What equipment to start with as a beginner reloader.

TheCircle

TheCircle

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Hello fellow gun nutz,

I have been flying threw my factory ammunition and It is time I get into reloading, (rather than buying another case).
I would need a set up that I would be able to make a lot of ammunition in a sitting. My question is what should I start with?
What kind of equipment to start with? What tools? Brands of tools? Powder? Primers? What book would you recommend?
What kind of cost would you see for someone who is just starting out?

I plan on reloading 9mm and .223 to start if that changes anything. I have seemed to favor Dillon reloading machines. I really appreciate good quality
machines/tools, it makes my life a lot easier.

Any tips, thoughts, or information you would be willing to post would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
Dillon has a strong following. I've steered away from progressive loading .223 though. Some may have luck with it and I probably will set up for it eventually. You basically have to process the brass first though imo. All I'd use a progressive for is powder drop, bullet seat and crimp. All of which can be done on a turret more accurately and almost as fast. You'd be surprised how fast you can load accurate rifle cartridges on a turret press.
9mm is a no brainer. You can literally pump out hundreds of rounds in an hour. I currently use a lee loadmaster with great success.
 
I went with the Lee Anniversary kit a while ago, I think it was $150 or so, and a digital scale to go with it. Since then I've steadily upgraded everything minus the actual press, and am currently in the market for an RCBS Chargemaster before winter time to help me speed up the process. But I suppose it depends on your budget, and the calibres you intend to reload.

If you're not familiar with reloading I would also suggest you find a buddy who is and hang out with him for an afternoon so you can learn the ins and outs of it, get some hands on and some advice from that person on what works and what doesn't.
 
I started reloading last fall with a Dillon 550. No issues at all reloading 9mm and .223 on it.

If you plan to do a fair volume of .223 get some sort of power trimmer. I bought a Little Crow Gunworks WFT2 and am using it for .223 and will also use it for .308 when I start loading that.
 
TheCircle said:
Hello fellow gun nutz,

I have been flying threw my factory ammunition and It is time I get into reloading, (rather than buying another case).
I would need a set up that I would be able to make a lot of ammunition in a sitting. My question is what should I start with?
What kind of equipment to start with? What tools? Brands of tools? Powder? Primers? What book would you recommend?
What kind of cost would you see for someone who is just starting out?

I plan on reloading 9mm and .223 to start if that changes anything. I have seemed to favor Dillon reloading machines. I really appreciate good quality
machines/tools, it makes my life a lot easier.

Any tips, thoughts, or information you would be willing to post would be appreciated.

Thank you
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Well since you asked, a dillon 650 with caliber exchanges and two complete tool heads, shellplates etc. will run you nearly two grand after taxes and shipping.
 
I know allot of people start/started with the Lee Anniversary kit, but it may be a little slow for your needs. But it's Great for what it is..to learn the basics, then move on.
 
Starting out with a progressive might be a bit tougher but not unreasonable. Lots going on at once. Get a good reloading book which are available from most bullet manufacturers like hornady. I liked my hornady book when I started out but get one from the bullet manufacturer you're going to use. The book will give you load data with what primer/powder to use. Also info on how to set your dies. The dies you buy will also likely come with info on how to properly set them.If you know someone with experience definitely seek their help as it will make things easier. Dillons are great but expensive, lee is cheap but Finicky. Hornady from what I've heard is pretty good for the money. Cost will depend largely on the brands you choose.
 
A lot of people, myself included, start out with cheaper presses. Some have good luck with them, others, like myself, buy progressively more expensive presses before they settle on one that meets their needs.

Years back when I shot precision rifle I had a good single stage press. It produced amazingly consistent ammo but was time consuming.

I used it for pistol for a little while and then started looking for a progressive.

I started out with a Lee Loadmaster, it was an exercise in frustration. I spent more tine fiddling with it and watching "how to fix it videos on you tube" than I did reloading, and I was loading for two IPSC shooters (myself and my wife) going through around 1000 rounds per month minimum for a few years. The loadmaster works well for some, for me it sucked. When I had a massive primer detonation it was the last straw. After loading about 50k rounds on it I sold it on EE for about $100 with a full disclaimer that it sucked. I sold it with a bunch of spare parts.

