Newbie/virgin reloader equipment checklist

[I Dont Care About You]

next on the list is 100 lbs of lead ,cast iron pot, bullet molds, lubesizer and some tin ...with the calibers you have they would be great cast bullet shooters.

The guy is a rank newbie. Maybe he could get a few years reloading experience under his belt before we push him into bullet casting?

I think you would do well to add a vibratory cleaner/polisher to the list.

A newbie can survive without cleaning brass for a year or two. At this point he needs the basics to get going and not spent a huge ton of money.

M500 Mechanical Scale and Uniflow-III Powder Measure which I was trying to avoid by getting the Chargermaster.

The Chargemaster is an expensive piece of equipment with its own quirks. You'd be better off starting w a beam scale and a manual powder measure. Many trillions of rounds of perfectly good ammo have been loaded with a manual powder measure and a beam scale.

A Chargemaster is really meant for match grade ammo. Auto trickling scales are much slower than a powder measure.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

I’ve been trying to make a proper list for weeks now, and there is just SO MUCH information out there, and different brands, names, types etc etc.

You haven't mentioned how you plan to prime cases.

You don't strictly need to trim cases and could save a bit now by eliminating the case trimmer, demurring tools and electronic calipers. Cases can be loaded multiple times before trimming is necessary. I loaded 223 for prob a dozen years and never trimmed the cases. Even today I don't trim cases very often because its a drag to do for hundreds of rounds.

 

[skylerjames13]

You haven't mentioned how you plan to prime cases.

You don't strictly need to trim cases and could save a bit now by eliminating the case trimmer, demurring tools and electronic calipers. Cases can be loaded multiple times before trimming is necessary. I loaded 223 for prob a dozen years and never trimmed the cases. Even today I don't trim cases very often because it’s a drag to do for hundreds of rounds.

The primer is something I overlooked somehow. I’m looking at the RCBS automatic primer or the RCBS hand primer. Hand primer is cheaper, though I haven’t done any research on them yet.

I’ll drop the electronic powder measure and do it by hand.

I didn’t know that you didn’t have to trim the case every time. Like I said, I’m completely green when it comes to this. If I find a good deal on one I’ll take it, otherwise I can hold off.

I don’t think I’ll be starting it anytime soon, as I still don’t have a hot clue of what I’m doing. I’ll try watching some more videos so I can see the process.

 

[Beeron]

A powder trickler.
Comparators.
Imperial sizing wax (skip the rcbs lube and pad).

 

[270WSMXBolt]

I'm a fan of the Lee factory crimp dies. But I'm loading hunting rounds. I believe the pacesetter set has one so you will get a chance to experience it. They can be bought as a stand alone product too. Maybe consider getting the RCBS case trimmer and caliber specific three way trimmers. Don't forget some method of case cleaning too. Sonic/pin tumbler/vibratory... If obtaining cases is difficult you will want to explore annealing to promote case life dramatically. It can be done by hand if you want simply with a cordless drill with socket and propane torch.

 

[BattleRife]

I have a RCBS .303 British Lee die set,
RCBS 8mm Mauser die set,
6.5 Carcano Lee Pagesetter die set. All full length sizing dies.

You need a shellholder for each. Lee die sets usually come with one, but RCBS do not.

Hand primer tools are good, but doing a couple hundred cases at a time leaves me with sore fingers. I have both, but I like mounted priming tools for bigger batches. Lee doesn't make the Auto Prime II any more, but maybe take a good look at the Lee Bench Prime.

 

[jamesharrison]

First off, check out the EE for used kit.

You should be able to find a used Rockchucker press, an RCBS 5-10 balance, a Redding 3BR powder measure, a case trimmer, a set of Lee shell-holders & an RCBS hand priming tool [wear a glove], along with 2 or 3 loading manuals like Lee & Lyman [you don't need a new edition for the cartridges you plan to load for] for less than your budget. Quality gear will last several lifetimes.

Before you buy ANYTHING else, buy a couple of loading manuals as I noted above & READ the front parts!

Then buy a good quality caliper, not some plastic piece of garbage. Use your savings to buy a Mitutoyo, 6" dial caliper to start [the digital ones are nice, but they eat batteries & they WILL fail, after the warranty expires]. It will prove useful for a lot of things other than reloading.

Buy NEW brass, especially for mil-surp cartridges, but MOST importantly, for .303!

My $0.02 Cdn.

 

[bertn]

If you do buy a hand primer I suggest the RCBS universal, I first had the regular RCBS hand primer but switched over to the universal.

The universal has the spring loaded jaws so switching between calibers is not such a hassle plus it has a shorter handle stroke that I like much better (and I even have large hands so the reach is not the issue).

 

[Garand]

I know very little so far, but would getting a different .303 die that isn’t full length be better for the longevity of the brass?

Unfortunately no, if you use the reloaded ammunition in multiple firearms because of the way the web of the cartridge case was designed. .303 cartridge cases were not originally designed to be reloaded.

 

[iron cat]

Unfortunately no, if you use the reloaded ammunition in multiple firearms because of the way the web of the cartridge case was designed. .303 cartridge cases were not originally designed to be reloaded.

