Barney88PDC
SEND IT
I have a friend that asked me a few months ago to put together a list of what I bought and send it to him to help him get started. This is geared more toward reloading for pistol calibers but alot of it is applicable for rifle calibers as well. I am some what hesitant to put this on here with all the legal BS now days. So as the disclaimer I put in the list states you are on your own if you use this information and injure yourself or someone else. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE.
I hope this helps. If any more accomplished reloader sees anything that could cause a safety concern PM me and I will edit the data. Donny, Dan ect.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A RELOADING PROFESSIONAL NOR DO I STAND BEHIND ANY OF THESE VALUES, DATA, OR PROCEDURES. THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND YOU NEED TO USE PUBLISHED DATA AND CROSS REFERENCE ALL DATA WITH ESTABLISHED, CREDITED SOURCES BEFORE RELOADING. I AM I NO WAY HELD RESPONSIBLE IF YOU USE THIS INFORMATION AND INCUR ANY DAMAGES, INJURIES TO YOU, ANY BY STANDARD, OR PROPERTY. USE COMPLETELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The following are only what I use and there are a number of other reputable manufactures of presses, powder, dies, primers ect.
Press – Dillion 550B, this is what I would recommend. It is a 4 station press that is manually indexed. You could go with a 650 which is a 5 station auto indexing press but for just starting out and the amount that you will probably shoot the 550B would be a good choice.
Next are the MUST haves
Calipers – I got mine at Cabela’s and bought the electronic ones (Cabela’s brand). They are a little more than dial calipers but easier to read and IMO less likely to make a mistake due to the number being on the screen and you not being say a hundredth off because you read the dial wrong.
Scale – I got the Dillion electronic scale. Do yourself a favor and pay a little more for the convince of an electronic scale. It is much faster than the bars scales and you sliding the weights all the time.
Loading manuals – I have a Lyman 49th edition and a Hornady. This is to check loading specs obviously. There are several other out there, get as many as you can and always cross reference any data incase of errors. The values many not be exact but should be close. IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT ABOUT VALUES STOP AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CORRECT INFORMATION BEFORE CONTINUING.
Dies – I would say the Dillion carbide dies in whatever caliber you plan to use. To me it only makes sense to use Dillion dies in their press and I have had very good luck with them. Any brand dies should fit because just about all die manufactures use the same threads. Many people suggest a EGW undersize die (for resizing brass and depriming) if you are going to be reloading “Glocked Brass”. Glock factory barrels are not fully supported and the case will have a bulge near the bottom rim. The EGW which is a die made by Lee is .001 smaller than the standard Lee undersize die. This will take out the bulge of glocked brass. I have one that is still in the box. I set up the press and was loading 40 S&W with the Dillion sizing die before the EGW die arrived. I have not had any issues using the standard Dillion Die that I bought when I purchased my press. All of my rounds chamber check so I am just leaving well enough alone. The smaller EGW die would “work” the brass more and the less you work the brass the longer life it will have.
Case Vibrator and Media – You put your spent brass that you have picked up at the range into this and turn it on for a few hours and your brass vibrating with the media (most people use corn cob or walnut) it comes out shiny as new. I bought mine at Cabela’s and just got the Cabelas brand vibrator. It was a kit with the vibrator, media, and some polish.
Primer Flip Tray – This really could go below in the “nice to have” category but they are cheap and will really come in handy. I have the Dillon flip tray. It was $15 and heavy iron, not the plastic crap others sell for $3 that is going to break. Buy this and it is good for life.
Case Lube – Get Hornady One Shot, it is in a red aerosol can. This is to lube the cases to make the press run a hell of a lot smoother. They say with carbide dies you don’t need lube well that might be true but trust me the press runs so much better IMO it is silly not to use it.
Bullet Puller – It is like a plastic hammer that works off of inertial to “pull” or actually to cause the bullet to fly out the end of the case. If you have any questions of a loaded round not being right (slightest chance of it say being double charged) PULL IT. Also not only for screw ups but when you are adjusting the seating die for the OAL (over all length) of the bullet you are no doubt going to set the die too deep every now and again and will need to pull that bullet. It will pay for itself in the long run by pulling and reusing bullets / primed brass before long.
NICE things to have:
So with what is above and your reloading components (bullets, primers, powder, and brass) you can safely reload. With the products below it makes things nicer.
Buy the aluminum roller handle for the press. The press comes with a standard handle that has a big black ball on the end of it like a car shifter. The roller handle is much better.
