New to reloading - any advice!

[jamie18thmo]

Hi All,
I've been chatting to British Red about reloading, as I've just got myself a Lee Anniversary Reloading kit and intend to make up some rounds for my .357 Rossi '92 levergun. I'll be loading .38spl for general target practice and tincan blasting fun and some .357 close-range bush-hunting rounds for pigs, deer, goats etc.
Red suggested it might be worth opening up a thread on this subject as there's bound to be lots of you out there with helpful advice and/or newcomers to reloading ammunition, like me, who would appreciate a few tips and trick of the trade.
Anyone want to add anything?
Cheers,
Jamie

 

[nicodiemus]

Don't light a match!
Grats on the Lee. My uncle used to reload his own for hunting, and had blackpowder for flintlocks.

I can't offer you any sensible advice, but i'd be interested to see pictures of your kit.

 

[jamie18thmo]

"Don't light a match!" Good one! Thanks, I'll remember that!
I'll stick some pics of the kit on here later.
It's a good value kit with just about everything you need to get going, except dies of the calibre(s) you'll be reloading (and powder, projectiles and cases).
Cheers,
J

 

[nickg]

Hi

I dont shoot any more but my favorite load in my marlin u/l .357mag rifle was 5.1grn of Vhitavuori N320 pushing a 180grn Truncated Cone lead round. Gave a virtually POA hit at 20m and always fed faultlessly. I use Nickel plated RP cases. Vhit powder burns REALLY clean with almost no fouling.
Good luck and be systematic with your loading.

Cheers
Nick

PS a tip - when you have primed and filled your cases I ALWAYS checked EACH case with a short stick pressed down into the case mouth with a mark to show where the stick should stop with a correct charge in the case. I once lost a comp as a result of loading a round with no powder then shooting a full charge behind it with the first bullet stuck halfway up the tube from the primer gases - I was lucky that it didnt blow my face off - so after that I started checking and twice found cases that I'd double charged. This over several thousand rounds is a sobering thought.

 

[British Red]

Hi Jamie,

Well as we've discussed :-

Prime off press.

Read the re-loading manuals (most important)

Talke your time

When working up a load, use a range you know. Start at least 10% below the maximum load. This is calculated in the reloading manuals by weight and powder type. Start 10% below max and step up in 0.1gr intervals. Your group will tighten and then spread out. The tightest group is a good sticking point. Check for any signs of over pressure (bulged primers, sticking cases) at each increment.

Use slower burning powders in pistol calibre carbines and rifles - it evens up the pressure curve

If using a tumbler, don't de-prime till after you tumble - the media gets stuck in the primer hole.

Plenty of other things I can tell you. I could even do a few photos if it helps?

I use a 158gr cast lead semi wad for .38plinkers over 3.3gr Bullseye IIRC. Same head is good for a lot more in a mag case. I use 6 odd grains for target although I tend to use a jacketed round in .357 Mag

Use a set of calipres to check the col to ensure you have seated your head to the right depth.

Legal Note. .357 Magnum is NOT deer legal in the UK. Over .240 and developing 1743 ft lbs ME is the minimum in England (effectively .243 Win or above) I think. .223 is okay on Roe in Scotland I believe.

re-loading is a lot of fun cheap and its certainly possible to work up a much more effective hunting or target load than you can buy as it will be perfected for your rifle.

I guess, before we go too much further, we should check that the Mods are happy to discuss this here? It is certainly legal to hand load here and a few of us do.....I'm conscious of sensitivities though and if the Mods would rather not have it talked about I'll take it to e-mail with Jamie

Red

 

[Oakleaf]

Too long since reloaded for pistol calibres to offer much of use of components these days.

However, goty a Lee Challenger press at Poly for my 21st Birthday. Something over two decades on of use and lamentable abuse later, it is still going strong.

You got a good un!

 

[BorderReiver]

One important thing,if you're using a powder dispenser,is to check that you are getting the full weight regularly.
Concentrate all the time; finish one process completely before starting the next; always use the published weight for the exact powder and head weight that you are using; never be tempted to add little more for the extra bang.

Best bet is to find someone experienced and get them to take you through the process.

Enjoy yourself.

 

[mr dazzler]

PS a tip - when you have primed and filled your cases I ALWAYS checked EACH case with a short stick pressed down into the case mouth with a mark to show where the stick should stop with a correct charge in the case. I once lost a comp as a result of loading a round with no powder then shooting a full charge behind it with the first bullet stuck halfway up the tube from the primer gases - I was lucky that it didnt blow my face off - so after that I started checking and twice found cases that I'd double charged. This over several thousand rounds is a sobering thought.

Sobering thought, double loaded rounds DEFINATELY. It reminds me of an incident back in the 70's at a clay shoot at Lumley castle I think it was. I was in the trap house at the time they were doing 25 DTL ball trap. All was going smoothly and as normal when a shot went off that sounded like a explosion, like a crump with lots of reverb. After that there wasnt another "pull" and a crack a second later. I could hear people saying is he all right have you been hurt mate, was any one else hit....I thought crikey somethings wrong here, I showed my flag, was OK'd to come out the trap house. The man who fired the shot was kneeling on the floor in shock, his brand new miroku O/U gun in thousands of little fragments on the grass, Parts of the barrels were in matchstick sized pieces. He was an olympic standard shot who was a professional gun dealer, and who used 2 or 3 cases of Eley cartidges a week (ie 1500+ shots), he was no cow boy he knew shot gun's and cartridge's. Some lads did use reload's, but he never did. It was a miracle that no one was injured off the bits of tiny shrapnel. Any way in the aftermath they did forensic type tests and it transpired that in their factory Eley had somehow double loaded a round, one charge went off as normmal, then the second one went off mid way along the barrels. Those bugs bunny/tom and jerry scenario's didnt seem quite so fanciful seeing the reamains of the poor lads gun . If that had happened nowaday's can U imagine the amount of s##t that would of hit the fan

