"Dumb" reloading questions.

[Mach1Run]

Finally collected enough brass ( 1 1/2 homer buckets mixed cal yay! ) that reloading will look viable, and have a couple of questions.

1. Any reason to bother sorting .223 cases from 5.56 cases, will the previous charge in the case matter once I get to the actual reloading?

2. What's the first couple of steps to cleaning the cases and what equipment do I need? Can't afford the whole setup yet so I was thinking if I could get the tools to remove the old primers and clean out / repolish the casings that would keep me busy for a while.

[slowyellow]

Congrats on starting to reload. It's well worth it in the end. If I could make a suggestion, I'd say that you might be better off starting with the pistol calibers. Reloading rifle cartridges is a whole different animal. You can do it, it is just more expensive to get started with and quite a bit more involved. Tons of time will be spent in brass prep. But I'll cover your questions.

1. As far as general reloading as in not trying to squeeze every bit of accuracy out of the ammo it will not matter if the cases are .223 or 5.56. They can be mixed and it really won't cause you any issues.

2. With rifle brass, as I said before, there is a lot more case prep. But your first few steps will be...

-Clean brass (some sort of tumbler or ultrasonic cleaner)

-Lube brass, then resize (this also deprimes the brass)

-If you don't have crimped cases then you can just toss those cases back in your tumbler to clean again. But if you do have crimped cases then you will need to swage the primer pockets. Dillon sells a tool that costs right at $100 that is a life saver when it comes to this. There are other ways, but this is the best one that I know of unless you have a Dillon 1050. After swaging, you'd toss them in your cleaner for a few mins (just to get the lube off)

-After they are done cleaning you need to trim them. You need a case gauge with whatever caliber you are reloading (pistol or rifle). Lots of people don't use them, but me personally I wouldn't trust my ammo without putting it through one every now and then. Every round of my pistol ammo goes through a case gauge before I put it in the safe. Ok, I'll get off of the soap box about that.

But what I was saying was that you set up your sizing die and trim your brass to length off of that case gauge. So it's a crucial part in setting up your equipment. The next step would be to trim your cases.

-Deburr and Chamfer.

-Toss them back in the tumbler for a few minutes.

-Once they are done cleaning, you can set them aside, they are ready to be primed and loaded.

As far as the setup you are talking about, dies come in sets. So you will have the dies to do everything when you buy them, unless you buy a universal decapping die. The expensive part is getting that swaging tool and a trimmer. This is the general procedure for prepping brass for plinking. When you want to start shaving 1/4 moa off of your groups at hundreds of yards away, there is a little bit more that you'll have to do. Anyways, this should get your brain working. Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask questions. There usually isn't too much badgering in this subforum.

[Mach1Run]

Planning on learning with the .45 and 9mm cases i have, about a 1 gallon baggie of each once I get done sorting the buckets, when I get to the actual reloading bit. For now I am just trying to get the stuff to remove the old primers and get the cases clean. Seems some differing opinion on when to remove the old primer too. I will worry about resizing and all later.

What tool do I use to pop out the old primers? I don't need anything too fancy / automatic or anything if there is a hand tool I can use while I relax in the garage and listen to the radio.

As far as tumbling to clean, is a tumbler any better / worse than the expensive ultrasonics? I see the ultras like to claim they clean the inside too.

[slowyellow]

I don't really think that there is a differing opinion on when to remove the old primers. Especially with pistol rounds. The process is, deprime/resize (it's the same die), reprime, drop powder, seat bullet, crimp bullet. Pistol rounds are really that simple. Very quick to reload. Damn near no brass prep. Just clean the fired cases and go to town. I've never really known people to clean primer pockets on pistol rounds. I sure as hell don't.

As far as that tool that you are talking about, the best thing is to use the resize/depriming die. Just buy a set of dies, I believe that the lee dies are about 35 bucks. And you can pick up a lee single stage press for not too much more than that. So for less than $100 you are into a setup that will do you well.

I use a vibratory cleaner for everything except my very precise bolt gun rounds. For that I use a sonic cleaner. Just an inexpensive Hornady sonic cleaner, well, inexpensive to have that name, lol. The SS media tumblers are gaining popularity too, they are just Very expensive to get into.

