Stumped by which reloading equipment to choose?

Trial and error can be a frustrating–and expensive–approach, so here’s a look at the equipment that’s earned a place on my reloading bench so far.

A Manual

If you’re thinking even a little about hand loading, the first step is easy: buy a reloading manual and read it. In addition to load data, a good reloading manual has tips, techniques, and recommendations about every aspect of reloading and can get you started off in the right direction.

Most manuals are published by bullet manufacturers, and focus—understandably—on loading data for their own brand of bullets. If you’re already committed to a particular brand, then simply pick the corresponding manual.

Otherwise, a good generic choice to start with is the most recent edition of the Lyman Reloading Handbook. A recent edition ensures you have current data that reflects the latest developments in gun and component technology.

(note: this is an Amazon affiliate link, which means that if you click the link and buy the associated product, Amazon may pay me a fee–your cost is unaffected)

In addition to printed manuals, there are excellent sources of reloading information online: two of my favorites are Panhandle Precision and Ultimate Reloader. Many equipment and component manufacturers have websites and apps with load data, articles, and videos, as do the better retailers like Brownells, MidSouth Shooters Supply, and Midway USA.

The Bench

If you’re like me, you’re limited by the space available for your reloading bench. I would’ve liked to have a wall-length workbench with excellent lighting, plenty of storage, and pre-drilled mounting positions for my reloading equipment. An adjustable chair with good back support (and possibly a built-in massager) would also have been welcome.

Instead, I converted an old storage shelf to a bench. You do want a sturdy surface to support your equipment, and since the particle board top on my bench was a little flimsy, I bought a wood counter top at our local home improvement store and bolted it on.

I screwed metal shelf brackets into wall studs to support board shelves for powder and dies, then added a lamp.

The bottom two shelves of the bench hold bullets, tools, a gun cleaning kit, a brass cleaner, and a plastic bin with hanging files for bags of brass.

I do a lot of my reloading standing up, but a wooden bar stool serves as a perch when I’d rather be seated.

Press

My first piece of reloading equipment was my dad’s old Bair reloading press. My brother recommended that I remove the included primer seater and use a hand tool for that instead. I loaded my first bullets with this press and it did a fine job.

I eventually replaced the Bair with a newer press, but it still serves permanent duty as a deprimer and bullet puller. It’s set up with a Lee Precision Recapping die and, to help keep the spent primers from going everywhere, a primer catcher attachment from primercatcher.com.

When I started reloading for 6.5 Creedmoor and 6mm ARC I discovered that those cases had smaller primer holes: .062″ vs the standard .080.” Using the standard pin on the smaller holes would widen them, damaging the brass, and I was afraid that the smaller pin would pierce, rather than remove, regular primers.

Rather than worry about swapping pins and then trying to remember which pin I’d left in the die, I bought another universal decapping die from Redding and left the smaller pin permanently installed in it.

I also keep an RCBS collet-type bullet puller for use in the Bair when I need to pull apart a finished round, whether the bullet is seated too deeply or I’ve loaded too much powder, etc. There are other kinds of bullet pullers–plier type, inertial hammer type, etc., but I like the precision and controllability of the collet types.

With this setup I don’t need to worry about spilled powder or damaged brass, and I can usually salvage the bullet, too (although it’s important to inspect closely for dings and blemishes–especially if you’re loading for precision rifle).

You buy the collets separately: I picked one up for each caliber I load.

As I said, eventually I decided the old Bair needed to be replaced with something newer–and a little sturdier.

After asking around and doing a lot of research, I decided not to invest in a progressive press. These perform multiple operations with each stroke of the handle and allow you to make a lot of bullets in a hurry. They’re a little more complicated to set up, however, and require close attention to all the different operations in play. Because I don’t reload in huge quantities, I decided to keep it simple.

I checked out turret presses next: these perform one operation at a time, but the turrets allow you to mount multiple dies on the press at once. You then rotate the turret to switch dies without having to install them individually–and inadvertently disturbing depth settings in the process. You can mount the dies for more than one caliber on each turret plate, purchasing additional plates as needed.

In the end, I decided to go with a single-stage press. I wanted a simple, solid platform and decided I didn’t need the extra capability the progressive or turret presses offered. After a lot of research and anguished dithering, I chose RCBS’s Rock Chucker Supreme and bolted it to a 4″ Inline Fabrication mount.

The Rock Chucker has the leverage to effortlessly size stubborn cases yet still provides excellent “feel” for more sensitive operations. With the Inline Fabrication mount, it’s SOLID: you can really lean on the handle without worrying about anything coming loose.

The mount also allows you more storage space underneath–which is at a premium on my small bench–and raises the press to an optimum height for my work area. The Rock Chucker can handle large 1 1/4″ – 12 thread dies by removing the included bushing, otherwise, it holds standard 7/8″ -14 thread dies. The heavy construction means it won’t flex and give you inconsistent results.

I experimented with an expensive caliber-specific chamber die setup for bullet seating and although I really liked it, I found that with the right die the Rock Chucker performed just as well for controlling bullet runout/concentricity, and nearly as well for consistent seating depth.

Although I decided against a turret press I still liked the idea of fast, easy die changes, so I splurged for a Hornady Lock-N-Load die bushing and converter kit. It comes with a threaded adapter that replaces the Rock Chucker insert and screws into the press. I added an O-ring “washer” to let it float to align.

