What does it take to get started?

[GonHuntin]

As I posted on another thread, I started out handloading in the 4th or 5th grade loading 20 gauge shotgun shells with an old Lee Loader, you know, the ones that came in a small box and everything was done manually (no press)......I spent many hours knocking primers out with a rubber mallet, putting new primers in with the same mallet, scooping powder, seating fiber wads, adding the shot with a scoop and crimping the old paper hulls.......they went bang nearly every time and I killed a lot of doves with those loads!

It's funny, but a lot of folks wouldn't think about reloading ammo that way today......they think they can't make accurate loads with tools as simple as the Lee Loader......but I tell you, the old lee loader isn't all that much different than the custom hand dies that many shooters use for some of the most accurate rifles in the world.

So, how did you get started....and.....if you don't load your own......what is stopping you???

[Dale]

I just got started a few years ago, so I started with the RCBS Rockchucker that I got in a kit and have been adding to it ever since. I know that I have added WAY more to it than I really need. I don't shoot any BR competitions, just reload for hunting and plinking purposes, but I still have to try to get that smallest group possible. Do I need to have super small groups for hunting...NO, but it is a lot of fun trying and I sure do get to shoot a lot and that is always a big plus!!

[venatic]

I started in 1978 with a RCBS rockchucker that is still going strong.I mostly loaded for a dozen or so standard calibers but recently bought my first wildcat cal. and am having fun playing with it.Its a 17 MachIV and it is fun to shoot and has got me interested in predator hunting.I have called up several coyotes while bowhunting for deer and actually taken two with a bow but have never just went coyote hunting.That will probrably change.

[todbartell]

I started loading when I was 13 or 14, and it was on a RCBS Rockchucker. I still use that press, it has worked well for the past 8 yrs. I am set up to reload : 222 Rem Mag, 243 Win, 25-06 Rem, 260 Rem, 270 Win, 7mmSAUM, 7mm Rem Mag, 30-30 Win, 308 Win, 30-06, 308 Norma Mag, 300 WSM, 375 H&H, 416 rem, and 450 Marlin.

[GonHuntin]

Hey tod

Good to see you here.....now I won't be the only big bore nut in the bunch!

Dale, Of course I remember you......are you still working at the photography place? Glad to have you here!

Venatic.....don't recognize your handle but I'm glad you decided to join us! I own and load for many wildcats.... but I've never played with the mach IV......maybe you can teach me a thing or two about it? Killing a coyote with a bow is quite an accomplishment! I called in and killed one last year while deer hunting with a crossbow....it is amazing how fast they can move with an arrow headed their way!!!

[venatic]

gonhuntin,I would be happy to share any info I have on the 17MachIV. Data can be tough to come by but I know a few places to look and have found a few good loads. Really ,trying to find info on it got me to looking at a lot of different websites and that is how I found this one.I really do not have extensive knowledge about predator hunting but thats why i am here and maybe from 25 yrs of serious bowhunting for various game I can answer a question or two.Deer hunting is my main focus thus the handle.

[Dale]

Still there GH. they can't get rid of me that easy! Or maybe it's just that I can't figure out how to make a living hunting and shooting.

[carpetman]

First off question for GonHuntin--are you the same one I knew on Shooterstalk from the cast bullet room? That got an elk in the Wichita mountains?
I was being stationed in Anchorage Alaska and bought a pistol and a rifle in the lower 48. My intent was to reload,so I bought a couple books to read during the time my wife was driving. One of the books was a Lyman reloading manual and it discussed cast bullets. What they said made sense to me. So I started casting and reloading at the same time. When I arrived in Alaska,I thought I knew what I wanted in the way of equipment,but a new neighbor was a reloader. He gave me his suggestions on equipment. I followed them and he had steered me right. I started with a rockchucker press--still going strong. I also started with a Belding &Mull powder measure which really looks like a relic--did back then too,but I like it. I read and hear about some powders not metering properly in some measures. Haven't had that problem with the B&M. peo

[GonHuntin]

C-man

Yep, that's me! Sorry it took so long to respond, I was gone scouting for an up coming antelope hunt later this month.

[carpetman]

Gon Huntin--What made me question if that was you was your mention of going to Africa. Didnt know you had gone there. I had ascertained from your pictures there and from castpics was one in the same.

[GonHuntin]

C-Man

My wife and I hunted Africa in July 2002......had a fantastic trip and I can't wait to go back! I have a trip to Alaska planned for next year, so it will probably be at least 2005 before I make it back to the "dark continent".

I have been checking in on the cast bullet discussion at Accurate Reloading on a regular basis. I enjoy shooting cast in some of my handguns and a 44 mag rifle, but I haven't made the jump to cast in centerfire rifles and probably won't.......

[carpetman]

Gon Huntin--I don't use cast bullets for hunting game animals. Couple years ago I made the HUGE mistake of trying a .243 cast bullet on a spike. Never found it. Would have to have a much larger bore than that for me to ever try it again. So basically I shoot cast bullets but just plinking. Exception is jackrabbit shooting--to me they are strictly a varmint. With all the ticks and disease they carry I wouldn't eat one. Seeing as how I don't shoot matches,don't hunt game animals and just plink with cast bullets--a lot of the precision stuff like exacting alloy blends,measuring hardness and using a thermometer to cast,I leave to someone with more precision purposes. Well ok,I do use exact alloy blends. I mix free wheelweights with those that didn't cost me anything to exacting standards.

[LC '92]

The summer I turned 16, (1971) I cashed my first paycheck and drove to the local shooting emporium and bought a Lee Loader in .30/30, a pound of IMR-4895, a tray of LR primers, and a box of 150 gr. Sierras. Started loading on the tail gate of my truck for my Marlin 336. That following Xmas I got a RCBS Junior from my mother that I still have. That Jr. has loaded many thousands of rifle and pistol shells. Several of my friends used it too for their reloading. Upgraded to a Rockchucker 5 years ago when I started shooting NRA Highpower.

While slow, a Lee Loader is a precision tool that can deliver some top notch reloads. I still have 3 of them.

[BozoWise]

I to started with a lee and then a rock-chucker. I have an auto progressive dillion that sits and collects dust until I want to crank out tons of pistol ammo.

Every rifle round I shot runs through the rock-chucker. I average 750-1000 rounds of 223 per month during p-dog season and the press is still going strong. Only upgrade has been a homemade handle to keep the wife happy. When doing that many 223 I usually use the RCBS electronic powder through and scale. For BR shooting and paper I use an RCBS drop measure and then trickel each load.

[AlleninAlaska]

Mid 60's. Still have a copy of the "First Annual Handloaders Digest" Started with small bore stuff and now it is only things over 338 caliber.