Control Your Destiny By Rolling Your Own

Clamped to a kitchen counter, it kept him shooting through college.

It’s times like these many explore the world of reloading their own ammo. It’s nice to have some control over one’s shooting destiny, isn’t it?

My trip began with cost. I found a used Lee reloading press for some $30, and a new Lee hand primer and die set. The press was a single-stage, meaning only one die could be installed in the press at a time. Even with all the die swapping and hand priming, I could turn a hundred casings back into live ammo in about an hour. Complete with components for the first 500 rounds, I had a total investment of less than $100

RCBS Chargemaster Lite (left), Lee balance beam scale (right) and powder
measure (center). The powder measure dispenses by volume, while the
Chargemaster Lite weighs each charge. Both have their place.

Getting Started

Reloading requires removing the spent primer, resizing the case and putting a slight bell in the mouth of the case so a bullet can be inserted. Seat a new primer, add powder, and the bullet is pushed into the correct depth and crimped in place.

The biggest variables are powder and bullet selection; what powder you use and how much varies from load to load. Charges can either be weighed out individually, or measured by volume, which is how most powder measures work. The Lee die set I bought came with a yellow scoop and a helpful chart showing how much of each powder that scoop would, well, scoop up, and what bullet it could safely be loaded under.

As I started to experiment with more unusual calibers for which there was no handy “scoop chart” I needed some means to weigh charges, so I purchased a balance beam scale and powder measure. With the scale, I could adjust the measure until it produced the correct charge: once set, rotate the handle and it dumped out the correct charge. It was faster and more precise, but loading still took time.

Jeremy uses this Dillon 550 for volume reloading and the single-stage RCBS
Rock Chucker for small batches and less mainstream calibers.

Crank Up The Volume

Enter my buddy Roger, who decided I needed his Dillon 550. It was a godsend. The 550 is a progressive press, holding all required dies at once. It has a multi-station plate that, revolver-like, holds several cases, rotating under each die until a completed case drops out as a loaded round. While some people can produce 550 rounds per hour — hence the name — I manage about 350. I’ll never know how many rounds I’ve loaded on that machine, but in one year I shot 6,000 rounds of .45, most of it off the Dillon.

Since all the dies and the powder measure mount in a single, removable toolhead, changing calibers is very easy. After sliding out the toolhead, replace the shell plate with the one for the new caliber and change the primer feed. Primers, both for rifle and pistol, come in two sizes: large and small. On the 550, they’re fed down a tube to a slide that aligns them for automatic seating. Since changing everything out takes time, I now have a pair of 550’s, one set up for small primers and the other for large.

For calibers I don’t load often enough to justify purchasing an entire toolhead, or that don’t lend themselves to a progressive press, I use an RCBS Rock Chucker. Equipped with a neat little priming arm that does away with the need for a separate priming tool, the dies are held in a bushing that can be removed to install larger, non-standard dies like brass shotshell ones. Virtually all other dies have a standard thread, regardless of manufacturer, and can be used in this single-stage press.

While balance beam scales do a fine job, they’re best for setting up and occasionally checking a powder measure. Even with magnetic dampening, it takes a while for that beam to settle. If I want to weigh each individual charge, I use the electronic RCBS Chargemaster Lite. Pour the powder into the hopper, calibrate the scale, and enter the charge you want. It trickles the powder out until the correct weight is reached. Remove the pan, pour it into your casing, and when you put the pan back in place, it will start dispensing powder again.

This combination of equipment meets my needs now, but it’s only a very narrow slice of the available equipment. For those who have never tried it, reloading still saves a tremendous amount of money over buying new factory ammo, and in this world of ammo scarcity, it’s very useful to be able to produce your own.

For more info: DillonPrecision.com, LeePrecision.com, RCBS.com.

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