Noob, thinking about reloading...

[Caedes]

OK, to the point.  Just started practical pistol and competition shooting this year.  Really like it.  Ammo has become scarce, I'd also like to shoot 4k plus rounds a month.

 

I'm thinking Dillon 750 with case feeder and bullet feeder.  Might as well make it efficient?   Is there a better setup for bulk 9mm?

 

Also, thinking once fired polished brass, or even new?  Where should I get brass?  I'm not about to start washing, drying, and polishing.  F-that...

 

For bullets I'm think bluebullets.com?...  As for powder and primers, local?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

Justin

[MikeyScuba]

Welcome to the club.  Not the best time to start but it’s not like you have a choice.

 

I started with a 650 and a bulletfeeder.  Slightly steep learning curve but not horrendous.  If you don’t have an easy supply of brass buying processed brass is a good way to go.  I get all I need for free but then I went and bought a roll sizer.  There are a lot of vendors here selling processed brass.

 

Use a Lee U die and use case lube

Get a hundo case gauge
 

I do tumble match rounds - they come out sooo shiny.

[konkapot]

Are you reloading because ammo is scare or to save money?

 

What type of gun?

 

[Caedes]

8 minutes ago, konkapot said:

Are you reloading because ammo is scare or to save money?

 

What type of gun?

 

First because ammo is scarce, and secondly if I'm going to burn 4k+ rounds/month saving .10 per even if buying once-fired polished brass it adds up quick.

 

I have a CGW Shadow 2 Orange, and an X5 Legion.  I'm likely going to sell the X5 and focus my training on the Shadow 2.

[Caedes]

33 minutes ago, MikeyScuba said:

Welcome to the club.  Not the best time to start but it’s not like you have a choice.

 

I started with a 650 and a bulletfeeder.  Slightly steep learning curve but not horrendous.  If you don’t have an easy supply of brass buying processed brass is a good way to go.  I get all I need for free but then I went and bought a roll sizer.  There are a lot of vendors here selling processed brass.

 

Use a Lee U die and use case lube

Get a hundo case gauge
 

I do tumble match rounds - they come out sooo shiny.

Lee U, Hundo?  Is that Greek?...  

[konkapot]

Make sure your buy everything in bulk; there's no buying "a pound" of powder or "1000 primers." Bulk=as large a quantity as you can afford. Will help you with shipping/hazmat costs too. It would be great if you can buy kegs of powder locally. 

 

Some folks treat reloading like they're building a fusion reactor; every second spent reloading is time spent not training. For me there is no "washing and drying" of brass. Dump that stuff in the tumbler and pull it out in an hour or two or three. 

 

Sometimes they are deals on this forum for bullets or brass. 

 

With those guns Blue Bullets will be great. Find a load and stick with it. Again, every second spent playing with ammo is time not training. 

 

I'd invest in a second gun. That's an ok amount of shooting to start with; you will have gun breakage or wear/tear issues. Gotta have a second gun. 

[Caedes]

Solid advice, how about the actual equipment?  Dillon 750 and Mr. Bullet Feeder the way to go?  Where should I buy it?

 

Also, like you said time reloading takes away from time training.  I don't pick up brass, let alone piss around with polishing it.  I'll probably use once-fired I buy online already polished.

 

As for measuring and gauging every round, F-that!  Maybe if I was shooting USPSA Nationals or some s#!t.  Otherwise I'll probably weigh my powder 2 or 3 times each run and check the first couple OAL then rock a 2,000 rounds or so.  Looking to save time, not piss around in the basement...  

[konkapot]

I've used a square deal B, 550, and 650 over the years. 550 does better in the places I reload; not quiet as sensitive to dirt and moisture. Never bought a bullet feeder. That's what my left hand is for when I'm reloading. 

 

Agreed and LOL on gauging every round. Major match ammo is factory, club match I will chamber check. 

[SnipTheDog]

40 minutes ago, Caedes said:

Lee U, Hundo?  Is that Greek?

 

The best time to start reloading was 10 years ago.

 

Lee U Die:  https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-LP90292-Decapping-Die/dp/B002SF2ZXU/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=lee+u+die&qid=1593993569&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-13

Hundo 9mm: https://www.amazon.com/Shockbottle-100-Hole-Chamber-Checker-Cartridge/dp/B00EQC9E0K

Edited July 6, 2020 by SnipTheDog

[risingsun]

1 hour ago, Caedes said:

Solid advice, how about the actual equipment?  Dillon 750 and Mr. Bullet Feeder the way to go?  Where should I buy it?

 

Also, like you said time reloading takes away from time training.  I don't pick up brass, let alone piss around with polishing it.  I'll probably use once-fired I buy online already polished.

 

As for measuring and gauging every round, F-that!  Maybe if I was shooting USPSA Nationals or some s#!t.  Otherwise I'll probably weigh my powder 2 or 3 times each run and check the first couple OAL then rock a 2,000 rounds or so.  Looking to save time, not piss around in the basement...  

