Starting handloading

Kevin did a long very longdetailed post the other day on getting started on handloading(take it easy, at least I didn't say 'verbose'. Oops, sorry) that covers just about everything, from a full startup set of equipment to the basics of 'how'. In the spirit of tagging along on a good post'if you're thinking of becoming an alchemist'(as Kim used to call us) I thought I'd add in how I got started.

I had a head start on a lot of people in that Dad handloads, and when I was a kid I was allowed to get in the way help out, so I had a fair idea of what I was getting into. He started for the same reason a lot of people do: expense. The Highway Patrol pay wasn't real good at the time and they provided no practice ammo(or rifle, but that's another story), so if he wanted to practice(let alone feeding my growing habit) he pretty much had to. A friend of his had the gear, including a bullet mold and sizing/lubing press*, so they'd both gather lead and cast a bunch of .38 wadcutters, split the cost on primers and powder, then load a batch. It was a couple of years before Dad was able to put enough free cash together to buy a used Herter's loading press and dies(which he still has), and he still had to do the casting work with the friend; there was no place nearby that carried bullets. When he started loading .30-30, bullets involved a trip to a city to buy a box.

Jump forward a few decadesyears. I was newly divorced, two little kids, getting back into shooting and knew I'd have to start handloading if I wanted to shoot much. At that time I had three cartridges to load: .38 Special/.357 Mag, .30-30 and .303 British. I was at a local flea market with the kids and a guy had a Lee Hand Press and priming fitting set out. I got it, local stores had dies, primers, bullets, a powder scale that happened to be on sale, case lube and powder. I started out with IMR3031 because the Lyman manual showed it as good for both .30-30 and .303, and Bullseye for the pistol. Took about a month before I had it all. And for the first while I only had dies for .38/.357 and .303, all I could afford, loading .30-30 was done when visiting my folks.

The Hand Press is so called because it doesn't mount on a bench, you hold it. I loaded a lot of .303 and .38's on that thing. And yes, resizing .303 cases on it is good exercise. It was actually quite handy, I could sit in the living room watching a show and resize cases, neck expand the .38's and prime. Once, when a lady I was going out with was feeling under the weather I went over to keep her company and took it and a bag of brass along. She was laying on the couch and I sat on the floor by the couch sizing and belling cases and talking. It put her to sleep, which either means it was relaxing or I'm boring. Shut up, I didn't ask for commentary. About a year after the Lee I picked up a used RCBS Junior press at a gun show, and bought a Lee hand-priming tool, both of which really sped things up. I also wound up with an 8mm Turk Mauser, so of course I needed dies, and there was IMR4064 recommended for it, and if I could start casting bullets I'd save some there... It kind of grows.

Kevin covered things very well. If you know someone with experience, they can help you get started. Whether you do or start on your lonesome, READ THE DIRECTIONS. AND pay attention to them. Pulling the trigger and hearing 'snap' instead of 'bang' is bad; pulling the trigger and hearing 'BOOM', accompanied by pieces of what used to be a working firearm flying around, is worse by far.


*Some cast bullets can be used as they come out of the mold, just put some lube on them and load. The bullets I cast for .38S&W and .455 Webley come out of standard .38 Special and .45acp molds; lubed with Lee Liquid Alox they work perfectly. But a lot of bullets need to be sized- squeezed to proper diameter- and lubed before use. A sizing/lubing press has a die that's bored to the diameter you need, and nose punch that fits the bullet you're sizing, and a reservoir that holds lube. You take the cast bullet and place it in the die, pull the lever and the punch forces the bullet into the die, forming it to exact diameter. Then you pull a small lever that puts pressure on the lube and forces it through passages into the die and from there it fills the lube grooves on the bullet. If you're putting a gas check on the base(only works on bullets designed for it) you put the check on the bullet base and then size & lube.

Generally speaking, a bullet with a gas check(short copper cup) on the base can be driven to higher velocities without propellant gas melting or cutting into the base.