first cartridge loaded for

[oldbear1950]

Do Ya'll remember the first caliber and gun you reloaded for?
For me was 1976, I was stationed at the COAST GUARD base in Kodiak, AK, and purchased a Marlin 1895 45-70, used of course.
Did not want to run into a brown bear. I shoot left handed, none of the two gun shops carried any left handed gun, much less one capable of handling a brown bear.
But no one carried 45-70 ammo up there either. So I went looking for a used reloading press, (after talking with my brother, who had been reloading since he was about 15) was a used RCBS rock chucker, single stage press, RCBS DIES, bullets, primers, and 3031 powder. That was the only powder I could get that was listed in my speer nbr 9 manual, and could find locally.
I have been loading ever since

 

[44 AMP]

.308 Winchester. Remington Model 600 carbine. Was given the rifle when I got old enough to hunt deer. Also 1/2 a box of cartridges and a couple boxes of fired brass.

Grandmother gifted me the princely sum of $40 for my birthday, (and it those days, it was a lot!) which got me a Lyman press set, scales, manual, components and some accessories and off I went!

Currently, I'm equipped to load for over 30 different rifle and pistol rounds from .22Hornet to .458 Win mag.

Learned on my own, no internet, no U Tube, this was decades before those existed. Books, and magazine articles and sadly, no local mentor. Reading, and trial and error were my teachers. Especially the error part.

 

[Mal H]

My learning experience was pretty much the same as 44 AMP - no outside help except for the current (at that time) Speer Loading manual #7. The first caliber I reloaded for was 22-250 in 1968.

 

[Shadow9mm]

9mm in 2008 for my sig P226.
Now, I load for 9mm, 38spl, 357 mag, 44spl, 44 mag, 45 auto, 223, 308, and 30-06.

 

[FrankenMauser]

.223 Rem to feed a Colt SP1.
I was 6 or 7.
We didn't get to shoot it if we didn't help feed it.

Whatever primer was provided.
25.0 gr Norma 201
55 gr FMJ
Seated to whatever the seating die was set for (typically providing crimp in the cannelure).

(Every person in my family can recite that load. It was the same thing for 20+ years, until our father ran out of his bargain bin Norma 201.)

 

[Unclenick]

45 Auto. My dad got me interested in shooting in a local bull's-eye league, and there was no other way to make matches and practice affordable. After that, every non-rimfire gun I acquired got a die set and components, and usually bullet molds as well. In for a penny…

 

[hodaka]

.38 long colt

Using a Lee kit with a hammer in .38 Special. My first pistol was a Colt Lightning which was a gift from my Grandfather. I figured it out then moved to a .38 Special.

 

[Crankylove]

.223 Rem to feed a Colt SP1.
I was 6 or 7.
We didn't get to shoot it if we didn't help feed it.

Whatever primer was provided.
25.0 gr Norma 201
55 gr FMJ
Seated to whatever the seated die was set for (typically providing crimp in the cannelure).

(Every person in my family can recite that load. It was the same thing for 20+ years, until our father ran out of his bargain bin Norma 201.)

Yep. Spent many hours of our youth in front of that rock chucker.

Learned many reloading lessons on that press, like not to bump the scale accidentally, and load 28.5 grains instead of the 25 grains, and to be grateful for powder measures instead of spooning powder into the scale for every round loaded………….with 5 people shooting it, we went through a lot of .223.

 

[Paul B.]

August 1954. Cartridge was the 30-30, powder IMR 3031 CCI primers and whatever brass I could find. Used a cheap Lyman scale and the Lyman 310 Tong Tool. Bullets were cast from an unknown alloy, sized to 310" from a Lyman mold #311291.. I'me guessing it was probably wheel weight in the alloy of the day. It was noticeably harder that what few late issue weights you might still find today. I did take a few deer with that load back in the day. Rifle is an 1894 Winchester mark .30W.C.F. and the serial number places it in early 1911. Base on lists Ive seen, I'm thinking it was made in the first week of the year 1911. It was my Great grandfather's rifle when he was a sheep herder in Nevada.
Paul B.

