his.

The rule of thumb is to full-length resize all hunting ammo, go to a safe place outdoors, and run each and every cartridge through the weapon in which it will be fired. Two rifles of the same make and model in the same caliber can and will have different chamber dimensions. One chamber may be on the minimum size, and another may be on the maximum end of the allowable scale.

If you have a few square feet of floor space to spare, you have room to start handloading. Building a bench is simple and inexpensive. The negative stuff you have heard is not true. Get the bench ready, and next month we will look at some equipment options.

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