Reloading – from humble beginnings to an exact science

BY PIERRE VAN DER WALT – As we push the ranges at which we attempt to hit targets, and occasionally nudge past the too-far mark, our attention to handloading detail has become positively obsessive. Group sizes and the cost of achieving them should in future probably rather be measured in bars of gold rather than in inches or millimetres.

 

We are gradually leaving the humble reloading bench and its savings and pleasures behind as we are sneaking ever deeper into the realms of laboratories, microchips… and a Large Hadron Collider level of handloading equipment and imagined challenges with even more imaginary outcomes.

We can see it in the ever-increasing sophistication, at equally eye-watering prices, of what the manufacturers are now offering. Barrels, actions, platforms (stocks and chassis) and optics have all been thoroughly reinvented and repriced. Even humble rings and bases, once barely worth a second thought, are now treated with scientific scrutiny that would make space scientists blush and are priced to make even Elon Musk blink before reaching for his wallet.

Every year at the SHOT Show in the US and at IWA in Germany, handloading tool manufacturers introduce new tools to feed our insatiable quest for real and perceived problems. This year was no exception, but what was different was that several big-name manufacturers introduced tools that strongly resemble long-existing products from custom manufacturers under their brand names. This means that these “custom products” will now become well-known brand names, be slightly more affordable and eventually become available from a store near you.

Despite my somewhat satirical view of the state of the handloading world in the 21st century, I like new toys, particularly new handloading toys. It is just a pity that it takes a while for all of it to become available in South Africa.

FRANKFORD ARSENAL PRECISION SINGLE-STAGE PRESS

I am quite a fan of Frankford Arsenal’s Perfect Seat hand primer, Platinum Series stainless steel rotary tumbler, Intellidropper V2.0 and X-10 progressive press, so I was looking forward to seeing their new single-stage press.

This is an unusual U-shaped press very much in the Sudami X-ring style, with a large-diameter ram and an LED light system. It is rigid, can handle cartridges up to .338 Lapua in length (93,5 mm), and only accepts standard ⅞th x 14 dies, so it cannot be used for big-bore or serious ELR cartridges. I do not see it filling any particular gap or niche in the market, but I do like its fully contained primer capture system, which is the best I have ever seen.

 

HORNADY HIGH-SPEED 3-IN-1 POWER CASE TRIMMER

Case trimming is a very important element of case preparation and maintenance. An overly long case can cause bullet pinching, pressure spikes and catastrophic failure. An overly short case contributes to carbon ring forming and chamber neck and lip erosion.

Although case trimming generally requires extremely limited removal of material at the case mouth, it can be time-consuming with most systems. Several high-speed custom systems have been introduced in recent years, and leading equipment manufacturers have now followed suit.

Hornady introduced its High-Speed 3-in-1 Power Case Trimmer in 2025. It is a bench-mounted, direct-drive unit powered by an electric motor operating at around 2 000 rpm. It chamfers and deburs while performing precision trims against an adjustable dead stop.

Users reported trimming consistency of around 0,0005″ (0,0127 mm), which is better than required by most handloaders or SAAMI/CIP tolerance specifications. The adjustments require the use of an Allen key and involve a bit of trial and error.

Its limitation is that its case collets accommodate only four case head sizes, but it caters for most American popular case sizes. The Hornady trimmer, which is aimed at the “average” handloader, is not generally available on South African dealer shelves yet, but some online stores offer it at around R19 000.

This price bracket ties in with my sentiments stated earlier in this article, and we can expect this trimmer to become even more expensive when normal dealers start stocking it.

 

RCBS MATCHMASTER PRECISION CASE TRIMMER

RCBS has also introduced a high-speed case trimmer similar in general appearance to Hornady’s. Those readers acquainted with the Henderson Precision Case Trimmer, which has been on the market for some years, will immediately recognise the RCBS version, albeit in John Deere green instead of Massey-Ferguson red. RCBS and Henderson actually collaborated to develop the RCBS version.

Unlike the Hornady, which has a cast frame, the RCBS MatchMaster has a machined aluminium frame, is belt-driven and has toolless micrometre length adjustment. It is also almost double the price of the Hornady version and is aimed at the top end of the precision market sector.

The RCBS MatchMaster can handle a wider range of cartridges, namely up to .338 Lapua Magnum. It is therefore more cartridge/calibre-versatile, but that will only appeal to a small market sector. It also performs trimming, chamfering and deburring in a single operation.

Again, the question for me is whether the benefit of faster trimming, or possibly trimming a hundredth of a millimetre more precisely, is worth the cost of these tools. The jury is out.

HORNADY VERSA-PRIME BENCH-PRIMING TOOL

The latest frontier in precision handloading is primer seating. For many years, handloaders uniformed primer pockets and flash holes for consistency, but primer seating, despite striving for consistency, was not truly scientifically supported.

Many handloaders used hand-priming tools and seated primers by feel. A few companies, such as 21st Century, offered hand-priming tools with micrometre adjustments, and Lee and Lyman offered ram primer systems that delivered surprising consistency. The challenge, however, had always been to determine the “sweet spot”, which required trial and error.

Bench-mounted priming tools from companies such as RCBS and Forster were always considered superior but lacked micrometre adjustability and a reference point to work from. One of the first steps in that direction was Holland’s Perfect Primer accessory for RCBS’s automatic bench-priming tool, but this accessory turned the latter into quite a precise yet somewhat cumbersome system.

Then Primal Rights came up with a grand solution: its Competition Primer Seater. It is an excellent product but comes at a price.

This year, Hornady has introduced a similar product, namely its Versa-Prime bench-priming tool. This enables the handloader to conveniently seat primers at speed with great precision and consistency and then, from that reference depth, easily adjust to other experimental depths to determine the effect of seating depth on precision.

Once again, the unit cost in relation to group improvement is a decision to be made by the handloader. Unfortunately, the unit retail price was not available at the time of going to print.