11 replies to this topic

[KNOCKED UP]

I just orded a Rcbs Rock chucker supream master reloading kit.Plus three sets of dies, a shell plate, and a cabela's 400 case tumbler kit. I guess that is enough to get started. I have been doing a lot of reading, and studying about reloading. Grant is going to teach me the in's, and the out's of reloading. So I am getting excited to get started.Tom

[ratassassin]

Congrats. It's very rewarding to load your own.

[gunnut]

I think you have a fine teacher.Enjoy a great new hobby.

[Bisley]

Congrats, hope you enjoy. Just out of curiosity, what calibers will you be starting with? I was also just looking at the list of things it comes with, and there a few things you may or may not be aware of that are not on there. One is a micrometer. A must. But you may already have one, don't know? Another is a primer pocket cleaning tool. I noticed it said neck brushes, but nothing about a primer pocket cleaner. Not a necessity, but handy none the less. You are also almost surely going to need a case trimmer very soon too. And you should probably look into a kinetic bullet puller also. Anybody who says they reload and doesn't make a mistake is lying, either about erring or about actually reloading . This is what just comes to mind at the moment. You may already have this stuff, but I just thought I would tell you before you get started in case you didn't. Nothing worse than being in the middle of it and finding out there's something you need Sunday night at 9:00 pm. You will have to keep us up on the progress/success of your handloads.On another note, I just wanted to mention, be very, very careful with the beam scale it will come with. You mentioned having some great experienced help, but I still feel obligated to warn everyone. Beam scales work just fine, but some can be a little more "deceiving" than others. It can be very easy to mistake 1/10th of a grain for 1 grain on some, especially toward the end of a long night of reloading, no matter how many years you have been doing it. While it is not a necessity, a digital scale is very close, at least for me. Don't have to have a powder thrower/digital scale combo, but definitely consider looking into just the digital scale. Good luck, be safe and happy loading.

[KNOCKED UP]

Bisley, I will be getting a digital caliper, and a trim mate case prep. I also want to get a didgital scale in the future.the bullet puller will come soon also. Thanks for the heads up.Tom

[tawnoper]

One is a micrometer. A must.

A caliper?

[docskinner]

A caliper?

Congrats - nice acquisition! It is a fun hobby. My thoughts exactly - only extreme Benchrest reloaders use micrometers! If you are getting groggy enough to misread your scale, you should not be reloading at that time. close it up and start again when you aren't bleary eyed. Mistakes can be way to costly to be trying to 'push through' to get some ammo done. Had an uncle blow up his custom 22-243 AI trying to load too late into the night/morning. Of course he blamed it on 'bad powder', but as 3 people had went in on a case, and no one else had any problems with their powder...I usually just use my RCBS Uniflow powder measure, and weigh every 5- 10 throws (depending on how many rounds I plan on loading), and throw all charges before seating bullets. If I get a bad check weighing, I dump all back to the last good weighing and re-throw them. Once your beam scale is set, you can leave it set and no need to be fiddling with it every weighing. That leads to more inaccuracy and variability. If you are going to super consistency, also get yourself the little powder trickler they make. Works great if you are weighing every charge.

[Bisley]

Congrats - nice acquisition! It is a fun hobby. My thoughts exactly - only extreme Benchrest reloaders use micrometers! If you are getting groggy enough to misread your scale, you should not be reloading at that time. close it up and start again when you aren't bleary eyed. Mistakes can be way to costly to be trying to 'push through' to get some ammo done

Agreed 100%, but even wide awake, some beam scales measure 1/10th of a grain and some a full grain on dials in the exact same adjustment places. If you have more than one, which many of us do, you can get accustomed to one and err out of force of habit on another. You just have to be more attentive,for sure, that's all.

A caliper?

Yep, good catch, thanks. I fall into the category of calling it a mic out of bad habit

[KNOCKED UP]

A caliper?

I just gave Grant my 0-1 Micrometer.Tom

Attached Files

•  calipers.jpg   5.32K   1 downloads

[tawnoper]

this is getting confusing.

[ShooterJohn]

Tawnoper works at a machine shop and they call those calipers not micrometers.

[45Colt]

I just gave Grant my 0-1 Micrometer.Tom

That one looks familiar.I have 2 of them.Looks like another reloading addict.