Buy once cry once, the quality reloading set for beginners
- Thread starter C10
- Start date
If just loading for rifle, I use a lee single stage and a beam scale, I measure my load to a single fleck of powder so I think I'm making ammo almost as good as match ammo.
Handgun ammo, I set up the appropriate disc on my load master or pro 1000
Handgun ammo, I set up the appropriate disc on my load master or pro 1000
- Location
- Western Manitoba
OP, it likely depends on what you plan to do / what you are able to do. Many marketing ads talk about bench rest techniques and tooling - the gizmos must be great for you to buy (or for them to sell) because some bench rest shooters use them. If you have never reloaded before, maybe be satisfied, for the first several hundred rounds, with some that you made that will go "bang" - there is a LOT more to 3" 1000 yard groups than just the reloading gear brand that you used.
I have never shot in a competition, so keep that in mind for what I write and what my opinion might be. But I have spent a good number of days in the bush - I have taken many dozens of deer (Whitetail and Mule Deer) and 3 Elk - most all with my hand loads in store bought or mil-surp rifles. Back in the day, it was an RCBS powder thrower, and Ideal brand balance beam scale and an RCBS trickler to throw powder. I thought that was an "improvement" from the former Lee Loader kits with the scoop that I used before that. Now I use an RCBS "ChargeMaster Lite" - although the beam scale and trickler are ready to go, should I want or need to use them. Mostly, I used RCBS dies, although there are Lee, Redding, Lyman, Bonanza and Hornady brand dies on the shelf. I started with the Lee case length trimmer sets - whatever length they trim to. I think the chamfering tool is "Made for RCBS - by L. E. Wilson", or so it is stamped on there. Most of the re-loading tooling was bought used - it likely originated in Estate Sales, I suspect, although there is some new stuff that I bought as well - usually small tooling, or something specific for a new-to-me cartridge. If you do not want to gain the personal experience of what is good idea for you, versus what is not, it is very helpful to sit down with an experienced mentor who might suggest what he would change, now, if he could.
Edit Sunday 5:23 PM - looking at stuff here - it is no longer an RCBS Uniflow powder thrower - it is a Lee brand. No longer an Ideal balance beam scale - it is a Hornady brand. And no longer an RCBS trickler - it is a Hornady brand with a hockey puck screwed on there for extra height and weight. I threaded the Hornady trickler spout to make it act more like the RCBS tool - not really sure that is needed or wanted to do. My brother got the "old" stuff a few years ago from me - since then I have been buying as I saw what I thought at the time were "good deals".
I have never shot in a competition, so keep that in mind for what I write and what my opinion might be. But I have spent a good number of days in the bush - I have taken many dozens of deer (Whitetail and Mule Deer) and 3 Elk - most all with my hand loads in store bought or mil-surp rifles. Back in the day, it was an RCBS powder thrower, and Ideal brand balance beam scale and an RCBS trickler to throw powder. I thought that was an "improvement" from the former Lee Loader kits with the scoop that I used before that. Now I use an RCBS "ChargeMaster Lite" - although the beam scale and trickler are ready to go, should I want or need to use them. Mostly, I used RCBS dies, although there are Lee, Redding, Lyman, Bonanza and Hornady brand dies on the shelf. I started with the Lee case length trimmer sets - whatever length they trim to. I think the chamfering tool is "Made for RCBS - by L. E. Wilson", or so it is stamped on there. Most of the re-loading tooling was bought used - it likely originated in Estate Sales, I suspect, although there is some new stuff that I bought as well - usually small tooling, or something specific for a new-to-me cartridge. If you do not want to gain the personal experience of what is good idea for you, versus what is not, it is very helpful to sit down with an experienced mentor who might suggest what he would change, now, if he could.
Edit Sunday 5:23 PM - looking at stuff here - it is no longer an RCBS Uniflow powder thrower - it is a Lee brand. No longer an Ideal balance beam scale - it is a Hornady brand. And no longer an RCBS trickler - it is a Hornady brand with a hockey puck screwed on there for extra height and weight. I threaded the Hornady trickler spout to make it act more like the RCBS tool - not really sure that is needed or wanted to do. My brother got the "old" stuff a few years ago from me - since then I have been buying as I saw what I thought at the time were "good deals".
