22 OF OF OF 22 22 - Jeffersonian

A few of the die sets on the loading bench I share witha friend. Mostly RCBS in this photo, but also Bonanza,Dillon, Hornady, and Redding in view here.Pistol is an Inglis P-35 9mm with matchingstock/holster, made in WWII.Reloaders tend to buy in bulk (be aware of local fire/insuranceregulations, and store properly; all these powders are ina secure fire-resistant vault). W-W 231 and Alliant Bullseye areclassic powders in .38 Spl. and .45 ACP target loads.This ancientRCBS Rockchuckersinglestage press hasloaded hundredsof thousands ofrounds. Whileon the slowside, the careand attentionyou can give toloading individualroundsoften makessense, especiallywhen loadingsmall lots fortesting.handgun cartridges from .380 ACP to.454 Casull. Both are available in oneand four-pound kegs.Winchester powders are now beingdistributed by Hodgdon. I used to gothrough a couple of eight-pound kegs ofW-W 231 per year, in my competition.45s. It’s a great powder. W-W Auto-Comp is claimed to be ideal for compensatedpistols in calibers 9mm through.45 ACP. And don’t overlook shotgunpowders too. W-W WSF is also useful in9mm, .38 Super and .40 S&W loads.BothIt used to be reloaders started outwith a single-stage press, maybebecause progressives were so darnexpensive. Since the “Dillon revolution”made progressives affordablemany reloaders don’t even bother withsingle stage presses any more.I think handgun reloaders need both.Certainly for volume reloading I’d hateToday’s die sets (like these from RCBS) arebetter than ever. Maybe it’s time to tosssome of your old steel ones and upgradeto carbide sizers and modern designs?Okay … we know you won’t throw awayyour old ones!to do without a progressive. But forloading a few rounds to testing new powdersand bullets, and for teaching newreloaders, a single stage press belongson every bench. Currently good qualitysingle stage presses — the Lee andRCBS Partner, for example — are sohandy and moderately priced there’s noexcuse for not owning one. To go with ita hand or bench-mounted priming tool isgreat when you want to load a batchof 50 or 100 rounds.Handloading has two major benefits.Low volume experimentationallows you to develop and test loadswhich best serve your needs. Highvolume reloading saves time andmoney. Handgunners really shouldhave the equipment tohandle both needs.*For more info on the products seenhere: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex.htmlWhile the standard 550 is alreadya best buy in progressive reloaders,Dillon somehow managed to designand make an even more economicalmodel, the Square Deal.Power Pro is a new lineup of powders from Alliant. Four are riflepowders, while 300-MP is intended for magnum pistol cartridges.Sure, you have aprogressive reloader set upfor .38 Super or .40 S&W, butare you going to change it overjust to load a hundred rounds of .44Magnum or .454 Casull? For these smallvolumeloading jobs a single-stage pressand hand-held priming tool such as thisone from Hornady are much handier.WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 67