My next progressive was a Hornady Lock n Load AP progressive. I knew as soon as I bought it I should have spent more money and gone a different route. It works, but still requires some fiddling. I am again looking at how to fix it videos on you tube. Little annoying things like the shell plate loosening off after reloading 300 rounds or so, or getting the auto case feeder to work reliably. Again, for some it works but for me it is starting to again become an exercise in frustration.

I hate reloading but do it because it is cost effective (for now at least) and I have found I can produce better quality ammo for the type of shooting I do.

My next press will be one that they make an auto drive for. I figure if an autodrive has been commercially developed for a press it must be pretty reliable. SO I am going blue, a Dillon 650.

There are those that say for a beginner reloader go to a single stage. If you have any mechanical ability and are able to watch setup videos on youtube I don't think it is necessary to go that route. Reloading is not rocket science as some would have you beleive.

I wish I had searched youtube for these how to fix it videos before I purchased. Any product that has a ton of DIY fixes for any product is a warning to me now, and I wont buy any product that is the subject of these videos.

My advice is spend as much as you can afford to get the best press you are able to, then save up for a few more months and buy an even more expensive one.

My 2 cents.
 
A Dillon 650 setup is exactly what you need. Lots of output, fantastic customer support.

You're going to pay decent coin for it, but it's an investment that is worth it.
 
Freedom Ventures said:
A Dillon 650 setup is exactly what you need. Lots of output, fantastic customer support.

You're going to pay decent coin for it, but it's an investment that is worth it.
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I wish I had done this. Buy the dillion it will be expensive but it will stop you from having to deal with the cheaper alternatives. If you just want to get a feel for reloading buy the lee challenger kit, get a better scale and personally I like rcbs and redding dies. If your going to reload in volume get the dillion, lee progressive was one of the most frustrating things I ever delt with. Also just to say cgn is a great community and you might have some one near by that can show you how to reload. Once you start down this path it can get to be an upgrade nightmare, its better to buy the dilion and go on from there, they also hold there value so if you do decide to sell your not getting the loss that comes with the other press's.

Actually the statement can be made that sport shooting is all about upgrading, start with a budget AR then add goodies to make it better, buy better AR, add more goodies to make it even better and so on. Reloading can be the same. Good luck and I hope you enjoy reloading. It can be very satisfying to be able to make a better shot by tailoring your load.
 
Two questions you have to ask yourself and to let us know the answers so we can suggest options.

First off how much ammo per month are you shooting? Second is how many hours per week can you spare or are you willing to devote to reloading?

You and we need these answers because some people think that a couple of hundred rounds is a lot while others need a couple of thousand per month because they've really gotten into the whole competition and practice scene. And the proper plans for you are wildly different based on these answers.

Others don't shoot a "medium" amount but have almost zilch free time thanks to family duties or jobs. For those people a more expensive and highly automated setup is the way to go so they maximize the production in that limited time.

To help you out to at least get a start on things with making 9mm a single stage where you swap dies and run off the ammo in batches of 50 rounds at a time can put out around 120 to 150 rounds per hour. A Dillon 550 setup with no case or bullet feeders attached can do around 350/hr. (these two scenarios is my own direct experience). The Lee turret style that indexes the die plate around would be in between these two but closer to the single stage due to the need to pull the handle 3 or 4 times per round of loaded ammo. And reports I've seen on setups like a 650 with a case feeder you're looking at around 450 to 500. A 1050 with all the bells and whistles is likely up around 800 to 1000/hr. But bring lots of cash to buy that sort of beast and the truck load of goodies that would go with it.

The really big time saver comes when you step up from one operation per lever pull to doing 3 or 4 things simultaneously per lever pull. And that means going with a progressive press of some format to allow that big time saving jump over other single operation per lever pull styles of presses and procedures.

Now you mentioned .223. If it's needed in bulk to feed a tac rifle then you can mostly treat it like the 9mm with the exception of some additional case measuring and trimming where needed. But once the cases are prep'ed it's about the same as 9mm. On the other hand if you're looking to load the .223 for a bolt action accuracy rifle then you' need to slow down and weigh each and every charge to ensure a finer degree of consistency. That'll slow down your loading to more like 60 to 80/hr. And you're likely wiser to do such reloading on a single stage press.

