A fellow, whom I guess is somewhat new to reloading (he asked a question regarding lubrication for rifle brass in a way that leads me to believe that he's kind of new at it) , asked a question in a Facebook Group. It seems that he's gotten a few piec[...]

As many of you know, I have some medical issues that are currently keeping me from doing my Reloading Classes in person. I apologize for the inconvenience that this might cause for you. During this Pandemic, gun sales have risen to new all time highs[...]

Rust, the bad, the ugly, the often overlooked nemesis of the reloading hobby I often get ideas for these articles from reloading class students. I had an inquiry, a few months ago, from a fellow who asked me to come by and take a look at his reloadi[...]

I am getting a lot of inquiries from my Casting Class students regarding hardness testing. That raises the first, and most important question: WHY is lead hardness important? Simply, the faster a bullet gues through the barrel, the harder the alloy[...]

I have been asked, quite a few times now, about how I built my reloading bench. In the past, I have only covered the subject in general terms (2X4 frame, 5/8 MDF top, contact cemented laminate, etc). This time, I will share with you some of the detai[...]

The recent workshop, my first in ten years, since moving to Florida, was a huge success. I covered the subject of casting lead bullets, with the able assistance of several of my casting friends as assistant instructors, from beginning to end. From ga[...]

2020's Cast Lead Bullet Workshop was a huge success. So, we plan on doing it all over again in 2021. Since the casting of molten lead at 750+ degrees F is not something that anyone would want to do during the hot Summer months, I have schedule[...]

Smokeless Powders, their use and how to use them to your advantage when reloading Black powder ruled the propellant world for centuries. A combination of sulphur, saltpeter (potassium nitrate), and charcoal. It was first developed by the Chinese in [...]

Interview with Ernie (part 3 of 3) Insights from a precision rifle reloader O: Whose toolsets do you like to use for pistol reloading? E: Well one thing I’ve found… I was using RCBS and Lymans when I first got into it. And after I was shooting a[...]

Ernie Interview (part 2 of 3) Insights from a precision rifle reloader O: I understand you’ve had some serious, previous hobbies, including I think it was RC power boating?  Can you tell me a little bit about those hobbies and how deep into your h[...]

Ernie Interview (Part 1 of 3) Insights from a precision rifle reloader Introduction: My reloading classes include basic knowledge training for pistol and rifle cartridge reloading in the same day. One of the highlights of the class (RL01) is the[...]

The smart reloader takes care to document the work they did while developing a working load for every gun. There are a number of reasons for this documentation. Reinventing the wheel never makes any sense. So, documenting your load allows you to h[...]

In reloading, most of the time, you won't really have to deal with "head spacing". But, what is it? And, how does it affect me? Here's head spacing in a nut shell: In order for a cartridge to properly fit in the chamber, it has to be sized to a s[...]

I have been blessed to have a pretty good assortment of knowledgeable, experienced, and helpful gun people in my life. Virtually all of them are more than happy to share their knowledge and experiences with anyone who will listen.  And, Lord knows, m[...]

Components used in reloading: Brass cases - Cost = ZERO, presuming that you acquired them for free, and are reusing the cases Primers - Cost = $.03 each, presuming that you are shopping carefully, to keep cost low Powder - Cost = $.02 - $.[...]

One of the most common questions I get during my reloading classes relates to the need for cleaning brass prior to the reloading. "Do I really need to clean the brass?" The answer is always YES! And, here's why. When you fire cartridges at the [...]

Mistakes happen! There are some basic safety rules for reloading. And, all of them are RULES for a reason. It's worth going over them for the sake of this discussion. It's also worth going over the basic GUN HANDLING rules first: ALWAYS keep[...]

Law enforcement and military personnel have obvious needs for pistol cartridge performance. One of the driving factors has been, and continues to be, the "FBI Penetration Test." The official name of this set of criteria is the: "FBI Ballistic Protoco[...]

Rifle Cartridge Neck Sizing By design, when a bottle neck case is fired, it briefly expands to fill the entire chamber, then contracts slightly when the pressure generated by the burning powder dissipates, allowing the case to be extracted from [...]

The path to greatness when it comes to precision rifle reloading is to tune the ammo to your barrel. It's a well documented fact that when a bullet enters your barrel from the chamber, it sets the barrel into motion. It creates a force wave, in the f[...]

The first answer is that the TYPE of crimp is always built into the bullet seating/crimp die or the separate crimp die if it's different from the seating die. So, for a 357 Magnum three die set (full length sizing die, bell mouthing die, seating/crim[...]

Full Length Sizing for Bottleneck Cases This article describes the process of resizing bottleneck cartridge cases.   Setting up the sizing die for a bottleneck case requires a higher level of precision than for straight-walled cases, and the quality[...]

Forming .300 Blackout Brass 300 AAC Blackout, SAAMI short name 300 BLK, also known as 7.62×35mm is a rifle cartridge developed in the United States by Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) for use in the M4 carbine. Its purpose is to achieve ballistic[...]

My Rounds Won't Chamber I recently received the following question from a former reloading student: I've been reloading .45 ACP with 200gr lead semi-wadcutter bullets.  I've worked up a very accurate load, but 4 or 5 rounds out of 100 will not ch[...]

Reloading for S&W 500 Magnum Since it’s introduction at the Shot Show in 2003, this Cor-bon/S&W chambering has pretty much followed a similar path to the way the 44 Magnum was handled in the 70’s, with the 1971, “Dirty Harry” movie. Back[...]

Are Handloads More Accurate Than Factory Ammo? The question above is very simple, and it has a very simple answer. "Yes. Handloads are more accurate than factory ammo." To prove this assertion, I decided to pit some of my handloads against some[...]

Cartridge Case Longevity As an instructor, there is one experience in particular that I find truly frustrating: When I have to reward a really good question with a very bad answer. For example, when a participant in a reloading class asks, "[...]

I want to reload.   What equipment do I need to get started? This is - by far - the most frequently asked question by people that are thinking about getting into reloading. Ask this on any web forum or discussion board and you will get widely var[...]

How many times can you reload a .45 ACP case? The .45 ACP has a reputation for case longevity that borders on mythical. "You can load it until you lose it" is just one phrase commonly used to describe the durability of this caliber. To find out,[...]

Save lots of money Even if you shoot small quantities of common (inexpensive) calibers, reloading will save you half compared to buying factory ammo.   If you shoot more exotic calibers like .460 S&W Magnum, 10mm, or .38 Super, you can save up[...]

An important part of fine-tuning a rifle load is finding the bullet seating depth that results in the best accuracy. Much like determining the optimum charge weight, finding the best seating depth is done through trial and error testing. Unlike the o[...]

Most reloaders know that cartridges should never be loaded with powder charges above the maximum or below the minimum charge weight specified in the reloading manual.   However, some reloaders do not understand that excessive pressure can result even[...]

The .357 Sig has a reputation for being difficult to reload because inexperienced reloaders have problems with it.   The two most common problems are poor headspacing (where the rounds either won't chamber, or have inconsistent ignition) and bullet[...]

The short answer is, "a lot".   Exactly how much you will save depends on the caliber(s) you will reload.   The table below shows the typical savings that you can realize on some common (and not-so-common) handgun calibers by buying good quality jack[...]

The only reusable part of a fired cartridge is the case.   This is fortunate for the reloader because the case is the single most expensive component.   Also fortunate is the fact that there is plenty of brass lying around for the taking at just abou[...]

The following recommendations will help you to make more accurate ammo for your rifles. The best part is, they will add little or no cost to your ammo. 1. Use high quality bullets. Nothing you do in terms of case prep, charge weight measurement, [...]