My reloading equipment will arrive on wednesday

[Redneck with a 40]

I ordered everything I need from www.midwayusa.com to start reloading 40 S&W ammo. With ammo prices constantly on the rise, reloading makes sense. I bought the Lee 4 hole turret deluxe reloading kit, which includes the press, auto disk powder measure, and safety scale for $90. I bought a 4 die carbide set in 40 S&W, and the Lee safety prime feeder. This covers all the equipment I will need. I went down to my local gun store and bought 2lbs of alliant unique powder, 1500 160 grain FMJ bullets, and 1000 primers. If all this stuff arrives on Wednsday, I'm gonna set it all up and start jamming out ammo on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it, this will be my first foray into reloading. I've got probably 2500 rounds of 40 brass sitting in my basement.

I've done the math, I can reload my own 40 ammo for about 10 cents a round, versus 20 cents on factory ammo.

 

[TheGrouch]

This may help you with calculating reloading costs.


http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp


I reload 45acp for about 7 cents a round.

 

[loadedround]

Hey 'neck: If you consider using cast lead bullets for your plinking and fun loads and keep your jacketed ammo for more serious work you can half that 10 cents/round to less than 5 cents/round. Think about it my friend.

 

[Doug b]

And much better ammo to boot.

 

[benedict1]

Did you get the right press?? The Safety Prime only works with the New Lee Classic Turret Press, not the old 4-hole turret press that comes with the Anniversary kit. Check your invoice and get back to Midway if you made a mistake--they will gladly exchange it for the right one.

Then you will need the Auto Disk Pro Powder Measure, not the plain Auto Disk and an Auto Disk Riser so the Safety Prime works right.

This can all be very confusing. I hope you got the right stuff--

I always order my Lee stuff from Kempf's Gunshop because they are loader people and shoot and know how all the stuff works together. It can be confusing when you start out--

http://www.kempfgunshop.com/products/reloading/leeprecision/index.html

 

[RustyFN]

Redneck,
Congrats on your new equipment. I just bought the Lee setup with the classic turret, pro auto disk , charge bar and safety prime. Lee makes great equipment.

Doug B, if you could shed some light on why lead is better than jacketed I would appreciate it. I have only shot lead out of my 22 and didn't notice any difference.
Rusty

 

[Doug b]

Rusty sorry my post was made quickly and not clear enough I suppose and to the threadstarter.

What I ment was good handloaded ammo is of better quality than anything you can buy from a factory be it cast or jacketed.

 

[cloudcroft]

Hey, RustyFN!

Or should I say CrustyFN?

Personally, I don't know (re: handgun bullets) that I'd use the term "better" to describe lead bullets vs. jacketed, but there ARE two reasons I can think of right off the top of my head to buy a few boxes of 500 or 1000 commerically-made lead bullets to keep on hand to shoot regularly or, to keep in reserve (for a STHF or PAW scenario for example):

1. They are less expensive than jacketed bullets.

2. You probably will NEVER wear out your original gun barrel shooting lead bullets.

True, you can make your own jacketed bullets, too, but that'll cost you LOTS more to do (buying expensive Corbin bullet-saging equipment, etc.).


Redneck,

I, too, am awaiting an order from Midway which is also scheduled to arrive Wednesday 10-4-06 (tomorrow) if it's on time. I got 4 items this time: The Lee Safety Prime for my Classic Turret Press, a RCBS Powder Trickler, the Lee Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure Riser, and some Remington 1oz. shotcups specifically for use with .690" round balls in my 12-gauge.

But I forgot to get a package of those Uncle Mike's Chicago Screws for my holster/rifle-slings projects...but I can order them when Midway gets in (October 13th they say) that Fiocchi .32ACP FMJ they are out of presently.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reloading...there are other reasons to reload than just saving money or making more accurate ammo, but those two alone are enough.

-- John D.

 

[RustyFN]

Or should I say CrustyFN?

