Reloading Info
Jump to: Retailers, Bullets, Powders, Shell Casings (Brass), Primers, Presses, Other Reloading Wesites
Introduction
First and foremost... I'm no expert. I'm relatively new to this reloading thing. Don't trust anything here that even LOOKS like an opinion. Learning how to reload is a journey, and I'm still pretty early in that journey. This page is a reference for me to use, to not have to remember all this stuff in my head. You're welcome to use it, but don't blame me if a cartridge you make blows up in your face.
A cartridge (a.k.a. a round of ammunition) is generally made up of 4 components: the
shell casing, the
primer, the
powder, and the
bullet. The only part that you re-use when reloading is the shell casing, which is typically the most expensive component (although some bullets are pretty expensive, too). A reloading press (and it's many accessories) is what you need to assemble those components together to make usable ammunition.
A certain shell casing, with a certain primer, and a certain amount of a certain powder, with a certain bullet, seated to a certain depth in the casing, with a certain crimp, is called a "load". Therefore "load data" is the information that you need to make a certain cartridge. Traditionally, one would get load data from a book, often published by the manufacturers who make reloading presses. Nowadays, load data is often available for free from the websites of powder manufacturers, and occasionally bullet manufacturers.
Choosing reloading equipment is horribly confusing. It's truly daunting to determine what you really need. You'll see everything from $30 hand loaders to $1200+ automated progressive presses that all say that they contain "everything you need to start reloading". They are ALL lying. What most newbies really want to know is "What equipment do I need to take brass I picked up at the range, and make it into ammunition that is safe to shoot, with a reasonable amount of time, money, and effort?".
The fundamental problem with answering that question is that it depends on your situation...
Do you want to reload pistol ammo or rifle ammo or shotgun ammo or some combination of those?
Will you be satisfied making 20 rounds in an hour, or do you need to make 150 rounds in an hour,
or do you need to make 1000+ rounds in an hour?
Are you reloading so that you can find the perfect load for maximum accuracy for competition target shooting,
or are you just trying to save money by making your own practice, plinking, hunting or self-defense ammo?
The answers to those (and other) questions determine what equipment you will need.
Press Manufacturers (in alphabetical order)
Reloading Tutorials
The Firearms Blog (TFB) has a 6-part series of articles for the reloading beginner. It's sponsored by Lyman, so don't expect brand comparisons, but these pages are a very good place to start reading about reloading.
General Reloading Info
Reloading Retailers - Online (in alphabetical order)
Lucky Gunner - mostly sells complete ammunition, but does sell bullets and brass as well
rrpmi (eBay) - sells seating die stems for 45 ACP that only touch the shoulder, plus other reloading tools, squib rods, and more
Unique Tek - makes press accessories and other do-dads
Reloading Retailers - Stores in and around New Jersey, USA
- Garden State Armory & Reloading Supply LLC in Warren, NJ - Good experience, and they had the powders I wanted (Bullseye, VV N310, VV N340).
Their website is pretty bad, and the store is pretty small, but they were very friendly, and offered to order any powders that they didn't have in stock. Phone: (732) 893-8500
- Saloman's in Farmingdale, NJ - No website. Supposedly have great prices, but strange hours. Address: 142 Yellowbrook Rd, Farmingdale, NJ 07727 Phone: (732) 938-2189
- T&T Reloading in Stockertown, PA (address is Easton, PA) - I've been told the owner can be gruff, but I've not been there myself.
- Cheyenne Mountain Outfitters in Bordentown, NJ - I've been told they generally only have rifle powders, not pistol powders, but I've not checked myself.
To understand bullet descriptions and abbreviations, like "45 ACP 200gr LSWC-HP", see my
Bullet Types page.
Bullet Manufacturers (in alphabetical order)
Bayou Bullets - makes coated cast lead bullets. Make 9mm in a variety of weights from 95gr to 160gr, including 150 SWC.
CJN Casting - maker of reasonably priced hard-cast lead bullets in popular sizes. They do make 200gr LSWC 45 ACP bullets suitable for Bullseye.
Nosler Bullets - another popular maker of 185gr jacketed hollow piont 45 ACP ammo for Bullseye. They make a wide variety of other bullets and finished ammunition. They also provide
load data for their bullets.
Precision Delta - makes jacketed bullets at reasonable prices (especially if you buy 2000 at a time)
Xtreme Bullets - makes both copper jacketed and lead bullets. Makes a copper-jacketed 200gr SWC in 45 ACP.