 

I don't shoot 4K rounds a month, but if I did, at the rate of 350 rounds per hour on my Square Deal B,  it would take around 12 hours to make. I'd imagine it would be so much faster to make with a 750 or 1050/1100 + case feeder + bullet feeder.

 

There's nothing wrong with not gauging your rounds, but if you use once-fired brass, sometimes you'll find some of your rounds are not in spec. The ones that are too long, would jam my gun (out of battery) and would take muscling with the slide to get the round out. It's fine on practice session, but could cost you time in a match, or the match itself, unless you have a second gun.

 

[MemphisMechanic]

The 750 is a great choice. 
 

A 124gr bluebullet is a pooular choice in a heavy steel gun like a Shadow 2; you can run 147s but they feel sluggish to a lot of us... and 124s are still very soft. Not to mention cheaper.

 

If you’re shooting in a place where you can recover your brass, and even wind up with a surplus, that’s a huge financial boon if you’re running through 1,000+ pieces per month.

 

Buy a cheap Cabela’s or frankford arsenal dry tumbler, and fill it with crushed walnut from the pet store sold as lizard bedding. Dump a thousand pieces in, run it for an hour, then come back and pour clean brass into a bucket. Little to no labor.

 

Spray it with One Shot lube as it gets fed into the casefeeder and you’re good. (This processing method makes for smooth feeding relible ammo but my cases still show corrosion and staining. If you don’t fetishize reloading, or care the least bit about how your ammo LOOKS? There’s no need to wet tumble brass, dry it, make your own custom case lube, etc.)

 

Powder? I recommend clean shot or sport pistol or a few others over titegroup with coated bullets. Titegroup works fine, but it leaves the gun nasty. I oil often, but actually clean my competition guns every 2,000-5,000 rounds, so I like something that runs cleaner.  

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by MemphisMechanic

[woodrow]

I see you want to do quantity. I like your style. Cleaning brass isn't that big of a deal. It tumbles while you work the press. I used to tumble 5gal pails of brass in a cement mixer. 5gal is about 8k pieces of 9mm. I buy from Blue Bullets as well. Their 10% off 10k+ projos is a nice deal.

 

If you're confident enough to start loading with a 750 and a MBF, then my opinion is to go to a 1050 or 1100 with the DAA dropper & expander instead. I use this set up and drop the projos in manually and I'm as fast or faster, more consistent and have better feeling with the press over using an automated feeder. The price should even out with this route too.

 

The awesomest thing with the 1050/1100 is on board swaging. I notice a lot more 9mm brass with crimped primers (and those stupid 2 piece cases) and setting up the swage rod just right makes reloading life go a lot smoother. Anyways, I can easily cruise along at 1k rounds/hr with my set up. It's very efficient. I like to load a case of projos per session. So once you figure out your work flow and cadence, your loading session would be around 3-4 hours a month. That's pretty good time. Brass tumbles while you're loading and thats prepping for the next session. Just don't expect immediate awesome production with whatever set up you go with. Just like how you're learning to shoot faster and more precise, you have to learn loading as well to get faster and more precise.

 

Scoring on components is going to bring cost down. I load the 150gr blues and it ends up around 10cents/rnd. I'm using Ramshot Competition. Max out rebates on primers too.

 

Get the Hundo and plunk every round. Just think, you're looking to make a crap load of ammo and that mean there's the potential to make a crap load of BAD ammo. There's a lot of effd up 9mm brass out there. Theres also the 9major brass. The worst is discovering at a match that your ammo is bad. The Hundo does 100rmds at a time. You pick out the ones sticking out and thats your practice ammo. The good ones are for the match. You're going to run into brass sorting issues. It comes along with the territory. You can buy a giant bucket of brass and there's going to be an occasional 380 or 38supercomp that sneaks in there. This is where learning the machine comes in. I can tell if those buggers make it in because of the way the press feels and the sound of the brass. The more automated your make the press the more out of tune the user is to the press. Again all things that you'll learn... hopefully haaha.

 

Hope you get set up and keep blasting away. Let us know what you get!

 

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stick]

A lot of the above posts are spot on.  I won't rehash what they said because they said it perfectly.  I wan't to ask about the brass.  Why not pick up your used brass?  Get a brass picker and at least try and recoup some of your money.  Every penny you save if less money toward consumables (bullets, primers and powder).  Dumping your brass into a tumbler and walking away for a couple of hours takes no effort on your part and it will save you quite a bit of money especially if you are really shooting 4k a month.

[Hi-Power Jack]

3 hours ago, woodrow said:

 

If you're confident enough to start loading with a 750 and a MBF, then my opinion is to go to a 1050 or 1100 with the DAA dropper & expander instead.

 

I usually recommend a SDB (that's what I reload with), but if you're in a hurry, and don't mind spending the $$$$,

I'd suggest you start with a 1050/1100.

 

Save a lot of time, and it takes the crimp out at the same time.

