Taking the plunge into reloading, looking for equipment advice

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BlackLabelBrad

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Been thinking of getting into reloading for a while now, bought some 30 cal 150 grain TTSX bullets the other day and am now committed. Cut up the lumber for my bench yesterday and now I'm making up a list of stuff to order. I've already decided on a Lee Classic turret press, Lee auto-prime, Lee .30-06 Spfld dies, Lee universal decapping die and an RCBS chamfer/deburring tool. I haven't made up my mind yet on the rest of the stuff I'll need, and I'd appreciate some insight and recommendations for case trimmers, scales and tumblers. Right now I'm leaning towards a Hornady LNL sonic cleaner, but I'm open to suggestions.

I plan on getting set up to reload .30-06 Spfld initially, but will be looking to reload .243 Win, .308 Win, .303 Brit, 7.62x39 in the near future. I'll also want to reload for .45-70 and 9.3x62 when I acquire rifles in these chamberings later this year. Powder and bullet recommendations are also welcome.
 
Will do. I can't recall seeing any bad reviews for the classic turret press, I figured it would be a good choice for me since I can use it as a single-stage initially or run it as a progressive if I feel the need for speed later. I plan on buying turrets for each set of dies so I don't have to fiddle with them every time.
 
I'm pretty new to reloading myself having just run my first batch of 9mm through recently. I got the Lee Classic Cast Turret Kit and am totally happy with it. All I needed extra was the dies and case conditioning tools. I got some once fired brass for my first batch and will be cleaning my own brass for the next batch.

For Tumbling, I ordered a Thumler Model B High Speed tumbler from Sinclair International and am expecting it any day now. I also got some SS pins from GCN member Rookie. My next purchase will be 30-06 dies for lower powered Garand ammo and some higher powered ammo for my semi auto 30-06.

I got all my Lee stuff and components from Henry at BudgetShooterSupply and am really happy with his service,
 
homslice said:
Let me know how your Lee Turret press works, I am going to start reloading this year myself and that is what I am looking at.
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Howdy neighbor. If you're considering a turret setup you might also want to explore a single stage (SS) press that can be retrofitted with Hornady's L&L bushing system. Drop in dies with 1/4 twist locking are nearly as fast as using a turret and, whereas the benefit of having your dies preset (the main benefit of a turret press) is limited to the caliber you're loading with the turret press alone, you can have an unlimited number of preset dies for all your calibers and accessories ready with the L&L system. Redding and RCBS both make SS presses that can be adapted to the L&L system. I use the L&L bushings with my Ultramag and think they're great.
 
I've got a little under 200 cleaned once fired 30.06. They were 70s milsurp garand ammo. Pm me if your interested. Come to think of it I've got some 30.06 tracer fmj somewhere too.
 
HKMark23 said:
Howdy neighbor. If you're considering a turret setup you might also want to explore a single stage (SS) press that can be retrofitted with Hornady's L&L bushing system. Drop in dies with 1/4 twist locking are nearly as fast as using a turret and, whereas the benefit of having your dies preset (the main benefit of a turret press) is limited to the caliber you're loading with the turret press alone, you can have an unlimited number of preset dies for all your calibers and accessories ready with the L&L system. Redding and RCBS both make SS presses that can be adapted to the L&L system. I use the L&L bushings with my Ultramag and think they're great.
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How much do the bushing's cost?
 
zuke said:
How much do the bushing's cost?
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Best to check em out on line. I frequently use Midsouth Shooters Supply. As you can see they have the conversion kit on at 17 bux. Then, if you also buy a 10 pack of the die bushings at about 40 bux you'd be good to go for awhile.

ht tp://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00005044099
 
The last 4-hole turrets I bought were $10 each. for the same 57 bux you can permanently set up 20 dies for at least 5 different cals. The turret press comes already designed to be changed back and forth from S/S to semi-progresive with no costly additions.
 
Looks like you've been doing your homework ;)
That's a pretty good starting set-up, and you may never outgrow the turret press. Its quite versatile.

Any of the beam scales are very good, and all are very similar, with the exception of the Lee. The Lee is good and accurate, but maybe not the easiest to use. Digital scales are convenient but not as accurate until you start spending big money on them.