Bullet Info Links
What powder should you use? The best advice is to consult a brand-name reloading manual (Hornady, Lyman, Lee, etc.) for the caliber and type of bullet that you want to reload, and pick one of the powders listed there. Most powder manufacturers and some bullet manufacturers have reloading data on their websites.
Powder Manufacturers (in alphabetical order, links updated August 2018)
| Manufacturer |
Load Data |
Burn Rates |
Other Data |
Notes |
| Accurate Arms |
Load Data |
Accurate Burn Rates |
FAQ |
Owned by Western. |
| Alliant |
Handgun Load Data
Rifle Load Data |
|
Getting Started
Resources |
Owned by Vista Outdoor, who also owns CCI, Speer, Federal, RCBS, Savage, Hoppes, and others. |
| Hodgdon |
Hodgdon Reloading |
Hodgdon Burn Rates |
Pistol Load Data Form
Data Sheets
|
Owns Hodgdon, IMR, and Winchester brands of smokeless powder, and Goex brand black powder. |
| IMR |
Hodgdon Reloading |
IMR Burn Rates |
Data Sheets |
IMR stands for "Improved Military Rifle"
Owned by Hodgdon. |
| Norma |
Loading Data |
Burn Rate Chart |
Ammo Academy
About Handloading |
Owned by Western. |
| Ramshot |
Ramshot Load Data |
Ramshot Burn Rates |
|
Owned by Western. |
| Vectan |
Vectan Load Data |
|
|
|
| VihtaVuori |
Handgun Load Data
Rifle Load Data |
|
Cowboy Action Load Data |
|
| Western |
|
|
|
Owners of Accurate, Ramshot, Norma, Montana X-treme, and Blackhorn brands |
| Winchester |
Hodgdon Reloading |
Winchester Burn Rates |
Data Sheets |
Owned by Hodgdon. |
NOTE: The reason why I note in the table above which companies own or are owned by other companies, is because it explains a lot of the load data that you see. For example, if you look at the handgun load data on the Alliant website, you'll notice that they have tested almost exclusively with Speer brand bullets. That's not because the Alliant engineers think that Speer bullets are always the best choice, it's because Alliant and Speer are both owned by Vista Outdoor.
Whether to just reload whatever you've got, or what you picked up off the floor at the range, or to buy new brass seems to depend on who you ask. Some bullseye shooters claim that new brass is noticeably more consistent/accurate at 50 yards, but the difference is negligible at 25 yards... so they buy new brass, load it with their 50 yard load, shoot it, and then reload it repeatedly for 25 yards after that.
Lots of people who shoot bullseye recommend using
Starline Brass, because it's good quality, very consistent, and reasonably priced.
So, you picked up some brass at the range (perhaps accidentally) that's not yours, and it has this weird headstamp on it. What is it?
One warning that I see time and time again is to not pick up and attempt to reload brass fired from a Glock, because Glock barrels do not fully support the case. The result is a bulge in the side of the case just above the extractor groove. Noticeably bulged cases are referred to as being "pregnant". The resizing die will usually resize bulged brass, but the stretching of the case wall weakens it to the point where it is not safe/recommended to reload and reuse it.
Google search for "reloading safety fully supported chamber". Or
Ramshot's warning page. I've also seen warnings that the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield does not have a fully supported chamber, so it's not just a Glock problem. Note that the reason for making the chamber not-fully-supported is because it improves the reliability of the gun, because the gun can reliably feed, fire, and eject rounds that are a little bit oversized or otherwise out of spec.
Generally speaking you want to use brass casings when reloading. Nickel-plated brass is ok, too, but may take extra effort to resize, and may not handle being reloaded as many times as plain brass. Steel casings cannot be reloaded with typical reloading equipment; you need special reloading gear for that. Aluminum casings cannot be reloaded safely.
The primer is the component that, when hit by the firing pin, ignites or explodes, and thereby causes the powder to ignite, generating large quantities of gas, which pushes the bullet out of the shell casing, down the barrel, and on it's way to the target. There are many types and styles of primers for firearms. For the purposes of reloading, we are primarily interested in centerfire primers (which are the ones where the primers are in the center of the base/head of the shell casing). It is, generally speaking, not practical to reload ammunition that uses rimfire primers (in which the primer is initially a liquid put inside the shell casing, which is then spun to force the primer to rim, where it dries and thus stays). There are shotshell and muzzleloader primers, too. There are also percussion caps and musket caps for muzzleloaders, too. But, for the purposes of reloading modern pistol and rifle ammunition, we are mostly concerned with centerfire primers that use the Boxer primer system.
