Dec 26, 2015 4 min read

The voice on the other end of the phone said, “I tried calling you but you are never home.”

How true especially at this time of the year. The problem is Christmas comes too close to deer season. It must be the fault of those who design and make the calendars.

Maybe Christmas needs to be moved a bit. Honest Pastor Jones I am only kidding!

Just as most hunters at this time of the year, we will all suffer from cabin fever beginning in just a few short weeks.

Most years I turn to my reloading. My free time will find me stuffing empty brass or cleaning my guns or reloading room.

If this current nice weather continues, I can go shoot in January. While I do realize the dangers of global warming, there is a bright side.

On a gloomy day in the dead of winter, I will be found filling my vibrating case cleaner and polishing the empty .38s and .357s I found tucked away. If I am lucky and don’t watch too many old western movies, I will clean enough brass to last all spring and summer.

After I have cleaned enough cases, I will start the reloading part of the task. Cases will be sized and primed. Sometimes I will take a break at this point but will return to the job in a couple of days.

Sometimes, especially when trying a strange load, I will use the Neil Jones measure on my bench, but for handguns I usually turn to the RCBS Little Dandy Measure. I have found two inexpensive reloading gadgets that I don’t want to be without. One is the Little Dandy. The other is the Lee Auto Prime.

The Little Dandy uses fixed charge rotors, and I have them for mild, medium and heavy loads in the .357 and .38. These are the two cartridges that I use the most.

I try to make it a rule to load the .38 and Magnum about equal in number of rounds and do the same in the heaviness of the loads. After the powder is charged, it is time to do most re-loaders favorite task, seat the bullets.

Actually, when loading revolver rounds the bullet needs to be crimped and I do not try to seat and crimp with the same operation. When tried many times, the case is bulged.

Therefore, I seat the bullets to the desired depth and then readjust the die to crimp. I then crimp the bullet in place. The magnum loads require a heavy crimp to eliminate movement under recoil.

That is one job I take on in the winter months. If I spend enough time at the reloading bench, I might not have to load for my handgun again for a couple of years.

For those who don’t load, perhaps you should think about taking up the hobby of reloading your own.

I look at all of the gadgets on my bench and often think just what is really necessary? Of course a good solid press is needed. To be honest I don’t know of any brand that is not good.

A set of dies for the cartridges to be loaded are necessary. Most presses are capable of seating primers so a primer seater is not needed although good to have.

Then we need a scale or balance, as it is more correctly known. Again, a measure is handy but you can weigh each charge making the measure a luxury and not a necessity.

I can think of two other things that are needed. First, a funnel to get the powder in the empty case; second a loading block where the cases stand upright and are charged with the gunpowder.

Watch someone make a liar out of me by coming up with something I am overlooking. I do think that minimum equipment would enable me to reload.

The rest of the stuff makes things both easier and faster. However, one must remember the goal is not a large number of cartridges but a number of accurate rounds that bring out the best in your rifle or handgun.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.