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I do alot of 30-06 shooting (M1 Garands) and have a large amount of boxer-primed brass. With ammo prices the way they are today, I'd like to get into reloading
as my new "hobby". I'd like a few tips from the experts: reloading equipment to get, best manufacturers, best options for powder, bullets and primers, etc...
Any guidance would be very much appreciated. Thanks.:)
Boy! Are you gonna get a truckload of opinions! One point that needs to be addressed before we start answering is, what all do you intend to load? Like most folks, I load a wide variety of cartridges. The answers will depend to a large degree on what you plan on doing.
Lee, without a doubt, is the best value in loading equipment. Their Classic Press, either the single stage or the turrert version are first class. Their dies are excelent quality. Their Factory Crimp die is the best crimp die on the market. I use Lee, RCBS, Redding & Lyman dies & the Lee performs just as
well as thier more expensive cousins. Ditto their presses. Their powder scale & powder measure are excellent as well although I prefer the Redding measure & a Lyman scale. You do not need the RCBS Small Base dies for a Garand.
Varget or Hodgdon or IMR 4895 is perfect for a Garand. 4895 is the powder designed for the Garand.
Any brand of Large Rifle primer CCI; Winchester, Remington or Federal will work well.
150 to 165 or 168 gr bullets work best. 180 gr bullets are the max weight recommended. Various surplus bullets are on the market but will not give the accuracy of Sierra, Hornady, Speer, Remington or Winchester, etc. bullets. My favorite bullets is the Remington 165 gr CoreLokt. It has teh smallest amount of exposed lead of any SP bullet; gives 100% functioning; is cheap (relatively) and accurate.
A case trimmer system (Lee again) & cartridge case length gauge are also needed along with a number of other accesories. The Lee Case lube is A1. Most of the others (Hornady, if I recall, is the other exception) will conatminate powder if not removed before priming the case & charging with powder. Use the Lee or Hornady? case lube.
Get a good loading manual like the Lyman 49th edition & digest it before proceeding. Reloading is straightforward & is not rocket science as long as you understand what you are doing.
Right now, reloading componets are scare & expensive (compared to a year ago) due to the Obama scare factor.
Get good manuals, preferrably more than one, Sierra, Hodgdon, Lyman, Hornady, or other.
Assume you will be primarily loading rifle, .30-06? If so, a good strong single stage press, RCBS Rockchucker, Redding, Hornady, many good ones out there. More expensive but real good, Bonanza COAX press. Get shell holders for caliber for the press (except COAX that does not require them).
Good dies for the caliber, for bottle neck rifle only 2-die set needed, resizer and seater, Redding, RCBS, Lee, Hornady, Lyman etc. Redding bushing dies are very good dies, but a little more complex to set up and use. Digital scale for measuring powder charges, the only way to go in modern reloading. Good caliper for tracking case length and measuring cartridge OAL. Get a Wilson, Dillon, RCBS, or Lyman case headspace gage for safety if you are loading mil surplus brass, ensures your resized cases are safely within specs.
Case lube and lube pad, or use good spray lube. Primer pocket cleaner, like Hornady which you stick into a drill chuck (or find a flat tip drill bit that fits in primer pocket). Lee Priming Tool, cheapest and best for priming cases.
Powder measure, Redding, Lyman, RCBS, etc, many out there. Get one with a baffle in the hopper, baffle improves powder charge consistency in my experience.
If possible, get an experienced reloader to show you how to do it.
Whatever primer you use, don't use primers that are "more sensitive" in a Garand. That free floating firing pin has had lots of slamfire reports, even with factory and military ammo.Quote:
Any brand of Large Rifle primer CCI; Winchester, Remington or Federal will work well.
Federal primers are the most sensitive primers on the market. When ever there has been a report of a slamfire with a reload, the primers in the incident have been Federals.
CCI makes a "Mil Spec" primer that is particularly insensitive, the CCI #34. The CCI 200 also seems to have a thick primer cup, so it is likely to be relatively insensitive.
I don't know about the rest, I used tens of thousands of the old nickel plated WLR. When Winchester went to the brass finish primer in 1999, they told me they made the primer more sensitive. Well that was not what I wanted to hear.
When CCI#34 primers were $70/5000, I tried to buy a life time supply. If things work out, I will have a very long life. :dancingbanana:
If you do alot of Garand shooting, then you should know a vast array of people you shoot with, that reload. I think this is where to start, getting a buddy to show you the ropes. You can see what he has, what he does and why!
There are some shooters who reload the same cartridges and reload in a buddy system, sharing the costs in the equipment and components and reloading in bulk, that can be a cost saving for both.
