Trekker
Active Member
In terms of focus, I prioritize Safety first, then adequate Accuracy, then conservation of Time/Cost.
Safety comes first, as I rather like my eyes and face. My biggest focuses are on proper powder charge and case inspection. Since I am still running a single stage rockchucker and am working slowly anyway, I throw a deliberately low charge and then use the powder trickler to bring the charge up to the target weight. Although not necessary for pistol cases, since I have a tumbler I clean the brass anyway, and give them a look over for problems. I find it easier to look for cracks/overpressure signs/etc. with clean brass, and as a side bonus it also keeps my fingers cleaner.
Adequate Accuracy comes next, since if I cannot hit the target or am unsatisfied with accuracy, what is the point of shooting? I carefully measure powder and check the weight variance of bullets when I buy from a new manufacturer. My father got a 1k box of 200gr. lead SWC once, and that manufacturer had issues of air bubbles in the lead, which resulted in +/- 10-15gr. weight variances. Once I am convinced for a given manufacturer that bullet weight variance is minimal, and performance is decent, I do not weigh the bullets again. In the past I spent too much time trying different loads with combinations of powder and bullets, nowadays I am trying to standardize to decent readily available choices in powder and bullets. I do not have preference in primers, since I have not had any past ignition issues with CCI/Winchester/Federal/Remington.
For Cost, I buy bullets and primers in bulk and use range pick up brass.
For Time, I do not sort brass by manufacturer/weight. I will pay more for plated or jacketed bullets for guns that lead up more readily, since I am willing to pay a bit extra to forgo the time spent cleaning out lead. At a certain price point, it is better to simply purchase factory ammo than to bother reloading, so I keep in mind where this price point is for the ammo I shoot. Standard 7.5#/8# 12 gauge shotgun rounds for skeet always fall in this category for me. I will run 500-1000 rounds through a stage (deprime/size, bell case mouth, charge and seat bullet) to minimize time changing out and adjusting dies. I plan to get a progressive press to spend less time at the reloading bench, and so am looking into getting a dillon.
Safety comes first, as I rather like my eyes and face. My biggest focuses are on proper powder charge and case inspection. Since I am still running a single stage rockchucker and am working slowly anyway, I throw a deliberately low charge and then use the powder trickler to bring the charge up to the target weight. Although not necessary for pistol cases, since I have a tumbler I clean the brass anyway, and give them a look over for problems. I find it easier to look for cracks/overpressure signs/etc. with clean brass, and as a side bonus it also keeps my fingers cleaner.
Adequate Accuracy comes next, since if I cannot hit the target or am unsatisfied with accuracy, what is the point of shooting? I carefully measure powder and check the weight variance of bullets when I buy from a new manufacturer. My father got a 1k box of 200gr. lead SWC once, and that manufacturer had issues of air bubbles in the lead, which resulted in +/- 10-15gr. weight variances. Once I am convinced for a given manufacturer that bullet weight variance is minimal, and performance is decent, I do not weigh the bullets again. In the past I spent too much time trying different loads with combinations of powder and bullets, nowadays I am trying to standardize to decent readily available choices in powder and bullets. I do not have preference in primers, since I have not had any past ignition issues with CCI/Winchester/Federal/Remington.
For Cost, I buy bullets and primers in bulk and use range pick up brass.
For Time, I do not sort brass by manufacturer/weight. I will pay more for plated or jacketed bullets for guns that lead up more readily, since I am willing to pay a bit extra to forgo the time spent cleaning out lead. At a certain price point, it is better to simply purchase factory ammo than to bother reloading, so I keep in mind where this price point is for the ammo I shoot. Standard 7.5#/8# 12 gauge shotgun rounds for skeet always fall in this category for me. I will run 500-1000 rounds through a stage (deprime/size, bell case mouth, charge and seat bullet) to minimize time changing out and adjusting dies. I plan to get a progressive press to spend less time at the reloading bench, and so am looking into getting a dillon.