what every reloader should have, in the beginning?

Mr. Friendly

Mr. Friendly

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not sure how everyone will react, but I'm believe I'm going to buy the Lees Anniversary Reloading Kit...our local WSS has it for $110.

I probably should read more about reloading beforehand...tho the Lee's is supposed to have a manual. if not, I'll go and buy it. in any case, I'll be starting with a .223 I think. my brother who'll use my kit will be loading .308's. what else will I need?

thank you for your time and your patience. nobody appreciates it more then me! :D
 
you'll need case length gauges for each caliber along with dies and a case lube pad. You'll need some small brushes (I bought the RCBS ones actually) to clean out the primer pockets too. Other than that the kit comes with everything else you need. I have the same one and load .223 with it.

I think you'll find that the powder measurer doesn't like powders that have long "chunks" like Varget and H4895, but it does like to measure out the ones that have very fine "chunks" like H335 and IMR3031. The kit works well and you should be able to figure it out.

One thing I thought I would mention is that you don't necessarily have to use Lee dies in your Lee press, which came as a surprise to me at first! In fact, I kind of prefer the RCBS dies in my press that I use for 30-06. Maybe you already knew that, but just FYI.
 
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I'd also strongly recommend calipers, I got a nice dial caliper from princess auto for about $12. Be sure it reads to .001"
After a reload or two, your brass will also need to be trimmed, necessitating a brass trimmer of some sort. I'm still looking for one for myself, so I don't have any specific advice on which one.
 
Ya that's true about the digital calipers, Canadian Tire has good ones that go on sale every so often.
I have the Lee brass trimmer, and I'm not very happy with it actually. I find I can't get the .223 length gauge to thread into the cutter for some reason, but my 30-06 one will! Irritating! Having said that it works well for the 30-06.
 
What you "Have" to have and what is nice, or more convenient to have, sometimes gets mixed up.
I reloaded for many years without any means to accurately measure the case length. I simply had either a new factory brass case, or a factory loaded round, for the calibre I was reloading. To check the brass before I loaded it, I would just compare it to the new one, either standing up, or the bases against a flat surface.
If my case appeared a bit longer I filed it down with an ordinary file, then chamfored the neck with the tail of the file and gave the oustide burr a light rub.
Did it work? Hey, I have a cabinet full of trophies won in matches with rifle and pistol and many of them were won with cartridges loaded as described.
 
I have the kit also. I never used the powder measure at all. It is more accurate to weigh the powder. The one in the kit is hard to adjust and after investing in a digital scale, I found the lee scale was out quite a lot. thus the ammo hit scattered on target..Otherwise the kit has what is really necessary. good luck and enjoy. I reload all my ammo now (8 calibers) and RCBS dies are great along with thier warrantee program. The hand trimmers do work but invest in a pro trimmer if you plan to shoot a lot and reload them all but as mentioned before, no need to trim until the 2nd or 3rd firing..The calipers will do to measure the casings for length.
 
Proonur, same situation with me on the Lee case length gauge. It was not gonna go in by hand at all unless I could get Brock Lesnar to do it, so I wrapped it in a piece of leather belt and used a pair of pliers.

In fact, this has happened on a couple of em now. The good news is mine have seemed to "wear in" so that I can do it by hand now...I dunno what loosened em up, but I think its the way the tapped end is split down the middle.

I do like the Lee Zip Trim.
 
I own a lee loader, it cost me twenty five bucks, and I supplied my own wooden mallet.

My ammo shoots just fine, and now the time I spend watching t.v. isn't wasted.

I already own a digital caliper. I bought it at canadian tire when it went on sale for twenty bucks, I'm not sure I needed it for reloading though, cause I reload 7.62x54R russian. The Mosin-Nagant has generous chambers and the round headspaces on the rim, so I'm not really concerned about case length.
 
I am not sure what the Lees Anniversary Reloading Kit has in it, but one thing you will need as a bullet puller. I have been loading for a few years now and have no idea what a case length gauge is. I use a Gracey trimmer but unless you are working in large volumes of brass save your money. A caliper is a must, but I am a toolmaker by trade so I have a few of them around the shop.
For a powder measure I use an old Hornady that throws powder either right on the money of .1-.2 gr less. I weigh every charge anyway so is only takes a few seconds to get the charge up to the desired weight. There was an article in precision shooting a few years back comparing powder measures. The author found the cheap LEE powder measure to be as accurate as some of the more expensive ones that run a couple hundred bucks.
I found a powder trickler a PITA so I have a small dish with powder in it and just pinch the couple of tenths I need to top up the charge. It is amazing how quickly and accurately this is.
I am not sure where proonur is getting his powder but Varget has smaller "chunks" than IMR 3031.
 
