Handloading Basics
Handloading is not only a rewarding and enjoyable hobby, it makes economical sense and allows you to produce the most accurate ammunition.

How safe is handloading?
In a word, very. Because today's smokeless gun powders are a lot different than the old black powders of our ancestors. In fact, modern smokeless powders are classified as propellants, not explosives, meaning when properly used these powders only burn when ignited. So, while common sense and certain precautions should not be ignored, handloading is by no means a high risk hobby. Always remember to wear safety glasses while shooting and handloading.

How good is handloading ammo?
The truth is, carefully handloaded ammunition is usually better than factory loaded, because it can be fine-tuned to fit a specific gun and a certain type of shooting. The result is far greater accuracy.

How complicated is handloading?
It's simple. There are only four components to a rifle or pistol cartridge: the primer, the powder, the bullet and the brass case. When a cartridge is fired, the primer ignites the powder, the powder then propels the bullet out of the barrel. All that's left is the brass case and the spent primer. And this is where the handloading comes in. The brass can be reloaded over and over. All you do is push out the fired primer, resize the brass case, insert a new primer, add the right amount of powder and seat a new bullet on the case. That's handloading in very simplified terms. More details are on the following pages.

How much money does handloading save?
A lot. Take .30-06 factory ammo for instance. At today's prices, they cost about $.90 each. Of that, the primer, powder and bullet account for about $.38. So about $.52 of every factory round is chalked up to the brass case plus the expense of loading it. Since you will be using the case over again, you save nearly 60% over factory ammo or about $10.60 per box of 20! That's why handloaders generally make better shooters, because they can afford to practice more.

How much equipment does it take?
Surprisingly little. Many non-reloaders think it takes several hundred dollars to get into handloading properly, but the truth is you can get all the equipment you need to start out with for less than $200.00. If you do much shooting at all, this amount can be saved in your first year alone.

How many types of cartridges can be handloaded?
Most any and all kinds except rimfire type, like .22's. Most brass cases can be reloaded 5 to 20 times, depending upon the caliber and powder charge. Besides the standard calibers, RCBS has the tooling to make over 3,100 custom calibers of reloading dies. So there's no limit to what can be handloaded.

Now, with those questions and answers behind us, the next step is to get your hands on the right equipment. The RCBS Rock Chucker Master Reloading Kit has all of the basic tools you'll need to get started, including the legendary Rock Chucker Press. All you need to provide are the dies, bullets, primers, cases, powder and shell holder. But we'll talk more about the components a little later. Right now, we'll concentrate on the products included in the Rock Chucker Master Reloading kit.

Back to Top