In this video I’ll show you how to set up new handgun reloading dies. It is fast and easy, if you know what you’re doing. Mike Beliveau links: Patreon - / duelist Website - mikebeliveau.com/
Wish I had a video like this 40 years ago when I started handloading! Am still using my original Lee Classic single stage press that I bought at the Berlin Rod and Gun Club in West Berlin in 1982. Started out handloading 44 magnum for a Super Blackhawk in 44 magnum that I also bought at the Rod and Gun Club while stationed in West Berlin, still have that pistol, also still using the original Lee dies I bought at that time. Best money ever spend. Now I handload for over 16 calibers using mostly Lee equipment with a few RCBS die sets.
I wish I'd had a video like this when I started loading 9mm. I bought a Lee kit and a lee manual. I highly recommend the lee book. I really helped a lot. I also recommend getting a bullet puller because you will need it to correct mistakes. I also recommend GO SLOW. Take your time, check your rounds, pay close attention to every single detail until you get comfortable with the process. I never had a bad round in all the tens of thousands of rounds because I took my time.
Lee put out a book years ago called the ABC's of reloading, a fine book for beginners and all levels for reference. It's not a loading manual, but about the process
@@independentthinker8930 I was not aware of that book. Thanks for the heads up. When I got started I had the reloading manual and I used a lot of online videos. CAUTION: when looking up info online check as many sources a you can find. There's a lot of great info out there but there's also a lot of bad stuff.
Whether I've needed help starting off as a novice with my new Uberti blackpowder pistols, or setting up for my first time reloading 45 Colt with my Lee Die Set, I find your videos extremely informative and easy to understand. Please keep them coming.
I talked to a guy about four years ago that said I would eventually get into reloading. Still haven't taken up the hobby. I think about it now and then, but just don't want to make the commitment. The work is too tedious, and I just have a feeling that I won't pay attention long enough to get every cartridge right. I still enjoy watching these videos because there may be a day I just might buy a single stage press and give it a try. I doubt it, but you never know. Glad you're feeling better Mike.
Despite having a good selection of loading manuals, books, etc. already on my reference shelf, it's really nice to see it presented in a video as well. Thanks for posting your tutorials.
I’ve been reloading for years. It’s always good to review the process for setting up the dies and adjusting everything by making a dummy rounds to spec. Great video. I’m glad to see you are feeling better and the covid didn’t treat you badly. I had a mild case last July and also recovered quickly.
...wish you were around in 1974 when I got back from the Army in Germany with my Rockchucker and taught myself everything for loading for my S&W Mod 29 (both mag & spl)
Great video, Mike. When I started it was all trial and error as it was for you I am sure. You gave any new person a great head start. Also, I think this type of videos are needed more then ever as many gun stores and most box stores don't have a person there that know how to do things like this. Tip - I make a mark in the Knurled part of the die, also on the bullet seating adjuster, to give me a reference point for when I have to adjust the dies position.
My vote is to go into the tips and tricks of the oldest and most obscure black powder cartridges. You cover some items here but do more on like the 44 WCF and issues with different brass. Starline is the DeFacto standard now but is thicker than R-P brass, this can require different expansion, seating and crimping. In fact all the older WCF cases have peculiarities. Then there are the Colt rounds 32, 38, 41, and 44 with heeled bullets and varying case length. Old balloon head cases and their different shell holder requirements and the effects of mercuric primers on older brass. I think you have a wealth of subjects to cover and you are well suited to do so.
Id love to see a 44-40/44WCF video like this with tips and tricks, another one is to crimp in a different step instead of with the bullet seating die! Learned that one the hard way
Nice to have a refresher course. Especially with the adjustment of the seat and crimp die. I have a Lee single stage that utilizes their "Breech Lock" system. Easy to change the dies, but one forgets how to adjust them after a while.
@@duelist1954 but hey...i gotta 50-95 1876 rifle 😎😎 peak flex 😎 ....is it wrong to ponder a 50-70 lever action 🤔 im suprised they neved made a 38 lc 41 colt 44 russian and 45 schofield lever gun 🤔 but it could have been more trouble than worth 😅
Sir, I really appreciate your video. I’ve learned a lot from your videos over the last 10-12 years or so, when I really got into black powder and 19th century firearms.
