ARYAN FRONT FORUMS

[Low Profile]

One of the most valuable skills a White family can have is knowing how to reload one's own ammuniton. There is a modest investment in equipment and components involved, but after one has acquired the basic reloading press and associated equipment (reloading dies in appropriate calibers, a powder scale, a powder charger, etc.) one can pretty much reload forever thereafter.

It is also possible to cast one's own lead bullets in a bullet mould. This is how people in the Old West produced round ball and Minie ball ammunition for black powder firearms. If you are shooting a rifle or pistol with a low enough velocity round (.38 Special, .45 ACP, .44 Special, .44-40, .45 Colt, etc.) or if you load the cartridge "down" to a low enough velocity in the case of a high-power rifle or pistol cartridge, jacketed bullets are not required. You can also use copper gilding "gas checks" on the base of higher-velocity rounds, up to a certain velocity.

Reloading was once a lot cheaper than purchasing one's ammunition factory-made, but this cannot really be said to be true any longer. It is a little less expensive perhaps, to load standard, commonly-available cartridges like .357 Magnum or .308 Winchester, but not drastically cheaper. Where reloading really shines is in reloading odd, difficult-to-obtain or obsolete cartridges. That, and the fact that government may be able to shut off the supply of cartridges from gun stores and Wal-Mart and places like that, but they will never be able eliminate all the millions of hand re-loaders.

Reloading goes hand-in-glove with recreational and target shooting. And it's a lot of fun, as well.

Learn to re-load! You'll like it.

[Low Profile]

There are several manufacturers of quality reloading presses. I'm not sure who the very first modern reloading press manufacturer was, but RCBS has to be among the very first. Lee reloading kits are very reasonably priced, and they offer presses of various degrees of quality to suit every budget. Some of the well-known bullet manufacturers, like Hornady, also manufacture reloading presses.

Possibly the best source for reloading equipment in the U.S. is Midway.com. They carry pretty much anything and everything, and it can all be done over the internet.

One component I would recommend buying locally would be powder. If you order powder/propellant over the net you will have to pay a "hazardous cargo" surcharge. If you buy it from a gun shop, he probably has crates of powder arriving by UPS every day, so you benefit rom him buying in bulk. Powder should be stored in appropriate steel resealable ammo cans. The tall ammo cans that 60mm mortar shells are shipped in is a good size. Never remove the powder out of it's orginal container and put it into anything else and never, ever mix two different powders together--EVER.

There are a few common sense rules about reloading that are published in every reloading data book. (BTW, reloading data does change once in a while, so it's not a bad idea to buy a new reloading book occasionally.) Obviously, reloading and smoking DO NOT MIX.

--Never smoke while you reload.
--Keep a clean reloading bench.
--Load only one caliber and one type of bullet at a time. (If you accidentally load a 158 grain FMJ bullet over a powder charge that is appropriate for a 125 grain FMJ bullet, the chamber pressure is going to be a whole lot higher--maybe damage-your-pistol-higher. Maybe blow-off-your-fingers higher.)
--Check EACH AND EVERY CARTRIDGE CASE to make sure you have not accidentally double-charged a case. The most common blow-it-up-in-your-face mistake is double-charging a cartridge case. Some cases that were originally black powder cartridges have considerably more case room than they really need for smokeless powder. It's not hard to double-charge a .38 Special case. It could be fatal, of course--PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE DOING.
-- Carefully set your up powder measure and check it with several successive charges, just to make sure it's throwing accurate charges.
---Each time you reload, start off with the empty cases turned "mouth down" in the reloading block. As you pick up each case, visually check it. After charging the case, trasfer it from one reloading block to another. This way you cannot get "charged" and "uncharged" cartridge cases mixed up, and double-charging a case would be a very unusual accident.

[marblemason1]

Another excellent choice for re-loading equipment, and if I may make a bold statement they are also the ones that set the bar in the industry is Dillon.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/

The Dillon speed presses are legendary.
_________________
ALL OATHS SWORN IN THE MEAD HALL SHALL BE HONORED ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

(2) It is out of the question to think that such a revolutionary reconstruction could be carried out by those who are the custodians and the more or less responsible representatives of the old regime, or by the political organizations founded under the old form of the Constitution. Nor would it be possible to bring this about by collaborating with these institutions, but only by establishing a new movement which will fight against them for the purpose of carrying through a radical reformation in political, cultural and economic life. And this fight will have to be undertaken even at the sacrifice of life and blood, if that should be necessary.
A. Hitler 1937

[Low Profile]

I agree, Dillon progressive reloading presses are very possibly the best there is. However, I was just trying to convince people to get their feet wet in reloading.

