Reloading kit for my Grandson

[Ben]

Trevor , Age 10,. is already very interested in reloading.
I'm concerned that he may not be living in a home with a dedicated " reloading room " , basement or other suitable room with shelves, benches, etc. Many don't get into reloading because they don't have access to a heavy work bench and many shelves for storage.

To deal with the possibility of this, I assembled this kit for him. It contains everything necessary to load 38 Specials.

It hubs around the Lee hand press with the quick change interrupted thread die arrangement.
It is so quick and easy to change dies out in this press. We're set up right now for loading 38 Specials with 148 gr. wadcutters. The dies are locked now.
He is 10 yrs. old now and very mature for his age. However, he will only be allowed to reload using this kit while he is in my presence. There will be a day , down the road , when he can take it home with him, but not right now, for obvious reasons.

I like this because each step is deliberate and he can see and understand what is going on. Once he masters reloading 38 Specials, obviously he can easily branch out to other calibers.

You can spread an old towel on a coffee table and start reloading.
When you're finished, you put everything back in its place and slide the whole thing under your bed.

What do you think ?

Ben

UP-DATE
____________________________________________

Trevor used his reloading kit yesterday.
Everything went well with the exception of him trying to get a level
scoop of powder , get the empty primed case into the bottom of the
funnel, get everything up right and throw the charge.

His bullets also wanted to roll around on the table.
I told him that I'd have an answer to all this tomorrow.
Here is the answer.

Just as soon as a single level scoop of powder is thrown, you
reach below and seat a bullet in the mouth of the flared case,
this " should " totally eliminate the possibility of a double charge.
Yesterday, it just seemed like he didn't have enough hands.

This should help. It stores in his box just fine.

 

[462]

Trevor,
Looks like Grandpa set you up with a great starter kit.

 

[James Nicholson]

Much better than the whack-a-mole I started with!! You did well.

 

[KHornet]

Great kit, and good start. I started with
a 310 tool.

Paul

 

[Pistolero]

Like, Paul, I started as a teen with a Lyman 310. Not only did I not have the money for a bench mounted
press....I had no bench! I loaded on the screened porch.

Looks like a dream kit to me. Trevor is a lucky kid, and Ben is a lucky Grandfather.

Bill

 

[Trapperscott]

That's just awesome. Trevor is very fortunate to have you Ben. He will do fine under your watchful eye.

 

[Ben]

Thanks fellows..........He will definitely have a " watchful eye " looking over his shoulder.
We all know that fun is fun and Safety is Safety.
The latter, comes 1st.
The fun comes after that. This will be the foundation that everything we do is based on.

Ben

 

[Pistolero]

Yes. Trevor has a great advantage in having an expert there to oversee.

I had to figure it all out on my own. The worst I did as a newbie was to discover that Rem 2 1/2 Primers
are large PISTOL primers (IIRC, NOT marked on the 100 pack I bought, just the number) and they fit fine
in my 7x57 cases. First shot, all seemed normal except DANG my thumb hurt, something whacked
the heck out of it. And oddly, the Model 95 Mauser bolt sprung open when I lifted the bolt. I loaded another
round and banged away. DANG IT THAT HURTS! Why is my thumb so sore, and why is the cocking piece
"still" back??? This time I looked at the two cases more closely....a hole in the primer. OH, gas
blowing the firing pin and cocking piece back, whacking my thumb and recocking the gun. There
is something wrong here, the rifle is fine with factory ammo. No more shooting until a bit of
research is completed.

Less of a problem than some reloading errors might have been.

Better to have a mentor.

Bill

 

[Ben]

Bill,

They say, " The lessons learned the hardest are also learned the best. "

We've all had an OOOpps !
Fortunately, yours was brief and without major blood loss or pain.
We learn by doing....................

