with that kit, besides bullets, br****, powder, and primers, what else do you need to buy to get going?Originally Posted by Steve O'Seinus
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with that kit, besides bullets, br****, powder, and primers, what else do you need to buy to get going?
I would also get a br**** tumbler to clean and polish br****, and you will need the individual die sets for whatever calibers you are going to reload. They usually go for 30-50 per set. Also handy is a good caliper tool to measure te length o the cases, although of you are mainly doing pistol br**** that isn't an issue. I really only get meticulous with my hunting rounds for my 300 mag. Everything else I just try to do for quantity.
I have an RCBS auto indexing press that I have learned on. I only reloaded pistol for the first year or so just to understand the basic process and to establish my system. The RCBS auto presses are going for $570 on midway right now with a $50 rebate from RCBS. I recently ordered another press so I can dedicate one to pistol and the other to rifle. As Steve said pistol is very easy to reload. All you really have to do is polish the br****, hit the br**** with case lube then reload. Equipment for pistol reloading. Br**** tumbler (I use crushed walnut as the media from the pet store because its much cheaper), press and die set for your caliber of choice, a scale to check powder charge weight (I prefer the small digital variety), a reloading manual that gives you pertinent info such as COL and grain charges for muzzle velocity based on type of powder and type and weight of bullet. Many powder manufacturers give this data on web but I like to have a book in front of just in case.
Rifle ammo is a whole other animal. You must polish the br****, measure the batch to ensure they do not exceed the specified case length. If any do you may as well trim the whole lot. Once you trim the cases you then have to debur and chamfer the opening to ensure nothing is obstructing proper bullet seating, hit the br**** with case lube, and reload. Equipment for rifle would include br**** tumbler, calipers, br**** case trimmer, deburing / chamfering tool, scale, press and proper die set.
The die sets will last a long time as long as you take care of them. I.e. clean them out every now and again with case lube and a q tip and be sure to apply case lube to the br****. Never use wd40 or any similar lubricant, it will ruin the powder within the cartridges causing the round to not fire.
I recommend the auto indexing presses as they make the whole process go so much faster. I can reload about 400-500 pistol rounds or 150-250 223 rounds an hour
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3 users like Fahooglegods's post: bushmaster06, nolesooner, Sooner Bob
16lbs of ramshot TAC powder
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Thanks. I've actually looked at that exact setup before . . . might have to pull the trigger and make the purchase.
How many times can you reload before the br**** wears out? Or does it wear out?
There are different opinions, but I would not go past 3 reloads.
The following users like this post: Lake_Bum
It depends on what you are loading. With pistol br****, you can reload it quite a bit. Rifle br**** will wear out quicker just due to higher pressure. I typically load most of my stuff at or close to the recommended starting powder charges. I might load it a little hotter if I find it improves accuracy, but that hasn't been the case with my 300 mag. Pistol ammo I always just use the starting load. I don't figure I need that extra 50 fps in a pistol, and it does help keep the br**** from getting worn out. You really have to check each piece of br**** for cracks or signs of stress. Rifle br**** tends to stretch a little more, so you end up trimming the cases just a bit, obviously shortening the life of the br****. If you are going to load 223, look at trying to get some military grade br**** like Lake City, as it is supposed to be just a little thicker.
On a similar note, it should be noted that there ARE slight differences between rifles chambered for .223 vs 5.56 NATO, and .308 vs 7.62 NATO. While you could never tell with the naked eye, since the bullet diameters are the same, the difference is really in teh chamber of the rifle. The military chambered rifles actually have a little looser tolerance in the chamber, and are designed to accept a wider variety of ammo. If you ever have the choice, always go with the 5.56 or 7.62 over the commercial caliber. You can easily fire commercial .223 through a 5.56 chambered rifle, but not ALWAYS the other way around. In semi auto rifles chambered for .223, sometimes military grade ammo won't feed as well. There is all kinds of debate over the military ammo creating more pressure, blowing up the rifle, etc, but I think a lot of that is speculation.
Also, when you get started reloading rifle br****, there is the question of resizing the br****. There are two schools of thought, neck sizing, and full length resizing. The general rule to remember is you can neck size for bolt action rifles, if you are going to only shoot that ammo out of the same rifle. That way, the br**** fits perfectly in your chamber, since it expanded to the volume of the chamber the first time you shot it. If you are reloading for a semi auto, you should always full length resize the br****, essentially taking it back to its original size. This will shorten the life of the br****, but will ensure that it cycles properly through the rifle. I have 300mag br**** that I have reloaded 5 or 6 times, and they are still fine, since I neck size them and load them with lighter powder charges.
3 users like Steve O'Seinus's post: Fahooglegods, Lake_Bum, Sooner Bob
Hopefully yours Armscorp ammo is better than mine. I had tons of failure to fire with the centerfire ammo that I bought. out of a box of 50 about 1/3rd were worthless.
That's what I'm afraid of. But, even if it's ****ty ammo, the spent cases would still be good to use if I decide to turn them into jacketed .223 bullets. There are some guys that have built die sets that will do just that, but they are really pricey. Basically, it reshapes the spent br**** (which isn't really br**** for .22LR) into a cup that you then fill with lead and form into bullets. The setup is around $600-800, and you would need a good supply of lead as well, probably some of the harder stuff since it is a higher velocity round. There are youtube videos out there showing the process. I like the idea though, of having a huge supply of potential .223 bullets.
