Got my first Press today!

[sharpshooter94]

Hey guys! Merry Christmas!
I got a Lee reloading press for my Christmas present from my parents. I was wondering if anyone had any useful tips that I could use. Thanks guys

[postoak]

Are these the little handloading dies, are something more elaborate?

[purple heart]

The best tip anyone can give a beginning reloader is to get at least 2
loading books. It's good to cross reference the load sometimes.
If you shoot a particular bullet than get the loading book from that company.
Another good loading book is the Lyman book.
Then make sure you read and understand what they're saying.
Double checking is not a bad habit to get into.:)

[sharpshooter94]

it is a lee challenger press

[Fuzzball3]

The best possible tip has been given, get a reloading manual. A Lee "Modern Reloading" or Lyman #49 would be best for you, in that order of preference.

[sharpshooter94]

I already have lee modern reloading as well as an old speer reloading manual. I have already re-sized all my old brass as well as my new brass.

[Badger]

sharpshooter94,

Are you reloading rifle or pistol ammo? Reloading is a fine hobby and you got good advice about having and reading reloading manuals.

I size all my rifle reloads for SPECIFIC rifles by having them at the bench to properly set the resizing die.

Badger

[sharpshooter94]

I am reloading for my 30-06 right now but I expect my brother to get dies for both his .308 and .45 ACP. Badger, I was wondering how to find how deep the lands of the rifling are in a rifle.

[postoak]

I think you load a bullet into a resized case (no powder or primer), use a match to put a coating of soot on the front of the bullet, and then press it into the chamber.

[tommyt]

sharpshooter94;19391]I was wondering how to find how deep the lands of the rifling are in a rifle.
As stated once but I'll go a bit deeper
Seat a Bullet into an EMPTY shell no Primer
Seat as far out as possible and smoke ( I use a Candle)Gently put it in the Chamber ,It may or may not fit ?
If it won't seat a bit more (.oo1 ) or very minor Depth movements ,smoking each time
What you want is ( My Want) is to see the rifling marks on the bullet then slowly seat the bullet just off that point, If you get there set your die then make note of the OAL
I Keep that Dummy round with the die-set for future loadings
If you have a different gun same cal you need to do the whole Process over ,
Also before you load a #100 or even #2 check to see if the new length will fit in the Magazine sometimes
A over cut or Long Throat will have the Loaded rounds to long for the mag
A friends son was told Not to touch my Loaded ammo it was different .
He's 24 !! Well he took 5 of my custom rounds for my 243, he got to the Stand
and couldn't get the ammo to Fit ,so not to Ruin his fathers hunt he had to stay put for that morning hunt
YEP he saw the big-one and could only watch..... Lesson learned
Had he Known better he could have pushed one deeper while sitting twiddling his thumbs but who knows it may have turned catastrophic
Good luck Load safe
Read read read
I found good reloading and reload tips in Videos via the Library
Tommyt

[sharpshooter94]

do you seat the bullet so that the part that touched the rifling is at the end of the case or do you keep the rifling on the bullet

[rimrock]

generally seat bullets about .010 from touching the rifling lead ramps in the throat, a candle can be use to smoke the surface of a bullet seated in a dummy cartridge to adjust the seat depth so the bullet seats depth is just off the contact point in cartridge length

[dave-t.]

Some people set the bullet touching the lands, but 99% of the time, you don't want the bullet in contact with the lands, but usually you want it close for best accuracy.

I will restate that you need to check and be sure that the cartridge will fit and feed from the magazine before you load up cartridges you intend to use/hunt with.



To keep things simple, I choose a bullet I want to shoot, find a powder charge that gives the veloctiy I want, load up 4-6 rounds with 1 grain less than my target velocity, then 4-6 rounds at .5 grains less, (4-6 more rounds) x on, and (4-6 more rounds) .5 grains more than the book suggests for my target velocity (while not going over book max). Shoot from a good solid rest to test for accuracy, all being seated to the same depth, and allowing time for barrel to cool. After seeing which is the best charge for accuracy, you can then test seating depth going closer or farther from the lands, just the same as with the different poweder charges. For hunting purposes, that should give you a "good enough" taylored load at or near your desired speed and preferred bullet.

