School me on reloading cost

[mattxander12]

i'll be putting an AR together and purchasing an M&P here within the next two months. As ammo prices stand, I want to get into reloading. Could any of you experienced in this , give me the approximate price break down to go from having nothing... to being able to reload 5.56 and 9mm. Doesn't have to be exact prices, but give me an idea of what is needed and what the general prices are. Thanks very much !

[Gun-Nut]

Matt,
If you don't mind me adding something?

I would like to know what the best (most efficient) equipment is for reloading also. Doesn't have to be cheap or expensive, I just want the most accurate and fastest (capabale of loading the most rounds ina given time).

Thanks, Not trying to hijack.

[fatcat]

As far as starting out, this has been what im looking at.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/con...atid/1/RL_550B

I just need to do a metric crap load of 9mm and some 223

[mattxander12]

Anyone got words on this ? I hear about dillon preses. Does it hurt to buy used or is new preferred ?

[niz 350Z]

I think you defiantly should go with a progressive press. As far as what manufacturer, that should be up to you. One thing you should know is that most dies are interchangeable and they are the most important part of a press. So you can have miss match parts. For example I have a Hornady LOCK-N-LOAD AP progressive press but I use Redding Reloading Dies.

As a side note I have heard great things about Dillon and their products.

[Jeremy]

If you're loading in quantity a progressive or turret is a must. Lee, Hornady and Rcbs make turret presses and Rcbs and dillion make progressives. I've only used Rcbs and Dillion presses I've never heard any complaints about the others and they're built prety tough so buying used is a good option.

The biggest thing is to make sure the press take "Standard" 7/8"x14 dies almost all the common name companies use the thread now but there are still a few out there that take special dies, be sure to check if you're shopping used as there were some different thread sizes used over the years even by the big companies.

As far as what you need, buy a kit(250$ on up). Most of them come with everything you need to get going with the exception of dies, shell holders, powder brass calipers and primers, in some cases like Dillon they come with dies and holders. With the turrets/progressives spend the money on extra turrets(30-60$) for different calibers 1 nut holds the turrets on and is much easier then switching out the dies every thime you change.

this should help you out a bit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handloading

Personally I like both single stage and progressives. If you plan to reload many calibers a single stage is a great tool. its much easier to work up the loads in a single stage(Ebay used 25$) then when you have the load the way you want switch the dies to the progressve set the powder charge and crank them out, it's a PAIN IN THE ASS runing small test batches in a progressive.

[billt]

This is a cost breakdown of the 2,350 rounds I finished loading yesterday. The brass was mixed headstamp. CCI, Remington, Winchester, Lake City, S&B, and a few others I'm forgetting. This brass was obtained from on line sources on the web. I processed it all the same. First I resized and deprimed all of it with a RCBS Small Base Sizing Die. Then I processed all of the primer pockets on my Dillon 600 Super Swage, because some of them were military with crimped primer pockets. I then trimmed all of them to uniform length on my Giraud Powered Case Trimmer. After that they went into the tumbler for several hours and received a polish with ground corn cob and Dillon Rapid Polish added to the media. The final step was to run it through my Dillon and crimp with a Lee Factory Crimp Die. They turned out very good. My total investment in this batch of .223 was:

Brass---------$20.00 total. (It was free, but I paid the shipping).

Powder-------$65.00 for 8 pounds of AA 2230C. (25.0 Gr. per load X 2,350 = 58,750 Gr. 58,750 divided by 7,000 Grains per pound = 8.39 pounds of powder total.)

Primers-------$59.38 for 2,350 primers @ $25.00 per thousand.

Bullets-------$172.21 (2,350 Winchester 55 Gr. FMJBT from Midway)

Boxes--------$52.00 for 100 boxes and trays from Midway. (Actually $26.00 because I used only 47.)

