New to Reloading

If you get a Lee turret press you can set up your dies and then forget about it
Then if you decide to reload a different caliber in the future all you need is a spare turret and the proper shell holder for your new caliber
Lee single stage and turret presses are good quality units that will last years
 
Almost any good quality reloading kit will meet your needs but ensure that it accepts the standard die threading. I can't recall which maker, Redding or Dillon, has proprietary threading on their products. Personally, I'm a big fan of RCBS and I picked up a good single stage years back for peanuts. It's served me well for over 35 yrs.
 
It depends on your budget and if you intend to load more than on caliber, I loaded 223 and 22 250 for years with a lee press RCBS dies. low volume but it worked fine for hunting I only loaded about 50 or 60 rounds per year.
 
I’m going to give you some advice. We used to be able to lookup recipes on the internet… you could usally tell what was in the range of safe but AI has screwed that all to hell. DO NOT USE AI FOR HANDLOADING QUESTIONS EVER!!!

AI does give OK advice probably 50% of the time but very rarely is it good and quite often it’s flat out wrong and dangerous. Oddly, it ‘s pretty good at meal recipes. you can just upload photos of your refrigerator and cupboard and ask: “what should I cook?” And it does a good job at that but hand loads, not so much.
 
5five6 said:
We used to be able to lookup recipes on the internet… you could usally tell what was in the range of safe but AI has screwed that all to hell. DO NOT USE AI FOR HANDLOADING QUESTIONS EVER!!!
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What do you mean, "we used to ..."? Hodgdon has a massive website will all their data available.

Your suggestion to not use AI for load data is solid though. AI derived load data is a VERY bad idea.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
What do you mean, "we used to ..."? Hodgdon has a massive website will all their data available.

Your suggestion to not use AI for load data is solid though. AI derived load data is a VERY bad idea.
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Prior to hogdon being online. The hogdon sit is great but I always double check that with a bound manual as well.

What hogdon doesn’t do well is help you pick a good powder for duplicating GP11 or something like that. All hogdon does is give you a list of powders that will work but I’d search online to see which ones work well. If AI gets ahold of that question, all bets are off… if a load looks fishy to you and you challenge AI, it tends to double down.

We are participating in an activity where accidents are measured in fingers and eyes. Don’t use AI
 
Items I learned were helpful / worth while to get for reloading:

- Lyman 51st reloading manual. It has some of the most diverse loads compared to other manuals.

- Sizing wax (like Hornady One Shot), not lube. Have had zero case sticking issues after switching to wax.

- Hand priming tools, appearently many press mounted ones suck. The Lyman hand primer I use does work great.

- Wet Tumbler with stainless steel media. IMO its the easiest and most cost effective way to clean brass. Dry tumblers are dusty and the media goes dull fast. Ultrasonic cleaners pollute the room with horrible sounds and seem to be more pricy polishing solution wise. Wet tumblers only requires tap water and dish soap. I own all 3 methods and only use the wet tumbler now.

- A decapping die. Or really any other method to pop out primers before cleaning the brass.

- Bullet seaters that have a sliding sleeve to hold the bullet more concentric before its pressed in. Many dies seem to have them now... Forsters, some Lees, Hornady. They offer less fidgeting when setting the bullet on the case mouth, and they will also often proactively warn you about bullet anomalies before you start to press them in.

- A press mounted bullet puller. The inertia hammers are crude, weak and feel kindov sketchy to use.

-Bullet seating depth and headspace comparator kits. Handy for a multitude of reasons.
 
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is it the best... no, will it work and let you know if you want to go down this rabbit hole, for sure.

I loaded on one for 20 years, and upgraded certain things along the way. I still use mine for decaping brass. Lots of used ones for sale or they are on sale a lot. Its black friday in a month or so, the Hornady kit has been on sale for 50% off a few times already this year as well from quite a few places.
 
Fzee said:
Thank you everyone . This is very helpful information!
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May I ask what you plan to do with your 308? and is it the Winchester case.. We assume it is but we all know what assumption means...
More importantly... what type of accuracy gains are you expecting and what are you trying to shoot at or out to distance wise? Or are you just trying to save money? If that's what your up to it's a long way to get the money back.. Everyone is giving you solid advise.. and they will give you even better advise if you fill in the blanks.. don't be shy.. Cheers
 
I wouldn't choose the Lee "C" press as a main press, it flexes and isn't very good for heavy resizing. Any of the rest of Lee's single stage "O" type or turret presses are fine.
 
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