Ben

 

[Spindrift]

Very nice kit!
I have three single station presses bench mounted, but actually do all my neck sizing with a Lee hand press, and collet dies. They are a perfect match, effortless sizing- and I can do it anywhere I like. Nice to process brass outside, on a nice spring day, instead of my reloading dungeon in the basement

 

[Ian]

What do I think? How about outstanding!!!

The Lee hand press is a great tool. I put together two kits "hubbed" around that tool, one for a disabled veteran uncle to load .45 Colt and one for myself back when I did a lot of lube testing and load workups at a public range. Even made dedicated scoops like that for my uncle, one for Unique and one for Titegroup, midrange loads. Trevor will love that kit; having something to call one's own changes the whole experience.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Ian,

There is certainly something magical about the phrase......" That's Mine ! " , when you're 10 yrs. old.

Ben

 

[Ben]

Changing out dies in this one is super quick.

 

[Pistolero]

I see you have clamp type, non-Lee lock rings, too. Good to make sure that the adjustment
isn't lost accidentally. Pretty 10 year old 'friendly'. I didn't know that the hand press could take
the quick change die holders, pretty cool.

Are you using a 'fluffy' kind of powder that is more difficult to dbl charge? If the loading
pattern is 1) resize 2) expand 3) prime 4) load powder AND seat a bullet as a single operation, it
makes double charging far less likely.

Of course the real 'protection' with double charges with .38 Spl would be a load being fired in a .357
Mag revolver that would be surprising, but still OK if doubled. Not sure that this is possible, but seems
likely that there is a combo that would be a good .38 Spl load and twice would still be safe in a
.357 Mag revolver.

I think TrailBoss is supposed to be low density, and difficult to double charge in most handguns, but
I have never used it, so cannot say anything from personal experience.

Bill

 

[Ben]

Primer pocket clean out tool. Made out of a nail.
( We are on a budget ! ! )

 

[Ben]

Bill,

Are you using a 'fluffy' kind of powder that is more difficult to dbl charge? If the loading pattern is 1) resize 2) expand 3) prime 4) load powder AND seat a bullet as a single operation, it makes double charging far less likely.

No , I thought about something like TrailBoss and before I " turn him loose " in a few years, I may very well go to that.

We pick up an empty primed and belled case that is " primer up ", throw a charge , examine it, then seat a bullet before anything else can happen.

For whatever it is worth, all our loads will be fired out of 357 Mag. revolvers , Ruger # 1 357 Max rifle and a Model 92 , 357 Mag. rifle.

Ben

 

[Ben]

Not in any way trying to blow my own horn.
But , I do think it is super important for all of us to get young people interested in shooting and reloading.

We won't be here forever, who carries the torch after we pass on ? ? ?

Ben

 

[Ian]

It's up to us, Ben, and it isn't getting any easier to generate interest. You're doing a fantastic job with Trevor, but as a principle I'm sure you know all too well about horses and water. You got lucky with your grandson, and he got really lucky with you. Handloading and shooting is so much a part of your life that he could hardly fail to be interested.

Bill, those ARE Lee lock rings. They have their own "upgrade" for their interrupted-thread inserts which has a split side and pinch bolt. Spendy, four of them cost more than a hand press, but worth it for situations exactly like this one where Ben will want no chance of the die settings getting accidentally changed when swapping dies.

 

[462]

My son and his 14 year old son are interested in shooting, but work and sports don't allow for the time. Also, they live 125 miles North of me, so I'm not there to help.

Locally, the 25 year old granddaughter enjoys shooting her father's .22 RF rifle, but she's not comfortable with the recoil of his .45 ACP 1911 and .40 S&W handguns. I can see a 9 mm in her future, but next May's wedding is (unexplainably) more important.

 

[popper]

Gave the GS 243 stuff and a challenger press, up to Mama as to him reloading. Only other he has is 223, not reloading those. Problem with the Lee is trying to not dump powder when seating. Need 3 or 4 hands. Thought about making somekind of C clamp thing to pop on the bench but I do have a bench press so the lee just gets used for 'fixing' something. Modified test tube holder?