Quick change kits (QCK) – This is basically extra Tool heads and Powder Dispensers so you can set the dies in one designated Tool head and NEVER have to reset anything again. Just pull the entire tool head out and swap them for different calibers. Swapping this along with the shell plate and buttons (the shell plate and buttons are not included in the QCK) takes about 5min if that and you are reloading a different caliber. Just starting out to keep cost down you may just get the dies for one caliber and load that but after setting everything up for your first caliber you are going to want a QCK for each caliber.
Case Gauges – This simulates a chamber of a gun for the given caliber and you just check to see that your loaded rounds go into them. The tolerances on these are tighter that most guns so even if a round is a little snug in the case gauge it probably will chamber and fire. But if the round does not go in the gauge then the sizing die may have not sized the case properly or there may be a problem with it like the case being cracked. If the case does not pass the chamber check pull the bullet and start over. DO NOT run that case in the sizing / depriming station, you have a LIVE primer in that case. YOU NEED TO KILL THAT PRIMER. Spray a little WD-40 in the case and it kills the primer. I usually just kill the primer then throw that case in the bad brass bucket instead of trying to resize it and have to get the WD-40 out of the case.
You have to inspect your loaded rounds for defects. You could take the barrel out of your gun and use it as a chamber gauge but I don’t want to dissemble my gun every time.
Extra primer pick up tubes. 5 total, each for large and small primers should be good.
Some cheap automotive break cleaner. Get this at an auto parts store. After I load the rounds I put them on a towel, spray a light coat of this on them, then rub them around. This gets the Hornady Lube off of them. This step is supposedly not necessary, Hornady states you can leave it on and it will not cause any trouble but this IMO could build up in the case gauge and you will get “false negatives” if it does. Also I want to keep this lube from building up in my chamber and causing problems with my gun.
Isso Polish – If you put a few ounces of this in your media it will make the brass really shine. Some people use NuFinish car polish to do the same thing.
Media Separator – I bought a Dillon off of the enos forum. After you tumble your brass you have to separate it from the corn cob media. The kit I bought had, basically a strainer, it was shaped like those pans they use to pan for gold but with large slots in the bottom to let the media fall though and retain the brass. Well you have to shake it and then flip the brass with your hand, dirty time consuming and not very effective. The Dillon (think of a bingo cage where you put the balls in but it has slots) separator is a cage that slits on all sides of the tub. You pour the cases and media out of the vibrator into the cage, close it up and crank the handle to spin it a few times the media falls out and now you have a tub with just brass, a really nice time saver.
That’s all I can think of right now and with all that you sure in the hell would have a good start.
Where do I get stuff.
First and foremost what you need is information. Learn from others mistakes and do not try to reinvent the wheel. Best place to do this for me and my gun is on the Enos forums. They have a plethora of information about the Dillon presses, tricks, tips, excreta. And most of all if you get a load from where ever or whom ever FOLLOW IT EXACTLY. And keep in mind that a lot of the loads on that forum are for 1911 style guns that can accept loads loaded longer than SAAMI specs. They may not even fit into a standard magazine for say a Glock or XD.
Here is a great link for load data.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
I bought my press and all of my reloading components except for the 40 S&W bullets at LA Reloading Supply in Baton Rouge from Larry. Several guys on Bayoushooter.com give him praise so I wanted my press that day and also wanted to help out a local small shop owner.
What did I buy?
Winchester Small Pistol Primers, in my research I have heard that the Federal primers are the softest and a lot of Revolver guys want to use them but they will flow back easier than any other brand. There is a huge shortage of primers right now. Basically get what you can right now. CCI seems to be a popular choice as well for pistol primers.
For practice rounds I load Winchester WSF (Winchester Super Field). I hear Winchester WST (Winchester Super Target) is popular. They have all kinds of powder on the market. Get on the Enos forum and read. I don’t want to have to buy 10 different powders for the various calibers I shoot. The WSF seems to work great, it is not too dirty and I use it in both 9mm and 40S&W. You could use it in shotgun shells and some rifle calibers too IIRC. The Winchester powders are inverse temperature sensitive. Meaning the hotter it is the slower it will push the rounds. This is opposite of most powders that the hotter the ambient temperature the faster the rounds will be.
For competition I use VV320. It is not temperature sensitive so it will “push” the rounds at the same FPS wither it be 95 degrees in LA or if I would attend a match in the winter at 30 degrees.
