Discuss handloading, reloading and presses here.
 #49018  by bluedog46
 
Its kind of funny that my wife did not even want a gun in the house until a shooting occured in our area in september 2010. We went out and bought three guns with her thinking we might to to the range 2 or 3 times a year. Well a targetmaster membership, trips to the dspc, deciding the get our permits and her thinking about an FFL we have gone a step further and gotten into reloading. I just picked up a lee turret press used from one of the members and some goodies with it. I had been saving my brass, so as soon as i get a powder messure, dies, and bullets i will be up and running.

She did not want me to get into reloading because she was a fraid i would "blow the house or yourself" up. After informing her of what i had learned on the board she agreed. It also probably helped that i got her a springfield 9mm so she likes 9mm ammo now

thanks for all the advice. I had heard a powder that is good but forgot the name. any advice on smokless powder, bullets ( fmj perferably) and primers and the best place to get a deal?

I am going to start using it as a single stage press to get use to it and then use its progressive functions. Give me another hobby besides playing the guitar

thanks again for all the advice on the topic all
 #49033  by jslacker
 
:applause: Good luck with that Blue, let me know how it is when you do your first run.
 #49052  by Delta2Echo
 
http://www.kdcartridgeandsupply.com/

Give him a call. Paul will take good care of you. He has copper plated bullets which aren't jacketed, but have no exposed lead. They are a bit cheaper. He will also make you lead bullets, and I must say I'm very impressed with his product. He seems to take great care of his customers. He makes the bullets to order if you get the lead.

He will even make the 3 most common bore sizes for a test run. He asks that you run them through your pistol at a medium velocity to find which one performs better. For example, my .40 pistol actually does better with bullets sized to .401 (really common). If I shoot .40 diameter, it gunks my barrel up QUICK. .401, not a problem. As he will tell you, lead is not as dirty as people think. The most important part of shooting it is having the right size bullet for your bore. He can teach you a LOT. Has been in the business for longer than you and I are old.

As far as powder, whoever you ask is probably going to say something different. I just switched from SR 7625 from IMR to Accurate No.2. The No.2 takes less weight for my load...and was cheaper.

For dies, I love my Hornady. Not only that, if you buy certain ones, they will give you a specific number of free bullets. Redding makes the best dies I've used...but their pistol dies are a lot more expensive. Their rifle dies on the other hand aren't too bad. Also keep in mind that if you plan on using Lee's auto disk measure, you will need to get a powder through die for each caliber.

Also get a decent digital scale if you don't have one. Grab one off eBay, in all seriousness. I got mine for $15, works great. Have had it for several years now. If I'm not mistaking, it has to go to .01 grams for it to weigh grains.

http://shop.mobileweb.ebay.com/searchre ... scale+0.01

Besides 9mm, what other caliber will you be making?
 #49057  by bluedog46
 
thanks all

delta i definatley will be doing 38 special. i am figuring on 380 auto. I am not sure if a 9mm die willl work since many call it a 9mm short, eventually i might reload .223, but not until i really feel comfortable with 9mm
 #49060  by Tony T
 
Good luck. If you're loading pistol calibers you can find a ton of good info at Brian Enos's forum, those guys have tried everything.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.p ... owforum=72
 #49073  by bluedog46
 
how many rounds should i be able get out of one lb of powder?
 #49075  by Strelok
 
bluedog46 wrote:how many rounds should i be able get out of one lb of powder?
It depends on the powder. Different powder requires a different charge weight. I loaded 5gr of Unique for 9mm, that gives me 1400 rounds/lb.
 #49085  by bluedog46
 
Strelok wrote:
bluedog46 wrote:how many rounds should i be able get out of one lb of powder?
It depends on the powder. Different powder requires a different charge weight. I loaded 5gr of Unique for 9mm, that gives me 1400 rounds/lb.

unique is the brand the guy i bought it off of mentioned. I might be able to pick up a lb of it.
 #49086  by Strelok
 
bluedog46 wrote:I had heard a powder that is good but forgot the name. any advice on smokless powder, bullets ( fmj perferably) and primers and the best place to get a deal?
I usually buy powder and primers at a gun show while I'm looking and maybe buying other things. :) Buying online will cost you shipping + $25 hazmat fee.