Centerfire Primer Systems: Boxer vs. Berdan
There are two common centerfire primer systems... Boxer and Berdan (both named after their inventors). What you want for reloading is Boxer primed brass and Boxer primers. The Berdan system has two flash holes in the brass, because the "anvil" part of the primer is built into the shell casing. The Boxer system has a single flash hole in the brass, and has the "anvil" part built into the primer component. The problem with the Berdan system is that a typical reloading press uses one single, centered rod to push out the primer, so it won't work with Berdan brass, which has two off-center flash holes. All commercially available ammunition made in the US is Boxer primed, but you need to be careful with military surplus ammo or foreign-made ammo. Since this page is about reloading with normal reloading equipment, we're only talking about Boxer primed brass and Boxer primers here.
Types of Boxer primers
When it comes to types of Boxer primers, there are 3 variables: (1) small or large, (2) pistol or rifle, (3) regular or magnum. Every combination of those 3 variables is available. Plus there are different primers for shotguns and 50 BMG cartridges. Which one you need to use is determined by the caliber and brass you are reloading. Almost all calibers use one specific size of primer, but some can use different types of primers, depending on the brass that you're using. For example, 45 ACP traditionally and normally uses large pistol primers, but can also use small pistol primers... which one you need to use is dictated by your brass.
| Size Name |
Abbreviation |
Diameter |
Used for calibers |
Notes |
| Small Pistol Primer |
SPP or SP |
0.175" (4.45 mm) |
9mm, 38 Special, and some 45 ACP |
|
| Small Pistol Magnum Primer |
SPM |
0.175" (4.45 mm) |
357 Magnum |
|
| Large Pistol Primer |
LPP or LP |
0.210" (5.33 mm) |
most 45 ACP, 10mm Auto |
|
| Large Pistol Magnum Primer |
LPM |
0.210" (5.33 mm) |
475 Linebaugh |
|
| Small Rifle Primer |
SRP or SR |
0.175" (4.45 mm) |
223 Remington |
|
| Small Rifle Magnum Primer |
SRM |
0.175" (4.45 mm) |
|
|
| Large Rifle Primer |
LRP or LR |
0.210" (5.33 mm) |
.308 Winchester |
|
| Large Rifle Magnum Primer |
LRM |
0.210" (5.33 mm) |
300 Win Mag |
|
| Shotshell & Muzzleloader Primers |
|
0.209" (5.31 mm) |
shotguns and muzzleloaders, I would guess |
|
| 50 BMG Primers |
|
0.315" (8.00 mm) |
50 BMG, obviously |
|
NOTE: Large rifle primers are taller than large pistol primers.
NOTE: Rifle primers tend to be harder (require a heavier firing pin strike) and stronger (to withstand higher cartridge pressures) than pistol primers.
NOTE: Some manufacturers make more expensive "match" or "benchrest" primers. I'm not sure how those differ from regular primers.
NOTE: CCI makes "military" versions of certain primers. These are harder than regular primers, to prevent slam fires.
Brands of primers
Common manufacturers of primers available in the US in 2016 include CCI, Winchester, Federal, Remington, Fiocchi, and RWS.
CCI, Winchester, and Federal seem to be the most commonly available, and most commonly discussed in online forums.
Opinions vary, but the general consensus seems to be that (at least for pistols) CCI primers are the hardest (require a stronger firing pin strike), Winchester primers are in the middle, and Federal primers are the softest. As such, if your gun is giving weak firing pin strikes (perhaps because it's dirty, or it's springs have weakened), you might get inconsistent ignition with CCI primers, and have better luck with Winchester or Federal. Conversely, some people avoid Federal primers due to fears of making it too easy to have accidental slam fires (when the firing pin goes forward even though you did not just pull the trigger... perhaps because you dropped the gun muzzle-down on a hard surface, or your gun is malfunctioning in such a way that momentum is carrying the firing pin forward during the cycling of the bolt (causing it to inadvertently go "full auto")). And if you read the instructions included with most of the priming tools made by Lee Precision (such as these), it says that, in their testing, Lee was able to make entire trays of all types of Federal Large primers explode, which is a pretty serious accusation, and definitely not something you would want to happen while you were reloading.
Finding the OAL - a great post from the CZ forums describing how to find the maximum safe OAL (OverAll Length) for a particular bullet in your particular gun.