They have plenty brands of powder out there. Some of the names that keep coming up are Titegroup, Clays, Solo 1000, Alliant E3, ect. Some powders you do not have to use as much of. The plus to that is you save on how much powder it takes so you can reload more rounds with a given about. The draw back is that if you double load you might not catch it. I am using 5.8 grains of WSF for my 40. Keep in mind this is loaded long to 1.185” for my STI. DO NOT USE 5.8 GRAINS IF YOU ARE GOING TO LOAD TO 1.135 OAL WHICH IS SAAMI SPEC FOR 40S&W. If I throw a double charge the powder is almost over flowing in the case and very easy to spot. If you use a different powder that say only needs 3.5 grains it is easier for a double charge to slip by and if it does you might destroy your gun and you could get hurt. You have to reload without distractions. Wear safety glasses all the time. A guy just this week posted on Enos that he had a primer suck and he knew it. The leaned in to get a better look, raised his glasses and lifted the handle on the press and BANG it went off in his face without any protection. He was ok but it could have been a lot worse. KEEP YOUR SAFETY GLASSES ON AT ALL TIMES!
The bullets I bought were Remington 115gr 9mm FMJ. He said he ordered them for a guy that never showed up to pick them up and that was the only jacked bullets he had so I bought it. Now that I have read and know more I might have went a different route. The recoil impulse is dependent on various conditions but mostly type of powder, how much powder, and weight of the bullet. A lighter bullet will have more of a snappy recoil where as a heavier bullet will have more of a slower shove to it. I plan on getting some 147gr bullets once these are all shot. Cast bullets are the cheapest route meaning just lead that has been cast into the shape of a bullet. Even cheaper is to buy bullet molds and beg, borrow and steal lead and melt it down and cast your own. Personally I am not interested in that and do not want the hazard of lead poisoning. That is why I use jacketed bullets. Much less chance IMO of lead contamination. Also lead bullets will foul your barrel and you have to clean it more often. Some guns, GLOCK especially does not recommend using lead bullets in there barrels. GLOCK barrels have polygonal rifling and they state lead tends to foul very quickly in that type of rifling. Which is a restriction in the barrel, and any restriction causes overpressure which can cause blow ups.
For 40 cal I bought Montana Gold 180gr JHP. They have a site on the net just Google them and you can order direct. This it a really accurate bullet and many guys in USPSA shoot either Montana Gold or Precision Zero bullets. There are cheaper options out there.
Here are some links to various places on the net that sell reloading components.
http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/
http://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=278
http://www.grafs.com/powders/
http://www.midwayusa.com/shooting-supplies
http://store.brassmanbrass.com/servlet/StoreFront
http://www.natchezss.com/
http://www.montanagoldbullet.com/
I hope this helps. If any more accomplished reloader sees anything that could cause a safety concern PM me and I will edit the data. Donny, Dan ect.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A RELOADING PROFESSIONAL NOR DO I STAND BEHIND ANY OF THESE VALUES, DATA, OR PROCEDURES. THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND YOU NEED TO USE PUBLISHED DATA AND CROSS REFERENCE ALL DATA WITH ESTABLISHED, CREDITED SOURCES BEFORE RELOADING. I AM I NO WAY HELD RESPONSIBLE IF YOU USE THIS INFORMATION AND INCUR ANY DAMAGES, INJURIES TO YOU, ANY BY STANDARD, OR PROPERTY. USE COMPLETELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The following are only what I use and there are a number of other reputable manufactures of presses, powder, dies, primers ect.
Press – Dillion 550B, this is what I would recommend. It is a 4 station press that is manually indexed. You could go with a 650 which is a 5 station auto indexing press but for just starting out and the amount that you will probably shoot the 550B would be a good choice.
Next are the MUST haves
Calipers – I got mine at Cabela’s and bought the electronic ones (Cabela’s brand). They are a little more than dial calipers but easier to read and IMO less likely to make a mistake due to the number being on the screen and you not being say a hundredth off because you read the dial wrong.
Scale – I got the Dillion electronic scale. Do yourself a favor and pay a little more for the convince of an electronic scale. It is much faster than the bars scales and you sliding the weights all the time.
Loading manuals – I have a Lyman 49th edition and a Hornady. This is to check loading specs obviously. There are several other out there, get as many as you can and always cross reference any data incase of errors. The values many not be exact but should be close. IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT ABOUT VALUES STOP AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CORRECT INFORMATION BEFORE CONTINUING.