Grand Total = $342.59

By comparison this is 1,000 rounds of Remington UMC FMJ in .223 cost me $371.00 delivered from Natchez. Reloading can be extremely cost effective but you must find good scources, and buy in bulk. Here are 2 very good scources for brass, bullets, and powder. Bill T.

www.gibrass.com

www.patsreloading.com

[billt]

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I have 2 Dillon's. One is a Square Deal which is set up for .44 Mag., the other is an older RL-450 which I bought in the early 80's. It was the forerunner to the RL-550 which Dillon now sells, and was the first progressive reloader Mike Dillon offered via. direct marketing. The main difference is on the RL-450 the dies screw directly into the press itself, and it does not have the removable tool head. The RL-450 also has manual priming and powder drop. The reason I like the older RL-450 is I can use any powder measure that I have with the tool, and not be forced to use Dillon's. If there is one drawback to the Dillon line of reloaders, it's their powder measures. The housings are made from an Aluminum die casting, with the powder bar also made from Aluminum. This limits the tolerances which the 2 can be made to. Dillon has replaced the measure on my Square Deal twice because it bound up with fine ball powder like H-110, and broke the linkage system. I cannot meter H-110, or such similar powders with the RL-450 as well. Powders like Unique and AA 2230C, (which is what I loaded all of the .223 with), Meter through it just fine. With that said, if I were to upgrade to a fully automatic progressive today, I would go with the Hornady Lock-N-Load Progressive because it has a vastly superior powder measure system that will meter any type of powder without problems. The Hornady measure has a much better and stronger linkage system with better mechanical advantage, and the powder drum is made of precision ground steel which rotates in a machined housing, similar to both my Lyman 55 and Redding BR measures. The tolerances are held much closer than the Dillon measure. Also the dies themselves twist and lock solidly into the press without any slop from a sliding tool head. The Hornady also has grease fittings on all of the pins and pivot points that can be lubed without having to oil them and deal with lubricant dripping off the press on to the floor. If you buy the Hornady this year, they have extended the deal they are giving with 1,000 free bullets with every press purchase. Both the Hornady Lock-N-Load, and the Dillon RL-550B offer electric case feeders for the press if you desire one. However it's a bit pointless to apply an automatic case feeder to the Dillon 550 because it lacks auto indexing. One other thing I would mention is if you are going to load bottleneck rifle cartridges like the .223 and .308 on a progressive machine they will require you to lube the case for resizing just as on a single stage. Even if you spring for the Dillon carbide dies in .223 and .308, they still require lubrication. This means the finished cartridge you load on either press, (Hornady or Dillon), will be tacky with case lube. You have 2 ways around this. One is to tumble the finished cartridge to remove the lube from the resizing operation, the other is what I do which is to resize in a separate operation. Tumbling loaded rounds is not a great idea because the agitation can break down the coating on some double base powders, effectively changing their burn rate. Resizing them separately increases loading time, but you end up with a cartridge that is cleaner than a factory round. Resizing them separately is also a must if they require trimming which most will after just one or two firings. I deal with all my .223 by first resizing and depriming. Then I trim to length, and process the primer pockets if necessary. After that they go into the tumbler for several hours, and finally through the Dillon. I'm lucky in that my wife helps with the case processing, (trimming and primer pockets), so I don't have to deal with it. I know several guys who don't bother, and just wipe down the cartridge to remove the lube. I don't because case lube is very tacky, and it's almost impossible to get it all off, and if you don't, dirt and dust will stick to your loaded ammo like mad.

http://www.icantping.com/~mmasuda/hornady_info.html

This is a pretty good overview of the Hornady with a lot of good photographs. Bill T.

[Ducman]

Originally Posted by billt

This means the finished cartridge you load on either press, (Hornady or Dillon), will be tacky with case lube. You have 2 ways around this. One is to tumble the finished cartridge to remove the lube from the resizing operation, the other is what I do which is to resize in a separate operation. .

I spray mine with Simple green after they are loaded to remove the lube.

[packnrat]

but how does one lube and remove the lube inside of the neck?
i have been looking for a set of carbide dies for my 6.5x55 as i keep messing up the necks of the cartrages.