Reloading newb Christmas research...

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loki_81

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Well for once I know what I'd like for Christmas, I never have an answer when my wife asks what I'd like. So I asked for a reloading kit.

Now it's up to me to do some research, and I found the Lee 50th anniversary kit to be in the specified price range. Specified price range is important on this gift, as we're tight on cash this year so I can't go into the $300 and up range for a kit.

So then I come here and used that search function to make sure I'm not looking at a piece of crap that's going to break down after 40 loads. Lo and behold I turn up a great thread that recommends leefactorysales, which is great by me because they have some great deals, and even replace some of the 50th anniversary kit with the Auto prime and shell holders.

Now my questions are;

What else would I absolutely need to start reloading (besides dies)?

Should I go with the breech lock or turret press kit? The descriptions are;

LEE BREECH LOCK CHALLENGER PRESS KIT

This kit replaces the popular 35th Anniversary Kit features the same components as the 50th kit but we have replaced the Safety Prime with the Auto-Prime and a set of Auto-Prime shell holders. This kit is for those who prefer to prime off of the press. Includes the new Breech Lock Challenger Press and three Breech Lock quick-change bushings. You get a complete powder handling system, with the most convenient and repeatable Perfect Powder Measure. Plus the Lee Safety Scale, the most sensitive and safest of all powder scales and fill your case with the included Powder Funnel. Case Preparation Tools include a cutter and lock stud to trim your cases. Order the correct case length gauge for the calibers you will be loading, it’s only $4.98 extra. An included Lee chamfer tool chamfers the inside and outside of the case mouth and a tube of premium sizing lube is included. A small and large primer pocket-cleaning tool completes the case preparation package. $13.92 value. Purchased separately $187 value
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or

LEE DELUXE TURRET PRESS KIT

The rugged Turret Press along with the Auto Disk Powder Measure, produce top quality pistol ammo in a hurry. A finished round with a few pulls of the lever.Large enough to handle monster belted magnum rifle cases. When it is time to change calibers, simply lock in a new turret and begin loading within seconds. In addition to the Turret Press and Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure the kit includes the Lee Safety Scale, unmatched for sensitivity, a primer pocket cleaner,cutter and lockstud to trim the cases and a chamfer tool to deburr cases after trimming. A set of Lee Dies is all that is required to complete this reloading outfit. All this at a price that will allow you to pay for your investment in a matter of hours.This press is ideal for handgun loading and with experienced hands, you can load over 200 rounds per hour. For those who wish to use the press as a single station press,the auto index feature can be disabled in seconds and then re-enabled in the same amount of time.
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I'll be loading pistol and rifle calibers, and later down the road would like to do shotgun as well. Really, I don't know what I'm looking at here. The Turret press looks cool, and seems to add speed to reloading, but does it have what i'll need and can it do the job for rifle and pistol calibers (and shotgun down the road)?

I do intend on buying a book on reloading. Just got to get this order underway to get it in time for Christmas, so I'll be bowing to all of your extensive knowledge for now. :D

Any answers will be appreciated.
 
If you have any friends who reload, check out their equipment. If I had to make my first purchase again I would probably look at a turret press, only because I change calibers often. It would save me from changind dies all the time, readjusting, etc. I like to do my case work in batches, so a progressive feature although nice wouldn't be a big advantage for me. One thing I am glad I did was buy a cast iron press. I have an aluminum press I use for secondary operations requiring low force, but the fit is loose and is already showing wear, even with frequent cleaning and oiling.

Once you buy your kit, you will notice you need all the little tools and accessories that make reloading quicker and more precise. Set aside a pile more money.

As for a manual, I would recommend the Lyman manual. It has a great overview of the whole reloading process for rifle and pistol separately, and a pile of loads for each caliber using a variety of powders. I also have the Lee manual, but found it had a lot of slamming against many reputable equipment companies. It does have some good theory, but not as much detail about the reloading process.

Hope this helps.
 
Get a Single Stage Press because you're new to reloading and this is where you want to start.
Learn to do everything manually and then step up to automation if you like.
It takes 2 seconds to swap out a die with the Quick Locks on a single stage press so I just don't see the point in a turret press.
I also do batches of 2-400 at a time, so it's little difference.
It will do rifle and handgun loads but will not do shotgun loads , you will need a specific shotgun press.

