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farm23

farm23

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After a VERY long absent I am going to start reloading 44 special. I do not want to pay the going price for ammo. I have much of what I need from long ago but I have a some questions.
1] I need a scale and will weight each charge. I looked at a RCBS M500 yesterday and was surprised at how light it was. I thought at first the scale was not in the box. Is the Hornady any better or all of them about the same?
2] I have a bunch of once fired 44 brass from years ago. I have cleaned the inside with a brush and the outsides do not have signs of corrosion. Is a tumbler a good idea? The whole idea is to save money on ammo so I will get what I need but I want to try and not go overboard.
I will have more questions later but thanks for your input.
 
Newer scales are all about the same (lighter weight than the old stuff). Often you can find older, weightier scales on eBay. Look for older Redding, Ohaus, RCBS and others of that generation.

A tumbler is not necessary but sure makes for prettier brass. Cleaning out with a brush and wiping off the outside is completely adequate. You can always add a tumbler later.
 
Immaculately clean brass isn't a necessity, but I use a tumbler to assure that no damaging grit gets into my dies. As drband says you can always add one later
 
The M500 scale replaces the 5-0-5 scale. A friend of mine has the M500 and it's not a bad scale. As others have said there are older scales check ebay. The old Redding oil dampened units are generally available on the used market. You could also fill the inside of an M500 scale with plaster to give it more weight. Even the 5-0-5s are light but they work.
 
If saving and not spending money is the goal here are my suggestions.
  1. Scale, look for a used or even a new Lee Safety Powder Scale. It is cheep but one of the most accurate balance beam scales on the market. They can be slower to settle than others and they are limited to about 100 grains of weight. They are extremely trust worthy.
  2. Old brass is fine. I have 45 acp a friend gave me that is from the mid 1960's. It loads and shoots just fine. As far as a tumbler, they are nice to have, but for small quantities are not really needed. Placing the brass in a jar with some Dawn soap and a very little Lemi Shine and fill with water, let is set a few hours and shake it up every so often, rinse and dry will work just fine.
Welcome back to reloading. It is fun to do and I believe you end up with better ammo than store bought.
 
The only reason you need to clean brass is to remove any grit that could scratch your resizing die. Brushing the inside and simply wiping off the outside is completely adequate.

The Lee beam scale works, but is not the easiest to use IMHO. The price is right, though. I know I am going against the grain when I say this, but I like my electronic scale. I have a Gemini 20 that I use all the time. I also have a set of check weights that I use to verify. Regardless of what kind of scale you get, I highly recommend a set of check weights to use as a sanity check.
 
welcome back.
There are a lot of threads debating the pros and cons of every scale ever on the market. Sounds like you already got a good one.
Tumbling is another hot topic. It isn't necessary, especially if you're not loading a lot and have time to hand wipe your brass. I tumble after I deprime first, then tumble, which keeps my dies cleaner. Some people spend a lot of worry, time and effort to polish brass to a jewelry finish. I don't.
 
The only advantage to tumbling the brass is any defects will show up better. I would rather find a split neck before I load the round and try to crimp it. If your eyes are good then minimal cleaning is the way to go. Glad you got back into it. Those 44 MAG and 500 S&W I reload can become costly over time if you buy factory.
 
I have a Redding #2 scale that's very good. Tumbling keeps grit out of your dies but more important is that reloading cases that haven't been tumbled is messy. Working with soot covered fingers is not pleasant. Tumbled brass is just a lot nicer to work with.
 
Amazon is also a good place to check for scales. I picked up a brand new RCBS 10-10 scale last year for less than $75
 
farm23 said:
After a VERY long absent I am going to start reloading 44 special. I do not want to pay the going price for ammo. I have much of what I need from long ago but I have a some questions.
1] I need a scale and will weight each charge. I looked at a RCBS M500 yesterday and was surprised at how light it was. I thought at first the scale was not in the box. Is the Hornady any better or all of them about the same?
2] I have a bunch of once fired 44 brass from years ago. I have cleaned the inside with a brush and the outsides do not have signs of corrosion. Is a tumbler a good idea? The whole idea is to save money on ammo so I will get what I need but I want to try and not go overboard.
I will have more questions later but thanks for your input.
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Can't tell you about scales. I haven't used a balance beam scale in years. But a far as tumblers go all the reloading company's sell them but you can get a better deal on tumblers at places like Harbor Freight Tools , etc. They say you can get the media cheap at pet stores but I can't find any. Maybe you can. I would definitely find a good way to clean my brass. Keeps from scratching the dies and makes inspecting brass easier. Some people come up with some good inexpensive ways to clean brass. Check out Youtube for some neat ideas.
 
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Thanks for the replays. I looked at a RCBS range master 750 and it is both battery and 120v but at this point I am leaning to a balance scale. I keep thinking the balance scale will be more accurate but I know there are a lot of digital scale bought.

I will delay the purchase of a tumbler until I am working with a larger quantity of brass.
 
Well I always figure that gravity will work even when there is no electricity. A beam scale and some check weights will be a winner I bet. It will be a bit "fiddley" when setting it but I always go back to mine when in doubt of a measurement.
 
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