If you're like me, that will be enough testing, and you can concentrait on punching out 40-60+ rounds for your hunting loads.

Unless you have a powder or bullet that your gun just doesn't like, that should get you decent hunting accuracy. If you switch to a different bullet, powder, case, or primer then you go back to scratch and start at the beginning.

[dave-t.]

Just so you know, I have been reloading less than a year, and cheated a bit on finding loads for my rifles. I basically duplicated the best shooting factory loads for my rifles, keeping components as near the factory loads as possible, ie. same projectiles, cases, speeds, etc.

Good luck.

[kenjs1]

I started loading because I like uncommon cartridges and wanted to try bullets that might not be available in factory offerings. The Lee website has some really wonderful short video clips that demonstrate processes. There are more useful videos on the web- youtube etc... These have been very helpful. Lee is a good comapny to deal with. I use the collet dies that only size the neck and I use my turret press without the index -so it really is a single stage but more convenient as I never have to remove a die. Gadgets I would not be without are 1. the Hornady Cam-lock bullet puller. At some point you will need to remove a bullet from a loaded case and there is no better, faster, easier way than this baby. 2. A powder trickler. I don't load powder through the press or with a powder dump as I got frustrated with them. 3. Because I don't use a powder dump I bought the Lee Powder measure kit. Its just a bunch of plastic dippers that scoop powder but they come with a chart that shows what charge each will hold for any powder you might use. That will get you close to your target powder charge and the trickler will finish the job with exactness. These are all cheap little goodies that go a long way towards removing frustration and tediousness. Congrats. Good luck. Enjoy.

[tommyt]

Just so you know, I have been reloading less than a year, and cheated a bit on finding loads for my rifles. I basically duplicated the best shooting factory loads for my rifles, keeping components as near the factory loads as possible, ie. same projectiles, cases, speeds, etc.

Good luck.

How did you Cheat doing this ? do you mean OAL or Speed of the bullet

[dave-t.]

I had a load that I was trying to duplicate, so I had a basic starting point.

If I had never shot the rifle before, and was wanting to handload my first round that I would fire in it, I wouldn't have any idea what the gun favored, as in bullet weight, brand, velocity, etc. I already knew what shot good in my rifle so I duplicated it, instead of starting with zero knowledge of the guns likes and dislikes. If that makes sence.

[Rock Chuck]

I already have lee modern reloading as well as an old speer reloading manual. I have already re-sized all my old brass as well as my new brass.

How old is the Speer manual? Some of the older ones, I think #9 and earlier if I remember right, show hotter loads than the newer ones. I've read that Speer cut back a bit in the later books because newer powders gave a bit more oomph and their old max loads were too hot.

[Hi Ball]

Sharpshooter-94....The only tips or advice I will give you is simply this. NEVER get in a hurry, triple check amount of powder in cases. Also NEVER "deviate" from the manual you are using, treat it just like the Bible: Add nothing to it nor take anything away that is written. Now have lots of fun and enjoy beling a reloader!

[sharpshooter94]

the speer manual is very old. I trust my third cousin(I think) who gave it to me but I also got the Modern Reloading in case the Speer was off. I believe that the rifle I have is a military issue 1903 that was put in a new handmade stock. Since it is a questionable age I tend to go on the light side with the loadings. I also do not use the lee perfect powder measure alone. I set it 4-5 grains lower than what I want and do the rest with a trickler. I heard that the Lee measure could deviate as much as 2 grains up or down. Thanks for all the help to.

[tommyt]

Don't underestimate your Local Library I got some nice DvD's to watch all about reloading and then some