Hello cloudcroft, depends which site you are on. I was curious about the lead bullets because I had heard they were more accurate. I shoot in a 22 league and tried some in my Ruger and didn't notice any difference. Now a good shooter might but I didn't.

Doug b thanks for the explanation. I was a little disapointed though, I thought you were going to let me in on a little secret that was going to improve my shooting.

 

[cloudcroft]

No, I can't think of any that would do that, but maybe someone else can.

As for MY shooting ability, it never gets any better or any worse, whether I shoot a lot or hardly at all, my proficiency level stays the same.

But if one DOES have a "target acquisition" problem, just use lots more bullets!



-- John D.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I went to Lee's website tonight, ALL Lee turret presses have been upgraded to the lever prime system for 2006, which allows the use of the lee safety prime feeder. Turns out I did buy the "right" equipment. I bought the deluxe kit to save money on the individual components, since everything is included. I bought the FMJ bullets because thats all they had at the gun show, for $68/1000 its a great deal. As a side note, the safety prime riser is only necessary for NON Lee brand dies, I'm using Lee dies, so I should be good to go.

 

[Vista]

Redneck:

I think you'll find that you DO need the auto disk riser. This tubular device raises the powder dispenser body enough to clear the plastic primer disk as the turret rotates.

Vista

 

[benedict1]

I stand corrected Redneck--you are correct. Safety Prime will work with all the turret presses now. Sorry.

But, as Vista says, you will absolutely need the riser--it has nothing to do with Lee dies--it is necessary so the powder measure will clear the Safety Prime. You will see that as soon as you try to set up.

This is copied directly from the Lee website--

"Lee Auto-Disk Riser

The Lee Auto-Disk Riser allows use of other brands of dies that have extended adjusting screws and provides clearance for the Lee Safety Prime."

Hope it all goes together fast and you are reloading good ammo soon.!

 

[cloudcroft]

I ordered the riser because the Pro powder measure does NOT clear my Lee dies!

But glad I did since I have the Safety Prime coming today.

- John D.

 

[benedict1]

It is so great to have all you new guys reloading! It is a wonderful aspect of our sport. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Keep posting your experiences and questions. Dozens of members here will be ready to help.

 

[LiquidTension]

Do you have calipers?

 

[RustyFN]

It is so great to have all you new guys reloading!

Benedict1, and it is so great to have great people like you who are more than happy to share your experience and secrets with us. It makes things so much easier and safer for us.

Redneck, Come on man. Did you get you equipment. We are dying to know.

 

[dmftoy1]

Congrats on the new equipment . .there's something really cool about shooting ammo you made yourself. Just out of curiousity, what type of .40 are you loading for?

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[Run&Shoot]

I think Redneck is too busy playing with new toys to be online tonight!

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Lee 4 hole turret reloading kit arrived 10-4-06

I recieved my equipment on 10-4-06, I am pleased with it. All of the components look high quality, I'm sure they are. I'm planning on setting all this stuff up on Sunday, 10-8-06 and loading my first batch of ammo. I want to load some mild target ammo for my 40's, 160 grain FMJ with 7 grains of Unique will give me about 1150 fps, this is perfect. The 7 grain load splits the difference between the minimum and maximum charges.

On a side note, I did go ahead and order the auto disk riser for the turret press, as well as another turret. My dad wants to load some 9mm, so I will just set up another turret with those dies and switch out the turret. The riser wont be here until Monday 10-9-06, so I will just manually prime my cases one at a time on Sunday, at least I will be able to get started with it. I'm really looking forward to it, it will be fun and gratifying to load and shoot my own ammo.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Just be especially extra real careful with your first few batches of ammo. No fun to overload a cartridge and blowup your gun or maybe your hand.

BTW, my cost on a thousand lead bullets I cast myself was the time I took to smelt and cast the bullets from wheelweights. Since I consider it a hobby, the bullets are basically free, as the equipment has been amortized over enough bullets by far to pay for all of it.

Have fun,

Dave