Dies – I would say the Dillion carbide dies in whatever caliber you plan to use. To me it only makes sense to use Dillion dies in their press and I have had very good luck with them. Any brand dies should fit because just about all die manufactures use the same threads. Many people suggest a EGW undersize die (for resizing brass and depriming) if you are going to be reloading “Glocked Brass”. Glock factory barrels are not fully supported and the case will have a bulge near the bottom rim. The EGW which is a die made by Lee is .001 smaller than the standard Lee undersize die. This will take out the bulge of glocked brass. I have one that is still in the box. I set up the press and was loading 40 S&W with the Dillion sizing die before the EGW die arrived. I have not had any issues using the standard Dillion Die that I bought when I purchased my press. All of my rounds chamber check so I am just leaving well enough alone. The smaller EGW die would “work” the brass more and the less you work the brass the longer life it will have.
Case Vibrator and Media – You put your spent brass that you have picked up at the range into this and turn it on for a few hours and your brass vibrating with the media (most people use corn cob or walnut) it comes out shiny as new. I bought mine at Cabela’s and just got the Cabelas brand vibrator. It was a kit with the vibrator, media, and some polish.
Primer Flip Tray – This really could go below in the “nice to have” category but they are cheap and will really come in handy. I have the Dillon flip tray. It was $15 and heavy iron, not the plastic crap others sell for $3 that is going to break. Buy this and it is good for life.
Case Lube – Get Hornady One Shot, it is in a red aerosol can. This is to lube the cases to make the press run a hell of a lot smoother. They say with carbide dies you don’t need lube well that might be true but trust me the press runs so much better IMO it is silly not to use it.
Bullet Puller – It is like a plastic hammer that works off of inertial to “pull” or actually to cause the bullet to fly out the end of the case. If you have any questions of a loaded round not being right (slightest chance of it say being double charged) PULL IT. Also not only for screw ups but when you are adjusting the seating die for the OAL (over all length) of the bullet you are no doubt going to set the die too deep every now and again and will need to pull that bullet. It will pay for itself in the long run by pulling and reusing bullets / primed brass before long.
NICE things to have:
So with what is above and your reloading components (bullets, primers, powder, and brass) you can safely reload. With the products below it makes things nicer.
Buy the aluminum roller handle for the press. The press comes with a standard handle that has a big black ball on the end of it like a car shifter. The roller handle is much better.
Quick change kits (QCK) – This is basically extra Tool heads and Powder Dispensers so you can set the dies in one designated Tool head and NEVER have to reset anything again. Just pull the entire tool head out and swap them for different calibers. Swapping this along with the shell plate and buttons (the shell plate and buttons are not included in the QCK) takes about 5min if that and you are reloading a different caliber. Just starting out to keep cost down you may just get the dies for one caliber and load that but after setting everything up for your first caliber you are going to want a QCK for each caliber.
Case Gauges – This simulates a chamber of a gun for the given caliber and you just check to see that your loaded rounds go into them. The tolerances on these are tighter that most guns so even if a round is a little snug in the case gauge it probably will chamber and fire. But if the round does not go in the gauge then the sizing die may have not sized the case properly or there may be a problem with it like the case being cracked. If the case does not pass the chamber check pull the bullet and start over. DO NOT run that case in the sizing / depriming station, you have a LIVE primer in that case. YOU NEED TO KILL THAT PRIMER. Spray a little WD-40 in the case and it kills the primer. I usually just kill the primer then throw that case in the bad brass bucket instead of trying to resize it and have to get the WD-40 out of the case.
You have to inspect your loaded rounds for defects. You could take the barrel out of your gun and use it as a chamber gauge but I don’t want to dissemble my gun every time.
Extra primer pick up tubes. 5 total, each for large and small primers should be good.
Some cheap automotive break cleaner. Get this at an auto parts store. After I load the rounds I put them on a towel, spray a light coat of this on them, then rub them around. This gets the Hornady Lube off of them. This step is supposedly not necessary, Hornady states you can leave it on and it will not cause any trouble but this IMO could build up in the case gauge and you will get “false negatives” if it does. Also I want to keep this lube from building up in my chamber and causing problems with my gun.
Isso Polish – If you put a few ounces of this in your media it will make the brass really shine. Some people use NuFinish car polish to do the same thing.
Media Separator – I bought a Dillon off of the enos forum. After you tumble your brass you have to separate it from the corn cob media. The kit I bought had, basically a strainer, it was shaped like those pans they use to pan for gold but with large slots in the bottom to let the media fall though and retain the brass. Well you have to shake it and then flip the brass with your hand, dirty time consuming and not very effective. The Dillon (think of a bingo cage where you put the balls in but it has slots) separator is a cage that slits on all sides of the tub. You pour the cases and media out of the vibrator into the cage, close it up and crank the handle to spin it a few times the media falls out and now you have a tub with just brass, a really nice time saver.
That’s all I can think of right now and with all that you sure in the hell would have a good start.
