Reloading is a way to get more accurate, more reliable and more deadly ammo. When you reload you gain complete control over what you are firing. If you put the effort in you can create ammo which is far superior than what you can buy in a store for considerably less money. There are caveats.
First reloaded ammo is for A SPECIFIC WEAPON. NEVER FIRE ammo you loaded for one in another without doing a load work up. Just because it works fine in one weapon, even if it's the same brand, model and year does not mean it will necessarily be perfect for this specific weapon and could be outright dangerous. The exceptions being the reloads you buy at say a gun show. Those are loaded as light loads specifically to be safe in just about anything which can fire them. They will however be weak loads and the accuracy is comparable to factory ammo generally.
You will need a bench of some sort. Indoors and with ventilation. Climate controlled location. Temp and moisture has an impact on your loads. As such reloading in an unheated/uncooled garage can actually be dangerous as the loads can vary that much due to weather and your supplies may be damaged by the heat or worse if it gets hot enough.
There are two major types of presses commonly used. Single stage and multi-stage. A single stage press is a hands and eyes on the round every step of the process done one at a time. Single stage presses are considerably slower, require a little more physical effort but are safer and can produce a more consistent load if you are careful about your process. Multi-stage presses will do multiple stages of the reloading process every time you pull the lever. One shell will be filled with powder while another is having a bullet seated, etc. Multi-stage presses are considerably faster but not as fast as it would seem since you do not lay your hands or eyes on every stage of the process. As such you have to develop a QA process for checking afterwards. If you just trust your press sooner or later your going to blow up a gun and possibly kill yourself or others. Single stage presses can be purchased for under $100. Prices go up from there as you add bells and whistles.
You will need a set of dies for the calibers you shoot. Each set of dies at a min should have a resizing die and a seating die. You will need a scale. Personally I prefer digital scales. Faster and easier, but it is purely a matter of personal preference. Always calibrate your scale before you load. You will also need calipers, a funnel, a trimmer and a deburrer/chamfer. It is highly recommended that you also purchase a powder dispenser and shell holders that fit your caliber if your using a single stage press. There are a number of accessories which are quite useful such as primer pocket cleaners and priming tools but not essential to reloading. It is highly advisable to clean your brass and if you pick up range brass it is essential you clean it before reloading. This is done with a case tumbler.
The last essential is at least one reloading manual. I highly recommend the Lee reloading manual, but there are several other good reloading manuals. Owning more than one and using them is strongly recommended. Reloading manuals contain errors. When you see a major difference between manuals then you want to get a third or fourth reference such as from the manufacturers website or other internet sites or reloading manuals. If both manuals agree you can feel confident you have good load data.
Safety precautions you should always observe.
NEVER touch your mouth or eyes or have an open beverage on or around the bench while your loading. Wash your hands immediately after loading. You are handling lead, gunpowder and other toxins. You do not want to ingest any.
Make sure where you load is ventilated.
One powder and one powder ONLY on the table any time you are loading. NO EXCEPTION.
When priming it is a good idea to wear some sort of eye protection.
Always check your powder when you put it on the table. Then check it again. A lot of powders come in containers which are very similar in appearance and name. I once thought I was loading H414 (a rifle powder) when the powder I actually picked up was H110. Right before I seat my bullets I double check my powder levels (look down in tray and look for any bullets that look like they have too much or too little powder), then check my powder can again and finally I look at my load data and make sure the load I thought I wanted was actually what I was loading. Had I seated those bullets and fired those rounds with handgun powder in a rifle case I would have probably blown up my gun.
Which brings us to next safety tip. Have a process and do it religiously until it is reflex. Build double and triple checks of everything you are doing. I was tired the day I almost loaded the wrong powder. Was not paying attention, but my process saved me. I ALWAYS do that double check before loading even though I've done this thousands of times. All it takes is that ONE time, so double check yourself, triple check is even better. Then do it the same way every time once you find what works for you.
No open flame or anything that might spark on or close to the bench while powder is out. IE no smoking, no space heaters within 3 feet, no running chainsaws, etc.
NEVER mix powders. Unless you are absolutely and completely 100% sure what powder you have discard it. If the powder may have been contamination such as powder spilled on the bench (I always use a clean piece of paper to catch spills) discard that powder.