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Starting out will probably be levers until I’m used to it and then I’d like to try the precision sports. Hopefully by the summer I’ll be geared up and ready to try any event I can make it to. I just geared up a custom 22 as well in a prs style setup that I’m going to try events with this year also
Pretty much every major brand makes solid equipment. I personally don't go in for Frankford Arsenal stuff, but to each their own. As others have noted, your practices and processes including quality control and quality of components will be more important than the paint color and specific model of gear you run.
A Lee Anniversary kit at $250 ish will load very accurate ammo. So will a Hornady, RCBS, Lyman or other brand kit at 3x the price. It's easier with more bells and whistles, more sophisticated ways of achieving the same steps in the process.
Bang for buck, Lee. They are very innovative with design and they use economical materials, much of their stuff is more Kia than Cadillac. But it works. Well. IMO, many people, including me, who start with a Lee kit end up upgrading piecemeal. At a significant cost per piece, vs buying a higher end kit at outset.
Start with goal, type of ammo desired, quality quantity. Work backwards. I mainly favor RCBS and Dillon. But each manufacturer tends to have a version of an item that is just a bit better- user friendly, slight process advantages etc. That's why so many people with a lot of time and money into the hobby will have different pieces of tooling from most of the major manufacturers. My bench has a lot of blue, green, orange, and red stuff.
Reloading manuals - more is better. Each will usually have a good step by step on the process, and a review/display of their own brand of favored equipment. The Modern Reloading 2 manual by Richard Lee was particularly interesting. Explained a lot about the why of their design choices, and processes. It also has non brand specific, but type specific reloading data. Example- loads for a given weight cup and core style bullet and cast bullets in one book.
Lyman's books on precision long range specific reloading, cast bullet handbook, and shotshell manuals are excellent.
Most of the better equipment is built to LAST.
I would be looking for deals on used equipment from estate or other sales. There are some very sophisticated setups that come up for a reasonable price with patience.
A Lee Anniversary kit at $250 ish will load very accurate ammo. So will a Hornady, RCBS, Lyman or other brand kit at 3x the price. It's easier with more bells and whistles, more sophisticated ways of achieving the same steps in the process.
Bang for buck, Lee. They are very innovative with design and they use economical materials, much of their stuff is more Kia than Cadillac. But it works. Well. IMO, many people, including me, who start with a Lee kit end up upgrading piecemeal. At a significant cost per piece, vs buying a higher end kit at outset.
Start with goal, type of ammo desired, quality quantity. Work backwards. I mainly favor RCBS and Dillon. But each manufacturer tends to have a version of an item that is just a bit better- user friendly, slight process advantages etc. That's why so many people with a lot of time and money into the hobby will have different pieces of tooling from most of the major manufacturers. My bench has a lot of blue, green, orange, and red stuff.
Reloading manuals - more is better. Each will usually have a good step by step on the process, and a review/display of their own brand of favored equipment. The Modern Reloading 2 manual by Richard Lee was particularly interesting. Explained a lot about the why of their design choices, and processes. It also has non brand specific, but type specific reloading data. Example- loads for a given weight cup and core style bullet and cast bullets in one book.
Lyman's books on precision long range specific reloading, cast bullet handbook, and shotshell manuals are excellent.
Most of the better equipment is built to LAST.
I would be looking for deals on used equipment from estate or other sales. There are some very sophisticated setups that come up for a reasonable price with patience.
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Good progressive press. Use a 550 for most of my pistol ammo. Primer feed has been a little fiddley, but not too bad. I've also used a 650, 750 and 1050 that belong to a buddy of mine at various times for various things. If you need the volume, that's the way to go. 550 works fine for me. I also have/had presses from Lyman, Lee, RCBS and MEC. Cant say any of them were bad, i bought them for a purpose and they each did that well. Some very well. I liked Lee turret presses enough that I own 3 of them. - dan
I started with a Lee single stage press was $109 on sale back in the day. It was okay but I wanted "better" upgraded to a Forster Co-Ax press - my reloads were not significantly better went back to the Lee press. After a couple years I ended up selling the Co-Ax. There is nothing wrong with the Lee single stage press.