You then mount each die in its own bushing, each of which comes with an O-ring “washer” of its own. Swapping a die requires a quick hand twist. I found this system mounts the dies very consistently between sessions while saving the tedium of screwing each die in and out by hand.

I’m a fan, and ended up buying 10-packs of the bushings to mount all of the dies I use.

I have to admit that I didn’t give the priming system on the Rock Chucker a chance: I was happy with my hand priming tool so I never installed the one that came with the press.

Another Rock Chucker modification I’ve only recently tried is to replace the spring clip that keeps the shell holder in place on the press ram with a rubber O-ring. If you push the right side of the spring clip straight back you can then twist it out by hand. A #13 O-ring is the size you want.

My mother would die of embarrassment over that grubby thumbnail. Oh, well, she’s had a good life…

According to reloading icon Glen Zediker, this allows the shell holder to float to a centered position without inducing any bias as the case guides itself into the die, which in turn results in better concentricity in the loaded rounds.

I just loaded 100 rounds of 6.5CM with the O-ring setup and the runout–which was not bad to begin with–all but disappeared. I’m going to try it with other, more problematic loads, but for now I think the O-ring trick is a keeper. Mr. Zediker, RIP and thank you.

Case cleaning

When I get back from shooting I put bags full of empty brass on my bench. Eventually–EVENTUALLY, I say–I deprime it on the Bair and then clean it. Being me, I agonized excessively about this process, too, before settling on a sonic cleaner.

I reasoned that I could use it to clean gun parts, engine parts–whatever–in addition to brass cases (the fact that I have never taken an engine apart in my life doesn’t make that sentence any less true!).

My brother is of the wet-tumbler-full-of-tiny-steel-pins school, and I must admit that his brass is pretty. However, my sonic cleaner is quicker, quieter, easier, and more versatile. After the timer goes off, you lift out the cleaning basket, dump out the used (non-toxic) cleaning fluid, and you’re done.

When your brass comes out of the sonic cleaner, rinse it–still in the basket–in clean water. Residual cleaning fluid will otherwise tarnish your brass (I don’t always bother with this step and so far, no problem beyond the aesthetics). The official Hornady cleaning fluid is expensive but since you only use a capful at a time I don’t mind TOO much.

My only complaint with the Hornady unit is that primer pockets often need a little scraping during case prep to get back down to bare metal. Speaking of which:

Case prep

I started with hand tools for trimming, chamfering and deburring brass, but quickly looked for a way to automate this tedious process as much as I could. I discovered the Lyman Case Prep Xpress after some online research and promptly ordered one.

With five stations on this thing I could do everything–except trim cases to length–quickly and efficiently. MUCH better than scraping away with hand tools.

For trimming the cases to size, I used Lyman’s E-ZEE Trim system. I bought the rifle and handgun pilot sets plus a .30-30 pilot to cover everything I was reloading at the time.

I quickly grew tired of turning the trimmer by hand and didn’t want to use a hand drill, so after seeing THIS brilliant video I shamelessly stole the idea, adapting it for the E-ZEE Trim system.

I drilled and tapped a hole for an 8-32 thread in the base of the cutter handle and used a piece of machine screw to mount it on one of the stations of my Case Prep Xpress (that size thread accommodates the brushes from my gun cleaning kit, too).

Lyman E-ZEE Trim adapted to my Case Prep Xpress

I use a Wilson case trimmer to trim brass for my bolt guns, and Lyman doesn’t make E-ZEE Trim pilots for every caliber I load–again, back to the Wilson–but this is a great system for assembly-line case prep and it’s saved me a lot of time.

I did order a large-caliber deburring attachment for my Case Prep Xpress because the one that comes with it presents too small of a target for large-mouthed cases like .45 ACP and I was always snagging them on the rotating prongs.

I also tried an aftermarket attachment to grind away the primer crimps on milspec brass, but it didn’t work any better than the one that came in the box. Both take a fair amount of grinding to work: if you’re going use a lot of that kind of brass–I don’t–I recommend looking into a dedicated decrimping tool.

The last part of case prep before loading powder is priming the cases. I’ve already mentioned that I don’t use the onboard primer on my press: instead, I use a plain-vanilla RCBS hand priming tool.

It comes with an insert for both large and small primers. Some folks buy two to save the hassle of having to swap those inserts but I’m glad I didn’t: I don’t mind spending the few seconds it takes. It works with several brands of shell holders, including–obviously–RCBS.

You quickly develop a feel for seating primers all the way into their pockets. I seat them, twist each case a quarter turn to make sure the primers end up level, then give them a tiny bit of “crush.” You can do a lot of primers in a short amount of time.

Incidentally, eye protection is non-negotiable–and don’t look into the case mouths while seating the primers. We can’t all have movie star looks but there’s no sense in exposing the faces we do have to unnecessary risk.

There are other, more complex (and expensive) hand primer tools that use additional operations to measure the height of each individual primer, the depth of each individual primer pocket, then allow you to set the exact seating depth for that case with a sort of ratchet mechanism.

Obviously, you’re not seating the primers as consistently with the “two quick squeezes by feel” method–and some very knowledgeable people feel that this makes a big difference in getting consistent velocities, and thus accuracy, out of your reloads.

Given my aptitude for getting down in the weeds with this stuff, I might well try one of those gizmos someday. But not today.

Continued in part 2…