Excellent as always !!! I picked up an H & R or Hopkins in 32 S & W a couple years ago. I bought my supplies then has sat idle. Very helpful as always - keep it up sir. Have a wonderful day.
Great basic video. Takes me back to my ABCs of Reloading by Dean Grennell when I started in the mid 1970’s. Hay Mike, a future subject might be firearms care in the “pre-peteoleum” era. Our founding fathers didn’t have Hoppe’s #9 or Break Free, but their front loaders needed plenty of care.
Best damn video I have seen, thank you I am just starting and have the classic Lee press and dies and will be reloading pistol ammo starting with 9 mm. Your explanation is easy to understand and the video work is spot on. I have the Lee 4 die set that I bought 4 year’s ago- I know , and it has older locking ring but just ordered the new rings, they come in 4 varying colors.
I just picked up a second-hand Lyman setup at a great price, I just need to learn how to use it. This video answered my most basic questions and I now at least know where to begin. Thanks for the great explanation!
I love your videos sir, I have been collecting equipment to cast round ball, semi auto pistol and rifle and load my own ammo. I am fascinated by the whole process, love it. Your videos have helped me so much, yours is 1 of 3 channels that I have notifications turned on, I never get tired of them and I always learn from them. Thank you so much, keep them coming!
Great intro video. I love Lee's equipment for beginners. It is inexpensive, good, and all the parts you need to run are in the box. Like their turret press. If I didn't start with a single stage I wouldn't even own one.
Just used your dummy round method for my new 45 colt hollow point load. Wish I would have done this years ago. It’s super easy to seat a bullet to far or give an accidental large crimp. No need to mess with loose powder when pulling bullets or in the past crushing cases with a primer in it.
Excellent information, Mike, thank you very much. I had the edges of a couple of cases crumple, and I thought it was because I over-flared the case mouth, but now I see I had too much crimp. So much to learn!
Great stuff, Mike. I always enjoy your videos, and this included some nice refreshers and tweaks for me. I especially liked the crimping advice. And, of course, it’s great to hear you’re on the mend.
Good video, keep them coming. I am just starting to reload (inherited my Dad's old stuff) and need the info. I was glad to hear that you are doing better and to see a new video so soon!
Good video for die setup. I’ve been reloading since the1960’s, and have had occasion to instruct several beginners in the craft. The single hardest thing for a beginner to understand in setting up pistol dies is the relationship in the seating die between the bullet seating stem and the crimp shoulder. The procedure outlined here is great, and if followed should eliminate any chance for a problem.
Just wanted to say I glad to hear you are recovering Ok from being unwell. It can be an unpleasant illness as I know from my own experience. All the best and keep on shooting.
I like all your videos . Your flint lock fowlers are my favorites . Your guns of the Texas Rangers , your swords , your holloween special , are U.S.A. treasures !
thank you for this great video. I would like to get back to reloading but unless you know a secret some of us can't get primers or powder to do much reloading.
I am one of the types that likes the long detailed explanation. I watched the whole thing, in normal speed (not 1.5X, etc.) even though I am a seasoned reloader. I guess I’m not the only one who fits this category, as I can see in the comments. If I want to give someone an introduction to reloading (not at my bench) I’ll send them here! It’s nice to watch a seasoned reloader with no mistakes in the reloading process, instead of the newbies who are excited to reload but make potentially dangerous errors or omissions at their bench. It’s awful how many of those there are online, and countless make the most dangerous mistake of all and incorrectly state that one does not need a reloading book. Augh! I actually learned something here, too. Whenever I set my Lee powder through expansion die, I always lock the die ring at every trial of die depth. It’s really an annoying method. I don’t know why I have been doing that, when I only need to lock it down when I have the appropriate flare. I guess because it feels tighter when raising the ram, but I saw you hold the die in place when raising the ram, when you were still fine tuning the flare. Once you had the right flare, you locked it down. I think you forgot to mention one thing, though. Since you were crimping at the same step as seating the bullet, did you forget to mention that when doing it like this, you need to ensure that all the cases are the same length? That’s not necessary with the Lee Factory Crimp Die, as I am sure you know, which is what makes that particularly inventive die so awesome. I really liked this video, as well as your other long format videos, thank you!
101 on pistol crimping using 4 die sets and also something on setting up "auto droppers" on the lee 4 turret (plus maybe discussion about powders for it).
