Good References for Equipment Recommendations

[Richard Coody]

Okay thanks. I thought you meant a reloading school. This sounds like some of that plus a lot more. BR not my thing at this time but maybe someday!

reloading is very much a part of it.

 

[hogpatrol]

Okay thanks. I thought you meant a reloading school. This sounds like some of that plus a lot more. BR not my thing at this time but maybe someday!

What Richard Coody said. ^^^^ The first four hours on Saturday are classroom reloading lessons. After that you load and shoot 1000 yards with your instructor's rifle. Then it's back to reloading. Two shooters are assigned to each instructor and you both do all your own loading with an instructor. I'd guess half the time is spent with shooting and half with reloading. This old dog started loading in '63 and still learned new tricks.

 

[dkhunt14]

Okay thanks. I thought you meant a reloading school. This sounds like some of that plus a lot more. BR not my thing at this time but maybe someday!

You would get your money's worth and have fun. They even feed you. There was talk of possibly another one if time and needs are high enough. Matt

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

First let me say thanks to all who helped me online or by PM — much appreciated.

Much has been done but the handle has not yet been pulled. Moving has been delayed so I will have a few more months to learn as much as I can before setting up and getting started, in a school or otherwise, or both.

After reading several reloading manuals as advised by the AccurateShooter members, getting a lot of other advice from forum members in this thread, in PMs, and in other threads, and considering my interests PRS and ELR and my initial re-load calibers .260Rem and .338LM and soon there after HogPatrol’s favorite cartridge and either its necked down little brother or maybe 6x47, here are the items in my starter reloading kit so far:

Redding T-7 Press with Redding shell holders & In-Line Fabrication stand,
RCBS Chargemaster Lite,
Sinclair hand priming tool,
Sinclair Case Trimmer with case holders and the Redding clamp to hold it on the edge of my bench,
Sinclair Starret Case Neck Mic,
Frankford Arsenal Platinum Tumbler & SS media transfer magnet,
Hornady straight Stony Point gauge with threaded cases and also comparators,
Lyman Case Prep Express (does not have the case trimmer, good advice from a forum member to not overdo it with the powered case prep tools) and also a manual Sinclair flash hole reamer,
“Cheap” digital powder scale and a digital caliper which I already had and may replace soon if not happy with them,
Redding Type-S Match FL die sets for .338LM and .260Rem with bushings for both and a Redding universal decapping die kit,
Several hundred new or used Lapua cases and several hundred used Eagle Eye cases,
Several hundred Berger bullets (.338 Hybrid OTM 300s, .264 Target Hybrid and Target VLD 140s) and a hundred 255.5 gr Warner Tool Flat Lines,
4 lbs of Hodgdon H4350 and CCI primers for the 260,
4 lbs of RL-23 and Federal primers for the 338LM,
and miscellaneous storage boxes and bins.

Annealing sounds important and I may start that later but I decided to hold off on getting an annealer for a while since the equipment costs vary widely and I want to talk to some of the top PRS shooters that I have met and find out what they are doing on this. There seem to be a lot more varminters / F-classers / bench resters on this forum as opposed to PRS competitors.

I’ve found some work benches that I like but I’ve still got to pick out some storage cabinets and I’m still not sure what vise or vises I want. I do some other projects occasionally and want a good stout general purpose vise with 4” or wider jaws and would like to be able to use some sort of insert jaws with that when I want to work on my barrels, but I’m not sure about the vise options yet - suggestions? I also already have a portable drill press vise with some homemade nylon jaw inserts which has worked well for working on several of my Rifles. A couple of people already told me about the wonderful vise they have which is no longer available and they aren’t selling - teasers!

Thanks again for all the help — lots more questions will follow after my powder begins to trickle, which sounds like some sort of geriatric biology issue.

 

[Regnar]

First let me say thanks to all who helped me online or by PM — much appreciated.

Much has been done but the handle has not yet been pulled. Moving has been delayed so I will have a few more months to learn as much as I can before setting up and getting started, in a school or otherwise, or both.

After reading several reloading manuals as advised by the AccurateShooter members, getting a lot of other advice from forum members in this thread, in PMs, and in other threads, and considering my interests PRS and ELR and my initial re-load calibers .260Rem and .338LM and soon there after HogPatrol’s favorite cartridge and either its necked down little brother or maybe 6x47, here are the items in my starter reloading kit so far:

Redding T-7 Press with Redding shell holders & In-Line Fabrication stand,
RCBS Chargemaster Lite,
Sinclair hand priming tool,
Sinclair Case Trimmer with case holders and the Redding clamp to hold it on the edge of my bench,
Sinclair Starret Case Neck Mic,
Frankford Arsenal Platinum Tumbler & SS media transfer magnet,
Hornady straight Stony Point gauge with threaded cases and also comparators,
Lyman Case Prep Express (does not have the case trimmer, good advice from a forum member to not overdo it with the powered case prep tools) and also a manual Sinclair flash hole reamer,
“Cheap” digital powder scale and a digital caliper which I already had and may replace soon if not happy with them,
Redding Type-S Match FL die sets for .338LM and .260Rem with bushings for both and a Redding universal decapping die kit,
Several hundred new or used Lapua cases and several hundred used Eagle Eye cases,
Several hundred Berger bullets (.338 Hybrid OTM 300s, .264 Target Hybrid and Target VLD 140s) and a hundred 255.5 gr Warner Tool Flat Lines,
4 lbs of Hodgdon H4350 and CCI primers for the 260,
4 lbs of RL-23 and Federal primers for the 338LM,
and miscellaneous storage boxes and bins.

