I recently started reloading for my Howa 243. Mostly good experiences so far. I thought I would start a thread for those little tips and tricks to help those starting out. You don't know what you don't know, as they say.

#1 When setting up dies for the first time, READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS. I didn't and subsequently crushed 3 case necks at bullet seating before I worked out what was happening.

#1 tip -- find an experienced handloader and become friends. Not all can do it by reading...

Chippie
You are the first person in here to make a mistake. None of the rest of us ever make mistakes.

I guess you hit the crimp ring with the seater die. No I have never done that either.

So here is my best shot at useful practice.
When you set a powder scale with multiple poise triple check the poise settings. Make sure you do not set the scale for 49.2 grains when it should be 42.9.
As a beginner try to design your loads so that a max load is a full case so you don't have room for an over load. That means you have to pick one of the slower burning and/or bulkier powders.
Finally check the powder charge level in all cases with a flash light on a loading block to find any that might vary due to a mistake. Once your are satisfied that all are good seat the bullets.

You do have an manual (or 2), don't you? If not, get at least one and start reading.

Then get another manual and read all of them again. Read them. Study them as if you are going to be tested on them.

To confirm a point made by SR4759 I have a shelf just below eye level that my scale sits on. When I get the scale set up and the measure is throwing the correct weight charge I leave the scale sitting there on the shelf with the charge on it. Can't tell you how many times I have got half a loading block of brass charged and notice the scale is set wrong.
Also get in the habit of looking in a charged case to see how full it is and look in every charged case to confirm that level before the bullet goes in.

When using a balance beam scale, I always tap the table it's sitting on a couple of times when the beam has settled.

Buy used every chance you can and save....also buy components every chance you get and build a stock

Use check weights. Use them to verify that your scale is accurate and, having done that, that your powder measure is throwing charges of proper weight.

I use my scale to check my powder measure every 15 or so rounds.

(Once, one of my balance beam's weights hadn't settled properly into its groove and threw inaccurate charges!)

And I agree with wasbeeman . . . tap the balance beam scale's table.

I tell people who are new to reloading to avoid maximum loads, therefore there is a bit of room for error.

The only can of powder on the bench should be the one you are using. Don't waste a can of powder by dumping the wrong kind in it by having more than one on the bench.

As I knew no one and could find no one who reloaded when I started, I was forced to teach myself how to reload. I have a few tips for a beginner based on 25+ years of reloading.

#1-If at all possable buddy up with a knowledgeable reloader than can get you started safely in the right direction.

#1B-If #1 is not a option, then get yourself the latest edition of Lymans reloading hand book. It is as good as any manual out there and better than 9 of 10 available. Once you have it read and understand its step by step instructions on how to reload be it hand gun or rifle, or like me, both. Do not under any cercomstances attempt to begin reloading until uou have a complete understanding of what your doing. This is what I did as I was on my own when I started out. Looked at every reloading manual I could find and the Lyman stuck me as the best of the bunch for a total begginer like me.

#2-When you do start to reload make sure you have a well organized reloading area free of all things unless you need them for reloading.

#3-Only ever have the exact powder, primer, and bullets you will be using to reload your spacific load at that time, this rule should remane true no matter how experienced a reloader you become.

#4-When you do reload only do reloading and only one step at a time until your done with that step. IOW, when your de-priming and resizing do all your cases you wish to and finish all of that number before begining to perfrom any other reloading step. Reloading especially for a beginer is not the time for multi tasking.

#5-Also do not allow any distractions like listing to tunes, or watching TV. In short when you reload that is all you should do, reload.

#6-Start out reloading small numbers of reloads say no more than fifty and inspect each loaded round at various stages of reloading, For example, inspect each casing after you size it and prime it to catch any problems before you end up with a loaded round and then find out you seated a primer incorrectly or have a case that is damaged in some way.

As has been said try to buy as much used equipment as you can my first reloading kit I bought some 25+ years ago I bought used. It was a RCBS beginners reloading kit and i still have and use every component in that kit.

