Reloading 9mm ammo?

[Yurko]

+1,000,000 on what sourdough said!

Start by getting & reading at the very minimum 1 manual. Two or three are really 2 or 3x better.

This is a hobby that is fun & rewarding when practiced with safety in mind.

 

[whelenshooter]

A easier way would be to get the breech lock kit.(anniversary version)

Lee Challenger Breech Lock Single Stage Press Anniversary Kit - MidwayUSA

Buy a set of dies, a loading block and ditch the Lee scale. It is accurate but a pain to use. The scales mentioned by Whelenshooter are good ones.

With the breech lock kit, if when you want to load a different caliber all you need is to buy another set of dies and 3 or 4 breech lock die bushings. I recomend the 4 die carbide set.

If you can find a kit that has what you need and want, more power to you! The press in the kit suggested has more mechanical advantage than the Lee Reloader Press, but the kit doesn't have a caliper, which you really need to be able to measure your cases and overall cartridge lengths. I use mine constantly. The kit does come with the Lee Powder Measure, which will speed up your loading a lot if it works well, but it isn't an absolute necessity for loading good ammunition. I've never used the Lee powder measure, so I don't know how well it works. I have a Redding powder measure, which I dearly love. I used an RCBS Uniflow powder measure for many years and it worked well after you got it set. At that time it didn't come with the micrometer that the Redding measure has, which is why I gave my Uniflow to a friend who wanted a powder measure but didn't have much money. I replaced my Uniflow with the Redding #3BR that comes with the micrometer powder adjustment stem. When I find a good load, I write down the micrometer setting so I can easily reset the measure when I need that load again. Now they have a micrometer powder adjustment that can be bought as an option for the Uniflow, though I think it makes the measure more expensive than the Redding #3BR. If the option had been available when I had my Uniflow, I would have probably bought the Micrometer option rather than replace the measure completely, though I've never regretted buying my Redding measure. My buddy got many years of use out of my old Uniflow before his eyes got too bad from diabetes to be able to shoot.

As for a reloading block... in my opinion they are a TOTAL waste of money, and they set you up for disaster! I always use coffee cans and transfer cases from one can to another as I do something to them. As soon as I put powder in a case, however, I look in it to make sure the powder level looks similar to the last case I charged, then I IMMEDIATELY seat a bullet in the case. If you weigh powder and put your cases in a loading block without seating a bullet in the case, about the time you have a loading block full of charged cases you will knock the darned thing on the floor and ruin several hours of work! I know, because I've done it! If a loading block helps keep you organized, then use one, but DON'T fill the darned thing full of charged cases! For me, coffee cans keep me organized, so that is what I use. You don't have to buy loading blocks either. If you have access to scrap lumber and a drill you can easily make your own.

 

[RoninPhx]

beg to differ

as to not saving money, not true in my case.
I load for probably 20 to 30 different calibers.
As to 9mm it goes like this for me.
Brass was free, I picked it up, no cost.
Bullets are free, I cast them out of lead that is in many cases free.
About .02 to .03 cents a primer
coup of pennies for the powder.
I figure i can run a 50round box of 9mm for about 2.50 to 3.00
do the math on the cost of the reloading euipment and you will see where your break even is.
Lately I have been doing 10mm where I had to buy(shudder) all the componets. It is still coming in less than half of what factory rounds cost.
I could say the same about other calibers.
I would recommend you picking up a copy of the lyman soft cover book on reloading. It goes through all the steps so you can can a basic understanding.
I have a dillon 550 that i use for bulk loading, but just as often resort back to a rcbs rockchucker. In addition to what was already mentioned, press, dies, scale, some type of powder measure, you also need a micrometer, and you can pick up some kind of case tumbler to clean the brass.
Often you can find a lot of this stuff used. I.E., a larger dillon case tumbler for about 50bucks. Lot less than a new one. I am picking up a used press for a kid next week which will set him back 40bucks.

 

[Rule3]

By all means you must have a caliper, a Manual and other assorted odds and ends that do not come with the Lee Kit. With batch loading I find a loading block helpful but to each their own. Use the Perfect powder measure or dippers. Charge each case. Check them all to be sure there are no squibs or over charge. Put a bullet in each and then seat and crimp.
The MTM tray holds all handgun cases and for $8 it's not worth drilling your own. You would have to really try to knock over 9mm's

MTM Universal Reloading Tray 50-Round Plastic Red - MidwayUSA


You can also get the press kit and other stuff a lot cheaper from Natchezss

Lee Breech Lock 50th Anniversary Kit - Natchez Shooters Supplies

 

[whelenshooter]

By all means you must have a caliper, a Manual and other assorted odds and ends that do not come with the Lee Kit. With batch loading I find a loading block helpful but to each their own. Use the Perfect powder measure or dippers. Charge each case. Check them all to be sure there are no squibs or over charge. Put a bullet in each and then seat and crimp.
The MTM tray holds all handgun cases and for $8 it's not worth drilling your own. You would have to really try to knock over 9mm's

