Want to start, what do I need? Lookin for cheapest

Its true you can buy bulk 223 for the same price or perhaps a couple cents cheaper then reloading, but reloading you get WAY better quality ammo and its WAY more accurate. I just started reloading and it costs about the same amount as bulk Norinco to load up premium ammo. I am glad I went this route. Look on the EE for some used equipment, it will be better then Lee stuff. I got all my gear for under 400$ and its all RCBS and Lyman.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
strongly agree to go with a progressive first if your after bulk ammo! but a single stage does have it's place when you want to mess around with mostly rifle loads. but you can easily learn on a progressive going with 1 round at a time.
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100% agree. personally the only time a single stage is good is if your really trying to pump out a small number of high quality rifle loads. other than that i have better #### to be doing with my time during a day than spending 20 hours making 50 rounds that will be shot with in minutes.
 
nate18 said:
100% agree. personally the only time a single stage is good is if your really trying to pump out a small number of high quality rifle loads. other than that i have better #### to be doing with my time during a day than spending 20 hours making 50 rounds that will be shot with in minutes.
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20 hours for 50 rounds? Geez, Corky, are you drawing your own brass?

When I started with a Lee Loader, I could do 20rds an HOUR. Once again, the snobbery is high in this thread.
 
rookie wildcat said:
20 hours for 50 rounds? Geez, Corky, are you drawing your own brass?

When I started with a Lee Loader, I could do 20rds an HOUR. Once again, the snobbery is high in this thread.
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That does seem like a long time for 50 rounds. With my set up also a single stage I can crank out around 100 rounds an hour if loading plinking fmj. If hunting ammo or something else I want to be very accurate it drops to about 75 an hour. This is weighing every charge as well. The chargemaster helps a lot though.
 
OP,
There are several reasons to reload and you will need to choose which reason you are going to do so.

1. Best method of obtaining highly accurate hunting rounds tailored for your specific purposes in quantities large enough to ensure that lots of rounds go down range to make you a better shooter.

2. You have obsolete or hard to find rounds that need to be made or you couldn't afford to shoot.

3. You are simply frugal and believe that self-reliance includes everything you can do yourself.

4. You have no life and just want to fill time with something interesting.

If you have decided to reload, then the first thing you must determine is the amount you are going to shoot. Quite honestly, shooting 9mm and .223 you just want to go bang, it will be a long time before your purchased equipment starts paying for itself. Bulk ammo is cheap for both of those cartridges. Too cheap to justify putting money into reloading equipment, unless you plan to shoot a crate of each every week.

Again, check out your needs against cost. No matter what, RELOADING WILL NOT SAVE YOU MONEY! on the rounds you want to shoot. Buy bulk ammo to test your convictions. Reloading for a $.01 savings pre round over bulk takes a long time to pay off a $300 investment, even though there are less expensive options.

Good luck.
 
nate18 said:
100% agree. personally the only time a single stage is good is if your really trying to pump out a small number of high quality rifle loads. other than that i have better #### to be doing with my time during a day than spending 20 hours making 50 rounds that will be shot with in minutes.
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It's not the equipment, you're just doing it wrong if these are your results.

I made 50 on a single stage last night in under an hour, including trimming and crimping. And I wasn't pushing it.

It's ok to suggest a piece of equipment without feeling the need to bash another one.
 
I use a lee loadmaster for 9mm, 45 and bulk 223 (ar, keltec). (volumetric thrown charges)

I use a forester co-ax press with weighted charges for precision rifle loads. I use the chargemaster to weight. I could be more crazy about it and trickle to the .2 with a gempro, but I don't compete and I don't shoot more than 200 yards right now, so basically, it makes no difference right now.
 
Mossberg12 said:
I want to start reloading bulk .223 and 9mm. What all do I need to get started?


Basically I want it to go bang and make a bullet fly. I'm not going to chrono it and I'm not worried about any math related crap. Just don't want it to kill me.

I'm hoping to reload for my AR and 9mm pistol

Also looking for the cheapest possible solution, I'll build up to the expensive stuff later
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Cheapest possible solution is to buy large lots of bulk ammo from the retailers that will sell you crate quantity ammo.
Buy it cheap, stack it deep!

Buy reloading gear so that you can make better ammo than you can buy, or learn to cast, and make your own bullets (which is another hobby in it's own right).

Figure out how much ammo you can buy for the $600 or so that you will spend on a decent progressive press and the assorted support equipment you need to get it all to run well together, and factor in the learning curve. A Lee progressive is cheaper, the learning curve steeper. And you still need the ability to check and cross check your output ammo, so you are comfortably safe.

It'll likely be best to be sure up front, rather than having to post looking for an answer as to how to pull a thousand rounds that all got the wrong powder or charge weight in them.

Single stage presses rock for general purpose reloading, and I'll always have one or two around. A cheap pot-metal Lee press will get you running, and if all else fails, it'll always be good for setting up with a universal decapper die to pull primers before cleaning brass, or similar scut-work.

The payback on reloads is long and slow when you just want low-rent bulk ammo. If you want premium stuff for accuracy purposes, or specialty loads, you see it come back MUCH faster.

Cheers
Trev
 
I would suggest you check out any local sporting goods stores and or catalogs and get at least a little familiar with some of the different presses, dies etc. I would suggest you check out a few local gun shows and see if you can't pick up a used press and whatever else at a fraction of the cost of new. I would strongly recommend you find a single stage press made from cast iron. DO NOT buy an aluminum press. They work OK for a while then they fail. If you buy used dies make sure they are not scratched inside. I would also suggest you steer clear of the old Herters presses. They use a bastard shell holder and that can be a problem. Most old presses made by RCBS, Lyman,Redding, CH, Bair, are pretty good. Shell holders are interchangeable and they all have 7/8x14 threads . Hope that helps
 
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