My sons first squirrel.

[drine]

Being from the Northeast Georgia Mountains, about half way between Curahee Mountain of Band of Brothers fame and Yonah Mountain of Ranger school fame, we have plenty of woods to hunt and fish in.
Several years back I traded for my 6 yo son a Chipmunk Rifle. I was six when I got mine, of course it was locked up and only mine in word. I taught him what I knew about safety first and marksmanship second. He did very well so we went squirrel hunting in the front yard. Within a few minutes he had one in his sites about 15 feet up on a limb gnawing a hickory nut. I told him to shoot when he was ready and POW! Right through the heart.
Now I didn't expect him to actually hit one let alone kill it. I was taught that you don't randomly kill animals and you have to eat what you take. So, we start cleaning it and he's more than sqeamish. I end up quartering it. He's not going to eat it and neither am I. His grandpa, now deceased, was a child of the 60's and game for anything. We took it to him and he takes a hind quarter(ham) and sears it in a skillet and eats it like a minature chicken leg. My son is more than pleased with himself at this point and was ready for a deer. That's 10 years ago and that little fella is now a 6'2" 15 yo who is outclassing me with my own pistol. No deer yet, he's old enough to clean game now and decided targets were easier to clean!

[Darkwatch]

That's a great story...reminds me of when my grandad taught me to shoot. I was about 7-8 and he went and got the .22 from his brothers house because he had a woodchuck eating up his garden (it made a burrow in the woodpile about 20' from the garden) So as I lay in the back yard next to him waiting for the woodchuck to come out for his dinner grandad started teaching me gun safety. After a while the woodchuck pops out of his burrow for his last supper. My grandad killed him with one shot. I, having been just told you don't just kill animals asked if woodchuck could be eaten. He said yes and after cleaning it and stashing some in the freazer we waited for grandma to leave...she would have killed us if she knew we cooked woodchuck in her kitchen! he fried it up and we both had some...wasn't bad either! Very shortly after that he "gave" me the .22 (a Remington Nylon 66...I wish I still had it!) after teaching me how to shoot it safely. It was kept at his house till I was 16 or 17. And we would spend our weekends shooting. What a great time that was. Sorry for the long post as I trip down memory lane.:)

[cimmaronkid]

Drine, now you got me hungry! A nice mess of young squirrel, some pan fried potatoes, home made biscuits and gravy. It doesn't get any better than that. Funny thing is, as my father and I each got older, we remembered most the fun we had with our guns on our hunts and the adventures they brought. Keep going with him and keep him on the path and neither of you will regret it. Good story.

[LostInTexas]

Great story! Remember to hunt with your kids and you won't be hunting for them...

[drine]

I've got three sons, 15 ,11,4. All are different but the older two are both honor studenst, athletes, and good kids.
Another story on the eldest: I've posted about his AR-15 before. It is truely his in that I'm on paper as the owner only.
Their grandpa that died last year was a carpenter. Both the older boys worked for him in the summer. The eldest was pretty good and did a lot more than was expected. Anyway, he made about 800.00 over the summer and when the gunshow came, he was ready. He had purchased a MINI-14 the year before with work and birthday money. He wanted to trade for the AR-15. I take all three by myself to the show and the eldest wonders off on his own. An hour later he comes back having scoured the place and has a deal in hand. I go to look and the dealer didn't realize he was 15. The boy had worked a trade for the MINI plus 300 cash for a pristine Bushmaster carbine, telescopic stock and two mags. The mini was a few years old and in good used shape. The rifle he traded for couldn't have had a small box of ammo shot through it. The delaer complimented him on being a "hellova hagler" and nice guy. He would hire him to work the shows if he was old enough. We all know how some dealers can be. This was a real compliment!
We are all gun owners here but for any non-owners, the responsibility shown by young people exposed to the correct use of weapons carries through to other parts of their life.

[cimmaronkid]

The only problem I can see here is the large expenditure of ammo that you are going to be going through with those boys. If you don't already reload, start. And teach them to learn how to reload because when they go off to college, you will be pulling that handle for them. My oldest, a junior at NAU in electrical engineering, decided he wanted to learn to shoot bullseye competition (his version of Zen and the .45) and now only shows up at the homefront about every two weeks when the laundry and the practice ammo runs out. And guess who does the reloading? Yep, dear old dad! But at least we spend the weekend at the range. Worse yet is my youngest (a freshman at college) who decided to get involved with me in BPCR. Gotta load those old 45-70's one at a time and cast and lube, etc. Again, every two weeks. At least I have them coming down on opposite weekends so I don't have to spend all week reloading and getting ready for them.

[drine]

Oh yeah, I've loaded shotgun shells but never cartridges. That is next. No more new guns until I can feed the ones I got. Hey that would solve the welfare problem in America!
I do promise to get a reloader as soon as I get the CETME finished. Just haven't had the time yet.

[Norton]

Oh yeah, I've loaded shotgun shells but never cartridges. That is next. No more new guns until I can feed the ones I got. Hey that would solve the welfare problem in America!
I do promise to get a reloader as soon as I get the CETME finished. Just haven't had the time yet.

drine you got it together in your family.. Boys that hunt,fish and shoot stay out out of trouble. Now once you start reloading you will find it is a great hobby. Show your boys how it's done and you will set them up for life. Anyway if the old lady ever gets on your case you can retreat to the reloading shop and zone out. Whatever is troubling you will simply melt away.

[cimmaronkid]

If you haven't seen Norton's pictures of his reloading room, you have missed a true sight. You couldn't ask for a nicer set up. Maybe he will post some pictures again as it is well worth the look. Definately a great place to hide. If I had it, I would only come out to go to the range and then scurry back in.

[Optimus Prime]

How much would it run to get a reloading setup on average?

