Great job on the video. I reloaded 9mm and 45-70s during graduate school. Retired now and want to reload some 30-30 and others. It’s a fun hobby and fits those of us who focus on the details.
Brian's shop is in an adjoining city to me. He's always my go-to first choice. By the way, his shop is in Orange, Ca. Great guy and definitely knows the business. I wish he'd've been around 50 years ago when I first got into reloading. I still load with a single stage press. To me, reloading is therapy and doesn't need to be rushed.
Great explanation on starting out reloading. Been reloading 50 years and still using a turret press. Don't trust high speed progressive presses . By using my turret press I can and do inspect each round multiple times during the process. To me the most important thing is preparing the brass . I remove spent primers with a universal de primer, then do a sonic wash. Rinse in distilled water to prevent spotting and allow to dry. Then I re-size and flare the mouth of straight walled cases. Then I tumble in a corn Cobb media until bright. Then I check each primer pocket and inspect each case before primer installation. I generally do 500 rounds at a time so this takes about 4 hours. Then the fun begins--- I prime the case, wife adds powder, granddaughter sears bullet, granddaughter #2 checks each round in a sizing tool, grandson boxes them, granddaughter #3 labels the boxes and puts them on the shelf. 500 rounds in 1 hour. So basically we average about 100 rounds and hour start to finish.
Nice that you can involve the grandkids and your wife. I reload for volume as I shoot a lot of 9mm so I use a progressive press. It is a few decades old Dillon 650 that I bought used and damaged. Rebuilt it myself so I would understand how everything works. At a leisurely pace it makes 400-500 an hour. All I do is dry tumble the brass and dump it in the case feeder. Every pull of the handle makes a finished round.
Mistakes with gunpowder can be a once in a lifetime mistake. Be precise and cautious. Be as cautious as you would be driving on a mountain road on ice.
You do a great job of encouraging the basics first. I started loading on a gently used Bonanza single stage 45+ years ago. I got my first Dillon square deal b years later then a 550. I have mentored several young folks and one or two not so young to take up reloading. I love all aspects of crafting my own ammo. Thanks for doing a great job teaching slow and steady basics first
You came up with i seen too many people who wants to go with a progressive loader and do not have a clue. Glad you say up front . Good video. I know something that have a progressive and did started with a single stage and end up use his progressive like a single stage because the quality of ammo he get . I use a single and a T press. Works for me and been doing this for some years.
Got a progressive (gift), too much of a faff to get it to work right so got a single stage. Then got a turret press and found I'm more comfortable with the single stage. Got a "better" progressive but have yet to use it (mainly because I don't have the pressure of volume shooting to employ it) but there is a learning curve for progressives (and to a lesser degree with turret presses) above and beyond the making new rounds part. So many variables in reloading -even for just one caliber; when starting out it is really helpful to limit them as much as possible.
Good video and well thought out. I teach reloading on single stage presses, so I more or less agree with what's being said in the video. I do think the slight anti-progressive message in the video, and more so in the comment section, is a little too strongly stated. Is it best to learn on a single stage or turret press? Maybe. Can you learn to reload on a progressive? Absolutely! I shoot USPSA, Steel Challenge (SCSA), ICORE and IDPA. Most competitive pistol or PCC shooters go straight to a progressive press. For good or bad, many don't own a single stage press. They are loading strictly for volume. Once they settle on a load, they crank out ammo and typically don't change bullets or powder unless forced to by supply problems. Do they have any real depth of knowledge of loading procees? Maybe not, but their needs are met. I've taught many 10, 20 and 30 year reloading veterans; guys that have only owned a single stage press. Many have claimed a modest level of expertise due to their years of experience, yet, they end up demonstrating a surprising lack of knowledge or competence. In the end, it's the indian, not the arrow. Some arrows are more idiot proof than others, but still...
You are now a RU-vid star. I Love it Brian. A bread will be shipped from TN soon. Wish I could still come visit in person. FYI I'm trying to get my reloading room set up here now, and will send pics at some point. Lots of stuff still hiding in tots, ugh. I think your wife's pic should be up behind you not Ms Welch. LOL Missing you and a few in Cali
Great explanation. Been reloading about 60 years. The only thing i see missing is explanation on priming tools and wether you're going to prime shells with an RCBS, Lee, etc or do it on the single stage/turret press. Progressives is automatically done on the press. You might also warn them it's not a cheap hobby, but most hobbies aren't. But if you're looking for accuracy you can't beat it.
This was really interesting. I'm in the UK and struggling get factory ammunition for my most accurate rifle. To make the most of it I really need .25MOA which is what I had from Norma but they've now discontinued the round, though I did see some identical but not in name at Midway guns,but no information on it in the UK.
I have a question if you don't, (I have load shotgun shells and pistol since 1978) I have never loaded anything for a rifle. I have some 223 that I need to load. Does the bullet need to touch or compress the powder. I was looking at one of the load data With a powder That I have. It was showing 3.8 grains in the 223 shell and a 55 grain bullet. I was looking at powders, they were calling for 18-28 grains. Beings I have never loaded rifle shells , I thought I had better ask someone that knows if that would be a typeO. The 3.8 gr sounds like a 380 auto round.
223 powder charges typically are in the 20something grain range. if the bullet compresses the powder charge, the load data usually states “compressed load”
@williamcastleberry7338 When rifle load data lists a tiny charge of a pistol powder or a shotgun powder (powders like Trail Boss, Titegroup, Clays, etc.), that's for a subsonic load with velocity down around 1070fps. Don't exceed published max when using pistol or shotgun powders in .223 cases. Subs won't cycle a semi-auto, so you'll have to manually cycle the action. If you're wanting full velocity loads, you need to reference load data for a list of rifle powders that'll work with your projectiles and go pick up some rifle powder. If you want a bunch of videos to watch, Johnny's Reloading Bench is a great channel with an 80 video playlist on reloading .223.
The Load manual will also list the OAL length with a specific bullet. The amount of airspace left with a powder charge is very important. If a bullet is seated too deep it increases the chamber pressure of the round and could easily get dangerous , especially in high powered rifle rounds. The best thing is to have multiple reloading manuals and check each for a given cartridge to get your desired load. And Dont mix and match data for different loads or manuals.
I have handgun precision competitions in 9x19 and some dynamic in the future. So I'd like to make consistent high quality for the former and 8-10k a year for training too. The rest would be decent .223 to get the price down and shoot more rifle and lots of shotgun shells. I come from a mechanical background and have to take courses & a test to reload in my country. Does any of the presses quickly allow to switch between set ups to get target loads when slowed down (maybe single stage use of a progressive) and volume without taking hours to ramp it up and get back to the results one had before? Too annoying in the long run and maybe use a second press? Most reloaders here use single stage press setups for expensive revolver cartridges. Those that use a drive for ipsc often go back to a hand press. Is there any company offering a foot operated conversion to give the wrists and elbows a rest from repetitive motion? Buy new or used?
There are motorized presses available in the United States. The are controlled by an IPAD or tablet. They are very expensive (relativly speaking) and meant for high volume. If you're shooting IPSC, a progressive press, if available in your country, would be sufficient. I shoot USPSA (the US IPSC) and a turret or single stage is a little slow for that volume of shooting, especially if you practice at all. I started with a single stage and quickly moved to a progressive. For reloading multiple cartridges (for example 9mm and 5.56) a lot of competitive shooters have multiple machines set up for each. This is convenient, but isn't strictly necessary. It doesn't take long to switch a progressive over from one cartridge to another, but it can be a hassle.
