grant22 Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Since I'm new to reloading, I know nothing. But I do know there are some handtools I'll need to aide in case prep. I don't mind spending money on tools I'll use, problem is, I don't know what some of these are and if I'll need or use them. Right now, I'm reloading .38 sp and in the near future I'll be reloading 380 acp and .223 rem. Lyman seems to have a nice set for around $52 and it includes the following: Large & Small Primer Pocket Reamers, Large & Small Primer Pocket Cleaners, Outside Deburring Tool, Inside VLD Deburring Tool, Large & Small Primer Pocket Uniforming Tools. Seperately, Lyman sells a Flash Hole tool. There is also a Lyman set that consists of similartools, but they are bits and are used in your power drill motor. Not sure what I should get (power or manual hand tools) and or if I need these at all. Any help would be great.....Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 At least for me.. none of those is needed for pistol reloading Rifle reloading is a whole other animal. You'll have to check and trim the cases to length after firing. Decide on your trimming strategy first - then see what else you need. For ARs - I don't clean the pockets either, and I don't chamfer after trimming, but about 1/2 the people do. So.. when it comes down to it.. I wouldn't buy any of those tools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant22 Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 At least for me.. none of those is needed for pistol reloading Rifle reloading is a whole other animal. You'll have to check and trim the cases to length after firing. Decide on your trimming strategy first - then see what else you need. For ARs - I don't clean the pockets either, and I don't chamfer after trimming, but about 1/2 the people do. So.. when it comes down to it.. I wouldn't buy any of those tools Would you say these tools are for 'precision shooting?' Therefore if I'm just shooting at the range, I could do without these, but if I'm precision target shooting, these make the rounds more accurate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I don't see a need for any of these, especially as you're doing straight walled pistol right now. I've never cleaned nor "adjusted" a primer pocket. If you have a burred case, ditch it and move on. IMHO use your money for something else like primers, powder etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 At least for me.. none of those is needed for pistol reloading Rifle reloading is a whole other animal. You'll have to check and trim the cases to length after firing. Decide on your trimming strategy first - then see what else you need. For ARs - I don't clean the pockets either, and I don't chamfer after trimming, but about 1/2 the people do. So.. when it comes down to it.. I wouldn't buy any of those tools Would you say these tools are for 'precision shooting?' Therefore if I'm just shooting at the range, I could do without these, but if I'm precision target shooting, these make the rounds more accurate? Yes to doing without these. No to more accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARKAVELI Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 +1 save the money for bullets, primers and powders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Would you say these tools are for 'precision shooting?' Therefore if I'm just shooting at the range, I could do without these, but if I'm precision target shooting, these make the rounds more accurate? If you're doing bench-rest rifle shooting.. those guys can be fanatical in their brass prep I don't think anything USPSA style justifies it. Bench-rest shooters probably cringe at that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant22 Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 One last question, then. Down the road when I start reloading .223, should I get these tools for after trimming a case? For removing the military crimps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 For the primer crimps - lots of tools that will do it - (I have a 1050 and do it there) - but lots of topics you can search trough in 'Rifle Reloading' sinmce most poeople that reload .223 will encounter these issues like: http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/25263/catid/8/Super_Swage_600 I'm sure the Lyman will work, I know alot of people use something they put in a drill motor, or on a drill press.. just depends on your volume of cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz-0 Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Since I'm new to reloading, I know nothing. But I do know there are some handtools I'll need to aide in case prep. I don't mind spending money on tools I'll use, problem is, I don't know what some of these are and if I'll need or use them. Right now, I'm reloading .38 sp and in the near future I'll be reloading 380 acp and .223 rem. Lyman seems to have a nice set for around $52 and it includes the following: Large & Small Primer Pocket Reamers, Large & Small Primer Pocket Cleaners, Outside Deburring Tool, Inside VLD Deburring Tool, Large & Small Primer Pocket Uniforming Tools. Seperately, Lyman sells a Flash Hole tool. There is also a Lyman set that consists of similartools, but they are bits and are used in your power drill motor. Not sure what I should get (power or manual hand tools) and or if I need these at all. Any help would be great.....Thanks One last question, then. Down the road when I start reloading .223, should I get these tools for after trimming a case? For removing the military crimps? Reamer - For .223, if you want to load military brass, you are going to need something to take the primer pocket crimp out. That can be a reamer, a swager, or just send it out to a brass prep service. The hornady reamer has a nice sharp cutter and is reasonably priced. inside and outside chamfer tools - I have chamfered, but I don't know if it is worth it. Me + optic + gun = less accurate than my ammo. It does make seating the flat base bullets smoother and faster, but I doubt it saves me enough time to care much. Primer pocket cleaners - None of my rifle loads made off once fired commercial brass get dirty enough to warrant this IMO, even with accuracy seeking bolt action loads. Maybe that's due to me being cautious about number of times reloading a single case, but I have yet to see anything nasty enough that wasn't a pistol case. In pistol, it hasn't caused me mechanical problems, and it certainly isn't going to be noticed over mixed headstamp brass in terms of variance in the load. primer pocket uniforming tool - I've seen a couple people who have a tricked out setup for high volume rifle reloading that swear by it. But that is because having the primer pockets uniform helps their setup run smoothly, not for accuracy reasons. IMO common sense says that although it uniforms pocket depth, it doesn't make the distance between the primer and the powder any more consistent because you are only modifying one side to be consistent. Flash hole tool - I got one to try it out. For new, never fired brass, I'd regard it as totally useless. It does almost nothing to the brass. On the other hand, with some of the once fired brass I have retrieved from my bulk factory ammo, there has been some pretty severe chunks of brass left attached to the flash hole. Does it matter? I get more consistent velocity out of my reloads than the factory stuff that needed it, but that isn't saying much as QC that doesn't care about flash holes like that probably doesn't care about other things that could account for it. I visually inspect after crimp removal, messy flash holes go in the messy pile, good enough goes in the good enough pile, and I uniform them because it's fast enough and it's not work you have to redo with each firing. This vide makes a compelling argument for the RCBS camlock trimmer + their 3-in-1 trim and chamfer tool. I'm debating it because I already bought my tools. If I had none yet, it is probably the way I'd go. I may still do it simply for the time savings compared to my current setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant22 Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 You've all been a big help, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I pretty much only load for USPSA, and I use the Lymnan primer reamer quite a bit. I wouldnt get the power one the hand held one works fine. If you load range brass in military calibers like 5.56 9mm or 45 your gonna run into surplus brass that has the primers crimped, a few twists with this tool removes it, as well as the red and green glue some use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahK Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 The only time I end up using chamfer tools, have to enlarge flash hold or clean the primer pocket seem to be when I'm going for the most accurate .223/6.8/etc loads possible (i.e, rifle rounds), and even then, it's probably just me being super picky/anal about it Never had to do anything with pistol rounds, though I do have to occasionally clean out he primer pocket, for that, the cheap Cabelas reamer/pocket cleaner tool(s) work great. $15 tops Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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