Love your video thank you,I learned so much 👌 I’m trying to reload 38 s&w for a webley Scott, I know the OAL is 1.240 ,can you tell me what’s the minimum length I can go down to, is?
Yeah that would be excellent I have several suggestions but I'm sure you'll probably cover them anyway, 357 Magnum 38 Special and my all-time favorite 4570. Now I've been told if you single shoot 4570 that they don't really need to be crimped but if you lever-action shoot them then they do need to be crimped because of course they would bump each other in the the tube and possibly come loose anyway look forward to more on loading thank you so much I learned an awful lot from you I really do appreciate it. Only thing I don't really understand is you don't really answer questions two individuals but that's okay I'm still learning from you. Have a great day stay safe and keep your powder dry!
When I started reloading on 1974 everyone msde both standard AND Magnim dies...had them until 2002 when I lost most of my dies..I miss them even if they were plain steel dies .
Lee stuff is great, and all made in the US. Not many of the other makers can say the same. They are cheaper because their engineers are smarter and design with utility and efficiency.
Good to see you on the mend. Interesting to see a 101 tutorial. How much difference is there between bp and smokeless in terms of fps and lb/ft reloaded using same type of projectiles etc.
NOW I understand how a turret press and associated dies should work!!! I do have a favor to ask though. Assuming you own one or more of them, could you go through the process of reloading any given handgun or rifle cartridge with the Lee Hand Press? I've dabbled, off and on, in handloading since the early 1970s but have never had the room to really get into it. Now that The Lovely Bride and I have our own home in our beloves home state of South Carolina, I have a smallish room that I think would make for a decent "reloading space", but I'm somewhat limited by finances to either the Hand Press or a turret press set up at best. I'm a visual kind of guy when it comes to understanding how some things work and I trust you and your videos to give me a clue. Thanks for yet another excellent video! Take care and I hope you feel 100% better soon.
My hand loading mentor told me about the “dummy rounds” but I rarely see anyone else mentioning it. I always make 3. Two for testing and (hopefully) the third to put in the die box for future reference. Of course it’s bullet specific. I don’t always use the same press, so that sample dummy cartridge can save me time on setting up dies if I switch presses. It also a good reference for COAL, a taper crimp measurement, etc. When I set up a sizing die for neck sizing in a bolt action rifle, I can label the sample for that specific rifle and it makes setting up the neck sizer easy. I must respectfully disagree about all dies being pretty much equal. I have purchased 2 Lee dies. The finish on the contact surfaces is rougher than other brands. Do they work? Yes. However, I have certain preferences after trying dies from Lee, Hornady, RCBS, Redding, Forster and Lyman. For a new pistol cartridge I get a Lyman 3-die set plus a Redding crimp die. Lyman dies sets cost a bit less, and they come with their special expander die that simply does a better job. Also Lyman includes 2 seating stems that seem to cover all of the bases, plus a shell holder. The Redding Profile crimp die combines a taper crimp with a roll crimp so it’s more tolerant of variances in case lengths. For bottleneck rifle cartridges, the Forster Bench Rest Seater simply is a better mousetrap. There’s a floating sleeve inside the seater die that mimics the inside of a chamber so it does a great job of seating bullets on center with less runout. Redding makes a die that uses the same expired patent but it costs more.
Good video. Glad your feeling better. I load .38 S&W too. Hard to find the .361 sized bullets. Ive found some .357 hollow based bullets, but prefer the correct size. Where did you get yours?
I have a Lee pro1000, it's a nightmare if its not super clean and you realy have to know how it works, I have an old Lee 3 hole turret press and that is the one I like the most, leave the helix rod out of the midle and turn it by hand and the 4th factory crimp die is in the rcbs single stage press, I never use the primer thing in the turet, I use a handheld primer setter because you can do it faster with it and you realy feel if a primer doesnt want to go into the case.
Great explanation of how to set them up! A question though on the Missouri Bullets you are using. I just got a S&W DA .38 S&W built somewhere around 1885 so I am gonna do BP only on it. Which of Missouri Bullets BP bullets were you using? the 125 or the 158 grain? Thanks!
A word of caution with those: they will foul the barrel badly with black powder. They just use smokeless lube even on their “BP” bullets and they will be very inaccurate with just a few shots. The best way to go is big lube bullets with SPG lube.
