another reloading newbie

[btoran]

i just got into shooting and i'm a tinkerer by nature, so the idea of reloading appeals to me. i've checked the web (and this site) and educated myself a bit on the different types of presses, etc., and decided i'd like to start with the lee classic turret press. i will be ordering the lees modern reloading book to get a more complete education, but i thought i might ask some questions general questions here as well as some specific to reloading 38/357 calibers for rage shooting (not competition shooting).

there's a pretty big difference in prices of stock ammo for the 38 vs 357 (although neither is really expensive compared to most other types of ammo). is there a significant difference, in the reloading costs between 38 and 357 calibers?

is there a reason why one would be better than the other just for range shooting?

do pistol rounds require cartridge lubing or is that only for rifle rounds?

if lubing is not required, is there any reason to get carbide dies?

which dies should i get for 38 or 357?

approx how many times can you use re-use a shell?

what's a good bullet type for range practice?

what's a good online source that sells lee products, especially that might be able to customize a kit (with appropriate dies - carbide, or not, etc)?

some posts mention reloading supplies being in short supply. is this true today? if so, why is that the case and where can one get supplies?

are there any laws preventing the delivery of reloading supplies to ny state, but outside nyc?

are there any important questions i forgot to ask?

questions. questions.

[GasGuzzler]

I was in your shoes a few years ago. I'll let the others that know a lot more give most of the advice but I have one piece.

My first press was a Lee Classic turret. I like it for what it's for.

IMO a turret is not what to learn on. After learning on a turret I bought a single then another single (all Lee). My eyes opened.

Learn on a single, then get a turret. There's too many things happening on a turret to get the gist of any of the steps. Do it on a single and you'll learn better what each step involves then the turret is like butter.

I have less than $100 in BOTH my singles together and use all three so it's a positive cost thing, not a negative.

Buy used if you can. Search forums, eBay, estate sales.

Once the knows answer your Qs, I might offer my experiences on your other questions because I started with 38/357 as well.

[NavyDoc76-80]

Couldn't agree more with gasman, his reasoning sound. I will touch on a few questions. Definitely buy carbide , the few extra bucks are worth it. With carbide in the 357/38 case I never needed lube with my RCBS dies. I would get a Lee FCD (factory crimp die), and I would purchase a Wilson gauge. Regardless of what dies you choose, I wish I had the gauges and FCD from the start. Best bullet profile? RNFP, SWC 2nd, my opinion.
Brass? I bought my first box of rounds, used them to reload, picked up every piece of brass on the ground I could find. Powder? What ever you can find, powder is getting easier to find. Doesn't matter what I like, I've found it easier to Taylor the round to the powder I can find. My favorite magnum powder though for the 357 is IMR 4227. Just got some Lil'Gun and am going to experiment with it soon.

[Ohio3Wheels]

I'll try a few of your questions.

Case life varies a bit from brand to brand and how hot you load, but I've got cases that are at least 30 years old and still going. When I shot the 357 in IHMSA I loaded hot and I probably got between 12 and 15 loadings before the primer pockets started to get sloppy.

I using Imperial Sizing Wax and even with carbide dies I still give every tenth case or so a light coat. On the other hand I use a carbide die for both the 9mm and the 45 ACP on my Dillon 650 and the cases never see any lube and I've yet to stick one, knock wood .

Cost I don't think there's an appreciable difference between 38 SPL and 357. Any difference would be initial cost of the cases bought new and maybe a few tenths grain of powder if we're talking plinking and paper punching loads.

I've been reloading since '67 and figure I get to shoot a lot more for about the same amount of money, I can tailor loads for a purpose and I get to shoot things like the 40-65WCF in my Sharps, plus some assorted wildcats.

And it's fun and satisfying.

Make smoke,

[Archer]

A lot of your questions have already been responded to so I may be duplicating some effort here.

Depending on HOW you reload there can be a slight difference in the cost of reloading .38 vs .357.
Full house magnum rounds will use 2+ times as much powder.
Full house magnum loads will probably cause the brass to become brittle faster or will at least stress it more than .38 SP loads.
Magnum small pistol primers if you use them may cost a little more than standard small pistol primers.
Typically full power magnum loads use a different type of powder than .38 SP loads. This means you may need to stock one or more powders for each type of load.

IMO magnums may be better for longer range shooting. SP may be better for new shooters or the recoil or blast shy and for possibly lower cost shooting.

IF you use Carbide dies then you do not have to lubricate the brass cases for straight walled pistol rounds. IF you use steel dies then you MUST lubricate the cases. EVEN if you do use carbide dies you may find a little lubricant from time to time makes the job easier. Hornady One Shot spray lubricant can be used and claims it does not contaminate powders or primers even if the brass is not cleaned afterward. I tend to wipe it off the outside of the cases after loading when I use it with rifle rounds. I have not found it necessary with straight walled handgun rounds. I use One Shot or Imperial with bottlenecked rifle cases and One Shot with .45-70, .444 Marlin and .30-30. You must lubricate bottlenecked cases even with carbide dies. Carbide rifle dies are expensive and generally used only for production environments at commercial volume.