[cimmaronkid]

Optimus, that is like asking how much a car costs. First, remember that there are 2 types of presses: Single stage and progressive. Each has its benefits and its draw backs. Second, this stuff never wears out so buying new is not a requirement. Same goes for dies, measurers, scales, etc. In single stage, you do one operation at a time. A lot slower, but will get a more accurate round usually. Cheapest way to go is with a Lee press, dies, scale, and measure. Can easily get in for under $100 and can load either pistol or rifle depending on the dies. Lee also makes progressive presses and they are very good. Probably the best progressive press on the market today is the Dillion 550B. This thing will kick out either rifle or pistol rounds depending on the dies and shell plate in almost every calibur out there. You can get about 300 rounds/hr depending on what you are loading. Dillion also has a "No BS" warranty on all his loaders. If it breaks, the part gets replaced free of charge. Run over it with your truck (that has happened) and they will send you a new one. My own 550B has had over 20,000 rounds loaded off of it and I finall broke the primer seater pin. They sent me out the entire bar assembly along with a few other small parts that they said might be showing some wear. You are looking on the low side of $400 for the press, dies, scale, and primer flip tray but you can easily get all of your money back at anytime, just check Evil-bay. You will want to add a case trimmer or a case trimmer die (cheaper) and a case length gauge or a set of good caliphers to measure case length. From this stuff, anything additional is just extra goodies. If you want to know more, PM me and I will be happy to tell you what I have learned NOT to do in 40+ years of reloading. Norton is also very knowledge in this as well and casts most of his bullets for his rifles. I wish he would re-post the pictures of his reloading room as it is quite a sight.

[Norton]

Optimus
As Cimmaron said you can go many different routes reloading. But as for me I felt the best with single stage presses. I use the progressive for Shotshells.
But rifles and pistols I enjoy loading them one at a time. It is slow but safe.
I like RCBS but LEE and Lyman make great cast iron presses. Stay away from the cheap LEE press.If you buy a LEE I recomend their Classic, it is cast Iron and strong. There are other older companys such as CH and Hollywood for sale on Ebay, These are fine units. Lee makes very good dies that are priced right. Both Lyman and RCBS make good old fashioned scales. these are slow but very sure.The new digital models sell for around $100. You need some calipers to check your used brass for length as it stretchs after being fired.
You just have to trim up the neck a bit to bring it back to specs. The triming tools can be found on Ebay in the $20 to 40 range. Lyman has some of the best beginer reloading books out there. It does not matter if you don't buy their brand, the info is the same. Lyman knows how to write books that you can understand the first time. The powder bottles you see on poeples benches are great for loading things like 9mm or 38 where you are just loading a bunch of practice ammo in a large quanity. But they are not necessary when you first start. The primer tray and lube pads are things you really need in my opinion. The lube pad keep the sheels lubed while you resize them so the wont get stuck in the die. The primer tray keeps you primers clean and up right while you have them on your bench. The good thing about most good reloading equipment is it lasts for a long time. So used presses,dies and othr stuff can be bought in good condition.. Try to buy a new scale, so you know it is right. I know it is alot to cover in one post. So I recomend this cruise Ebays reloading section and see what things are bidding at.
Then get on RCBS, LEE and Lymans web page and see what the stuff sells for new. Also note this they all sell kits for various levels, but with all of the basics so you can start right away. Here are a few shots of my favorite place, other than outside in the woods.
So good luck and don't hesitate to pm me if you have any question

[Optimus Prime]

Yeah, most likely the main thing would be reloading .45acp for practice, but we all know that it probably wouldn't take long before I'd start doing other stuff to if I get into it at all. I think it's going to depend on what kind of hours I can get this summer at work before I really start to seriously look into it.

[bullseye]

Here is what I have recently found out. My wife has a C&R and Graf & Sons has reloading stuff. She gets a discount there and I ordered my stuff from them much cheaper then evilbay has it for. The rest is my opinion only based on my limited exp and and even more limited budget. I would reccomend buying a Lee anniversary kit to start with. I constsntly hear about the powder scale being hard to set and adjust but I have had no problem with that. All you need is a set of dies and you are ready so start loading. You will need a good sturdy bench to bolt the press to and it should be bolted to the wall. There are plenty of forums that have reloading sections and there are people here with plenty of reloading experience to answer any questions you may have, so have no fear. As you get more into reloading, you will want to get case trimmers, case length guages, calipers, and check weights for the scale. Don't forget a loadbook to keep track of loads and how well they work for you. A chronograph helps to develop loads, but is not a necessity. There are lots of things you can add down the road to make it easier, but to get in on the ground floor and start loading, I would reccomend the Lee Anniversary Kit. I started with one a few years ago and had no problems at all with it and I just bought the Lee Loadmaster currently set up for 9mm. This weekend I'll be getting what I need for 38/357, 223, & 308. It is also the cheapest to get parts for and accessories as well. Lots of people I know have started out with Lee and got familiar with reloading and some have moved on to other brands, but most like myself have stayed with Lee. BTW, Grafs is not the only place to get a discount, there are plenty of others. The loadmaster is 330.00 from Lee and 185.00 from Grafs for example.

[cimmaronkid]

The other thing about reloading is the cost factor in that you can get the cost per round down and I mean way down! Find a couple of other people and buy in large bulk quantities for powder and primers. Use bulk bullets or blem bullets. (bullets that have a funny color to the brass, over runs, etc.) Save all of your cases and go scrounge brass from the local range. You would be suprised how many people don't reload and just leave their brass lay. You can get a lot of reloads from a rifle or pistol case if they are cared for correctly. I always try and let the people on either side of me keep their brass if they don't reload. I have never been turned down yet. Factor the cost of the reloading equipment over your life (stuff never wears out) and you will see that the investment per year is next to nill.