I've just been using the Lee trimmer, and it works well but by the time you spend $6/ cal you culd buy any of the lathe type trimmers.

Those sonic cleaners sure do look nice, and it would eliminate cleaning primer pockets, a job I hate. Just get one bigger than you think you need, there have been a few on the EE because folks were upgrading.

Welcome to the addiction :D
 
I've been using a LEE scale for the last 25 year's.
It's not that their crap, just VERY sensitive, and the scale is the exact same type used in the old vernier scale used in all manual vernier's for measuring part's down to the .0001's.
I've found over time is settle's down quicker.
 
Spend $1000 the first shopping trip
Spend $500 buying dies/brass and accessories from the EE
Spend another $500 so you have a years suppy of all powders/primers/projectiles

There now you are set-up just to get into reloading!
 
Thanks for all of the responses everybody.

grouch said:
I'd buy a set of Lee collet dies to be easier on your brass.
Grouch
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Yeah planning to get a collet neck sizing die. Was thinking of getting the Lee deluxe 3 die set that includes the collet neck sizing die.

Johnny_Zanni said:
I reload the 180gr TTSX in 30-06 and I found IMR4064 powder worked great.
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Thanks, I will keep that in mind.

Rory McCanuck said:
Looks like you've been doing your homework ;)
That's a pretty good starting set-up, and you may never outgrow the turret press. Its quite versatile.

Any of the beam scales are very good, and all are very similar, with the exception of the Lee. The Lee is good and accurate, but maybe not the easiest to use. Digital scales are convenient but not as accurate until you start spending big money on them.

I've just been using the Lee trimmer, and it works well but by the time you spend $6/ cal you culd buy any of the lathe type trimmers.

Those sonic cleaners sure do look nice, and it would eliminate cleaning primer pockets, a job I hate. Just get one bigger than you think you need, there have been a few on the EE because folks were upgrading.

Welcome to the addiction :D
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Yeah I bought the Barnes, Hornady and Lee reloading manuals a while back and I've been lurking the reloading forum for a while. I think I've learned enough to get started and it's time to get my feet wet.

I had been thinking of a digital scale but I've heard that you need to shell out big bucks for a reliable one, so I'll likely be going with a beam scale of some kind.

Right now I'm leaning towards some kind of lathe type case trimmer. Just watched a video of the Redding 2400 in action and it looks pretty slick and easy to use, a bit pricey I guess. Might have to research the 1400 a bit and see if it's comparable.

Thanks for the welcome and advice.

kamlooky said:
If your set on Lee, my opinion is worthless to you.
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I've decided on a Lee press and dies, but I'm not set on using all Lee equipment. Is there some reason I shouldn't use the classic turret press? The reviews I've seen have been overwhelmingly positive.
 
grouch said:
I'd buy a set of Lee collet dies to be easier on your brass.
Grouch
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Calgary had a foot of snow within 8 hours today so I did some tests with my cheap 20 year old 308 Lee collet die. I was shocked. The runout was less than 0.001" on the necks. My RCBS and Redding dies couldn't match that.

Something to think about.

I use a Lyman turret press for all my reloading. I love it. I don't reload for pistol. If I did I would get a Dillon progressive for that (but still keep the Lyman turret for rifles).

Here is my data from today (brass was Lapua in 308):
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New unfired neck width: 0.334"
Once fired: 0.342"
After my Lee Collet Neck Size: 0.333" (exactly the whole way around, perfect!)
After the bullet was seated: 0.035" (I seemed to have found the 0.002" tension))

Runout after Redding Die (after resizing) was:
=============================
0.333" - 0.337" (The redding seemed to have "bumps")

Maybe my results are wrong, but I tested 6 once fired premium Lapua brass for results. Judge for yourself.
 
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There are some guys (me included) that are of the opinion that a scale's main purpose is to set up your powder measure to throw a specific weight, especially when loading non-precision, non-maximum load ammunition. That said, it is *very * useful when working up a load....

As far as a press goes, an O-frame press can be useful when resizing larger calibers..... I don't know how rigid / stiff the Lee turret is, or how its stiffness compares to a traditional single stage press.

Stan
 
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