Inspect your brass before loading it. Discard brass with split cases, deep indentations or any brass you are just not comfortable with for one reason or another. With bottle neck cases take a paper clip and run it up the inside of the case looking for potential head separation or get a case thickness gauge. Head separation is where the back end of the case blows off. Very dangerous but also quite rare. It happens when rifle brass has been reloaded and fired one time too many. On the outside the case may appear to be fine, which is the insidious part about head separation. There is not set number of times times brass can be reloaded. Very difficult to know how many times you've fired a particular piece of brass if you clean it.
Now on to the fun part. Once you have all your gear it's time to select a powder. So you look at your handy reloading manual, ask other re-loaders for their opinions (always double check, most advice you get will be good but there are sometimes some very dangerous advice given out) and look on bullet manufacturer websites for reloading data. The two things you are looking at are FPS and pressure. Damage is a factor of velocity and mass. The heavier and faster a bullet is moving the more damage it does. All bullets are a trade off of mass and velocity. Which factor is more important is something that's been debated for at least 50 years and will probably continue to be debated for another 50. Which powder you use however is usually affected by what weight bullet you use. Generally I'd recommend starting with the weight you see in most factory ammo for your caliber then experimenting with lighter and heavier bullets until you find what's perfect for you, your purpose and your weapon. So if your shooting a .357 your going to want to start with either 125 gn bullets or 158 gn bullets. If your loading a .40 cal then you'll prob want to start with 165 gn or 180 gn bullets. What is the best powder for one weight of bullet is often not the best for another weight. Most reloaders will recommend yo stay with one weight of bullet once you find one you really like. This makes reloading much easier and simpler. The first powder you try is very unlikely to be the last. What you do is look at powders that produce the velocity and pressure you want and start there. Just because the book says you will get x FPS and X pressure does not mean that is what will happen in YOUR gun. Felt recoil is mostly a factor of velocity and pressure but there are certain powders which will give you noticeably less or more recoil. It also helps to have loads worked up in at least 2 or 3 powders in case your favorite powder becomes difficult to find or is discontinued.
Another factor is how clean the powder is in your gun. This is especially important in semi-autos as a really dirty powder can cause the gun to malfunction after a few hundred rounds if it is built to very tight specs such as an AR or certain handguns. It is also more of a pain to clean a gun if your shooting a dirty powder than a clean powder. How clean a powder is, is mostly a factor of the burn rate and barrel length. Snub nose revolvers and semi-autos need faster burning powders than long barreled magnums for example. There are a number of other factors, especially if you cast your own bullets. Realistically the only way to know is to try that powder.
The last but I feel a very important factor in selecting a powder is picking a powder you cannot double charge. That is if the load is for your particular caliber and bullet say 22 gn and you put 44 gns of powder in it will overflow. Whenever possible I use powders I cannot double charge. Double charging is one of the most common accidents when reloading and if your using a powder you cannot double charge then you have a built in safeguard against this. It is however not always possible and there are certain powders which may have enough advantages that you will go with them instead of a powder you cannot double charge.
Now that you've selected a powder and a bullet it is time to do a load work up. You start at the lowest powder level indicated for the bullet you are shooting and that caliber in your reloading manual. Never jump ahead. Always start at the min until you get to know how this particular weapon and powder work together. You load at least 3 rd, preferably 5 to 10 and work your way up checking for signs of pressure. This is primarily done by looking at the primer of the spent case. You will also be able to feel the way to gun reacts as opposed to shooting factory rounds. If you are seeing signs of high pressure stop firing those work ups. Instead pull the bullets in the remaining rounds. Just because a reloading manual shows a max pressure does not mean that is what your gun will safely fire. Once you establish the max pressure your comfortable with you then begin testing for accuracy by working back up from the min velocity you feel you wish to use testing your grouping at each 1 gn increment until you find certain loads which are more accurate. You can then take 100 rds of each load and test them some more finally settling on a load that is perfect for you and your weapon. You then record this as your load, preferably in multiple places such as in a notebook and a computer spreadsheet. If you lose your load data you will have to do a whole new load work up all over again.
This is not meant as an exhaustive text. Just a very basic overview of the process. Talk to reloaders, ask them questions. Read the manuals and jump into reloading forums. Reloading is fun and very safe as long as you follow basic precautions.
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