Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Reloading is complicated

Lee collet dies have simplified much of my reloading. No case cleaning or lubing. Plus, LCDs make very straight ammo. LCDs neck sizes so case stretch is reduced which reduces the frequency of the need to trim.

I like them so well, I have LCDs for every cartridge I reload for except two. Lee Precision does not offer LCDs for anything 9.3 mm and they have discontinued the collet die for .45-70 Govt. The cost in money and wait time for customs is beyond what I want to pay

Been stuffing cases since I was 9 with my uncle who taught me to load. I’m 50 now. While I have evolved as a loader over the years, the real enjoyment for me is keeping in touch with my rifles during the off season. The precision, process & the ability to make up loads that I can’t buy in the store keeps me interested. Once August rolls around, it’s all about hunting - loading time has past.

Might also mention that some of the most "affordable" and simplest loading dies can produce the most accurate ammo.

Might also mention that some of the most "affordable" and simplest loading dies can produce the most accurate ammo.

Like many of the, uh, more "mature" handloaders here I started with a Lee Loader. Mine was in 7.62x54R Russian, because my only centerfire rifle at the time was a Mosin-Nagant, which shot very well with my handloads.

Some decades later I decided to try another LL in .22 Hornet, due to owning a very accurate Ruger No. 1B. After sorting some cases for consistent neck thickness, it averaged 5 shots in under half and inch at 100 yards. This is partly because Lee Loaders very much resemble the tools benchrest shooters regularly use.

Still have several Lee Loaders (including the .22 Hornet) for the .222 Remington (which can also be used for the .223 Remington), .30-06, .38 Special (which can also be used for the .357 Magnum), .45-70 and 3-1/2" 10-gauge. These are mostly for SHTF purposes, except the 10-gauge. Have a nice Spanish side-by-side, but don't hunt with it enough to justify a press. The LL produces ammo quickly enough for my purposes.

I started with a Rockchucker kit many years ago. Add components and dies, and it had everything you needed, sans maybe a dial caliper. I believe they are still sold?

The good thing with that kit, IMO, is that you had a good, basic gear as a starting point. From there, well ...

Over the years I’ve gone down the rabbit hole on various hand loading deals, as most of us have, and thankfully have come out again after having figured out what is worthwhile for the rifles and shooting I do, and what isn’t.

For example:

I don’t turn necks anymore.
I don’t weigh brass anymore.
I buy good brass, spotcheck for weight, and even though I probably don’t need to, on hunting ammo I recut primer pockets and deburr flashholes once, when brass is new, and then I don‘t clean primer pockets again.
I only weigh charges on hunting ammo, where say 50 rounds is going to last a few seasons (or much longer). Otherwise, thrown charges are just fine, for me.
I don’t sort bullets on a Juenke machine. I believe this does make a difference, but I don’t do it.

And on and on: runout, neck tension, annealing, brass sorting, bullet sorting ... you can choose a new deep-dive anytime you want and keep yourself engrossed, if you so desire, and many do. I don’t begrudge them. I enjoy reloading and understand the pull, and still play in various deep holes of my choosing.

But you can make good quality, eminently serviceable ammunition with the basics, like that contained in a Rockchucker kit.

You inherited a more “advanced” kit. Great. You might just find a lot of that stuff useful down the road. Your capacity to appreciate it may have changed.

But start at the start. As was posted above: clean and inspect cases, size and de-prime, prime, charge, seat bullets. Plenty of fun to be had in just getting those steps done correctly, and game will die just fine with nothing more complicated than that.

Put off diving into holes until later, if at all ...

And ENJOY.

You're over thinking it, it ain't rocket surgery unless you make it so. Anymore, I don't get a big thrill out of reloading, it's a means to and end.

Absolutely. For example, people would be surprised to see what many real Benchrest competitors use for loading gear.

Good shootin' -Al

It’s funny you mention it buddy. I have been hammering away since I was 13, 44 now.

I’m moving houses, my reloading gear is packed away and I have zero interest of rushing into a new reloading set up at the new place. My fix, I bought a plain Jane 7mm Rem Mag, I’ll mount a good scope in good mounts. I bought 3 different types of factory ammo I’ll try in the gun. I’ll pick the one that shoots best, zero at 250. Then I’ll order 100-200 rounds and just have fun shooting this summer without the worry of messing with brass prep, loading, dribbling powder, etc.

If I really get the need to load something I’ll go to my brothers and load something on his press but I don’t see it happening.

Sometimes there’s a little fun in just shooting and not worrying about a 1/4” or 50 FPS…. At least that is what I’m telling myself now.

I agree that most people would be surprised at some of the BR equipment used. Seaters, for example. The Wilson seater - not the the micrometer model - is a great and inexpensive tool that works much the same as a Lee Loader. They are about $60 at Brownells. Used in conjunction with an arbor press, they are capable of producing straight cartridges for about $10 less than a Forster or other std seater. They are slower than a bench mounted seating die, but not everything needs to be cranked out in volume.