For those of you who may not know, a "progressive" reloading press is one in which several of the reloading steps are mechanized. Some progressive presses are a little different than others, but essentially one loads up the press with primers, powder and bullets and with each pull of the operations lever, a different step in reloading is accomplished.

The press usually has a rotary "drum"-like carousel. One adds an empty case to the entry position and pulls the operation lever. Decapping and resizing the case is performed with one stroke of the operation lever. The operator the places another empty cartridge case in the carousel, and pulls the lever again. The second case is decapped and resized, the first case is rotated to the priming position and primed. The operator places another empty case in the carousel and pulls the lever. The third case is decapped and resized, the second case is rotated to the priming position and primed, and the first case is charged with powder. The operator places another empty case in the carousel and pulls the lever. The fourth case is decapped and resized, the third case is rotated to the priming position and primed, the second case is charged with powder and the first case is loaded with a bullet. When one pulls the lever on the fifth empty case, the finished first cartridge falls out of the carousel and into the hopper.

Thereafter, each time the operator pulls the operation lever, a newly reloaded cartridge is produced and falls into the hopper. You place empty brass in one end and finished ammunition comes out the other, with each stroke of the lever. Once one gets the hang of it, it's quite rapid, and it is especially efficient if one shoots a lot of one particular cartridge.

Using progressive reloading presses, a small "reloading factory" in someone's garage could easily produce thousands of reloaded rounds a day, provided that there was a supply of empty brass cartridge cases, fresh primers, powder and bullets.

In the 1980's in Afghanistan, there was a cottage industry manned mostly by children that produced reloaded 7.62x39mm ammunition. Empty cartridge cases were picked up off the ground at the site of ambushes and battles with Soviet forces. The children usually sat in a cirlce, passing the partially reloaded cartridges from person-to-person. Usually there was one older child or a teenager who oversaw production and performed the actual charging of the cartridge cases with powder. Each of the other steps was performed by one child sitting in the circle. Most of the empty cartridge cases were Berdan primed, which means that the flash holes in the primer pocket were not axially located, but offset from dead center. This required the children to first "decap" the cases using hydraulic pressure created by driving a wooden dowel into a cartridge case full of water, using a hammer, and then allow them to dry. The expelled Berdan primers were collected, scraped clean of carbon, re-primed with wet priming compound and dried in the sun in large flat baskets. Handling the dried primers was particularly hazardous.

The empty, decapped cartridge cases were then lubricated slightly and resized by driving them into a homemade "resizing die" (machined from round bar stock) with a wooden mallet. The resizer then turned the die over and drove the resized cartridge case back out of the die using a blunt nail and a hammer. Girls or young boys (they have smaller, nimbler fingers) then carefully re-primed the cases with the dried primers and a small wooden block and a mallet. The group "supervisor" then poured a measured amount of powder into the case, placed a fresh bullet into the mouth of the case and tapped it home using a wooden "seating plunger" and a small hammer. The reloaded cases were then polished and sold to mujihideen to shoot at Russians.

[Low Profile]

One piece of reloading equipment that one should not "scrimp" on is the powder scale. There are mechanical powder scales still being produced, but a lot of younger reloaders rely upon digital scales.
Powder scales used for reloading must be exceptionally accurate, and the user must follow the instructions precisely. One uses a powder scale to adjust the case charger. A case charger has an adjustable powder measure attached to it. It also has a plastic powder hopper.

To set the case charger, one throws a charge (say for a .308 Winchester cartridge, shooting a 168 grain .308 International Hollow Point bullet made by Sierra, over 38.5 grains of IMR-3031 powder.) The minimum powder charge is 38.0 grains, the absolute maximum is 41.3 grains, so you know that your charge of 38.5 grains is an acceptable, middle-of-the-road load.

Clear EVERYTHING ELSE off your reloading bench, and set up your case charger and scale. Get out your can of IMR-3031 and READ THE LABEL. (You're absolutely sure this is IMR-3031, right? Right.) Re-check your reloading manual to reassure yourself that 38.5 grains is within acceptable limits. VISUALLY INSPECT THE CASE CHARGER HOPPER TO MAKE SURE IT IS EMPTY. Fill the case charger hopper with enough IMR-3031 to load the cases you have available. KEEP THE CAN ON THE RELOADING BENCH SO YOU CAN SEE THE LABEL.

