Handloading

Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by assembling the individual components (case, primer, propellant, and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded ammunition.

The term ''handloading'' is the more general term, and refers generically to the manual assembly of ammunition. ''Reloading'' refers more specifically to handloading using previously fired cases and shells. The terms are often used interchangeably however, as the techniques are largely the same, whether the handloader is using new or recycled components. The differences lie in the initial preparation of cases and shells; new components are generally ready to load, while previously fired components often need additional procedures, such as cleaning, removal of expended primers, or the reshaping and resizing of brass cases.

Reasons for handloading

Economy, increased performance and accuracy, commercial ammunition shortages, and hobby interests are all common motives for handloading both cartridges and shotshells. Handloading ammunition waives the user off the labor costs of commercial production lines, reducing the expenditure to only the cost of purchasing components and equipment. Reloading used cartridge cases can save the shooter money, providing not only a greater quantity, but also a higher quality of ammunition within a given budget. Reloading may not however be cost effective for occasional shooters, as it takes time to recoup the cost of needed equipment, but those who shoot more frequently will see cost-savings over time, as the brass cartridge cases and shotgun shell hulls, which are often the most expensive components, can be reused with proper maintenance. Additionally, most handloading components can be acquired at discounted prices when purchased in bulk, so handloaders are often less effected by changes in ammunition availability.

The opportunity to customize performance is another common goal for many handloaders. Hunters for instance, may desire cartridges with specialized bullets with specific terminal performance. Target shooters often experiment extensively with component combinations in an effort to achieve the best and most consistent bullet trajectories, often using cartridge cases that have been fire formed in order to best fit the chamber of a specific firearm. Shotgun enthusiasts can make specialty rounds unavailable through commercial inventories at any price. Some handloaders even customize cartridges and shotshells simply to lower recoil, for instance for younger shooters who might otherwise avoid shooting sports because of the high recoil of certain firearms. It is also a not infrequent practice for handloaders to make increased-power ammunition (i.e. "hot loads") if higher muzzle velocities (hence flatter trajectories) are desired. Rather than purchasing a special purpose rifle, which a novice or adolescent shooter might outgrow, a single rifle can be used with special handloaded rounds until such time more powerful rounds become appropriate. This use of specialized handloading techniques often provides significant cost savings as well, for instance when a hunter in a family already has a full-power rifle and a new hunter in the family wishes to learn the sport. This technique also enables hunters to use the same rifle and caliber to hunt a greater diversity of game.

Where the most extreme accuracy is demanded, such as in rifle benchrest shooting, handloading is a fundamental prerequisite for success, but can only be done consistently accurate, once load development has been done to determine what cartridge parameters works best with a specific rifle. Additionally, collectors of rare, antique and foreign-made firearms must often turn to handloading because the appropriate cartridges and shotshells are no longer commercially available. Handloaders can also create cartridges for which no commercial equivalent has ever existed — the so-called wildcat cartridges,Nonte, chapter 14, "Case Forming: Making What You Need from What You've Got." some of which can eventually acquire mainstream acceptance if the ballistic performance is proven to be good enough. However, as with any hobby, the pure enjoyment of the reloading process may be the most important benefit.

Recurring shortages of commercial ammunition are also reasons to reload cartridges and shotshells. When commercial supplies dry up, and store-bought ammunition is not available at any price, having the ability to reload one's own cartridges and shotshells economically provides an ability to continue shooting despite shortages.

There are three aspects to ballistics: internal ballistics, external ballistics, and terminal ballistics. Internal ballistics refers to things that happen inside the firearm during and after firing, but before the bullet leaves the muzzle. The handloading process can realize increased accuracy and precision through improved consistency of manufacture, by selecting the optimal bullet weight and design, and tailoring bullet velocity to the purpose. Each cartridge reloaded can have each component carefully matched to the rest of the cartridges in the batch. Brass cases can be matched by volume, weight, and concentricity, bullets by weight and design, powder charges by weight, type, case filling (amount of total usable case capacity filled by charge), and packing scheme (characteristics of granule packing).

In addition to these critical items, the equipment used to assemble the cartridge also has an effect on its uniformity/consistency and optimal shape/size; dies used to size the cartridges can be matched to the chamber of a given gun. Modern handloading equipment enables a firearm owner to tailor fresh ammunition to a specific firearm, and to precisely measured tolerances far improving the comparatively wide tolerances within which commercial ammunition manufacturers must operate.

