DIY: Reloading Your Own Ammo Begins with Clean Cartridges

Reloading ammo at home can be a worthwhile endeavor, whether as an enhancement to your shooting hobby, or as a way to save money on hunting gear during a time when supply chain issues can make ammo hard to come by.

Simply, reloading is the act of repurposing spent cartridges into new ammunition. It involves saving, cleaning and resizing the metal cartridge case, removing the spent primer and then re-priming, recharging with powder, and seating the new bullet.

The goal is to make the best-performing ammunition possible.

There are multiple steps to reloading your own hunting ammo, and many involve specialized gear that can range greatly in price.

• Learn More: Bare-Bones Gear for Reloading Ammo at Home

It all begins with preparation of the cartridge case, which is the most important element in true-shooting ammunition. The case houses all the components, so shooting accuracy is largely impacted by the quality of your repurposed piece of metal.

Prepping the cartridge begins with cleaning, and most reloaders use a tumbler to clean and polish the cases to make them look almost new.

The National Metallic Rotary Tumbler (midwayusa.com, $92.60) allows reloaders to efficiently clean and polish a large number of cartridges at the same time.

The heavy-duty tumbler’s large 7-liter drum is rubber-lined and can clean up to 1,000 .223 brass cases. It comes completely assembled and ready for use.

Features:

• Gear-driven motor
• 0-4 hour timer with automatic shut-off
• Quiet operation
• 7-liter rubber-lined drum
• 5 pounds media capacity
• Shipping weight: 15.384 pounds

Click for more info on the National Metallic Rotary Tumbler

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