 

From the little you've written here, I'd suggest you spend a half hour

reading past posts re:   reloading 9mm ...    

 

 

 

[CharlieD]

I would go with an 1100, that way you can automate it later on.  50,000 rounds a year is worth automation.  
 

Also, cleaning brass is really not that big of a deal.  Buy the big Dillon tumbler and dump in 1,500 cases at a time.  It’s really that easy dump them in and turn it on.  

[Kilrb]

I started reloading a couple of years ago, started like you not wanting to clean brass. Well after a few months that will change, its not that big of a deal. Plus I get what everyone leaves behind. I picked up 1000 rounds of once fired CCI couple days ago that I watched guys shoot and walk away. All of this adds up in a years time especially with the way everyone is buying up everything now.

[belus]

On 7/5/2020 at 5:23 PM, Caedes said:

OK, to the point.  Just started practical pistol and competition shooting this year.  Really like it.  Ammo has become scarce, I'd also like to shoot 4k plus rounds a month.

 

I'm thinking Dillon 750 with case feeder and bullet feeder.  Might as well make it efficient?   Is there a better setup for bulk 9mm?

 

Also, thinking once fired polished brass, or even new?  Where should I get brass?  I'm not about to start washing, drying, and polishing.  F-that...

 

For bullets I'm think bluebullets.com?...  As for powder and primers, local?

 

I loaded for a couple years on a 550 and then a 650 with MBF. I still have both of those presses for lower volume stuff. Now I load 9mm on an automated 1050 because time is precious.

 

If you're buying processed brass you could do it all on a 750. It'd take a committed day each month to load. But if your brass isn't pre processed you'll probably want a 1100 at those volumes. People sell brass on this forum and at larger matches, though it's often just cleaned and not processed. Sometimes you can get discounted powder and primers at those matches too.

 

With free brass my 147gr loads are about $0.10 per, and buying brass would add about 0.035 to that.  If I wanted cheaper ammo I'd need to go to a lower bullet weight. You're looking at $500-600/mo in components based on your goals. An AmmoBot 1100 is only 6-7 months of shooting and probably worth it.

 

I usually buy in quantities of 10k+ to get volume discounts and amortize the hazmat fees. You'll want multiple months of supplies stocked up so you can be patient in your deal hunting. It helps to keep a spreadsheet of suppliers: Acme is often cheaper than Blue Bullets for example, and Summers advertises even cheaper prices but I've yet to buy from them.

 

Also at 4k/mo you probably want a second identical gun for practice and reserve the other one for the larger matches. It's only a couple months of shooting budget to pick up a spare.

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by belus

[124gr9mm]

On 7/5/2020 at 7:39 PM, Caedes said:

Solid advice, how about the actual equipment?  Dillon 750 and Mr. Bullet Feeder the way to go?  Where should I buy it?

 

Also, like you said time reloading takes away from time training.  I don't pick up brass, let alone piss around with polishing it.  I'll probably use once-fired I buy online already polished.

 

As for measuring and gauging every round, F-that!  Maybe if I was shooting USPSA Nationals or some s#!t.  Otherwise I'll probably weigh my powder 2 or 3 times each run and check the first couple OAL then rock a 2,000 rounds or so.  Looking to save time, not piss around in the basement...  

 

Respectfully, you will need to "piss away" a bit of time getting your feet wet reloading.

 

It's not rocket-science, but if you sacrifice quality control for speed you're going to end up with inconsistent loads, squibs, kabooms, and maybe worse.

 

As for the 750 and Mr Bullet Feeder, I think there are a lot of people out there using them for the exact reason you're looking to.

[Want2BS8ed]

 With free brass my 147gr loads are about $0.10 per, and buying brass would add about 0.035 to that.  If I wanted cheaper ammo I'd need to go to a lower bullet weight. You're looking at $500-600/mo in components based on your goals. An AmmoBot 1100 is only 6-7 months of shooting and probably worth it.

This popped up on a Tapatalk feed. I shoot a 147g subsonic round using a fully swaged Precision Delta bullet (not cast and not brass washed, but a true FMJ bullet) in a Starline case. My cost is the same as yours, 14¢ a round.

I long ago amortized the cost of a Mark 7 driven 1050. Not sure that I saved that much, because I am certainly shooting way more than I used to! LOL

That was hammered home in a recent trip to the range with an Eagle Scout from my son’s old troop (my son’s an Eagle Scout and in college now). Impressive young man in his early 20’s, engineering degree, good job, just bought his first house and was looking to purchase his first handgun. We spent 2-hours on the range and went through over 750 rounds. He innocently asked how much the ammunition cost and was floored when I told him the retail value. I graciously accepted the hot dog and beer he offered in exchange!

To the OP, start simple. A 550 or 750. I wouldn’t even get the Mr. Bullet feeder until you had some time under your belt. As for checking rounds? Even at 1,800 rounds an hour I still run everything through a Hundo gauge.