Reloading tips for the newbies

[Not_A_Llama]

Got to thinking today about things that confused me and would have been nice to know when I started reloading, and didn't know squat. So I put together a list. Hopefully, others will add theirs.

Mine's a little 9mm-biased, because that's what I load most.

-The “crimp” die should be called the "de-bell" die. It's just there to remove the flare from seating. Not many cartridges out there need a true hard crimp.
-Corollary to the above: case tension is what holds a bullet in, not crimp. The brass in your casings is powerfully elastic, to a certain point.
-The “coke bottle” effect in many reloaded rounds is normal and proper. It helps prevent the bullet from setting back in the case when chambering
-Variations in overall length are normal. Most seating dies push on the ogive of the bullet, not the tip. There can be considerable (+/-0.005″) variation in OAL when your dies are set up this way.
-Use case lube, even with carbide dies. It makes the process much faster and smoother, and a good spray lanolin case lube costs very very little.
-There is basically no upper limit to the number of times a piece of 9mm brass can be reloaded. I have reason to believe that some pieces of brass in my pool are 30+ reloads old
-Tumbling should take, at most, 20 minutes. You can go longer if you have a thing for shiny, but functionally clean doesn’t take long to achieve.
-Undercharges are just as dangerous as overcharges. Arguably moreso.
-You need a chronograph. Without one, you're loading blind. Velocity is your best picture into pressure.
-Powder measures measure volume, not weight. Charges are specified in weight. Powders are relatively uniform in density, which makes the whole thing workable.