Advice for wife

GMC403

GMC403

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A buddy has said he's interested in trying basic reloading for his hunting rifles. His wife has told me she wants to pick him up a starter setup for Christmas. He has a ton of brass .243, 30-30, 30-06 that's been fire formed in his rifles.

What's the best bang for buck? And any extras needed?.
 
The Lee Anniversary kit is hard to beat. Usually around $150 or so unless I'm mistaken.

It's single stage, so it's not as fast as a progressive but it also has a lot less to go wrong. It's a good setup to try it out and see if he likes it. I do recommend replacing the scale though, the safety scale generally takes a while to settle down and unless you have an elevated shelf to put it on it's a pain in the back to keep hunching over to look at it.

The kit comes with the basics, you'll just need dies, bullet components, and a good reloading book or two.
 
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^ I agree. Make sure you get the classic cast model, not the cheaper pot metal one. I've loaded many tens of thousands of rounds on mine and it is still bolted to the bench and sees regular use. Great value for a turret.
 
RCBS Partner press reloading kit....In my opinion....this is the best started kit under 300$....Yes, the rockchucker is amazing, but maybe overkill and more expensive...
 
My Rockchucker press is almost 20 years old and still looks and feels as new as the day I bought it. Not a single regret. All my LEE stuff is gone/sold off/given away.

Buy one brand, settle on it and then start branching out to other brands slowly. See if that works for you and then evolve your reloading game. The entire reloading hobby is another hobby within the hunting hobby and it sure takes up time when you are retired. It's a great distraction playing with different components/loads/booolits/brass cases/primers and now you can fine tune what YOUR rifle likes. :D

Cheers and keep helping them nooobies out there! :wave:

Barney
 
If she's got a $500 range budget, definitely splurge on the RCBS kit. If budget is a bit tighter, the Lee 50th Anniversary kit is a good option. I still use my Lee press.
 
Thanks for the input guys, I think budget wise she'd be looking at the Lee Anniversary, good to hear it's not junk. I'm sure she'll want to pick up some die sets for him too.
 
Does she like him, love him or put up with him?
If all she wants is a peck on the cheek the Lee basic kit will do.
If she wants a smile on his face for the holiday the Lee classic cast kit will fit in perfect..
If she wants to get shagged right rotten till spring the Rockchucker kit is what she's after.
Any choice is a winner, he could be getting socks :)
 
The lee was the most expensive mistake I've made. The press and funnel were the only things I kept. The scale is probably worth negative dollars. Rcbs all the way.
 
I bought a lee anniversary for a cheap friend once because he wanted to start reloading. He now has a lee press and rcbs scale and powder thrower and dies and on and on. The only thing he has left is the press and it looks odd sitting on the bench with all that other good green equipment.
 
Just to be different - have her look at the Hornady Lock-N-Load Classic kit. Henry at Budget Shooter Supply has them listed on his site (see link above). A few bucks more than the RCBS kit but the L-N-L bushings are a great feature even on a single stage press. If he's going to be loading several different calibers then he'll quickly grow to appreciate their convenience.
 
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