What Techniques Have You Picked Up Reloading That You Wished You Knew From The Start?

A chronograph is invaluable!! I personally use Magnetospeed. I shoot 100% of my loads with it until I have a developed load. Without the chrono you have no idea what's really happening. You can get small groups with big numbers and you can get small numbers with big groups, but you wouldn't know without the chrono. If you really think about it, we are trying to find a velocity node and not a vibration node......but i think they tend to go hand-in-hand.
 
I use Hornady One Shot and do not have any problems, the people who do have problems just didn't read the directions.

Step one, remove and clean "ALL" previous used sizing lubes from inside the die. Any type cleaning solvent as a last step wiping the die with a clean paper towel or rag. Then spray One Shot inside the die and let dry and you are ready to size.
Step two, let the One Shot compleatly dry before trying to size the case.

NOTE, the only problems I ever had were not reading and following the directions on the can. And sizing "FAT" 7.62 Lake City cases that were fired in a machine gun. And as long as you are sizing cases fired in your firearms One Shot should not be a problem.

Below a photo from the Army Marksmanship Unit and they use Hornady One Shot.
And the big advantage with One Shot is it does not need to be removed because it is a dry film lube.

Slick Tricks: Techniques and Tools for Big-Batch Case Lubrication

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I use Hornady One Shot and do not have any problems, the people who do have problems just didn't read the directions.

Below a photo from the Army Marksmanship Unit and they use Hornady One Shot.
And the big advantage with One Shot is it does not need to be removed because it is a dry film lube.

usamutop01.png


biglube1605.jpg

guess that's where my experience differs. I always coated all sides of the cases and got some in the neck as well(when using an expander). It didn't always cause galling but I'll say with the time I've spent using the sizing wax it's a night and day difference and it hasn't happened yet.

As far as not needing to be removed I doubt that. The cases I lubed with one shot always had a very discernible film afterwards. In fact, while load developing for one of my rifles I ended up with some premature pressure signs due to the case lube being on the cases still. I had to clean them off with alcohol pads before resuming and pressure signs went away.

If it works for you, then definitely don't change it - just sharing my experience with it.
 
We all learn from experience of course, reading or hearing others methods, or sometimes just by learning as you go. I know many on here have perfected their methods thru the years no doubt. I think a thread like this will help newer reloader's get a leg up so to speak, there has to be hundred's of combined years of experience. We don't all do it the same way or reach our goals the same. Even seasoned pro's learn new tricks and techniques as they watch, learn, and experiment. Seems like a topic that can help all those who like to roll their own, I still use a lot of the methods that my original mentor taught me.

But if I was starting today with what I know right now there would be some things I would do differently. First off a forster co ax press, they were available and the style of press I would eventually move to, money spent twice I guess. I started off with a variety of different dies, again now I would stick with forster or redding sizer's and forster seater's. I never heard of a collet die till I came here so thanks to a couple member's of LRH, they are now an important part of my equipment. I was always kinda obsessive about runout with tweaking loaded rounds as standard procedure, now I produce close to 2/3's of my loaded ammo that needs no tweaking at all, those that do are very minimal. I've ceased using expander ball's and spindles, but continue to use the dies for external sizing, I like a mandrel for neck sizing and tension. At first I price shopped for brass but now I prefer premium unless the rifle tells me otherwise. What do other loaders have to share?
proper brass prep and setting up dies to get the correct shoulder bump and numerous other little tricks you learn with time
 
I have heard many times, a new reloader should spend time with a experanced reloader. First of all try to find one. Second, you may find one, but he my not want to take you under his wing and teach you. Yes, there are some nice guys out there, they are far and few in between. Ask me how I know this.
 
Another thing I hear a lot. Buy good equepment, it will last a life time. That is true. Maybe some one is a young family man, trying to raise a family. Money may be a little tite. Why not tell him. You may want to start out with good used equepment. Tell him what to look for in a good used uint and where he may find it. A lot of us are useing 30 and 40 year old equepment. if we can why not some one else too? Like anything else, after he is in it for awhile, then he will be more knowledgeable about what he is doing, and he can up grade from there.
 