You will need: (we're talking about Lee because it's cheap and works)

1) Single Stage Press (Breech Lock Classic Cast Press)
2) Perfect Powder Measure
3) Die Set (get the deluxe die sets, they come with the full length, neck size, dead length bullet seat & factory crimp die)
4) Breech Lock Quick Change Bushings
5) Primer Feed for Breech Lock Classic Cast
6) Digital scale (just spend the money, it's so much easier)
7) Chamfer Tool
8) Primer Pocket Cleaner (get the RCBS, it has a handle, is better and easier to use.)
8) Case trimmer for the caliber you are loading (just get the manual one)
9) Bullets
10) Powder
11) Brass
12) Primers
13) Case Tumbler (optional) but nice to have
14) Bullet puller
15) Loading tray, can use a piece of wood and drill out 10 X 10 holes to hold the cases while you load.
16) Digital Caliper
17) Lube tray and some case lube if you're full length sizing
18) Reloading book with recipes (take your pick, I use Lyman)

14) and most important.........a TV/DVD to watch because you'll be there often.

Hope that helps.

Not sure about you're $300 target, as powder, primers, bullets & cases will eat that up. Might want to just buy bits at a time.

Either way it's a fantastic thing to get into.
Not only will you save money in the long run, you will be making superior ammo and it will be fckn accurate!
It's a beautiful thing. :cheers:
 
^^^
The Turret press could be called a single stage press, minus the BS of having to unscrew dies all the time. I'd go for the turret every time.
 
I know its more than you want to spend but Wolverine has a good deal on the RCBS kits. Mabey you will want to hold off and and buy at a later date. Just letting you know.
 
Of the two mentioned, I'd get the turret press. I've had one for decades and use if for handgun and rifle cartridges. As mentioned by Lister, I too like being able to leave the dies set up in the turret plates and not have to readjust when changing cartridges. I use it as a single stage for rifle and rotating turret for handgun. Suites my needs fine.
 
I use alot of Lee stuff cause it works, is inexpensive.

For HG, especially if the goal is to shoot a few hundred rds per week, I would go with a Lee 1000 progressive kit. They come complete with everything to load 1 cartridge. Easy to set up and as long as you keep it clean and well lubed, work very well.

It just takes so long to use a single stage and make any volume of HG ammo.

You will also need a Lee scale, tumbler and media.

For rifle shooting, I use the Lee breech lock single stage press. The inserts make die changing a 2 sec affair and I know the dies are aligned with the ram. This is really important if the goal is making match grade ammo.

The Lee breech lock kit NOT the anniversary kit is what I would recommend. The hand primer is wonderful and is used by many competitive shooters.

If you want, send me your email address and I will send you a list of the gear I use for my rifle shooting. I use the best gear that does a specific job. Not necessarily the most expensive.

Let me know...

Jerry
 
I started with the Lee 50th Anni kit and it worked fine.

Only thing I would consider is a RCBS (or like) 5-0-5 scale over the Lee Safety Scale. They can be had on the EE now and again for around the $50 mark I believe. The Lee scale will suffice for learning but I found that it was not my cup of tea.
 
i was going to buy cheap and go with lee but i did the math it's cheaper to get the RCBS Rockchucker supreme kit in the long run ,it's complete with everything you need and it a higher quailty product ,check with Henry a sponser on this site i think he has the kit's for just over $300.

it's worth checking out!!
 
I started with the Lee kit as well about 2 years ago and now own several thousand dollars worth of reloading equipment. If you're tight on cash do not get in to reloading as it is very addictive and you will be broke before you know it. :(
 
Hey man I'm just looking to pick up some starter stuff myself and I bumped into this link, seems to have info on everything you would need, and a ton of options for your budget:

anarchangel.########.com/2007/04/getting-into-reloading-on-cheap.html
 
Thanks everyone for the input thus far, it's all greatly appreciated.

So then the Turret could do both rifle and pistol ammunition? It seems that the turret press could also be used as single stage by diasabling the auto index feature. Is the turret of the press really just useful for pistol ammunition, or could I also use the turret for rifle as well, or is that what the single stage feature would be for (rifle)?