I've shot several hundred rounds of Armscor .45acp with zero failures. It is pretty dirty though.
I guess I need to find out if my Windham will shoot either . . . .
I have a set of swaging dies on the way. Once I get them it will basically only cost me a few cents a round to reload 223, ****uming I can find primers and powder.
Who did you order them from? Wonder if people have snatched all of that stuff up yet.
Buddy of mine stopped by Sports World in Tulsa yesterday. They were OUT of .22 LR in any form whatsoever.
Holy crap. People are panicked. Dealers must LOVE Obama!
pretty much everyone is out of .22lr, its not news.
I cant find quality .22LR ammo anywhere at the moment either!?
After the last rush 4 years ago, when things settled down I bought enough .22 ammo that'll last me 20 years.
3 users like ImTheDude's post: OUHomebrew, Sooner Bob, Sooners2007
I know a place that has it.....
In florida
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Do they have a website?
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Negative sir. At least none that I know of. Jimmy's gun and pawn
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Dammit! I just want some CCI .22!
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FWIW, I stopped by a Walmart today, and ****'s and Academy. Anyway, no ammo to speak of BUT I did ask about the Walmart not ordering ammo rumor. The guy there said its not true, they are ordering, just barely getting any due to demand. Also, for anyone interested, Academy has all their tree stands on clearance. I bought 3 hanging stands for $20 each. They are the bare bones stands, but still a great deal.
i asked my walmart guy about the rumor too and he said the same thing. he also said if i call the gun counter at a certain time on a certain day he'll set aside some goodies for me.
Sweet. I know a guy that works at Academy, I think I might ask him to do something similar. Although, I still think things will settle down a bit.
Lucky
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I don't want to 'dome this thread up, but I think it is interesting that all of the hand wringing that brought to this shortage of guns and ammunition and the nutjob in Newtown didn't even us an AR, or any rifle at all, for that matter.
http://www.ijreview.com/2013/01/3020...town-shooting/
The following users like this post: nolesooner
Note to self: Look into getting yourself a Wal-Mart guy and/or an Academy guy. Also, more tinfoil.
People keep talking about that news clip, but that clip aired early on in the ordeal, when there were still conflicting reports. The final "official" report said he used the AR. There was so much bad reporting it's not even funny. Some people were claiming there was video showing the police pullin the AR out I the trunk. By it was pretty obvious it wasn't an AR and looked like a semi auto shotgun with a pistol grip. Now, I'm not saying I totally buy everything we've been told, so who the **** really knows what he shot everyone with. BUT, the official story is that it was the AR and I don't think that has changed.
2 users like Steve O'Seinus's post: SirPrize, Sooners2007
I would think that if the official police report showed there were no ****ault rifle used, the NRA would have that all over the TV, radio and internet.
I think he stabbed people with sharp pencils.
Has there really been an official story?
I heard the main coroner dude say that all victims were shot multiple times with the " long" weapon
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What does that even mean nowadays? We couldn't even get a straight story on Benghazi. Does the media report ANYTHING proper nowadays?
Which Academy?
No $20 stands at Fayetteville or Rogers academy.
Norman, although I would ****ume they are all doing the same thing. The Norman store had about a dozen of the ones that I bought left on the shelf last night. They aren't real fancy, but damn, for $20 I couldn't p**** them up. They were Game Winner I think, and they are the small hang on type stands.
http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/st...0051_316955_-1
I sat in a couple of these this season, good for bow hunting.
Anybody heard of 3d guns, i.e. making gun parts using a 3d printer?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013...-printed-guns/
Yes, although the guns wouldn't really be useable long term. I think the concept is to make a self defense handgun that is basically disposeable. There are however, great possibilities for making high capacity magazines with a 3D printer.
Cool. Thanks. I might have to check the store here in Edmond when I go to lunch.
I have a couple of those as well . . .
Very interesting
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At this point, I don't think there is the capability to print an ENTIRE weapon. The video shows a lower receiver, magazine, couple of other parts. The chamber and barrel would still have to be made from steel, OR it would end up only being a one time use weapon. The legal and moral questions on this issue are more interesting to be honest.
Maybe you can answer this for me...if a person were able to build a rifle from scratch (turning heir own barrel, machining their own receiver) would it fall under any type of regulation?
I'm not sure, but I have wondered that myself. I just haven't looked into it. I think (and this is just guessing) that if it is a semiauto, there probably wouldn't be an issue. If it fell into the Cl**** 3 arena, like full auto, short barrel shotgun, etc. then you would have problems. As long as you didn't try to sell it you would probably be ok. Now, it might be a little dangerous, until you got all the kinks worked out. I would like to find out for sure though.
A buddy of mine built his own AR with different parts from various places. He put it together himself. That's the beauty of ARs. All the parts are pretty much interchangeable.
If I had the time and money, I WOULD be building my own stuff. I think it would be interesting to see what you could do with an ULTRA light AR type rifle, using some of the latest technology and materials out there.
It's a lot of fun! I was at his place a lot while he was putting it together. So many videos on youtube on how to put stuff together. I didn't realize it. Makes it VERY easy.
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