Annealing sounds important and I may start that later but I decided to hold off on getting an annealer for a while since the equipment costs vary widely and I want to talk to some of the top PRS shooters that I have met and find out what they are doing on this. There seem to be a lot more varminters / F-classers / bench resters on this forum as opposed to PRS competitors.

I’ve found some work benches that I like but I’ve still got to pick out some storage cabinets and I’m still not sure what vise or vises I want. I do some other projects occasionally and want a good stout general purpose vise with 4” or wider jaws and would like to be able to use some sort of insert jaws with that when I want to work on my barrels, but I’m not sure about the vise options yet - suggestions? I also already have a portable drill press vise with some homemade nylon jaw inserts which has worked well for working on several of my Rifles. A couple of people already told me about the wonderful vise they have which is no longer available and they aren’t selling - teasers!

Thanks again for all the help — lots more questions will follow after my powder begins to trickle, which sounds like some sort of geriatric biology issue.

Pretty good starting list. I would make a couple changes though.
First, I would up grade on a scale. although the Chargemaster is ok, because if your expressed interest in ELR, you are going to want to be much more accurate with your powder charges than what the chargemaster will do. besides, your dumping all this money into rifles and gear, spend the few hundred dollars and get the RIGHT scale, not a CHEAP scale.

2nd. You say your getting a case neck mic? Why? I dont see a lathe to turn necks. are you getting one?

3rd. annealing. this does help accuracy by creating consistent neck tension shot after shot. it will also prolong the life of your brass.

Last. I like the g7, I use one. will it work with the 338lm?

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

Thanks for the feedback Regnar.

Almost everything is from Brownells so it’s no big deal if I change my mind on something. You may be right about the case neck mic. I already used the mic to measure a lot of fire-formed cases to help decide which neck bushings to buy and use, but I don’t really know how much I will use it in the future.

I called Redding to ask the same question about the T-7 press before I bought it. They said they think it will work, but they weren’t certain. Maybe someone on the Forum that has tried it can comment. I think it will probably just be long enough for mag length loads with the 300 Bergers but not for the Flat Lines. If it isn’t long enough, I will add a Big Boss 2 or maybe an even larger press that will handle .375 CT or larger in case I want to build one of those down the road. My volume will always be lower on the .338 or larger cartridges because I don’t get to ranges that I can shoot those distances very often. I’m still gonna want the T-7 for .30 and smaller calibers and that first turret will just get some more .264 or .243 dies. I have a few .308s and .224s too but I just haven’t been shooting them much since I got the .264s, but maybe I will enjoy developing loads for those others too.

What scale do you recommend?

 

[Cloudrepair]

A mic is always a good idea. Neck size is important you want to know the size of your chamber neck the loaded round neck then you know if you want to turn necks.
If you want to kill two birds with one stone you could get a mitutoyo uni mic And it will do wall thickness and loaded round neck diameter also till you want to get a standard mic and you will still be able to measure to a .0001

 

[Cloudrepair]

This scale does what i nead for now and the trickler I made with a nice slip fit into the bottom piece so it swivels when I need it to.
I like mine better and works as good as any other manual trickler.
My press is a rcbs rock chucker.
Forester trimmer and neck Turner dies Redding, forester and Lee collet dies and a universal deprimer.
Point is you can getaway with less expense and do well I can get sub 1/2 moa with this setup I do measure every load after throwing the charge.

 

[Cloudrepair]

Books are great I like my Berger, Lyman and Barnes get most use but the Barnes is slim on load data Nosler Hornady Speer not so much use oh and Sierra belong up there with Lyman and Berger.

 

[Cloudrepair]

I feel like i killed the thread with my lowly tools but what you should read in this is know how does a lot and learning has to start somewhere hands on is a great way to learn and know right off what you want and need. with the tools I have I think will still have a good purpose even if I was to upgrade if i get the need to increase my accuracy

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

I feel like i killed the thread with my lowly tools but what you should read in this is know how does a lot and learning has to start somewhere hands on is a great way to learn and know right off what you want and need. with the tools I have I think will still have a good purpose even if I was to upgrade if i get the need to increase my accuracy

I didn’t think that. It may take a long time before I can catch up on the experience side which cannot be bought, but it can make all the difference when you listen to the wisdom from those that have more of it than you, which for me is often “everyone else”.