MHouser said:
I started with the Lee kit as well about 2 years ago and now own several thousand dollars worth of reloading equipment. If you're tight on cash do not get in to reloading as it is very addictive and you will be broke before you know it. :(
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Haha. Well I hope the tight on cash thing wont last forever. Besides this is a hobby I plan on piecing together over a longer period of time. I see it as being more cost efficient with ammo as well considering 50 rounds of .223 FMJ is $25 - $45 around here, when it's even available.

mysticplayer said:
If you want, send me your email address and I will send you a list of the gear I use for my rifle shooting. I use the best gear that does a specific job. Not necessarily the most expensive.

Let me know...

Jerry
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You're about to have a PM inbound.

xtremacanuck said:
If you have any friends who reload, check out their equipment.
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Heh, the only person I know who reloads is Gunnar at Armco. I live down the street from him, and I'm pretty sure he uses a progressive. His press has self feeding brass tubes and all that good looking stuff, don't know if I can go that route quite yet. He's a great wealth of information and quite the salesman, but his shop is always packed when I'm there and it's hard to pin him down for some quality questions.

MDE said:
Hey man I'm just looking to pick up some starter stuff myself and I bumped into this link, seems to have info on everything you would need, and a ton of options for your budget:

anarchangel.########.com/2007/04/getting-into-reloading-on-cheap.html
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Cool thanks for that, I'll give it a read.

All good stuff so far, thanks everyone for the help.
 
get a

Chargemaster
Rockchucker press
Hand priming tool
Inside/outside Chamfer
Lube
Trimmer
Funnel set
Digital Micrometer
Hammer bullet puller
primer pocket cleaner..
Thumler Tumbler
Stainless media

Thats about all I use..and dies..
P1000048.jpg
 
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^^^^ And don't forget flowers for your reloading bench!

Seriously though, when I started reloading, not too long ago, I bought the lee anniversary kit, and a manual, dies, brass, bullets, powder, primers. This was everything I needed to make about 300 rounds, for a little over 300 bucks, that was for 7.52x54r. You could have more for .223. Now for pistol ammo, I don't think I would attempt it with that kit, it would take forever and make you crazy!

The kit in the post above me is cool, but if you don't have 1 G to spend go lee, get what you need. Don't worry about a tumbler for now, you don't really need it.
 
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CyaN1de said:
I started with the Lee 50th Anni kit and it worked fine.

Only thing I would consider is a RCBS (or like) 5-0-5 scale over the Lee Safety Scale. They can be had on the EE now and again for around the $50 mark I believe. The Lee scale will suffice for learning but I found that it was not my cup of tea.
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That's exactly what I did. Upgraded the scale with a Hornady/Pacific. Different press came much later.

Good way to start.

.
 
Sinclair intl has a promotion for the thanksgiving weekend, 10% off of 150$ or more orders. (the 100$ limit only applies to firearm parts) Good time to buy reloading supplies from them. The promotion stacks with current specials. Making the sinclair concentricity guage a hot buy for the weekend.

I am going to grab some stuff myself, very tasty offer!


I think MHouser has hit it right on the spot. It is a costly hobby and the list of tools you will gather over the years is ridiculous
 
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Cost effective. That's a good one. Let me do the math so far. $3000 for reloading equip/supplies divided by 300 reloads to this point. That's $10 per round compared to $1 for factory ammo. Hmmmmm..... Didn't work out so well for me so far.

My guess would be that 90% of the folks start out like you and I thinking I'll save a little money and learn a little something along the way. Reality is that 10% save money and 100% learn a lot.

It's all good. Enjoy.
 
MHouser said:
Cost effective. That's a good one. Let me do the math so far. $3000 for reloading equip/supplies divided by 300 reloads to this point. That's $10 per round compared to $1 for factory ammo. Hmmmmm..... Didn't work out so well for me so far.
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Pretty much nothing we do here on CGN is "cost effective". ;)

.
 
MHouser said:
Cost effective. That's a good one. Let me do the math so far. $3000 for reloading equip/supplies divided by 300 reloads to this point. That's $10 per round compared to $1 for factory ammo. Hmmmmm..... Didn't work out so well for me so far.

My guess would be that 90% of the folks start out like you and I thinking I'll save a little money and learn a little something along the way. Reality is that 10% save money and 100% learn a lot.

It's all good. Enjoy.
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Sounds like you need to shoot more to fix that ratio!! I have saved quite a bit vs. if I had bought all the rounds I have shot.

Of course like ^^^^ said, nothing about CGN is cost effective!
 
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