Must have tools

[hjsmith00843]

What the must have tools for reloading. I have the starting kit but what other tools make life easier. I would like to load about 1000 weekly. I have a buddy of mine that wants me to do his ammo for him. (after I test with his weapon ofcourse)

[Hammerslagger]

Be careful, you might need a FFL manufacturer's license if you load for others for profit.

[soundguy]

if you are doing bottlenecked cases.. I'd say you will soon need a case trimmer, and a set of calipers that ar .001 accurate. ( harbor freight has digital ones for 10$ ).. and really for easy for doing lotsa brass.. a case gauge.

a good tumbler.. like a vibro model for brass processing., ( harbor freight 60$ )

and a primer tool you like to use.. case prep tools of course..

[soundguy]

oh.. and most importantly.. a good set of reload manuals!

[hjsmith00843]

Originally Posted by Hammerslagger

Be careful, you might need a FFL manufacturer's license if you load for others for profit.

Not for profit. Just for fun and doing him a favor.

[norahc]

A kinetic hammer for fixing your mistakes.

[cpttango30]

Everything in the reloading section at midwayusa.com

At least that is what I think. I about 50% there.

[hjsmith00843]

here is what i have so far

lee c press
dies
tumbler
bullet puller
scales (lee)
Digital Micrometer
Outside caliper
few manuals

[army mp]

You can do what you want. But I would get some experience before you even think about reloading for someone else. Not trying too be wise, but I have been reloading for 45 years, and I will not reload for anyone else. It sounds great but if someone gets hurt or blows a gun up, you will be standing in Court and that friend might not be so friendly with his Lawyer standing next to him.

You are very lucky in the age we live in, any question you may have about reloading is a computer click away. Most of use dinosaurs started with a reloading manual and what little help we found from the few other reloaders we came across.

Its not rocket science, but you do need to start slow and safe. And ask first, I belong to several on line gun forums, this one is the best, and there are some pretty shape guys on here that will get you going in the right direction.

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by army mp

, I belong to several on line gun forums, this one is the best, .

ditto that for sure...

[Ledslnger]

It is nice to have the reamers that have the screwdriver type handles!!!! I need to get some actually.

Also, I highly recommend the Universal Priming Tool from RCBS. I have one set up for large primers, going to get a second and set it up for small primers. Then I will be SET!!! Then I can throw anything in it and it will prime it easily. No shell holder to change out VERY nice!! RCBS has a scratch and dent area off their website where you can get nice stuff at decent prices. I have never figured out what was wrong with anything I have gotten from them. All nice stuff, no scratches or dents that I can find. I am not too picky though, if it functions well I am happy and it all does!

Good tumbler is nice, the bigger the better. Because you will have fun reloading then do more of it and you need more brass done faster, just the way it goes.

[howlnmad]

Since you're looking to do 1000 weekly I'm going to assume you're wanting to load pistol. If so, you have everything you must have.

As for loading for a friend........ do you both a favor and let your friend use your stuff and load his own. Even if you're not selling it, there are still possible liabilities.

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by Ledslnger

It is nice to have the reamers that have the screwdriver type handles!!!! I need to get some actually.

.....Good tumbler is nice, the bigger the better.

I have the lyman case prep kit.. comes with the handled tools you mention.. l/s reamers, l/s PP uniformers, l/s pp cleaners.. etc. also hav ethe flash hole cleaner.. wonderfull tools.

I like a vibro tumbler. you can get them at harbor freight for about 55$

[Waldog]

Originally Posted by hjsmith00843

Not for profit. Just for fun and doing him a favor.

Really BAD idea. What happens if he damages his gun with YOUR ammo. I recommend you teach him to reload and have him come over and load his OWN ammo. That way you will still have a friend.

[aa1911]

I would CharlieMike with what you have and you will discover what upgrades you want as you up the volume. Once you are completely comfortable with the 'know-hows' of reloading and get a good solid feel for what each step entails, a progressive loader is a fantastic thing. You have what you need though.

I would never recommend anyone to ever start with a progressive though, crawl, walk, run.

I would get as many manuals as you can find, Hodgen and others have freebies that I use daily still but Sierra, Hornady etc manuals are usually my mainstay for new loads. When comparing the same load in three different manuals, I get three different velocities/pressures/max loads, I use the combination to get the load I want.

A chrony is a very helpful tool although a little expensive; if I'm doing high volume pistol loading, I usually load a mag or two worth of ammo and then stop and run 'em through the chrony as well as make sure they cycle properly before I load up 1 or 2000 rounds.

Lyman's case prep kits are awesome as mentioned above. When your fingers cramp up from using the tiny RCBS case mouth reamer, you will upgrade quickly!

Happy reloading! Tons of wisdom on here from lots of folks.

[ozo]

A good primer pocket cleaner
AND
A flash hole uniformer

[soundguy]

if he gets the 50$ lyman tool kit he'll have it all except the flash hole tool, and that's about another 7$ and i reccomend it. now.. if he has another 150$.. he could get the lyman case prep center that has an electric motor..

ditto on getting as many manuals as possible.. speer, sierra, lee, hornady, hogden/imr, lyman.. etc. even if the manul is the previus revision at a use dbook store.. get it.. it's worth it.

for 1, you get to look at ALOT of laod date to think yours up.. plus you have PLENTY of oem projectiles to choose from. thus you can either pick the EXACT projectile you are using by name / number and see exact loads.. or if nothing else, select by projectile tipe.. spire point boat tail.. etc..

soundguy

[aa1911]

^^yep yep!

Another good manual are the small spiral bound ones by caliber/gauge; they have just about all the load data out there compiled into one book. I buy them for anything I reload regularly, I think they're still about $8 each.