looking at getting in to re loading
- Thread starter bluearmy
- Start date
i would say that an RCBS rock chucker is your best bet, not too expensive, and it should out live you
dies are a strange and overly argued piece, i like lee dies, they are cheaper, come with a shell holder, and i like that the decapping pin slides loose rather than breaking. lots of guys will no doubt tell you that anything lee is junk, and defend their own brand to the death, but i dont see why.
dies are a strange and overly argued piece, i like lee dies, they are cheaper, come with a shell holder, and i like that the decapping pin slides loose rather than breaking. lots of guys will no doubt tell you that anything lee is junk, and defend their own brand to the death, but i dont see why.
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Look into the rcbs kit. High quality stuff and if need the warranty is extremely good as in if you break it they will fix it free from my experience. For dies I have had hornady, rcbs, and redding I like redding the best so far but the other 2 rant that far behind for me. I have gotten a few cases stuck in rcbs dies and broke parts they sent me the parts to fix my screw up for free. Had some parts wear out on my rcbs priming tool and also got new parts free. Very good customer service from them.
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Buy once cry once comes into play here
LordEvilPepper
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Under a rusty barge in BC
RCBS kit for the win. There is nothing in that kit you will throw away and it all works the way it's supposed too.
The new lee press are junk, the bimetal cam arms break, the ram wears out quick and all the tools that come with it will either A)break on its own, B) break when you hurl it at a wall in rage because its not working or C)explode when you shoot it at the range gaining some satisfaction at its destruction.
The Lee safety scale will be the first, it will never hold zero its too damn finicky. The powder thrower will throw charges +-3 full grains!, the hand primer will break if you have a couple hard insertions. the only Lee tools left from my 50th anniversary kit are the funnel and the chamfering tool, the rest either broke or met its demise at the end of my tikka for all the headache it caused.
Lee dies are ok.... better then RCBS ... but don't hold a candle to redding.
The new lee press are junk, the bimetal cam arms break, the ram wears out quick and all the tools that come with it will either A)break on its own, B) break when you hurl it at a wall in rage because its not working or C)explode when you shoot it at the range gaining some satisfaction at its destruction.
The Lee safety scale will be the first, it will never hold zero its too damn finicky. The powder thrower will throw charges +-3 full grains!, the hand primer will break if you have a couple hard insertions. the only Lee tools left from my 50th anniversary kit are the funnel and the chamfering tool, the rest either broke or met its demise at the end of my tikka for all the headache it caused.
Lee dies are ok.... better then RCBS ... but don't hold a candle to redding.
You looking in my window or something? lol
I have just one 22-250 and I use this exact same set-up for over two years now. The only thing that I just recently upgraded to was a RCBS Digital scale. Makes things quite a bit quicker and easy to fine tune loads.
I am just starting to think about selling off and getting into a turret. Just not too sure yet. I use to reload lots when the gun was new to me, now I just coyote hunt and make the shots count! Thus, I don`t reload as much anymore to account the cost of a turret press.
My next purchase also that would speed things up considerably would be one of those RCBS champher/ brass sizer centers that plug in.
I hate doing that by hand after two years of doing it lol.
Don`t get talked into a tumbler. I bought a Lyman Pro 1200 and I rarely ever use it. The coyotes don`t really care if the brass is shiney or not. Waste of money.
I hate doing that by hand after two years of doing it lol.
Don`t get talked into a tumbler. I bought a Lyman Pro 1200 and I rarely ever use it. The coyotes don`t really care if the brass is shiney or not. Waste of money.
Here's my 2cents worth which probably ain't worth spit but...
I originally bought the Lee 50th Anniversary kit and to be fair and honest, it's not a bad kit to get your feet wet into reloading or if you're on a very tight budget. The scale is finicky but if you know how to manage it, it's not terrible. The powder measure is mostly made of plastic and isn't slick to operate like the more expensive ones from RCBS, Hornady, Lyman etc. BUT surprisingly mine was always within 0.1grains to 0.2grains. Being consistent with how you dispense powder is key to consistent measures. There's no need to tap the powder measure before/after each throw. One nice thing about the powder measure is that you can remove it to empty the surplus powder when you're finished reloading. Makes for less mess.
