I blame foo.c for starting the ball rolling. 😉

He kept prodding me to start reloading. I saw the sense in learning to reload my own ammunition, but it wasn’t something I wanted to start right now as I’ve got enough irons in the fire. Then exodus (docbot) had to sell stuff, and I got the deal of the year on his entire reloading setup. I picked all the stuff up, shoved it in the garage, and left it sit until I had time to deal with it. A few weeks ago I got productive and rearranged the garage, including making nice with the reloading setup. Now I was ready to go, just needed the knowledge. I read through the Speer Reloading Manual #14 and got the basic idea, but there’s no substitute for someone teaching you.

Enter Karl Rehn of KR Training.

Yesterday some emails were going around regarding ammo. In the end Karl asked me what I was doing Sunday (today) and said to come out to the range and he’ll teach me. So that’s what I did. This was not the way I planned to spend my Sunday, but I had an opportunity to learn how to reload, and to learn from Karl. I couldn’t pass up such an opportunity!

I hopped on my motorcycle (bonus! got a bike ride) and rode out. After doing a few chores we got down to business and Karl showed me how to get things going. We used a Dillon Precision 650. Karl explained the process and how things go. I had lots of questions and as always Karl answered every one and explained to my satisfaction. He would then demonstrate, then let me try, then correct, and so on. I had brought some of my own bullets and cases, so using his powder and primers I was able to crank out about 200 rounds or so of my own.

I also got to see how things can go wrong. For instance, there were some squibs, so I got to hear what they sounded like. The first loads of my stuff weren’t strong enough and so every round caused a stovepipe. We increased the powder charge and things worked great. I got to see how various issues in the reloading process can happen and how to resolve them. So it was very informative to not just learn how to do things but to see things go wrong and learn how to correct them.

As I neared completion of my rounds I noticed that I had started to get a good feel. I could feel if something was wrong and was able to correct it before it got to be a (bigger) problem. I had a good groove on how much pressure to use, how to work the down stroke and the up stroke. Seating the primers gave me the most trouble because sometimes I might not have completed the upstroke all the way, but eventually I got it. I probably could have reloaded a few hundred more and been just happy to do so.

So what wasn’t great about the day? Seeing how great a set up Karl has. 🙂  From a well-stocked reloading room, to the ability to just walk outside and test things, then walk back in and tune up, to a nice progressive press. Gosh, how nice! I only have a single-stage press and will have to drive quite a ways to test out my loads. I guess this puts me in the market for not just a progressive press, but also some land out in the country. 🙂

I also took my factory Springfield XD-9 Tactical to try the loads out. I figured if something went wrong, let the factory gun blow up instead of my Springer Precision customized model. Going back to that factory trigger and those big fat factory sights makes you appreciate the custom work. I expect the Tactical model will become customized, probably turn into a competition gun.

Now all I need to do is try the reloading out myself using my own gear. I still need foo.c to come down to the house and help me get set up all the way. But for now, I feel I have some basic idea of how to get around and do things, so I’ll probably go play in the garage and see what I can do. The basics here are pretty easy, a lot easier than I thought it would be. I can also see how this can be a very interesting hobby, almost an art and a craft to come up with that ideal load.

Karl, thank you for taking the time and trouble to show me. I appreciate it!