That depends on the OP's actual requirements. What is "high volume" is relative and rather arbitrary. But if doing less than 5000 rounds per year, something like the Lee Classic Turret press may be adequate. Dillon progressive presses are more for us nuts who shoot a thousand or more per week.
If you had 500$ ???
- Thread starter Canadianbiggame
- Start date
That depends on the OP's actual requirements. What is "high volume" is relative and rather arbitrary. But if doing less than 5000 rounds per year, something like the Lee Classic Turret press may be adequate. Dillon progressive presses are more for us nuts who shoot a thousand or more per week.
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
I plan on shooting and reloading 2000 a year, maybe more maybe less. It all depends on how many coyotes I see this winter and how many sunny days I have in the summer.
Y'know.... If you have the money to spend, and the time to shop, skip the kits and put together the tool set that suits your needs.
It's gonna happen anyways, soon enough.
A $500 budget leaves you lots of options for putting together a bench with enough gear to get going and stay going for years.
If you have the time, shop used. At least for some stuff, like a powder measure, ferinstance. I got a Lyman 55 for under $25 a couple years back.
Saw a Rockchucker press at the Calgary gun show, with a $75 pricetag on it. Stuff like that.
Any of the kits will make you decent ammo. Even the die-cast zinc cheapie Lee press will remain useful for some years. It's a petty good buy, for the price, but it ain't a heavy duty press like the Classic Cast, Rockchucker, or similar, by any means.
Never used a Forster Co-Ax press, but within your budget, you are gonna have to do a little cost cutting to make it all fit. By all accounts, though, you probably won't regret spending the money.
Cheers
Trev
It's gonna happen anyways, soon enough.
A $500 budget leaves you lots of options for putting together a bench with enough gear to get going and stay going for years.
If you have the time, shop used. At least for some stuff, like a powder measure, ferinstance. I got a Lyman 55 for under $25 a couple years back.
Saw a Rockchucker press at the Calgary gun show, with a $75 pricetag on it. Stuff like that.
Any of the kits will make you decent ammo. Even the die-cast zinc cheapie Lee press will remain useful for some years. It's a petty good buy, for the price, but it ain't a heavy duty press like the Classic Cast, Rockchucker, or similar, by any means.
Never used a Forster Co-Ax press, but within your budget, you are gonna have to do a little cost cutting to make it all fit. By all accounts, though, you probably won't regret spending the money.
Cheers
Trev
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
Y'know.... If you have the money to spend, and the time to shop, skip the kits and put together the tool set that suits your needs.
It's gonna happen anyways, soon enough.
A $500 budget leaves you lots of options for putting together a bench with enough gear to get going and stay going for years.
If you have the time, shop used. At least for some stuff, like a powder measure, ferinstance. I got a Lyman 55 for under $25 a couple years back.
Saw a Rockchucker press at the Calgary gun show, with a $75 pricetag on it. Stuff like that.
Any of the kits will make you decent ammo. Even the die-cast zinc cheapie Lee press will remain useful for some years. It's a petty good buy, for the price, but it ain't a heavy duty press like the Classic Cast, Rockchucker, or similar, by any means.
Never used a Forster Co-Ax press, but within your budget, you are gonna have to do a little cost cutting to make it all fit. By all accounts, though, you probably won't regret spending the money.
Cheers
Trev
If I were putting together a mixed bag without buying a kit what is absoutly necessary and what is not needed? I know I will need dies for .223 and .45 I will need a press, a scale, funnel, bullets, casings, primers, something to put in new primers, maybe a primer cleaner, case trimmer?
Any advise on what you bought and didn't need or vise versa!
More than likely, you will do what most of us "un-rich" handloaders have done, start basic and then upgrade over time.
Me?, Started with a lee target model loader(hammer powered) in .308W back in the late sixties. They went Bang. ... then added a Lyman scale. They went bang, and into MOA too.
Were I to be just now starting out, knowing what I know after 40 years, ... the priorities would be:
Dies; collet, body, BR seater. The high $ RCBS Casemaster tool is no longer needed to check on(non-existent)runout. Carbide's for the pistol's.
Calipers; A must. The $50 Lyman is a good one.
Scale; Get a good one. RCBS/Ohaus 10/10 for me. ($75, EE
). The $400 Dillon electronic doesn't get used much anymore. Too "wandery" and sensetive to spurious outside electronic interference.Press; Hornady 007, but, plenty of other good ones out there. Co-Ax would indeed be awesome but too much $.
Priming; RCBS bench mount tube feed.Fast and great for 'feel'.($100+) Most all of 'em tools do the job quite well, though.
Trimmer: Get the simple BR type(Forster). Hook it up to your drill/driver. My(not cheap)RCBS trimmaster is a bit of a mutty 'ol dog, not square or consistent, and is the next upgrade on vviking's list.
Deprime; Lyman universal, as a seperate step. RCBS primer pocket uniformer to clean, and stay at a unifom primer seating depth.
If your rifle loading priorities are accuracy and consistency, then, ... precise sizing, charges, and lack of runout are how you stay there, after the load developement process has put you "in the zone".
+10 on the dillon 550 - keep seeing good used ones on the EE in the 400 range that leaves 100 or so for a scale, then save for the tumbler, if you are going to load pistol and shoot a god amount its the press you'll end up with anyway. Remember dillon's no BS lifetime warrenty so a used on is a good as a new one and some one else paid the tax and depreciation.
The lee anniversary set will get you everything you need to start. I loaded thousands of rounds with mine. All for $200 bucks. Buy better equipment as you need it, unless you plan on loading 20,000 rounds per year, it is all you need.
Start with a reloading manual, unless you already have a pretty good idea about what the ins and outs of the process are. Lots of good advice and info in the manual. Lots more load info online, than you could afford to buy in books, too.
I like my Lee primer tool. What? $25 new, these days.
You can get by with the Lee scoops too, as long as you are not getting adventurous, trying to push the limits on loads. They are damned handy for shovelling powder onto the scale too, when you cannot be bothered to fiddle with the powder measure.
Skip the Lyman Calipers, other than as a gift. Buy a set of C-Tire digital calipers and get the same Chinese technology, at closer to a reasonable retail price. Wait for the sale. If you are going to buy brand name, buy from a measuring tool company, Mitutoyo, Starrett or the like.
Get or make yourself a loading block, to hold the cases in, while loading the powder into them. Get a small flashlight to look in to see that they all look about the same before seating the bullets. Good chance to doublecheck that the charges are at least close to the same.
After that, you are looking for stuff to make your life even easier, make your brass look nicer, or make you feel better about yourself for having better reloading gear than mine (
), but you won't make the deer any deader by having the higher priced stuff.Cheers
Trev
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
Thanks for all the info guy you were a great help
