Reloading, you can't get there from here!

In reloading, there are many mindsets and techniques, many of which can lead you down a path of heartache, confusion, pain, suffering, sorrow and yes even death.  Many reloaders obsess over things they have read or secret formulas they have heard of, thinking that this is the secret they have been waiting for.  This new process will most certainly make them the best shooter in the world.  

Now on to the truth.  Many of the things you read, hear and see being peddled by forums or influencers is not just hog wash, but many times just flat out stupid and dangerous and puts  not only yourself in harms way, but selfishly putting others in harms way as well.

A young man called to ask some questions, over a 30 minute conversation, the conclusion was made "you cannot get there from here".  You have gone down the wrong road so far, that getting from A to B, or from dangerous to safe is no longer possible.  With all good intentions, the advice was to shoot factory ammo until he could buy all new components and with a reloading manual start from scratch following the instructions step by step.  It is my belief that if more new reloaders would follow this simple advice, they would make better, safer and easier to find loads than they ever thought possible. And, in the end, making it a win / win for everyone, including the person shooting next to you whose life is possibly in your hands.

Our last podcast, Episode 163, was taking this matter on, but I would like to go a couple steps further.  Over the years I have had many people help here at the shop make ammo and have been through the questions with every rifle we make.  Some good, some bad and some dangerous.  Most never had bad intentions and were neither gullible or stupid.  The things they read or watched or were told seemed to make sense.  They believed the mindset of "do this special thing and you will have a leg up on your opponent or an advantage in the field on a hunt".  But some don't or didn't care if what they were doing was borderline dangerous or even crazy.   Those want a win at any cost and are willing to take the risk, even when it is at your expense.  

Our process here is simple, clean, efficient and it works.  I reload to shoot, not the other way around .  With well over 200K rounds and counting of match winning and accurate training ammo, I have learned some things along the way.  Break out a reloading book, follow it line by line, step by step and use the best components possible and finding accurate loads can be easily done in just one or two range trips.  Make the process stress free and repeatable every time and you  will get repeatable, successful results.  But always, always keep safety first.  Not just yours, but look at the shooter left and right of you and ask how you would feel exposing them without their knowledge to the threat of a rifle coming apart just feet from their faces.  Think about the family and friends depending on you and them to make it home safely.  Picture having to face their children and having to explain why you just had to run that high pressure "hot load" or reuse that tired brass or follow unsafe, unproven reloading or annealing processes.  Don't be selfish or foolish, instead focus on both accurate and safe reloading practices.