Honestly man, if you are just wanting to get into it, I'll put up a couple of inexpensive options to get started. You can find this stuff on craigslist or a local gun trading site sometimes too. That's where I got my tumbler. Regardless, get yourself a good book and really learn the process and understand it. That last part is probably the most important thing that you do to be safe.

[slowyellow]

Press:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/423081/lee-challenger-breech-lock-single-stage-press-anniversary-kit

Dies:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/885350/lee-deluxe-carbide-4-die-set-9mm-luger

That kit is a good deal for the money. And I've got one and love it. Of course those are just a couple of options. There are plenty out there.

[Gtracer]

Press:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/423081/lee-challenger-breech-lock-single-stage-press-anniversary-kit

Dies:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/885350/lee-deluxe-carbide-4-die-set-9mm-luger

That kit is a good deal for the money. And I've got one and love it. Of course those are just a couple of options. There are plenty out there.

That looks like a hell of a deal. I watched this guys Youtube video 1 of 3 and it seems much easier seeing it than listening to how it is done. Looks like fun and could be relaxing after work for sure:

Edit:sorry, did not realize it would not let you see the other videos regarding the cleaning, lubing and re-sizing process. thebudgetarmory1 is the name

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FifwWDMrqK8[/ame]
This is 3 of 3 but you can see his others on here as well. Shows the whole process and the only damn thing is he is a bit "figity" with his fingers

[slowyellow]

That looks like a hell of a deal. I watched this guys Youtube video 1 of 3 and it seems much easier seeing it than listening to how it is done. Looks like fun and could be relaxing after work for sure:

Edit:sorry, did not realize it would not let you see the other videos regarding the cleaning, lubing and re-sizing process. thebudgetarmory1 is the name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FifwWDMrqK8

This is 3 of 3 but you can see his others on here as well. Shows the whole process and the only damn thing is he is a bit "figity" with his fingers

It's really not as hard as people think that it is. It's actually quite simple if you think about it. It's when you start wanting to have match grade ammunition that it gets very tedious, not hard, just time consuming.

[Gtracer]

It's really not as hard as people think that it is. It's actually quite simple if you think about it. It's when you start wanting to have match grade ammunition that it gets very tedious, not hard, just time consuming.

I am learning more and more every day but it is time consuming.

I found a lee turret press but honestly, I am not sure of how to use them but at the same time, I know how they function...clear as mud?

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Hole-Turret-Press-Index/dp/B00162PT16[/ame]

[slowyellow]

I am learning more and more every day but it is time consuming.

I found a lee turret press but honestly, I am not sure of how to use them but at the same time, I know how they function...clear as mud?

http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Hole-Tu.../dp/B00162PT16

The best way to show you is in person or with a video.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6OS0LoRPE[/ame]

This is a pretty good video. Notice that the top part that has all of the dies and the powder measure spins. That is the indexing part. The turret press is considered a progressive press allows you to speed up production. It does that by only forcing you to handle the brass once instead of multiple times like with a single stage.

[Gtracer]

The best way to show you is in person or with a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6OS0LoRPE

This is a pretty good video. Notice that the top part that has all of the dies and the powder measure spins. That is the indexing part. The turret press is considered a progressive press allows you to speed up production. It does that by only forcing you to handle the brass once instead of multiple times like with a single stage.

Cool to see it in action, good video. What are all of the wires for that he has running from the top of the turret?

[Gtracer]

1. Any reason to bother sorting .223 cases from 5.56 cases, will the previous charge in the case matter once I get to the actual reloading?

Sorry to hijack Mach, not my intention.

From what I have learned, the re-sizing die as well as the case trimmer help to ensure uniform case size regardless of 5.56/.233

Someone correct me if I am wrong though

[slowyellow]

Cool to see it in action, good video. What are all of the wires for that he has running from the top of the turret?

That's something that he rigged up. I'd assume it's some sort of round counter.

[Gtracer]

That's something that he rigged up. I'd assume it's some sort of round counter.

Yeah figured it was not part of the device, either way, thanks for the video. Now to build a work station.

[slowyellow]

Don't spend too much there. I've got less than $100 in mine and it works great!

[Gtracer]

Don't spend too much there. I've got less than $100 in mine and it works great!

I have a 12' work bench in the garage. I am going to cut it in half, move it to the corner of the garage and have an 'L' shaped work station. Already have cabinets and peg board. Need a few more storage containers and the press and accessories.

Thanks for the help.