It is a good idea to keep all of one's bras separated for different rifles of the same cartridge, regardless.
This minimizes getting brass mixed up, and due to having to resize more for some rifles than others, case length can be drastically reduced because of over sizing.
I don't think whether a cartridge was designed to be reloaded or not has very little to do with case life , especially when it comes to cartilages like the .303 British. Proper hand loading techniques like indexing and neck sizing and minimal FL sizing can negate many problems with cases that were fired in rifles bad chambers, etc.
Cat

 

[Garand]

It is a good idea to keep all of one's bras separated for different rifles of the same cartridge, regardless.
This minimizes getting brass mixed up, and due to having to resize more for some rifles than others, case length can be drastically reduced because of over sizing.
I don't think whether a cartridge was designed to be reloaded or not has very little to do with case life , especially when it comes to cartilages like the .303 British. Proper hand loading techniques like indexing and neck sizing and minimal FL sizing can negate many problems with cases that were fired in rifles bad chambers, etc.
Cat

In the past I was reloading for 6 different Enfields so keeping brass segregated was a chore. Case design has a lot to do with a long reloading life. I have gotten max 5 reloads out of a .303 where I have gotten 18-20 reloads in a .30-06 Garand.

 

[iron cat]

In the past I was reloading for 6 different Enfields so keeping brass segregated was a chore. Case design has a lot to do with a long reloading life. I have gotten max 5 reloads out of a .303 where I have gotten 18-20 reloads in a .30-06 Garand.

I get quite a few more hand loads out of my .303 brass than just five.
Segregating brass is as easy and labeling the boxes for each rifle, I fail to see an issue.
Cat

 

[ivobb]

Respectfully disagree. I find beam scales inaccurate and imprecise with poor repeatability.

and I respectfully disagree - you have to have your beam scale on a firm base not something that wobbley or leans to one side or another. I set my beam scale (RCBS 5-10) on a base (cutting board) have set screws on each corner on the other end of the set screw is a castle nut - I have those round bubble level checkers (Princess Auto) and I balance the base before I set my scale on it. This gives me the best repeatability - I will check every 5th reload against a digital scale just to verify the powder charge. It's been working for me for the last 10 years -

 

[bertn]

Respectfully disagree. I find beam scales inaccurate and imprecise with poor repeatability.

What beam scales have you used? The one from the Lee anniversary kit??

If it was an Ohaus made beam scale (branded RCBS / Lyman / Ohaus) then I think you had dust in your bearing blocks or something as they are normally very accurate and repeatable in my opinion.

 

[Jimothy]

What beam scales have you used? The one from the Lee anniversary kit??

If it was an Ohaus made beam scale (branded RCBS / Lyman / Ohaus) then I think you had dust in your bearing blocks or something as they are normally very accurate and repeatable in my opinion.

Like everything I suppose better quality gives better outcome and mine I tried was a cheap Lyman that settled in a different reading depending which way it was perturbed. I am happy with my Dillon electronic that plugs in.

 

[bertn]

Like everything I suppose better quality gives better outcome and mine I tried was a cheap Lyman that settled in a different reading depending which way it was perturbed. I am happy with my Dillon electronic that plugs in.

To each their own, glad you are happy with your electronic scale : )
I'll stick with my 5-0-5 and 10-10 scales, they have never let me down.

 

[Licensed to kill]

Best advice I can share is be patient setting up. I don’t mean take years but don’t rush. The problem with asking on forums like this is that you will get MANY different opinions from guys that load with little tools to those that like to have the best and most trick tools going. Neither is wrong, just different. The reason I suggest patience is because reloading is something you will develop as you go so don’t try to get “everything you need” right out of the gate. You will likely get stuff that you will find don’t fit your personal preference. Now, of course you can go “hard core” and get all the truck stuff and if you decide to later go a different route you can sell ehat you no longer need. For me, I loaded for years without having a tumbler system for cleaning cases and the only calibre that required a trimmer was the . 348 and .30-.30. All the other calibres that I have I only trimmed to make sure they were all the same otherwise I wouldn’t need a trimmer.

 

[jethunter]

There's a list of basic tools here: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/threads/what-needed-to-start-reloading.1744815/

 

[old303]

Start with just one calibre, and focus on safe functional ammo in low volume with no frills. Everything else can be added a step at a time: more calibres, maybe go into the precision rabbithole for your best rifle, or maybe add a progressive reloader to crank out lots of plinking ammo.

 

[BattleRife]

The problem with asking on forums like this is that you will get MANY different opinions from guys that load with little tools to those that like to have the best and most trick tools going. Neither is wrong, just different.

I'm digressing a little, but I'm not sure that's the big problem. The bigger problem is that, like drivers, nobody is willing to admit that they are a bad reloader. So among those many different opinions you can bet the farm that some aren't just different, they are in fact wrong.

I have on 2 occasions ended up with the ammo collections of deceased individuals. One was maybe not bad, but he had no traceability. No labels on ammo boxes, no log book of loading sessions, no record of recipes. The loads looked okay but with no load info I couldn't be sure. It all got sold as scrap for components.

The other guy, I found bullets I could pull with my fingers. I found surplus ammo where 123gr FMJ bullets had been replaced by 150gr hunting bullets without altering the powder charge. I found a Browning BLR with a stripped pinion gear from forcing oversized rounds into the chamber. I found 2 SKS rifles with the gas pistons mushroomed by overpressure.

I am sure both of these guys would have boasted about how good and careful they were when making ammo. Some of these kinds of people are the ones volunteering advice on the internet.