I have the Lee Deluxe dies for .38/.357. I have one set for each caliber so I don't have to fiddle with them on my Dillon. Lee, Dillon, RCBS, Redding are all nice. Hornady is not bad. I like the Lyman M die for expanding especially when loading lead bullets. I've purchased them for just about all my calibers regardless of which die set I purchased.

Midway is a good online source for most things. Buy primers and powder local when you can until you decide if you are going to be happy with a given type or with reloading in general. Once you've found something you like you CAN buy in bulk but don't start out that way.

Plated bullets are pretty nice for moderate velocities especially when shooting at steel as they tend to deform and drop. Cast can be inexpensive but shooting them at steel targets or backstops can lead to them shattering on the steel and being bounced back around the shooter. They typically do not go directly at the shooter but most of the time spread to his sides. This is one of the reasons why shooting at steel usually involves a minimum range so those fragments don't make it back.

You need to check your own laws. Here in CA the rules are probably different.

[Archer]

A few more thoughts...
The Lee turret presses aren't bad but you are looking at a few more levels of complexity over a single stage. Learning on a single stage is probably easiest.

Don't think too much about customizing a kit. The equipment is sold pretty much in individual pieces or as kits but it is what it is and you customize by adding additional items not by modifying what is in a given package. You may end up with some stuff you don't use if you buy a kit but you may save enough hassle over buying individual parts that it may be worth it.

You will need a scale. I am not a big fan of the Lee scale but some folks like them. I greatly prefer the Redding beam scale or a RCBS 1010 they work very well for me and give repeatability that I've not had with the Lee recently.

Even though I've got a Dillon progressive I still have a couple single stage presses and still use them.
One of my buds just purchased a Lee turret. He also owns a Lee progressive and a Lee single stage. I'm not too much of a fan of his Load Master but the single stage is pretty nice and I've use the Lee turret several years ago.

[Archer]

IF you are getting a single stage press I tend to recommend the Lee shellholder set. Some die sets like Lee's deluxe sets will include the press shellholder for that caliber BTW and so you may not need to buy them separately.

I also tend to like the Lee hand primer setup and there again I recommend getting the Lee PRIMER shellholder set.

[GasGuzzler]

My turret was in a kit. The only thing I did not use was the gawd-awful scale. It was a perpetual motion machine. Sold it on eBay for more than it was worth (about $20 shipped). I use an RCBS beam scale made by Ohaus. I also like to have a small cheap digital scale for quick checks (sorting, proofing, etc.).

on the shell holder set even though most of my dies are Lee (come with a shell holder). Lee's cheap set ensures you;ll be covered in most cases. I like it because of my two single stage presses....I can stop during a run if I make a mistake and fix it on the other press with a back up shell holder without setting aside that one round for later or tearing apart my main press set up.

Lee hand primer DOES NOT USE regular shell holders. It requires yet another set. For this reason I use the RCBS as it uses real shell holders that fit the press.

.38 and .357 require different bullets and different powder (at my house anyway). I don't shoot much .38 except for practice with a defensive unit so my Unique and Bullseye will likely last forever (although I have been using BE for 9mm).

.357 brass is 3X the cost of .38 based purely on demand vs supply IMO. There's less brass because the difference in cost of loaded factory ammo I assume. I don't use magnum primers for .357 but that has the most to do with powder selection. I like 2400 (smokes and leaves unburned particles but I don't care) and W296/H110 (max loads, doesn't like backing down much but I don't care).

Carbide pistol dies can run without lube as stated, that's the reason to pay a little more. I would get one set of Lee deluxe 4-piece pistol dies to start (90964) because they have the shell holder, the fancy crimp die, and they're carbide.

I buy and sell a good bit on eBay where prices are usually pretty good. There are hassles though. You can buy directly from Lee but retailers (even brick and mortar stores) will be cheaper. Some things are better bought used but that means you have to wait around until someone has for sale what you're looking for.

[btoran]

thanks for the replies. on the single vs turret vs progressive press debate, here's my thinking. pls let me know if it's off-base.

i won't be shooting nearly enough to need a progressive press. i also realize quality control is essential and i don't want to blow up the rifle or me. i am concerned there is so much going on with a progressive that i could easily make a mistake or miss seeing an issue until it's too late (especially for a newbie), so a progressive is definitely out for the short (and probably) long-term.

based on quality control alone, a single stage seems the best and i definitely want to learn on one. afterwards, though, it seems a turret would be perfect and a nice upgrade, so my first idea was buy a single stage and later upgrade to a turret.

however, i found several posts indicating you can turn the indexing off on the lee classic turret, making it a single stage press until the indexing is turned back on. so my idea is to learn on the lee classic using it as a single stage press until i understand what's happening and can control quality, then turn on the indexing and use it as a turret press. the same could be accomplish with a manually indexed turret press, but eventually, i think i'll like the auto indexing feature, so i was focusing on the lee press because of this feature.

am i wrong in thinking the leee could be used as both a single and a turret press? is there some other mistake in my logic/thinking that a turret (auto or non auto indexing) would be good to learn on in single stage mode before moving to turret mode?

[Ken Yerian]

I think that you are on the right track. The lee classic turret press will serve you well.