I would upgrade these items from your list:
Frankford arsenal m-press -> forster co-ax or Short action custom Nexus press
Frankford arsenal intellidropper -> AutoTrickler
RCBS two die set for each calibre -> Redding Type S bushing full sizing die set
Frankford arsenal priming tool
Frankford arsenal case trim and prep centre -> Giraud
Imperial sizing wax
Frankford arsenal funnel kit
Amazon callipers -> Mitutoyo
Amazon reloading tray
Hornady oal gauge -> Short Action Custom bullet and headspace comparators
Hornady modified cases
Hornady headspace gauge kit -> Short Action Custom bullet and headspace comparators
Hornady bullet comparator kit-> Short Action Custom bullet and headspace comparators
Amazon bullet puller
To add to your list
Annealer: AMP
Expander Mandrel: 21st century innovation
Frankford arsenal m-press -> forster co-ax or Short action custom Nexus press
Frankford arsenal intellidropper -> AutoTrickler
RCBS two die set for each calibre -> Redding Type S bushing full sizing die set
Frankford arsenal priming tool
Frankford arsenal case trim and prep centre -> Giraud
Imperial sizing wax
Frankford arsenal funnel kit
Amazon callipers -> Mitutoyo
Amazon reloading tray
Hornady oal gauge -> Short Action Custom bullet and headspace comparators
Hornady modified cases
Hornady headspace gauge kit -> Short Action Custom bullet and headspace comparators
Hornady bullet comparator kit-> Short Action Custom bullet and headspace comparators
Amazon bullet puller
To add to your list
Annealer: AMP
Expander Mandrel: 21st century innovation
I am still using my almost 50 year old Rockchucker ,and I will never need to replace it. I would only have a cast iron press, never any of the cheap aluminum presses. As far as dies, I prefer Redding, but I also don't mind RCBS. Buy a good scale, the LEE scale is the most frustrating piece of crap ever invented, a friend almost gave up loading ,because of that scale.
I found that the Redding scale was every bit as bad as the LEE. I inherited a Pacific Manufacturing scale, it is oil dampened and it works like a charm! I tried a digital scale but I did not find them accurate enough. I went through 3 different scales and they couldn't quite agree.
"Buy once, cry once", lol it would be nice if life were that simple.
Newbies asking "what is best" don't understand the nuances to that question. They should be concentrating on getting reasonable quality, simple reloading tools to start with, and learn reloading by doing it. They will then be in a position to make informed decisions based on their own needs.
A Lee single stage press is a good place to start and will continue to be useful even if you buy another press later. Many people will never need more press than this one.
Newbies asking "what is best" don't understand the nuances to that question. They should be concentrating on getting reasonable quality, simple reloading tools to start with, and learn reloading by doing it. They will then be in a position to make informed decisions based on their own needs.
A Lee single stage press is a good place to start and will continue to be useful even if you buy another press later. Many people will never need more press than this one.
I have used Lyman and RCBS scales, and they are much quicker and and easier than the LEE crap. I have also had two RCBS electronic scales, including the one on my Chargemaster and zero issues. I compared both to my 10-10 mechanical scale, and always within .1 grain. Just keep them away from drafts or fluorescent lighting.
I started off a few years back, and I'm glad I went Forster right away, and not a cheap press to only want to upgrade right away.
I would suggest for any one interested in reloading to sit down with someone that has done it for a bit, and learn from them. Or even just to watch, maybe help and in turn learn about what the equipment does. I'm sure they would have a few good pointers on which equipment to stay away from and some of what you need to get. Just remember they may have a bias to the equipment they are using and not be open much to other stuff out there. Don't be afraid to watch you tube, and then ask them questions about why not so and so tool, or so and so process? If they are not willing to answer, then find another mentor.
No need what so ever for a $2500 Amp annealer when starting off, like suggested above.
Any serious reloader will want to have 2 presses eventually anyway.
I ended up buying a Dillon rl550c brand new in the box from an old fella on FB. Now I’m looking for calibre conversion kits, dies, a scale, callipers and a few other things to at least get started. It was a good deal and I figure I can buy new brass for now. It should at least get me out shooting. There’s a show here locally this weekend so hopefully I’ll be able to gather some supplies.
It's a good press, very versatile. I have one and really like it. Just loaded 45-70 on it this morning. Nice only handling the brass once when it is ready to load. Flare mouth, powder drop, seat bullet and crimp. Takes long time on single stage having to swap out dies.
Lots of information on web if you want to make more precision ammo with it as well. Lots of competitive shooters do use them.
