Three of the greatest minds in the firearm industry (at least within earshot) Brownells Gun Techs Keith Ford, Caleb Savant, and Steve Ostrem give us the straight skinny on getting started reloading your own ammunition. Most important, get a reloading manual published by a reliable source, not a "recipe" you found on the Interwebs! Even if your best buddy is an experienced reloader, don't just use his load data. Every gun is different, so the maximum load that's safe in his gun may not be safe in YOUR gun, even if it’s the same make and model. Follow that manual and work up to a maximum load for your specific firearm.

A few reloading bench essentials: safety glasses, bullet puller to undo "oops" loaded rounds, stuck case remover for pulling broken cases from resizing dies, and a notebook to document your loads (DON'T rely on memory). Keep that bench neat and clean to avoid contaminating your ammo or grabbing the wrong powder bottle. Have NO distractions while you're loading ("Wait... did I already drop the powder into this one.?"). Don't swap powder containers, and don't leave powder sitting in your powder measure. Store powder in a location where the temperature stays constant, not the garage or the shed out back. Finally, a tip from Caleb: Decap cases BEFORE measuring for overall length. (Ask him how he knows this!) Got your own "mission critical" reloading tip? Tell us in a comment below.

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