Joel said:
Proonur, same situation with me on the Lee case length gauge. It was not gonna go in by hand at all unless I could get Brock Lesnar to do it, so I wrapped it in a piece of leather belt and used a pair of pliers.

In fact, this has happened on a couple of em now. The good news is mine have seemed to "wear in" so that I can do it by hand now...I dunno what loosened em up, but I think its the way the tapped end is split down the middle.

I do like the Lee Zip Trim.
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I actually bought another length gauge for my .223 as it wouldn't go in and I didn't want to strip the threads so my 30-06 wouldn't go in anymore, but the new one won't go in either! I guess I'll do what you have done and put the vice grips to work to get 'em in dere.

Maynard, maybe there are different batches of Varget made at different factories or something, because my H335 is much finer than the Varget I've got... wish I could get my hands on some Varget that was as fine as my H335.

My powder measurer is pretty accurate for dispensing the same amount each time... within less than a grain anyway, and I weigh each time just to be sure, especially when I'm loading up close to maximum. Makes it take a while, but I'm really fussy anyway.
 
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Get the heavy single stage cast press from lee, a good RCBs scale for powder, caliper, your dies, a lee load book, gives pressure, and more, a good read...
Case length guages, de burring tools, for primer pocket, and a lyman job for the neck.A load tray, can make one from wood with a drill.
Work with full length dies in the beginnig, and back off for a semi full length where you size the neck and part of the body when the cases have been fired from your gun....You will pickup stuff as you go, its easier than it seems.
Word of CAUTION, do measure , and check visual the level of powder in the case, even after 50 years of loading cartridges:cool:
 
Proonur,

You were probably smarter than I for buying a new one...I'm impulsive and impatient so I just rigged it right up. Sorry the new one is equally tight.

Maynard, good point on the puller! Until I bought my RCBS kinetic, I just kept a plastic tray on my workbench with "Culls" written on it and used that to store all the ones I broke down for components later. At that time I was using only H4895 for powder so that was no issue, just chuck it all back in the hopper!

For visual inspection, I just made a "Hillbilly/welfare loading block" by taking a piece of wood and the proper sized drill bit. Then I had a block that would hold my 30-06, 308, 8mm casings for inspection. The others I look at individually before seating a bullet on em.

My Lee powder measure has never done me wrong yet. I set it low like you do. At the start of every reloading session I just chuck some powder from the measure into a dixie cup and put in a few grains by hand the way you mentioned to even things out.

I did just order a trickler tho...Maybe I was better off without it too :D
 
To my Anniversary Kit I added a powder trickler and bullet puller.

You don't need a case lube pad with the Lee Lube, you apply it with your fingers.

Craig
 
For a case trimmer I went with Lyman because it's a universal shell holder. Haven't used it yet, but I have a bunch of 30.06 that need trimming.
A little money saver tip---I use vegtable oil on a Q-tip for case lube. You may have to clean your sizing die more often (every 1000 rnds?) but I'm not sure as I've never used actual case lube.

I use the Lyman #55 powder measure, nuts on every time. Check against a scale every few rounds.

Varget is a conical powder, H335 is flake. Totally different.

Other than that I use Lee loaders and dies. Inexpensive but makes a good round, be it rifle or pistol. I also recommend getting the factory crimp die for each caliber, but I know some people don't like the FC.
 
lister said:
For a case trimmer I went with Lyman because it's a universal shell holder. Haven't used it yet, but I have a bunch of 30.06 that need trimming.
A little money saver tip---I use vegtable oil on a Q-tip for case lube. You may have to clean your sizing die more often (every 1000 rnds?) but I'm not sure as I've never used actual case lube.

I use the Lyman #55 powder measure, nuts on every time. Check against a scale every few rounds.

Varget is a conical powder, H335 is flake. Totally different.

Other than that I use Lee loaders and dies. Inexpensive but makes a good round, be it rifle or pistol. I also recommend getting the factory crimp die for each caliber, but I know some people don't like the FC.
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My understanding is that motor oil will degrade the propellant and should be avoided as case lube, is vegetable oil free from this issue?
 
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