Thread: Newby wannabe reloader part 2

Ok gentleman.... I have secured an RCBS 2 die set and shell holder for the 338 lm.
And I now also have picked up a Hornady deluxe classic reloading kit ....
Now I know you will probably tell me that this part of the kit is crap , and those things there aren't much better and so on , but it is the best I can afford (second hand) so it is what it is.
My question now is....uuuumm.... what's next ? I have heaps of once fired brass still with used primers in and one of the dies has the pin for removing the primer.
I am guessing that I have to set the die up at a certain depth in the press - how do I determine what that depth should be ?

There are heaps of YouTube vids you can follow to get started.
Some things you won’t have the gear for but do the best you can with what you have.
You’ll be adding to your bench all the time to improve your process. Outside of the obvious like powder, projectile and primer clean your brass well, make sure your dies are clean. Polish the machine marks off the the expander ball with steel wool.
Even if you skip bits because you don’t have the tools you should get reasonable success by doing the bits you can do as uniform as possible.
Good luck.

Thanks @Noswal ... that's just the sort of advice I was after. I have been watching the vids but none of them have mentioned cleaning or polishing the dies.
That's why I thought I better check with you guys first before trying out the new toy.
So how do I go about cleaning the brass and should that be done before or after using the sizing/ decapping die and does the primer pocket require cleaning also , and how would I do that if required ?

just enough and not to much case lube.......................dont leave home with out it. Removing stuck cases from dies can be painful

Get a reloading manual mate.

The easiest way to clean your brass is to use a bowl of boiling water, one scoop of citric acid (supermarket) and a good dollop of dishwashing liquid. Stir it up and leave it for an hour, rinse well and leave to dry. I blow them out with compressed air then use a hair dryer

what you could do to practice is make a dummy round i have them for setting up my seating dies. What i do is set up sizing die and size one of your fired cases take it out of the press and check the neck for splits the case for damage and check the primer pocket i uniform and debur the primer hole as well. Normally youd prime it next but skip that step as its a dummy round and it will be easier to tell it apart form the live rounds. Set your seating die up with the seating stem wound out then I put sized case back in the press and just start a projecile probably 1mm or so. Then i get the round and chamber it in your rifle remove round from rifle put it back in press and raise it fully into the die now wind down the seating stem adjuster until you feel it touch the projectile you might see the lever on the press move slightly when it touches lowwer the round and screw seating adjuster 1/4 to 1/2 a turn more raise round again and seat bullet.i usually mark with a vivid on the case what projectile it is and for what rifle its for as I have several rifles of the same cal. Now you have a dummy round for setting up or checking your seating die only difference being youd put a primer and powder in it for a live round. Pretty unscientific way of doing it but my targets tell me it works. the 1/4 1/2 turn thing might be something you can play around with once you get more into it. If you were local i would of shown you. hope this helps

Before I got a tumbler I just cleaned my brass with a rag and some meths, did that before I sized them then wiped them down after sizing to get the lube off.
I clean the primer pocket with one of those little tools that came in my kit or else you could scratch it out with a little screwdriver like Grandpmac does.

Brought the thread by @grandpamac back to the top for you to read through. Some good stuff in it for us newbies.

Thanks for the input guys.
I realize that I will need a reloading manual and primers etc but being so close to Christmas those items will have to wait. But being that I have around 200 cases I thought I could at least make a start preparing them for when I have primers etc as I imagine it's going to be the most time consuming stage of the process.
Going by the youtube vids the loading proceedure itself seems pretty straight forward once powder measure size etc is sorted.
So as it is I am going to do it in stages while my bank account recovers from xmas. Case prep first , then purchase primers and fit those , then purchase powder and projectiles.....
Perhaps not the best approach but I am keen to at least make a start as time allows.
Again, thank you.

That will be a good start and you will get a bit of a feel for it

Other things you can do is to measure and record your fire formed brass. I guess you have a comparator? If not you will definitely need one. Measure a few loads for an average shoulder to give you a bump measurement. Measure a few necks to give you a starting point on neck tension. If you have a trimmer you can set that up but you’ll want to trim after sizing.
You will be able to find a case that still give some tension and you’ll be able to check your (max over all length) there are vids to show different techniques for this.
You can do quite a bit of prep before loading.

Originally Posted by Noswal

Other things you can do is to measure and record your fire formed brass. I guess you have a comparator? If not you will definitely need one. Measure a few loads for an average shoulder to give you a bump measurement. Measure a few necks to give you a starting point on neck tension. If you have a trimmer you can set that up but you’ll want to trim after sizing.
You will be able to find a case that still give some tension and you’ll be able to check your (max over all length) there are vids to show different techniques for this.
You can do quite a bit of prep before loading.

Comparator ????

And I don't have a case trimmer either so will have to get one of those but I understood that is used after sizing (?) so was on my later list....
I also saw on the vids that they were also using a large round metal tool to insert the round into for checking length which I also don't have but again that's on the later list as that also appears to be done after sizing to know whether case needs trimming (?)..…
Is that the comparator that you mentioned ?
The die is a full length sizing die and neck expander so I thought that sorted neck size and shoulder etc and job done....
This is starting to get a little more complex than I thought.
That's the problem with youtube as they don't necessarily show the entire process and the ins and outs. They just chuck a case in the press and hey presto new ready to fire round.
Which is why I thought I better ask you experienced fellas before starting anything. I'm not the greatest looking guy to begin with so don't really want to mess my face up any more than it already is when I pull the trigger for the first time....lol

Originally Posted by Ftx325

This is starting to get a little more complex than I thought.
That's the problem with youtube as they don't necessarily show the entire process and the ins and outs. They just chuck a case in the press and hey presto new ready to fire round.
Which is why I thought I better ask you experienced fellas before starting anything. I'm not the greatest looking guy to begin with so don't really want to mess my face up any more than it already is when I pull the trigger for the first time....lol

It's really not that bad. I remember when I was a totally newbie back seven years ago and I made a few goofs but overall reloading is really not that hard IMO.

Youtube doesn't like gun vids and reloading vids and anything that actually shows you how to do something, so the people that post videos there have to watch so their channels and videos don't get deleted.

That's what forums are here for, ask questions, you'll get some help. I had to ask questions a few times, no big deal.

What I found is take everything step by step. First thing I would focus on is cleaning up your brass if dirty and then learning how to set up your resizing die. Typically I follow the die manufacturers instructions and so far that hasn't done me wrong. If loading rifle brass you will need to lube the cases.

When you buy a new die set, often the manufacturers coat the inside of the die with a rust preventative, so I just take a cotton swab and give it a clean with a mild gun cleaner.

if you want I can give you some idea of what I do. Its very easy you just have to pay attention to what you are doing.

Originally Posted by mikee

if you want I can give you some idea of what I do. Its very easy you just have to pay attention to what you are doing.

it amuses me when you get the odd one that wants to sit down in front of tv and do some reloading