You don't need a #### ton of force on your press to work the brass etc. My Lee press is still working perfectly and I do like the quick change bushing system and the integrated priming system (even though it's all plastic) which really speeds up the process compared to using a hand primer unit. With the quick change bushing system, I can set all my dies for proper sizing and seating/crimping and I can go from FL sizing to flare to bullet seating in no time. Hornady has a similar system and surprised RCBS hasn't picked up on this. Lee has some great ideas that work well, unfortunately they're made of plastic. In the end, you will eventually replace the scale for a digital one and the powder measure for one that is easier to work.
That being said, if money isn't an issue, yes, I will agree with the folks above and spend the extra money and get the RCBS Rock Chucker kit.
As for dies, I have both Lee and RCBS dies. Both work well. Two dies I will suggest you get are a collet neck sizing die and a universal decapping die. With the collet neck sizing die, you'll save a lot of time and brass by not having to keep trimming them after FL sizing oh, and saves you the step of not having to clean up lubed cases after sizing.
I've heard a lot of great things with Redding competition dies. They cost a lot more but supposedly has the least amount of runout which means more accuracy.
I originally bought the Lee 50th Anniversary kit and to be fair and honest, it's not a bad kit to get your feet wet into reloading or if you're on a very tight budget. The scale is finicky but if you know how to manage it, it's not terrible. The powder measure is mostly made of plastic and isn't slick to operate like the more expensive ones from RCBS, Hornady, Lyman etc. BUT surprisingly mine was always within 0.1grains to 0.2grains. Being consistent with how you dispense powder is key to consistent measures. There's no need to tap the powder measure before/after each throw. One nice thing about the powder measure is that you can remove it to empty the surplus powder when you're finished reloading. Makes for less mess.
You don't need a #### ton of force on your press to work the brass etc. My Lee press is still working perfectly and I do like the quick change bushing system and the integrated priming system (even though it's all plastic) which really speeds up the process compared to using a hand primer unit. With the quick change bushing system, I can set all my dies for proper sizing and seating/crimping and I can go from FL sizing to flare to bullet seating in no time. Hornady has a similar system and surprised RCBS hasn't picked up on this. Lee has some great ideas that work well, unfortunately they're made of plastic. In the end, you will eventually replace the scale for a digital one and the powder measure for one that is easier to work.
That being said, if money isn't an issue, yes, I will agree with the folks above and spend the extra money and get the RCBS Rock Chucker kit.
As for dies, I have both Lee and RCBS dies. Both work well. Two dies I will suggest you get are a collet neck sizing die and a universal decapping die. With the collet neck sizing die, you'll save a lot of time and brass by not having to keep trimming them after FL sizing oh, and saves you the step of not having to clean up lubed cases after sizing.
I've heard a lot of great things with Redding competition dies. They cost a lot more but supposedly has the least amount of runout which means more accuracy.
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Here rcbs dies are $45 ish plus tax for the basic dies redding are $59 + tax for the basic dies. Well worth the extra in my opinion.
Lee kit works to start for cheap.
Just depends on how much you want to spend and how much you like expensive toys.
If you want to spend more, you can. Will it produce more accurate ammo? I am not sure. Will it make reloading easier, or more fun? It might.
My coax press isnt more fun to use than my lee press was though. It feels more sturdy.
Maybe the best thing would be to start with a lee classic cast turret kit.
Just depends on how much you want to spend and how much you like expensive toys.
If you want to spend more, you can. Will it produce more accurate ammo? I am not sure. Will it make reloading easier, or more fun? It might.
My coax press isnt more fun to use than my lee press was though. It feels more sturdy.
Maybe the best thing would be to start with a lee classic cast turret kit.