As far as to whos reloading equipment to buy, if you have one near you go to a BP or Cabelas and try to get a hands on inspection of any and all reloading equipment thay might have so you can make as educated a choice as you can. RCBS, Hornady, and Lee all make excellent basic single stage reloading kits. One thing to keep in mind is Hornady is offering 500 bullets if you buy one of their LNL reloading kits and 100 bullets if you buy their dies, so that is worthy of consideration.

Good luck,
Arthur.

Try this!

Here are some tips
1 write every thing down- it matters. Use a hard bound journel
2 the last 100 fps is very expensive in terms of pressure.
3 attempting to get the fastest velocity requires flirting with pressure executions - meaning danger
4 get a chrono do not wait.
5 pressure doesn't mean what you think it does.(warning next bit isn't for the raw beginner) Velocity isn't determined by highest pressure. It is determined by "work" or area in the time and pressure curve.
6 if you have to have 200 fps more than the case can do, get a gun chambered in the bigger round and load it mild. Brass and guns are cheap compared to your eyes, fingers, hands, your life, or someone else injured.
7 turn off the AC and fans when throwing powder changes. The moving air will through your scales off
8 believe everything you see as evidence. If the round is 100 fps slower than it should be, them that combo is slower in your gun, but the pressure is still there. If it goes faster than expected then the pressure is still there
9 get a chrono. Worth mentioning twice
10 there are old reloaders and bold reloaders. There are no old and bold reloaders. Be careful and conservative. Write everything down and use a Chrony
11 buy Quickload and learn how to use it. It will save you 10 times its cost in powder selection

Remember for your own sanity

Reprime BEFORE you weigh out 50 loads of powder and find powder dribbling out the flash holes .....

It's happened to almost everyone I know (I've done it - ONCE).

Aside from getting several manuals and studying them religiously, my advice is to NEVER, EVER put any powder on the bench that you aren't working with.
Bear in Fairbanks

There isn't much I can add to the wealth of knowledge presented by the previous posters. Except: You will expend a great deal of powder, shot and time gathering info. As several previous commentators implied, don't throw it away. You will need a way of preserving it. I would be happy to email or fax you the forms I've developed over 50 years. Just PM me. Mine might not be perfect, and I'll bet others will share, too.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
Chippie
You are the first person in here to make a mistake.

I guess you hit the crimp ring with the seater die. No I have never done that either.

I also have never done that this week crushing five 223 rounds. I have only been reloading for 21 years.

Here is a good tip. Only have one kind of powder on your bench at a time! Many reasons for this!

Go slow and pay attention.

I've been reloading for a time span that is rapidly approaching a half-century. Just yesterday I did this:

1. Charged fifty unprimed cases with powder. Not IMR-style logs, mind you, but superfine ball powder which pours through a flash hole like sub-atomic particles. Amazingly, I was able to salvage about 85% of the powder, with only a relatively small portion of it adding to the flammability of the carpet underneath my bench.

2. Dutifully primed then loaded the fifty rounds, after which I discovered that I had inadequately resized the necks and neck tension was too loose to hold the bullets immobile.

3. Had to pull the bullets and once again salvage the powder, this time capturing 95% of the 85%.

4. Had to resize the necks, which, due to the nature of the die I was using, required punching out the brand new primers which I had just seated moments ago. That's a $2.50 worth of primers at today's gray market prices.

5. Now with the cases properly resized, I am back to where I started an hour and a half ago, minus fifty primers and about 20% of the powder I had used.

6. I then proceeded to prime and charge the cases and seat the bullets -- all in the proper order -- and ended up with 50 rounds of high-quality ammunition.

And remember, I do this for fun and relaxation.

You're never too old and experienced to make mistakes, which is rule #1 of reloading.

Buy Lyman's 49th Edition reloading manual.

When testing shiny new handloads



Always make sure your rifle is sighted in..........