MTM Universal Reloading Tray 50-Round Plastic Red - MidwayUSA


You can also get the press kit and other stuff a lot cheaper from Natchezss

Lee Breech Lock 50th Anniversary Kit - Natchez Shooters Supplies

To be honest, I won't drill my own loading blocks either, but if a person has lots of scrap lumber and a drill press, you actually can turn them out pretty fast. I use Natchez Shooters Supply a lot too, they are a great company and their prices are very good! I only used Midway for working up equipment costs because most people are familiar with them. I've had very good luck with Midsouth Shooters Supply too. Their prices are quite good, and they will use the flat rate mailing boxes to ship stuff. That is really important when a person lives in Alaska. I won't do business with a company that insists on using UPS or FedEx unless I have no choice. UPS and FedEx treats Alaska like a third world country. They are horribly expensive.

 

[Rule3]

Most of my online shopping for gun related stuff is through Midway. Even if they are a few bucks more on some things.
They are one of the best as far as customer service and returns. They are extremely nice and will go the extra mile to make customers happy.

I do not place small orders with Natchez, as they have that sneaky little $3 add on charge for shipping and try to up the shipping by adding a catalog that you need to delete from your order. I did buy two presses and dies from them as it was still cheaper.

But for the OP, make a list of all the stuff required/needed write it all down with prices and try to get it all together to save on shipping.Total it all up with shipping and find your best deal. I find it annoying when someplace has everything except on or two items and you need to back order and pay extra shipping, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

 

[whelenshooter]

Most of my online shopping for gun related stuff is through ... I find it annoying when someplace has everything except on or two items and you need to back order and pay extra shipping, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

One of the things I like about dealing with Brownells and Sinclair (who is now owned by Brownells) is that they DON'T charge extra shipping on backordered items! They consider being in a backorder situation as their fault, and they only charge you shipping on the main order. When a backorder ships, they only charge you for the item and they eat the shipping. It has saved me a LOT of money!

 

[billybob44]

If you stay-you will want to upgrade.

Wow man thanks for all the info and your time to set down and figure this out. Thats not really to bad of price.

Just remember-whelen gave you the low ball price on economy tools/equip.
If you decide that hand loading is "Your Cup of Tea", then you WILL want to invest in better quality equipment. RCBS is a good choice on upgrade. Dillon (IMO) is the BEST.

 

[whelenshooter]

billybob44 is spot on with this. If you think you will stay with reloading, you may want to start with fancier equipment from the start. It will cost you more to start with, but it will save you money in the long run to buy once, rather than starting with low end equipment, then replacing it. The low-ball equipment I quoted, however, is perfectly adequate for producing ammunition. Most reloaders will find a use for an extra single stage press, however, so buying a Lee press now, and a Rockchucker later really isn't a waste of money. I have a less expensive RCBS Partner press set up on a Frankford Arsenal Portable Reloading stand that I usually have a Lee decapping die mounted in. In this way I can move the press into the TV room so I can deprime brass prior to cleaning it. Decapping is a mindless step, and it is nice to be able to watch a movie while doing it so I don't get bored to tears.

Like I said in my listing of equipment, I don't really like the Lee scale, so I suggest the Dillon Eliminator scale. It is more expensive than the Lee, but it is about as good of a balance beam type scale a person can get. The top of the line balance beam reloading scale (other than really expensive laboratory scales) is the RCBS 1010, but the only real advantage it has over the Dillon Eliminator scale is the dust cover that comes with the 1010. I actually prefer a balance beam scale over an electronic scale for simply weighing powder. Electronic scales depend upon an electronic strain guage, thus they are fragile and can be easily destroyed simply by dropping a cartridge on them from a bit of a height. In addition, if you aren't careful with your technique you can accidently induce error into an electronic scale that can become cumulative when weighing a lot of charges. I did this by accident once, before I learned the traits of this electronic scale, which caused me to have to pull the bullets on over 100 .308 cartridges and reweigh my charges. I'm very lucky I discovered the error. Electronic scales really come into their own when you are weighing things of unknown weight, and not simply throwing a given powder charge. In other words electronic scales are wonderful for segregating bullets by weight, or segregating cases by weight. Sometimes I will weigh loaded ammunition after I've reloaded it. If any cartridge varies dramatically from the other cartridges, this is a red flag that maybe the powder was left out, or it was double charged. Trying to weigh a lot of cartridges, cases, or bullets with a balance beam scale is a real pain in the butt, but an electronic scale makes it easy. I have used electronic scales when ammunition of different bullet weight by the same manufacturer got mixed. This manufacturer's loads with 150 grain bullets and 180 grain bullets looked exactly alike. By using my electronic scale I was able to easily segregate them again. I have the PACT electronic scale and electronic powder dispenser which talk to each other with an infrared port. This is GREAT for reloading rifle ammunition with stick powder that doesn't go through a powder measure well. All I have to do is put a powder weight into memory. I hit the "dispense" button, and it weighs the charge for me! I wish I had this setup 30 years ago. It would have saved me a LOT of time and headaches! It is expensive, but if you are going to stick wth reloading, it is well worth the investment!