 

[USAF Ret]

Still deciding if my first will be 308 or 6.5CR. Have brass ready for both.

 

[mgulino]

I’ve only been loading about 7-8 years. Started on a Lee single-stage with 9mm rounds for a Springfield XD. Still have both and load for about 10 calibers.

 

[tlm225]

.38 Special, 1979 using a Lee whack-a-mole kit.

 

[olduser]

1969 45ACP for 1911 Argentine clone. Lee wack_a_mole.

 

[Sevens]

I definitely remember maybe all of the details? Let's see what I can recall!

I first made handloads on a brand new Mec-650, 20ga using Win AA hulls and wads, #9 shot, CCI-209 primers and Win 473-AA powder to feed a Browning Citori skeet. But I loaded my last box of shotshells in the summer of 1990.

Metallic is where I fell in love. With a brand new Lee Challenger 2001 ("guaranteed to last until the year 2001!") and Lee dies, it was definitely .38 Special.

Federal brass, CCI-500 primers in the small kinda skin-tone colored sleeve, the last small sleeve CCI ever used for primers. The powder was Hercules Green Dot that I tossed from a yellow Lee dipper. The bullets were Speer swaged 158gr LSWC and they were kinda greasy, kinda black. I was mentored by only a Speer#11 manual. No person to show me and I can truthfully say that the guys working at Guns Galore in Fenton, Michigan almost sneered at me every time I purchased a sleeve of primers or dared to bother them with a question. They were card-carrying old timey old school gun store jerks and it was a miracle that they stayed in business because they acted this way to seemingly everyone, not just the 16-year old me trying to roll my first ever handloads.

That range trip and successful .38 Special? I was far beyond hooked for life.

These were launched from my six-inch S&W 686-3 and it would have been June, 1989. One hand/strong hand fully extended, to get that revolver as far away from me as possible and quite possibly with both eyes closed tightly!

That was the beginning of my journey, but I'll close this post with a tip of my hat to poster Paul B. above with August, 1954, that's just amazing!

 

[jetinteriorguy]

1983 after buying my first .41 mag, because ammo was uncommon and pricey. A friend of a friend was selling off a bunch of almost new Lyman stuff so I bought it. I’m still using it today. I still have the pistol as well.

 

[Wag]

About 1997, bought a Lee Anniversary Kit for $99 (I think) at a local gun show. Bought dies for 9mm and 45 acp. Had to buy powder and bullets. I read the loading manual twice, then bought another loading manual (Hodgdon, maybe?) and read that too. I finally felt like I could do it.

The Lee gear turned out to be junk and most of it has been replaced with RCBS which has proven itself over the years.

--Wag--

 

[Wendyj]

I started with an old Lee Anniversary kit loading 308. Dipped powder by scoops and used the old Lee beam scale and checked with a Frankford Arsenal digital. IMR 3031 powder and Winchester primers using Lake City brass. I totally loved it. Have bought several different setups in the last 10-15 years but still remember how much fun it was and even with sub par equipment how accurate I had made my old Savage Hog Hunter 308. I still have the old Anniversary press mounted to a wooden stool and sit in front of the TV depriming before running brass through a SS tumbler.

Primers were $25.00 a thousand and power was $22.oo a lb. No reason for prices to be what they are now. Absolute shame.

 

[totaldla]

30-06.
My Dad taught me when I was 12. I taught my son when he was 40 (.308) and I taught my 13yr old Grandson and 16yr old Granddaughter this year (.308).

 

[stagpanther]

I think it was 44 mag--still one of the easiest and best cartridges to load for IMO.

 

[Mike38]

9mm for a Glock 17. It was early 1990s. My reloads looked absolutely terrible, but the Glock ate them just fine.