RELOADING BASICS Handloading Basics

Welcome to the challenging and rewarding hobby of handloading. It’s a fun, safe and economical aspect of the shooting sports—one that will enhance your ability to shoot. Let’s take a minute to answer a few of the most common questions about reloading.



How safe is handloading?

Reloading is extremely safe thanks to today’s smokeless gun powders. In fact, modern smokeless powders are classified as propellants, not explosives, meaning when properly used, these powders only burn when ignited. While common sense and certain precautions should not be ignored, handloading is safe and fun. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHILE SHOOTING AND HANDLOADING. How good is handloaded ammo?

Carefully handloaded ammunition is usually better than its factory-loaded counterpart because it can be fine-tuned to fit a specific gun and a certain type of shooting. The result is far greater accuracy. How complicated is reloading?

It’s simple. There are only four components to a rifle or pistol cartridge: The primer, powder, bullet and brass case. When a cartridge is fired, the primer ignites the powder, and the powder then propels the bullet out of the barrel. All that’s left is the brass case and the spent primer. This is where handloading comes in. The brass case can be reloaded over and over. How much money does reloading save?

A lot. Take factory-loaded 30-06 Sprg. ammunition, for example. At today’s prices, each round cost about $2 each. Of that, the primer, powder and bullet account for about .70¢. So about $1.30 of every factory round is chalked up to the brass case plus the expense of loading it. Since you will be using the case over again, you save nearly 65% over factory ammo or about $26 per box of 20! That’s why handloaders generally make better shooters, because they can afford to practice more. How much equipment does it take?

Surprisingly little. The truth is you can get all the equipment you need to start out with for $300-$500. If you do much shooting at all, this amount can be saved in your first year alone. How many types of cartridges can be reloaded?

Most any except rimfire type, like .22’s . Most brass cases can be reloaded 5 to 20 times, depending upon the cartridge and powder charge. Besides the standard cartridge, RCBS has the tooling to make over 3,100 custom reloading dies, so there’s no limit to what can be handloaded.

RELOADING GLOSSARY Reloading has its own language. Here are some words to familiarize yourself with. See the Speer reloading manual for more reloading information. Bell: To flare a case mouth to receive a bullet easily. Bullet: A piece of metal formed into a projectile. Available in a variety of shapes and weights. Bullet Swaging: The forming of a bullet using pressure in a die instead of casting molten lead in a mould. Caliber: The approximate diameter of a bullet or gun bore. Cannelure: One or more grooves cut around the circumference of a bullet where the crimped case can grip the bullet. Cartridge: A completely loaded, ready-to-fire round of ammunition. Case: A metal cylindrical container which holds the primer, powder and bullet. Also called brass. Case Forming: To form cases of one caliber into a different caliber. Chamfer: To bevel the inside of a case mouth. The bevel allows rifle bullets to start into the case mouth without crushing the case. Chronograph: An instrument used to measure the velocity of a bullet. Components: The parts that make up a cartridge. The case, primer, powder and bullet. Crimp: To bend inward the mouth of a case to grip the bullet. Used only with bullets having a cannelure or crimping groove. Deburr: To remove the small metal burrs from inside and outside of a case mouth. Decapping: Removal of the spent primer from a fired case. Decapping Pin: The slim needle-like rod in the sizer die which pushes out the spent primer. Expander: The part of a die that expands the case mouth to receive the bullet. Flash Hole: The hole through which the primer ignites the powder charge in a case. Handloading: Another term for reloading. Hangfire: Slang term for any detectable delay in cartridge ignition. Ignition: The action of setting a powder charge on fire. Jacket: The cover or “skin” of a bullet. Misfire: The failure of a cartridge to fire after the firing pin strikes the primer. Neck: That portion of a case which grips the bullet. In a bottlenecked case, that portion of the case in front of the shoulder. Neck Sizer Die: A die used to resize only the neck portion of the fired case back to approximately its original dimensions. Primer Pocket Swaging: The “smoothing out” of the crimped primer pocket found in military cases. Priming: Installing a new primer into a case. Progressive Press: Allows the user to achieve multiple steps of the reloading process simultaneously. Ram: The steel rod running through the center of a press that holds the shell holder and drives the case into the die. Reloading Press: The tool which performs the major tasks of reloading. Resize: To restore a fired case to approximately its original size. Round: A military term for one complete cartridge. Seater Die: The die that seats the bullet into the mouth of the powder charged and primed case. Seating Depth: The depth to which a bullet is seated in the case mouth. Shell Holder: The part that holds the case in proper alignment while the case is being run into the die. Sizer Die: A die used to resize a fired case back to approximately its original dimensions. Spent Primer: A primer that has been fired. Ultrasonic Case Cleaner: Very high vibrations generated by an ultrasonic case cleaner that are used to clean brass cases. The ultrasonic case cleaner warms and vibrates ultrasonic case cleaning solution, removing buildup and restoring luster to brass cases.