Where do I get stuff.
First and foremost what you need is information. Learn from others mistakes and do not try to reinvent the wheel. Best place to do this for me and my gun is on the Enos forums. They have a plethora of information about the Dillon presses, tricks, tips, excreta. And most of all if you get a load from where ever or whom ever FOLLOW IT EXACTLY. And keep in mind that a lot of the loads on that forum are for 1911 style guns that can accept loads loaded longer than SAAMI specs. They may not even fit into a standard magazine for say a Glock or XD.
Here is a great link for load data.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
I bought my press and all of my reloading components except for the 40 S&W bullets at LA Reloading Supply in Baton Rouge from Larry. Several guys on Bayoushooter.com give him praise so I wanted my press that day and also wanted to help out a local small shop owner.
What did I buy?
Winchester Small Pistol Primers, in my research I have heard that the Federal primers are the softest and a lot of Revolver guys want to use them but they will flow back easier than any other brand. There is a huge shortage of primers right now. Basically get what you can right now. CCI seems to be a popular choice as well for pistol primers.
For practice rounds I load Winchester WSF (Winchester Super Field). I hear Winchester WST (Winchester Super Target) is popular. They have all kinds of powder on the market. Get on the Enos forum and read. I don’t want to have to buy 10 different powders for the various calibers I shoot. The WSF seems to work great, it is not too dirty and I use it in both 9mm and 40S&W. You could use it in shotgun shells and some rifle calibers too IIRC. The Winchester powders are inverse temperature sensitive. Meaning the hotter it is the slower it will push the rounds. This is opposite of most powders that the hotter the ambient temperature the faster the rounds will be.
For competition I use VV320. It is not temperature sensitive so it will “push” the rounds at the same FPS wither it be 95 degrees in LA or if I would attend a match in the winter at 30 degrees.
They have plenty brands of powder out there. Some of the names that keep coming up are Titegroup, Clays, Solo 1000, Alliant E3, ect. Some powders you do not have to use as much of. The plus to that is you save on how much powder it takes so you can reload more rounds with a given about. The draw back is that if you double load you might not catch it. I am using 5.8 grains of WSF for my 40. Keep in mind this is loaded long to 1.185” for my STI. DO NOT USE 5.8 GRAINS IF YOU ARE GOING TO LOAD TO 1.135 OAL WHICH IS SAAMI SPEC FOR 40S&W. If I throw a double charge the powder is almost over flowing in the case and very easy to spot. If you use a different powder that say only needs 3.5 grains it is easier for a double charge to slip by and if it does you might destroy your gun and you could get hurt. You have to reload without distractions. Wear safety glasses all the time. A guy just this week posted on Enos that he had a primer suck and he knew it. The leaned in to get a better look, raised his glasses and lifted the handle on the press and BANG it went off in his face without any protection. He was ok but it could have been a lot worse. KEEP YOUR SAFETY GLASSES ON AT ALL TIMES!
The bullets I bought were Remington 115gr 9mm FMJ. He said he ordered them for a guy that never showed up to pick them up and that was the only jacked bullets he had so I bought it. Now that I have read and know more I might have went a different route. The recoil impulse is dependent on various conditions but mostly type of powder, how much powder, and weight of the bullet. A lighter bullet will have more of a snappy recoil where as a heavier bullet will have more of a slower shove to it. I plan on getting some 147gr bullets once these are all shot. Cast bullets are the cheapest route meaning just lead that has been cast into the shape of a bullet. Even cheaper is to buy bullet molds and beg, borrow and steal lead and melt it down and cast your own. Personally I am not interested in that and do not want the hazard of lead poisoning. That is why I use jacketed bullets. Much less chance IMO of lead contamination. Also lead bullets will foul your barrel and you have to clean it more often. Some guns, GLOCK especially does not recommend using lead bullets in there barrels. GLOCK barrels have polygonal rifling and they state lead tends to foul very quickly in that type of rifling. Which is a restriction in the barrel, and any restriction causes overpressure which can cause blow ups.
For 40 cal I bought Montana Gold 180gr JHP. They have a site on the net just Google them and you can order direct. This it a really accurate bullet and many guys in USPSA shoot either Montana Gold or Precision Zero bullets. There are cheaper options out there.
Here are some links to various places on the net that sell reloading components.
http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/
http://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?dir=278
http://www.grafs.com/powders/
http://www.midwayusa.com/shooting-supplies
http://store.brassmanbrass.com/servlet/StoreFront
http://www.natchezss.com/
http://www.montanagoldbullet.com/
Last edited:
