Reloading advice for a newbie

[geraldgee]

I've decided that I want to start reloading and I'm seeking some good advice. I will primarily be reloading for hunting rifles (7mm08/308/30-06). Are reloading kits the way to go? Is one brand better than the other? I am hoping to get in for around $300 minus an electronic scale...is that overly optimistic? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Gerald

 

[Strut]

A kit is a good way to go. I prefer RCBS - green stuff but Lyman or Hornady is also very good. Since I started in '72 or so I now piece meal stuff as I need replacement stuff and have a mixture or brands. The only thing I would avoid is the chincy Lee scale thing. A good scale is vital. O'haus is probably the best but I have a Hornady/Pacific now and it is fine. I think the RCBS kit includes an Ohaus scale that is private labled unless they have changed. I have not gone for an electronic scale yet and maybe never will. A balance beam is dead reliable since gravity never needs calibration. Enjoy your new adventure

 

[gatorman]

For what it's worth,I always tell people to start with Lee...The reason is,some thing they want to get into it and then decide not.And they have all this money tied up in high dollar stuff...I have a Lee 4 hole turrent press and I love it..I beenloading for 40 years and I have had almost all of the different brands but like the Lee the best..

I agree with the above the scale is not the best..I do use RCBS electronic scale and that is a great itemas well...The dies by lee are also good...But then so are the other brands out there....I all honesty,I would go with the Lee...It willdo all you want it for..Good luck and be save....GET some good Manuals as well,,,,Lyman I think is one of the best out there....Lee also has one,but I feel the Lyman is by far the best over others....John

 

[nosualc]

Best advice I can give is to buy a couple reloading manuals and read them. Twice. You'll have a better idea of what gear is involved after doing this.

As to how to buy your gear... Are you the kind of person who goes overboard on your hobbies, or are you a dabbler? Be honest with yourself.

If you're a dabbler, you can get the RCBS kit for $287 at midway, plus a die set and consumables (brass, powder, primers) and be on your way. This equipment is capable of making perfectly good ammo, certainly better than anything from the factory. As you learn, you may decide you want to upgrade various pieces. Or you may not.

If you're the kind of person who quickly goes overboard on your hobbies, you will find yourself wanting to upgrade many of the pieces of any kit almost immediately. If you fall into this category, you may be money ahead spending a bit more time and money at the onset.

I personally fall into the latter category, and I bought a kit when I started. Almost everything in that kit was sold or relegated to the junk drawer long ago.

-nosualc

 

[spclark]

A kit will give you mostly everything you need to get started but if you're a scrounger you might do very well for less money by looking around near where you live for folks who've been doing it for awhile.

If you know what you want to reload you'll still need to buy a set of dies for each cartridge. That's really the only item a kit won't provide you with that you'll really need to get started.

They may have stuff you can use for a significantly discounted price. Some might even have items they'd loan or give you to get started. Too, finding & talking to folks who've been doing this will educate you about what's involved & you might find a new friend or two.

 

[bheadboy]

The kit is the way to go IMHO, and i would recomend the RCBS as a starter, order dies and shell holder per caliber.

The Sierra lastest reloading manual has a great coverage of all aspects of shooting, reloading techniques and load data.

i would recomend it as a good learning tool and resource.

Bob

 

[ddkearney]

I would spend a few hours watching some of the reloading videos on Youtube to get some perspective of some of the different brands. Most of them seem to present a safe, realistic understanding of what is involved.

 

[Glenn Powell]

Good advice, all of it. I prefer the hornady balance beam scale over the RCBS, as to the press, the only one I have used is the RCBS, and it dose the job just fine. As to dies, I like redding, the RCBS full length die has a long seating adjustment screw I don't care for. Sierra reloading book has probably the best and complete information IMO. As to trimmers, the only thing I use is the Lee case trimmers, they fit real nice in the die box, and pretty cheep to boot. As to powder measure, here is where I would spend the money and get the best you can afford, with the micro adjustment. The only case lube I use is hornady one shot, the lube pad that I bought went in the trash a long time ago. Have fun, be safe, and ask lots of questions, the guys here are the best.

 

[jonbearman]

I think now that the hornady offers more for the buck and is decent quality and comes with a scale and you get free bullets with your purchase by sending in a postcard with your sales reciept.

 

[Eagle Six]

In the past I have used RCBS, Redding, Mec and Dillion presses, scales, measurers, etc. with a few other brand names mixed such as Sinclair, Forster, and others (no different than 99% of reloaders across the country!).

For a start-up, I think an RCBS kit may fit the best. By the time you get the single stage press kit, set of dies, and a few other items, including shipping and/or sales tax, that $300 budget might be a challenge, but I think $400 is realistic.

The kit and gear I would avoid is Lee. I recently had an opportunity to setup a Lee single stage kit and for the most part it was junk. It worked (well sometimes, maybe not to bad others!), but in comparison to RCBS, Hornady, Redding and others.....it just doesn't come close in design or quality. At the same time I also had an opportunity to chat with Lee Customer Support, which turns out to be worse than their products. Many years ago I used some Lee products and they performed well. That doesn't seem to be the case now days.

This may be obvious, but I would caution while comparing the various kits.....they are not all apples for apples. Usually the kits require some options, such as dies......but also some kits do not include a powder measurer for example.

Good luck with your quest and entry into reloading......your shooting horizon will instantly broaden!!