Other than that, if you are going at it alone, manuals should be obtained for the style of cartridge in which you intend to reload. Equipment can be purchased at estate sales, garage sales, flea markets, gun shows and the online sources such as gunbroker, auction arms or guns america. I am not sure about craigs list, but I know that big auction site E-B_Y has many great deals on used equipment.
Slamfire1 knows this cartridge for the Garand, so when he talks about components, listen very carefully, you can't go wrong with his years and years of reloading expertise.
If you are looking at brand name equipment, RCBS, LYMAN, REDDING, LEE, WILSON and SINCLAIR all have the right equipment to take care of all of your reloading needs.
:beerchug:
I agree with Matt. Watch someone do it start to finish. A picture is worth a thousand words. You will catch on much quicker. Buy a good manual and start looking around and shopping for componets.
I practice what I preach. Yesterday was a wonderful day, and I decided to shoot my match Garand in my Club's 100 yard Highpower match. I was happy with my results, considering that I had not fired that particular rifle since Dec 2007.
The group size for the sitting target is about the same size as the prone. Only proving that my butt is flatter than my belly.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...FSitting-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...dSFProne-1.jpg
Slamfire, Impressive shooting!
Your good, very good!
OFC
I'll send a variation on something I sent to my graduate forum awhile back... on reloading for both AR variants and M1 Garands
Recomend:
Ammunition: If you haven't already order at least another 1,000 rounds 30-06 from DCM/CMP. (You probably already know HXP Greek surplus 150gr/2700fps is what they (mostly) sell, and it's is considered superior to even Lake City for quality by many aficionados.)
Reloading:
Powder - Stock up on IMR4895 & IMR4064 for the .30 calibers. Get Hodgdon VARGET, H335, H322, and IMR4895 again for the .223. (Obviously, if I only were to get *one* powder, IMR4895 is "it".)
Primers - Get CCI (small & large rifle) primers. Get at least of "brick" of a thousand each. Stay away from Federal primers. They are considered too soft/more prone to slamfire in high-impact autoloading rifles, (but are fine for bolt actions/pistols). MidwayUSA & Cabela's sell it cheap over internet.
Brass - Get (even more) Winchester unprimed brass. MidwayUSA & Cabela’s sell it cheap (again). Some people say "too thin," but I've never had a problem... (and it's got the highest internal volume; and the chamber walls support the pressure, not the brass).
Bullets - I stay with Sierra (primarily) & Hornady. (MidwayUsa/Cabella’s again). Get 150gr/SP, 165grSP and the 168grHPBT-Match (used by the snipers) for the .30 calibers. Depending on barrel twist in the .223, get anywhere from 55gr - 68/69gr match)
Primer Seater - Go with the Lee "Autoprime" manual priming tool. It primes as fast as your little hands can squeeze AND you feel/see how every primer seats (critical for autoloaders). Also get the different shell-holders for the cases being loaded
Dies - Get RCBS *Competition* Die sets (MidwayUsa/Cabellas again). They permit very precise bullet alignment/runout, and repeatable seating depths for different bullets using a micrometer adjustment head.
Press - Do NOT get a rotary-head loading press. The Lyman Crusher-II and the RCBS Rockchucker are the standards. Ditto getting the different case/shell holders for this press as well.
Powder Scale - You'll probably want a balance beam scale to start (and to be the Holy Grail when you feel nervous, e.g Lyman's Pro 1000). But having played the classic balance beam for almost 40 years, NOTHING has impressed me more than the new RCSB electronic "Chargemaster Combo" w/ automatic dispenser & scale. It is literally "…set the weight, push a button, and pour the powder into the case…" a coupla 5-8 seconds later. VERY HARD TO SCREW UP.
"Stuff" - You'll need a case neck brush/motor-mica (http://www.forsterproducts.com/Pages/graphiter.htm); case sizing lube; mouth chamfer/deburring tool; Primer pocket uniformer (manual, but will fit in hand drill)--a must for the autoloaders;
Precision "Stuff" - Get a (digital) blade micrometer. Best investment you will ever make for any number of uses. Get either Hornady's Lock-N-Load Headspace Gauge set to go with it, or an RCBS Precision Mic as well.
http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=485
http://www.intlmidway.com/intl/eprod...eitemid=622021
IF YOU"VE GOTTEN THIS FAR WITHOUT HAVING HIT "DELETE," THEN YOU'RE A RELOADER CANDIDATE
Old Rockchuckers were made for eternity. New ones come from PRC and there are 'net reports of breakage.
I started with a R Chucker but have now gone back in time to using an ancient Lyman for pistol. A dollar saved is a dollar for components.
>
> Old Rockchuckers were made for eternity. New ones come from
> PRC and there are 'net reports of breakage.
>
Geeeeez. `Wonder if this is part of a bigger "plan." :crying: