Who had a reloading mentor and I’m looking for one local

Good morning, Gus!

As luck would have it, I'm right here in McKinney as well. PM me and lets see if we can't figure something out.

All my reloading mentors are on THR and it’s been a wealth of good info.

Charlie98 said:

As luck would have it, I'm right here in McKinney as well. PM me and lets see if we can't figure something out.

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The above reply is a great example of why I come here with all my dumb questions. Most of the folks here are great at helping. Everyone was a beginner at one time and no one makes you feel poorly for asking questions.

-Jeff

1KPerDay said:

All my reloading mentors are on THR and it’s been a wealth of good info.

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Same here! They have also nicely assisted me pretty far into the reloading rabbit hole!

There's an absolute wealth of information and knowledge here, don't be scared to ask!

IALoder said:

There's an absolute wealth of information and knowledge here, don't be scared to ask!

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+1, 2, & 3 on the sentiment above!!! I visited here for quite a while and then I joined and I'm so glad I did!!! Great help and great information! More importantly, everyone is extremely helpful and willing to share what they have experienced.

Thanks to all and God Bless!!!

Charlie98 said:

Good morning, Gus!

As luck would have it, I'm right here in McKinney as well. PM me and lets see if we can't figure something out.

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Better have him come to your place, Charlie. That beast in his avatar looks dangerous!

Well it’s good that you are going to start, and I hope you have been saving brass for when you do. It’s not the best time to start, but loading 44 you should see savings real quickly if you shoot it a bunch. Here is my basic advice I give anyone wanting to start.
Get a manual, preferably one that either matches the powder you plan to use, or the bullets. You will want more than one manual, but one will get you started.
Read the beginning part of the book as it explains the tooling and process and will generate more questions you didn’t even know you needed to ask.
Ask any questions you have here, no matter how dumb you may think it is. We all started out just like you, some of us before the internet. We have made or seen others make mistakes we can help you avoid.
Read the stickies at the top of the forum here, and the search works pretty good too. Lots of questions are already answered and posted, but more clarification may be needed and we are happy to help.

List a budget, what calibers you expect to load, and approximately how many you plan to shoot and we can offer advice on presses and accessories and not have you getting stuff you don’t need.

No mentor, unless you count Richard Lee and his book Modern Reloading... Read everything I could get my hands on at the library too.

Surprising how we used to get things done back in the day.

Like others have also stated above, my only reloading mentor was THR. I started out just reading the wealth of information here, then joined up so I could look at the photos, too.

Hope the OP finds a mentor he is happy with. If not, there's always THR!

Yeah all my mentoring came from here mostly. Never had a guy local. Good idea if you can swing it though.

shoebox1.1 said:

I’ve seen some motorcycle forums where folks get ugly

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Come on over to the Ducati forum... and ask 'what is the best oil for my Ducati?' ...and set back with a bowl of popcorn...

2ndtimer said:

Better have him come to your place, Charlie. That beast in his avatar looks dangerous!

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Well, I have Rusty... who hates everyone except mommy...

I would suggest starting small like a Lee single stage, a powder scale and a hand priming tool priming. You will surely outgrow it but it'll help you learn basics with less chance of big boo-boos

shoebox1.1 said:

That’s my thought. Keep it simple. Lee single stage and basics. Only loading 38 and 44 special seem like easy ones to start with

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I started out with a Lee single stage for 10 years, got a Loadmaster for a few years, and went back to the Reloader single stage press for my loading. Doing 16k a year on average is not bad. I do each step in batches, I deprime and resize all my brass in one sitting then when I have enough to tumble it gets done. That goes in an ammo can and labeled as deprimed and resized and tumbled. When I get time, that all gets primed and the label updated. When it’s time to load, I pull out primed cases, add powder, seat the bullet, and dropped down a funnel and pipe to another ammo can with the load data on it.

My whole loading setup is maybe $250 and my casting setup is maybe $150. I’m loading 9mm, 38, 357, and 223 and still loading thousands a year. I could do it faster, but I enjoy the process and have the time.

shoebox1.1 said:

That’s my thought. Keep it simple. Lee single stage and basics. Only loading 38 and 44 special seem like easy ones to start with

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I started out simple also, my father in law gave me an old C&H C press and a set of dies for 357 ,, sizing die was a RCBS , expander was a Lee PTX and he gave me the funnel and dippers , seating die was a Lyman but I made it work. He also gave me Lee and Speer reloading manuals that was 29 years ago. I still have the manuals. You are starting out with 2 good cartridges to reload . The people here on THR are great and just remember there is no dumb question we all are here to help!!!!!

shoebox1.1 said:

This forum has been the best place on the internet that I can remember. You don’t get smart ass comments when you ask questions. I’ve seen some motorcycle forums where folks get ugly but not here. I really appreciate that here’s the 624 that’s coming home at the end of the week! I’m stoked

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I beg your pardon! I’m here to be a smartass every chance I get! Maybe I missed a thread… or two… hundred.

If you can find any used O type press your good forever. My first press was an rcbs found on the curb with a slightly seized ram.

Have fun with it Shoebox. Next you will find yourself down the rabbit hole of casting your own bullets. Absolutely beautiful revolver by the way, congrats! And yes, .38 and .44 are great for reloading.

shoebox1.1 said:

That’s my thought. Keep it simple. Lee single stage and basics. Only loading 38 and 44 special seem like easy ones to start with

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Definitely. You might be surprised just how capable a simple single-stage press can be. I routinely reload the following on an RCBS Partner mounted on a bar stool.
Handgun
.32 S&W
.32 H&R (black powder)
.32 S&W Long
.32 H&R Magnum
.32-20 WCF (revolver only)
9mm Luger
.38 Long Colt
.38Spl
.357 Magnum (revolver and rifle)
9mm Makarov
.38 S&W
.40 S&W (pistol and carbine)
.44-40 WCF (revolver and rifle)
.44Spl
.44 Magnum (revolver and rifle)
.45 Auto Rim
.45ACP
.45 Colt
.455 Webley

Rifle
.223Rem (rare! Special purpose only)
.300 Savage
.30-30 WCF
.30-40 US
.30-06 Spg
.303 British
7.62mmR Russian (M91)
7.65mm Argentine
8mm Mauser
.357 Maximum (rifle only)
.35 Remington
.35 Whelen
.444 Marlin
.45-70 Govt

I had no mentors for years, learned everything on line and with manuals...wasted a LOT of components learning things the hard way...Good on you guys for passing on the knowledge!

conan32120 said:

I would suggest starting small like a Lee single stage, a powder scale and a hand priming tool priming. You will surely outgrow it but it'll help you learn basics with less chance of big boo-boos

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We all have different goals for our reloading. I've been loading with the same Lee Challenger kit for 20-25 yrs now. Have been perfectly happy with the pace it provides. Can't even fathom starting on a progressive, to many things for a new loader to keep track of - in my humble opinion of course...