Most folks would suggest a single stage to start with so you learn correctly and any mistakes affect fewer loads. But if you need 500 to 1000 rounds of 9mm per month and only have limited time to spend on reloading then a progressive press is the way to go. But keep in mind that you need to be that much more careful to ensure you don't make any mistakes. In particular WHEN something on the casing platten goes pear shaped and you need to go back and pull the lever a second time on one of the stations. Each of the other stations INCLUDING THE POWDER DROP STATION gets the same second drop. It's easy to get confused on all this and end up with a double charge or a squib load if you are not careful, attentive and skip double checking yourself. But if you keep your wits sharp there's no reason why you can't learn to reload on a full progressive press.

For me my Dillon 550b has been the magic Happy Point. I can load enough in a 5 to 6 hours about once every two to three months to keep up with my shooting.

Note that the production per hour figures above do not include time spent cleaning or sorting the casings. It does include time spent picking up primers and installing them into priming systems as well as pulling the lever to produce one cartridge per pull.
 
I'm sill using the RCBS Rockchucker press I bought in 1973 upgrading from a Lee loader. The Rockchucker press is the only press I have ever owned and I'm still happy with its performance.

Therefore my recommendation for starters is a good single stage press and after mastering reloading on it then move up to a progressive press.

Bottom line, start "slow" learning the basics and work on making quality ammunition, better than factory. Then if you want you can get a progressive press and speed things up.

Get as many manuals as you can get and "READ" the front part of the manuals. And never forget the importance of making workup loads starting at the suggested start loads and reading your fired primers and brass.
 
I started out slow as well, loading on a single stage and then a turret press. I spent a LOT of time reloading 9mm on the turret press back then. If I had it to do over, I would still start with a single stage but I would have got a progressive much sooner.
 
Learn the basics of reloading by reading through ABCs of reloading book. For press, I suggest a Lee Classic cast turret press. I use Lee precision dies with no issues.

Watching videos about reloading will also help you
 
WOW, so much helpful information. Thank you all! To answer a few questions: past two months my shooting has picked up a great deal. I went from maybe 500 cartridges of .223 a year to about 1000 in the last month.
I also just got my first handgun, A 9mm CZ. I have gone threw 700 cartridges of that in the last month. I can survive buying factory 9mm for now (it doesn't break the bank). I would really like to start reloading .223.
I have a bolt action .223 as well as a AR-15. So, Yes I would really like to make precision cartridges as well as a bulk amount that I will be ok with dumping a mag or two everyone once in a while. LOL.


From what you guys have said kind of makes me feel like getting a turret press would be a good middle ground? I would really like to start off slow and learn because I know reloading can be dangerous.
I know it isn't rocket science but I would like to go the proper route. I also want to make it cost efficient.

Thanks again everyone. Really helpful.
 
What would really help would be a list of things I would NEED to buy right from the start. So I can factor all my costs and do some comparisons from what I am reading from you folks.
 
TheCircle said:
From what you guys have said kind of makes me feel like getting a turret press would be a good middle ground? I would really like to start off slow and learn because I know reloading can be dangerous.
I know it isn't rocket science but I would like to go the proper route. I also want to make it cost efficient.

Thanks again everyone. Really helpful.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what gear you start with. More important is to find someone with experience to help you out. Books and youtube vids only go so far.

A couple of my shooting buddies got me on the right track. With that sort of help you also don't need all the crap to start with.

I didn't get a tumbler until recently because one of them was doing it for me.
 
The list.

Trimming equipment
Scale
Dies
Calipers
Tumbler
Cartridge tray
Press
Powder funnel

These are the basics off the top of my head. Many more tools to help with accuracy, speed and convenience.
 
Go with Dillon if you can afford it ... the 1050 it has all the stations you need ....... or the xl 650 only difference is less stations and you have more things to change with 650
Look at YouTube videos ... calibre changes and tool head changes .... don't get frustrated with all that needs to be done .... after awhile you get use to it and it become fun/enjoyable
If I were to do it all over I'd go with the 1050 over the 650
 
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