ZERO THE SCALE. Set the scale for 38.5 grains. Throw a charge into the scale cup. Place it on the scale, check the weight. Adjust the case charger so that it throws more powder or less powder, as is needed. Pour the test charges back into the case charger hopper. Throw another charge. Weigh it. Keep throwing charges and pouring them back into the hopper, and adjusting the charger until your scale throws at least five consecutive charges that measure 38.5 grains. Make sure the case charger adjustment lock nut is tightened, so the charge does not change while you are reloading.

You are now ready to start charging cases. Start with the empty, resized and freshly re-primed cases CASE MOUTH DOWN in the wooden or plastic charging block. As you fill a cartridge case from the case charger, place it into a SECOND CHARGING BLOCK, CASE MOUTH UP.

Re-check the charge weight after every five cartridge cases charged.
If the charge remains true, you can check it every ten cartridge cases.

If you do this correctly and consistently, you will never double-charge a case.

After charging the cases, move the charged cases to the reloading press area. Find your box of 168 grain bullets. WEIGH SEVERAL BULLETS, ONE AT A TIME. Make sure that they are 168 grain and not something else.
Before you load a bullet into each case, VISUALLY INSPECT THE INTERIOR OF EACH CHARGED CASE. Every case should have the same amount of powder in it. After you have loaded a bullet into a charged cartridge case, put each reloaded cartridge into a container so that they don't roll around or fall off the reloading bench.

Some of the most common mistakes made in reloading are:

--Forgetting to empty the case charger hopper before starting to load a different caliber. If you were loading pistol cartridges, for instance, and forgot to dump the pistol powder back into its container before pouring in rifle powder on top of it, the first few rifle cartridges will be loaded with high-pressure pistol powder. This would probably destroy your rifle. KA-BOOOM.

--Double-charging a large-capacity pistol case. The pistol cartridges from the 1870's and 1880's were BLACK POWDER CARTRIDGES. Since black powder is much less powerful than smokeless powder, the cartridge cases have a lot more capacity than is needed for smokeless powder. It is possible to accidentally double-charge the older cartridge cases. BE CAREFUL. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

--Loading the wrong weight bullet into the case. Each load has been carefully worked up using a particular weight bullet. If you accidentally load a heavier bullet than the loading data requires, you could create excessive chamber pressures that could damage your firearm and maybe injure you.

Never reload after drinking alcohol, not even one beer.
Never smoke while you are reloading. No open flames.

Never allow any reloading components on your reloading bench that are not needed for that particular reload. Always follow the reloading data EXACTLY. Once you are an experienced reloader, then you can consider experimenting with loads, but always, always begin with the least powerful load and work your way up. To do this, load five cartridges at a time with each load, increasing the charge by ONE-TENTH OF A GRAIN for each five cartridges. MARK EACH GROUP OF FIVE WITH A PIECE OF TAPE SPECIFYING THE LOAD. As you fire each cartridge at the range, inspect the case carefully for any signs or symptoms of "overpressure." Examine the target for signs and symptoms of erratic bullets or expanding groups. At the very first sign of overpressure STOP FIRING THOSE ROUNDS. Note down the load, and go back to the most accurate, best shooting load. Take the cartridges with an excessive charge home (DO NOT SHOOT THEM) and pull the bullets with an inertia bullet puller. DISCARD THE POWDER. The cartridges and bullets can be re-used.

The tighter the group, the more appropriate that load data is for that cartridge in that rifle. No one load is going to be accurate in every rifle of that caliber. If you change rifles, you can expect that load to shoot differently, perhaps less accurately--perhaps more accurately.

[Sandra]

As an avid reloader and shooter, I have to second the thought of this being a valuable skill to know how to do. Not only can you then reload but most of the fun comes in building custom loads and then testing them out. I do understand that most people do not put in the type of range time that I do but shooting/reloading is a skill that all my brothers and sisters should learn how to do. If for no other reason than having basic knowledge of firearms and how to use one to defend yourself if the matter arises.

[Low Profile]

Sandra, my comrade, you may be the perfect Aryan woman! Ya just gotta love a woman who shoots a lot and reloads her own ammo.

14/88! LP

[Sandra]

Well thank you but I'm not even close to perfect, tho I do try to be 'my' best.