As a student of reloading I will say this. You get what you pay for. As one3 said, you can buy GOOD equipment used, cheap. I did it the hard way, I bought cheap and then after 2 years I had to upgrade my equipment. AND I AM NOT RICH. So my advice if you are on a budget, look for the best deal on used Forster, Redding, or Dillon presses. I say go with the Forster co ax press for anything you want to load and pair it with Forester dies and a must have die is the lee collect die for what ever caliber rifle bullet you are using as long as it is a bolt gun and not an AR-style rifle. You can even load pistol bullets on it. For my Pistol bullets, I crank them out on a Lee Load Master progressive press. (45acp, 9mm.) Yep, I know there is some Lee LM haters out there, but mine works great. 99% of the time if there is anything wrong with the LM, It's the operator. Good ammo can be made on cheap presses but you will run into Consistency and repeat ability issues with each bullet. <Time spent trying to figure out why this case is seated at 2256 and this case seated at 2260> That's where the waste of time comes into play and a lot of head scratching going on. To some this would not be any thing to worry about or think twice about. Me, I'm OCD. if It is suppose to be 2256, then everyone of them should be seated at 2256. At the end of my process every loaded bullet is check on my NECO gauge for concentricity and indexed for alignment when loading into the rifle. Did anyone every say anything about jumping down rabbit holes and the money they spent trying to get out of that hole. { oh that's another story for a different time.}
Look, Buy what you can and just start reloading, if you have any questions just come here and ask, there is a lot of great people here that will glad to give you there nickels worth. And most of all, be safe and have fun and remember to shoot straight.
 
Wow one3 you are on a thread that is posted to help new reloaders and gives advice on just about every post. The same recommendations for new equipment also applies to used equipment as well. Keep an eye to the reloading sale forum you can pick up some good deals on there. Spending time on the reloader forum and asking questions and absorbing knowledge is like having many friends to teach and show you how to do it. Thats why I started this thread, buy what you see fit and upgrade later if that appeals to you. I would simply look for a used co ax press, used redding or forster dies, maybe pick up a used case gauge or concentricity gauge. The post above mine by patroit says it all..........Good Reloading!
 
Wow one3 you are on a thread that is posted to help new reloaders and gives advice on just about every post. The same recommendations for new equipment also applies to used equipment as well. Keep an eye to the reloading sale forum you can pick up some good deals on there. Spending time on the reloader forum and asking questions and absorbing knowledge is like having many friends to teach and show you how to do it. Thats why I started this thread, buy what you see fit and upgrade later if that appeals to you. I would simply look for a used co ax press, used redding or forster dies, maybe pick up a used case gauge or concentricity gauge. The post above mine by patroit says it all..........Good Reloading!


The reason I recommend getting ONE experienced re loader was to prevent the new guy from learning all The lessons the hard way and listening to hundreds of different ways to do one job
and get confused. anyone that has loaded for very long can load good ammo. They may not load the way You or I would but it will get the novice started down his own path without any mishaps and poor purchases.

A knowledgeable reloader can recommend the basic tools that should last a lifetime to buy and a good loading manual for detailed instructions to basic reloading and then after he has mastered the basic loading, he can gain knowledge with the help of others.

I have tried to explain some of the finer points of precision loading to novice reloaders, and it is way over their heads and they get the deer in the headlight look. so we get back to basics and they are fine.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM
 
guess that's where my experience differs. I always coated all sides of the cases and got some in the neck as well(when using an expander). It didn't always cause galling but I'll say with the time I've spent using the sizing wax it's a night and day difference and it hasn't happened yet.

As far as not needing to be removed I doubt that. The cases I lubed with one shot always had a very discernible film afterwards. In fact, while load developing for one of my rifles I ended up with some premature pressure signs due to the case lube being on the cases still. I had to clean them off with alcohol pads before resuming and pressure signs went away.

If it works for you, then definitely don't change it - just sharing my experience with it.
It can get inside the case necks and will not contaminate powder it says that right on the can but any kind of lube on the outside will cause increased bolt thrust wiping it off does not change the pressure just the bolt thrust
 
Wish I would have known that buying a standard die set is not the way to go. Wasted a lot of money this way. I Wish I would have known that a body die used with a Lee Collet die and a good seater die takes care of 99% of the bullet run-out issues. At least it does for me.
 
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