Equipment

Inexpensive "tong" tools have been used for reloading since the mid-19th century. They resemble a large pair of pliers and can be caliber-specific or have interchangeable dies.

However, in modern days, handloading equipments are sophisticated machine tools that emphasize on precision and reliability, and often cost more than high-end shooting optics. There are also a myriad of various measuring tools and accessory products on the market for use in conjunction with handloading.

Presses

The quintessential handloading equipment is the press, which uses compound leverage to push the cases into a die that performs the loading operations.Nonte, chapter 2, "Choosing Tools and Equipment" Presses vary from simple, inexpensive single-stage models, to complex "progressive" models that operate with each pull of the lever like an assembly line at rates up to 10 rounds per minute.

Loading presses are often categorized by the letter of the English alphabet that they most resemble in shape: "O", "C", and "H". The sturdiest presses, suitable for bullet swaging functions as well as for normal reloading die usage, are of the "O" type. Heavy steel completely encloses the single die on these presses. Equally sturdy presses for all but bullet swaging use often resemble the letter "C". Both steel and aluminum construction are seen with "C" presses. Some users prefer "C" style presses over "O" presses, as there is more room to place bullets into cartridge mouths on "C" presses. Shotshell style presses, intended for non-batch use, for which each shotshell or cartridge is cycled through the dies before commencing onto the next shotshell or cartridge to be reloaded, commonly resemble the letter "H".

''Single-stage press'', generally of the "O" or "C" types, is the simplest of press designs. These presses can only hold one die and perform a single procedure on a single case at any time. They are usually only used to crimp the case neck onto the bullet, and if the user wants to perform any different procedures with the press (e.g. priming, powder dispensing, neck resizing), the functioning die/module need to be manually removed and changed. When using a single-stage press, cases are loaded in batches, one step for each cartridge per batch at a time. The batch sizes are kept small, about 20–50 cases at a time, so the cases are never left in a partially completed state for long because extended exposure to humidity and light can degrade the powder. Single-stage presses are commonly most used for high-precision rifle cartridge handloading, but may be used for high-precision reloading of all cartridge types, and for fine-tuning loads (developing loading recipes) for ultimately mass-producing large numbers of cartridges on a progressive press.

''Turret press'', most commonly of the "C" type, is similar to a single-stage press, but has an indexed mounting disc that allows multiple dies to be quickly interchanged, with each die being fastened with lock rings. Batch operations are performed similar to a single-stage press, different procedures can be switched by simply rotating the turret and placing a different die into position. Although turret presses operate much like single-stage presses, they eliminate much of the setup time required in positioning individual dies correctly.

''Progressive press'' is far more complex in design and can handle several cases at once. These presses have a rotating base that turns with each pull of the lever. All the dies/loading modules needed (often including a case hopper, a primer feed, a powder measure, and sometimes also a bullet feeder) are mounted in alignment with each case slot on the base disc, and often also include an additional vacant station where the powder levels are manually checked to prevent over- or under-charges. Progressive presses can load hundreds of cartridges sequentially with streamlined efficiency, and all the user has to do is pulling the lever, occasionally provide manual inputs such as placing the bullet in place on the case mouth (if a bullet feeder is not used).

Primer pocket swages can be either standalone, bench-mounted, specialized presses, or, alternatively, a special swage anvil die that can be mounted into a standard "O" style loading press, along with a special shell holder insert with either a large or a small primer pocket insert swage that is then inserted into the position on the "O" press where a normal shell holder is usually clicked into position. This way, both small and large primer pockets on different types of military cases can be properly processed to remove primer pocket crimps. Both types of presses can be used to remove either ring crimps or stab crimps found on military cartridges when reloading them. Reamers for removing primer pocket crimps are not associated with presses, being an alternative to using a press to remove military case primer pocket crimps.

Shotshell presses

Shotshell presses are generally a single unit of the "H" configuration that handles all functions, dedicated to reloading just one gauge of shotshell. Shotshell reloading is similar to cartridge reloading, except that, instead of a bullet, a wad and a measure of shot are used, and after loading the shot, the shell is crimped shut. Both 6 and 8 fold crimps are in use, for paper hulls and plastic hulls, respectively. Likewise, roll crimps are in use for metallic, paper, and plastic hulls. The shotshell loader contains stations to resize the shell, measure powd