Good kit for a newb?
- Thread starter pierrody
- Start date
this would be an outstanding choice...
great quality equipement,
sturdy press, very well suited for rifle cartridges (and pistol cartridges of course)...
high resale value, in case you want to upgrade later, but why should you ?
A very complet set...
all you need are the dies and I would recommend a case tumbler to clean the shells before reloading.
great quality equipement,
sturdy press, very well suited for rifle cartridges (and pistol cartridges of course)...
high resale value, in case you want to upgrade later, but why should you ?
A very complet set...
all you need are the dies and I would recommend a case tumbler to clean the shells before reloading.
Busta Capp
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Town of the Blue Mountains (ON)
I bought that exact kit, so yes I would agree it is a good piece of kit! 
I too bought it for reloading 308 and 223. Got some good dies, and switched the scale for a digital and was good to go.
I too bought it for reloading 308 and 223. Got some good dies, and switched the scale for a digital and was good to go.
Busta Capp
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Town of the Blue Mountains (ON)
Yep, Lee trimmer is a good cheap way to trim brass if you are not doing large volumes. You will need dies, shell holders, a digital caliper, and if you are looking for better accuracy, an optional item is a Hornady Chamber Gauge for measuring your OAL. Plus a few books on reloading is always good.
yes eventually you will need a case trimmer...
depends on your loads and rifle, when and by how much the cases have to be trimmed back.
In my experience (+ 20 years reloading for rifle and pistol),
for 308 trimming is only required after 3 - 5 firings...again depends on your load and rifle (head space)...
a digital caliper is always a good investment, an electronic scale is nice, but not necessary...
CommonLawyer,
I have three digital calipers that I have been using for a few years now, a few months back I got as dial caliper now I use it for every thing I find it easier to see what is going on. Just some thing to think about.
I have three digital calipers that I have been using for a few years now, a few months back I got as dial caliper now I use it for every thing I find it easier to see what is going on. Just some thing to think about.
I bought that exact kit, so yes I would agree it is a good piece of kit!
I demand you tell us how much that bench costed you to build and how long it took.
Busta Capp
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Town of the Blue Mountains (ON)
Had most of the wood lying around, don't think it cost me more than $40. Took about 3 hrs total time from this widely used plan;
http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/workshop/bench/below20xl.html
Wow man thank you! My dad's a ticketed carpenter who just retired, so he might slap me if I tried to show him instructions. If he won't make me that bench I'm going to have to do it myself, which I should be able to do, I'll just have to lay off the malt liquor for a night
... chise... If you make your own Bench, decide before you start if you want to sit or stand to reload ( Standing gives you more "leverage" for sizing.) And make it bigger than you think you need ! The Hobby tends to grow on you, and you need more space and tools/presses etc.etc. ! .... David K
Yes, but if you are just starting out, you are better off learning on a single stage. And even when you have a progressive, a single stage is handy for small runs and playing around with loads.
(btw, if you were thinking about getting it from Midway, they won't ship anything out of the US anymore. They shipped a bunch of scopes out of the country a few years ago and were fined $300k.)
... chise... If you make your own Bench, decide before you start if you want to sit or stand to reload ( Standing gives you more "leverage" for sizing.) And make it bigger than you think you need ! The Hobby tends to grow on you, and you need more space and tools/presses etc.etc. ! .... David K
I tend to work better standing so I think I'll go that route. You're totally right about the space issue, I started out with one press (obviously) and now I have three. Two single stages and a turret is probably the most I'll ever use although I may switch up for a full blown progressive. Thanks for the advice
rnbra-shooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Brunswick
Yes, though it's usually much less of a speedup than you get with pistol ammo. With pistol ammo and carbide dies, it is practical to load "once through" (i.e. fired brass goes in one end, and comes out the other end as loaded ammo).
But rifle ammo (bottlenecked cartridges) need to be lubed in order to be sized. This either makes things a bit messy (some of the powder tends to stick to the inside of the case mouth), or it necessitates doing your reloading in two passes (once through to size; then you clean/degrease your brass; then a second time through to prime, charge with powder and seat a bullet).