 

[jamie18thmo]

Thanks for the good advice so far guys. Especially the bit about checking for double charges! I'll definitely do that!
I've got lots of reading to do, plus I've yet to get the right type of powder (got to order some ).
I'll probably load a few dummies, just to get the hang of how the different bits work.
Here's a link to the kit I've got:

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1200379815.1424=/html/catalog/anivers.html

Thanks and keep it coming,
Jamie

 

[FGYT]

Legal Note. .357 Magnum is NOT deer legal in the UK. Over .240 and developing 1743 ft lbs ME is the minimum in England (effectively .243 Win or above) I think. .223 is okay on Roe in Scotland I believe.

Red

Dorset will sign off on it for Fox though

and 44mag for deer

 

[xavierdoc]

In my Marlin underlever I use 180gr truncated cone hardcast bullets over 5.0gr Vihta-Vuori N340. Almost equivalent is 3.6gr of Alliant Bullseye but this powder doesn't meter (flow) as well as VVN340 and is a little more dirty.

Please note- THESE ARE TARGET LOADS and not suitable for hunting. They are loaded for short range comps (max 50 yds) where low recoil and fast shooting are often vital. For hunting rounds you should look at dedicated bullets loaded to a higher pressure (but remember, start lower and work up!)

I have friends who shoot their 357Mag underlevers at up to 300yds. These rounds are so over-pressure that the lever usually pops open! NOT RECOMMENDED! In these circumstances jacketed rounds are the way to go.

With respect to re-loading, if you intend to do large quantities, get yourself a Dillon progressive press. I can knock out 1000s of rounds in the time it used to take me to do 50, previously. The aftersales service is brilliant and they last forever.

There is just so much advice you can give someone about reloading- much of it available on the web.

It is strangely satisfying to win competitions or to drop a buck cleanly, at range, because you made the round to a higher standard than factory can achieve, tailored to your rifle. Go to it!

BTW, I'd have thought .357Mag a little light for pigs.

 

[Sleepy Weasel]

Not a shooter myself but my brother did have a couple of pistols, and handloaded his own ammo. This was before the Government decided that we shouldn't have firearms.

The one thing that I remember my brother having is a small hand press type tool to fit the primers to the cases, it had a slot for the case and a round dish for a stock of primers. You put the case in the slot and shook(gently) the whole thing until a primer dropped into the correct position, then you gently squeezed a lever which would seat the primer into the base.

Now, the best peice of advice given to me about this process was to squeeze the lever gently, and point the whole contraption away from you!

My dad did say that he heard a bang coming from our shed once and he went to investigate and found my brother coughing and blackened! he'd forgotten about the poining away bit!

Oh, and if you're used to making 'genies' by emptying black powder from fireworks, be careful doing it with cordite! Whoosh! no eyebrows!

 

[jamie18thmo]

[/QUOTE]Oh, and if you're used to making 'genies' by emptying black powder from fireworks, be careful doing it with cordite! Whoosh! no eyebrows![/QUOTE]

Thanks for that good safety advice Sleepy, but I'm afraid I've already had a good go at blowing myself up once with about 1lb of blackpowder not so long ago (don't ask! ) Best to treat anything that might go bang with heaps of respect and kid gloves!
Cheers,
J

 

[jamie18thmo]

Thanks for the input Xav.
I figure that If I only consider using this rifle for short range (probably up to 100m) shots and try researching and experimenting with some higher velocity lighter rounds (125Grn XTP going at about 1550fps) and some heavier, slower (200Grn XTP or SJHP going about 900fps), I should be able to hunt deer and pigs and achieve the desired results OK, but I'm no expert! That's why it's good to hear from all you guys.
The only suitable powder I've been able to get hold of so far down here is Hodgdon HS-6, which seems like it should handle a good range of bullet types and weights.
I had a nice sized weener in my sights the other day! The only problem was, I was after rabbits and only had a .22 with me . Needless to say, I didn't take the shot, but if I'd had my .357 slung on my back, as I'd planned to, I would definitely have had a crack at it. It was only about 20m away! I might even have had a chance of getting it's mate too, that was only about 30m away. Ho hum....there's always next time (yeah, right!)
Cheers,
J

 

[xavierdoc]

Seems inevitable that I'l be emigrating to NZ at some point!

Good luck.

 

[jamie18thmo]

Come for a holiday Xav. I'm sure you'll love it, and 24 hours on a plane isn't really that bad!
Seriously though, let me know if you do ever head down this way.
Cheers,
J

 

[pothunter]

Hi Jamie

Guess who's going to be rolling his own 8 bore cartridges, just found a monster falling block shotgun..... if Ben calls by you must tell him he knows I've been looking for a while.

Pothunter.

 

[jamie18thmo]

Will do Mark
Sounds like you've got yourself a cannon there! Watch out geese!
Be interested to know how your reloading goes.
I've got the powder now, but haven't "bitten the bullet" yet. Still reading the book and planning on taking my time. Seating the projectile at the right depth is what's worrying me. Tried one on a dummy round and shoved it in way too much .
Keep you posted.
Cheers for now,
J