Thread: First Question From a Noob

I've been thinking about having a go, so have been trawling thru all the reloading threads about starting out and equipment. Lots advise getting a book and have a read first, so I got this.

Haven't go too far in it so far but so far have found it to be very informative. Next step for me is to catch up with a mate who reloads and observe and ask dumb questions. Hopefully then I'll know what gear I want.

Hey @Manuka, welcome to the so called "dark side". As you can see everyone has an opinion but take the safety side first in all of them. my suggestion is as few here said, find a friend who reload and "DO" ask the silly questions, sometimes they actually teach something even to those must experiment.
I see you are "somewhere" in the south Canterbury so i am sure you will find a forum member who reloads and may be interest in tech you the "basics" for your start, don't get carry out with all the "fancy" things you will see along of the road as you may get even more "intimidated" with the amount of information you will see.
Have a great time hand loading and have fun.

Mac

I wish i was near as i quiet like to share some information.

Go and visit SEVERAL people who reload. There are many, many different ways to do this, and everyone will give you their version of the truth...

My advice is once you watched several people reload and asked all of them every question you can think of - don't skimp on measuring tools. Reloading is about being prescise, the better you can measure every little dimension, the better your reloads will be.

Things to measure:

modified case & hornady oal gauge : to measure where your projectile touches the lands
ogive bullet comparator : to measure seating depth
headspace gauge (attaches to the comparator body) : to measure shoulder bump
a good set of scales : to measure powder