Best Regards......Eagle Six

 

[Sully2]

A kit is going to force you to buy more USELESS JUNK that you ever thought of. Look at them online..write down all items in all of them and cross off duplicates...then go to E-BAY and buy good used equipment for about 40% of what new costs and you never need to buy the junk. I MUCH prefer RCBS because of their customer support...and of course other reasons also

 

[geraldgee]

Gentlemen, Thank you for all the great advice...you've given me plenty to think about....I found the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme @ Cabela's for $300 - $50 rebate for a total of $250. I am considering this. I have dies that I bought for when others would reload for me.

 

[bheadboy]

you will not go wrong.

have at it, be sure to get a good reloading manual i recomend the Sierra


Bob

 

[gatorman]

I shoot f class and I load everything for my 308 and 6mmbr on nothing but LEE press..I use the 4 hole turret I love it..Never a problem..My advice is get what you can afford and lear how to use it and use it well..You can always up grade later if you want..John

 

[Glenn Powell]

As stated earlier and in other posts, sierra is the most complete manual, but now that I think about it the best manual is from the bullet manufacturer you plan on using. All of them have a basic reloading section you can get started with. If you plan on loading nosler, buy nosler, speer, then buy the speer. The sierra book might be too much info for a beginner, and overwhelming. Remember "keep ot simple stupid". I started with speer, now I have nosler, hornady, sierra, barns, and burger is on the way. Warning: reloading can be addictive!

 

[Clod-NC]

Hi folks

Geraldgee,everyone here is all very helpful and knowledgeable,I doubt you'll find any better anywhere believe me,so to enforce the group trying to give you a hand,let me in and bear with me:you can start anywhere with any brand,you'll need 1:a press,2:dies,3:a scale,4:a powder dispenser,with a funnel,little plastic cups,5:a trimmer,6:a manual(2 or 3 won't hurt),7:humility,8atience,9:curiosity,10atience,11atience etc.....Now,let's consider all this,bit by bit:you seem to be on a budget,we all seem to be there but won't acknowledge it sort of,but let's pretend we do;so 1:Lee Challenger press($80),2:this is getting finicky but we have to accept it,you will need Lee collet dies for every caliber you intend to reload(check FS reloading.com,about$20 each),FL dies from RCBS for every cal you reload(about $20 each),Lee Fl dies for each of above but one caliber higher,or ask a machinist to grind them one diameter higher(like270 for 264,308 for 280)they will be your body dies or bumping dies,Forster benchrest seaters for all calibers you reload.3:Scale,now we're getting into the high time money zone,but hold with me,we'll make it,buy something electronic,check this site,ask,RCBS seems to have a good item in the 1500 model,keep it plugged at all time4owder dispenser,the Lee looks so cheap that everyone will disregard it and curse it,but once you've got it all mica lubricated,it doesn't work this bad,and considering how cheap it is,you'd be a fool not to try it...Funnels:the first cheap one you come accross,5:Trimmer;Lee makes tools to take care of that aspect the reloading process that shouldn't be misregarded,that are both very practical,and very dependable, if you're not benchresting of course,and to top it off,it's cheap($6) and caliber specific,6:Manual,definitely Sierra,so cumbersome,so bloody big and unpractical(if you don't want to maim it,you'll understand if you get it)but so complete and reliable(they should know what they're talking about,after all they make the bullets almost everyone is shooting),the rest is up to you,and also up to us,the shooters community and fellow reloaders,to try and help you with our own experience and insights,and patience and humour,to ensure you like it as much as we do...Welcome to the forum.

 

[gatorman]

get the new Lyman manual...I use mine a lot....Inn fact ,more than the others..I guess I have 1 from all the companys except Berger....I my opinion their bullets are not any better than Sierra's They just costmore and are more shiny...

 

[itchyTF]

This is a "for what it's worth".
I started reloading in the early to mid 60's with a Lee. The one you needed a hammer with! I then went to an RCBS Jr., then a Rockchucker and now a Redding Big Boss II. Somewhere in the middle when I was shooting High Power I added a Dillon RL550. I may be anal about some things, but that's me. I know people here have good things to say about Lee but I was never impressed with the looks of them. I've never used any of their loaders other than that first one but that one is in a class by itself. So I have no first hand experience with them.

When a number of people here were saying to use the Lee collet crimp dies I decided to get a few. I was not impressed. To me, quality is a number of things. One of them is in the details. In my mind the slits should be cut in the center. For something so simple at this it speaks a lot about their QC (or lack of it), or an I don't care attitude.

The last one isn't quite as bad but it's still off.

6mm-250

6x47L

22-250

 

[Clod-NC]

Hi again
Itchy,I was not refering to the Lee factory crimp die as you seem to think,I was talking about the Lee collet die(neck sizing die as it is),it actaully works on the same principle as the crimper you're talking about,but it resizes the neck of the case,and is apprently one of the best concept for this sort of dies on the market,whatever people's opinion of Lee products in general.And besides,they're not costly,compared to high end dies like Redding for instance.As of Lee presses,I'm no specialist but their single stage ones(Breechlock challenger and Classic cast)are good tools,and again not costly,so as the OP is just getting started it might be of importance to him,he has a budget to fill the bill apparently...

 

[itchyTF]

Clod -

I wasn't responding to your comment about any specific die, I was just commenting on what I think of Lee's quality in general based on the factory crimp dies I bought. I'd be concerned that if their attention to detail was that sloppy on a simple item, it might not be so great on the more complex items as well.