LITMIR.BIZ

      INTRODUCTION

      Why reload? One might as well ask some of us, “Why shoot? Why compete? Why climb a mountain?” Because it is there.

      But, existential questions aside, why reload is simple: control. If you wish to shoot and you depend on factory ammunition, you are dependent on: 1) what the ammo companies make; 2) what the store stocks; and 3) what your budget can afford. If any of those three do not fit your needs or desires, you will have a less pleasurable experience at the range. If two fail, you might well not be shooting at all.

      One thing we have to get clear right away: you are not going to save money by reloading. Oh, don’t get me wrong, you will recoup your capital investments (whatever they may be, over whatever period of time you spend) but you will not save money. You will not save any for the simple reason that, if you are like the rest of us, any potential savings will be plowed right into shooting more.

      That is, if your “ouch” limit on shooting fun for the weekend is $100 of ammo, you will spend up to the point it begins to hurt. With factory ammo, that could be 100 rounds. With reloads, it could be 1,000 rounds. I ran into this same phenomenon when I was learning photography. Buying film in bulk, loading film canisters and doing my own developing didn’t save money. It just meant a whole lot more practice, and practice is what makes you good. And that makes the expenditures worthwhile.

      In addition to shooting more, reloading also allows you to shoot some firearms at all. There are f rearms for which one cannot purchase ammunition, but for which ammunition can be loaded. Now, in many cases there is a good reason ammo isn’t available; for one, many handguns should not be fired. And that includes rarities as well as elderly specimens.

      This is not your typical reloading manual. What you have here is the collation of my personal experiences of decades of reloading. Some will be obvious, some will not.

      I do not try to show some sort of loading data for every handgun cartridge in existence. For one thing, I haven’t loaded them all. And another, I don’t have them all. (Even in my circles there are calibers one just doesn’t see.) What I cover are the ones I’ve done a whole passel of loading for, the ones I find interesting, and the ones that I hope you will find useful.

      And for each, I include my lessons learned, the hints, tips and tricks I’ve found that keep them running. You see, while reloading is reloading, each cartridge can (and of en does) have its own quirks, peculiarities and needs. Sort of like cars in that way.

      And I also give you the lowdown on the reloading process. There are things you can do that will work to keep you out of trouble, and things that will make the work (if we can even call it that) a lot easier.

      If you tend to your press – keep it clean, lube the working parts (and keep lubricant away from the primer feed system) – it will last a good, long time.

      In the course of practicing, having fun, competing, teaching and being taught, and testing firearms as a gunsmith, I’ve shot over a million rounds. A large percentage of those were reloads. Properly done, reloaded ammunition can be as reliable, accurate and safe as factory-produced ammunition.

      Take care of your press and take care in your reloading, and

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