Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Reloading is complicated

And now for something completely different - reloading without any dies or presses.

For the cost of a bullet mould and some simple tools very serviceable practice/fun ammo can be created. A means of de-re capping, metering powder, and a bullet sized correctly for a snug thumb press fit in the fired case (leave it sticking too far out and the act of inserting the cartridge in the chamber and closing the breech will automatically seat the bullet against the lands uniformly shot-to-shot). Precision loading? No, but surprisingly good results can be had. A range session can be conducted with but one cartridge case used over and over and over again, a punch to remove spent primers and a cheap hand primer seater, powder measure + powder, and a box of cast bullets, and a big smile on your face is all you need.

Carry it a step further and you can breech seat cast bullets directly into the throat of the rifle and avoid having to create some form of fixed cartridge altogether. Again with simple paraphernalia to re-charge the single case. Accuracy can be downright astonishing as the bullet is started straight into the rifling and is fully engaged in the rifling before being spanked by a violent powder explosion which can upset the apple cart, so to speak. Works best with single shot rifles, but people do it with bolt guns too, as have I. Again, the gear can can be as simple or as complicated as you care to make it.

Here's some of my gear, in this instance the stuff for shooting .32-40:





Top pic- breech seating tools, a simple pusher tool and a compound leverage pusher.
Middle pic- de-re capping tool, in this case a copy of H.M.Pope's design
Bottom pic- bullet lubing pump (although I mainly just pan lube my bullets any more)

Cheap accurate shooting conducted like this with Ye Old Betsy hunting rifle throughout the spring/summer months is a dandy way to hone the physiological control of the trigger making you a better marksman for when it counts in the field (not to mention being stupid cheap to do, even in this day and age). As hunting season rolls up, put this stuff away, load (or buy) a couple boxes of full-snort hunting ammo, re-zero the gun, and go forth and kill stuff.