Starting to reload.

DARKSTANG

DARKSTANG

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My biggest thing I want to know is, what all do you need, say, if you are buying a progressive press and you want to reload .223.
I see all these machines that say things like they don't include the dies or something. My dad uses a Dillingham press for bis Cowboy stuff, but he had it set up for him and hasn't really been much help when I so him about it. Lol.

So can someone give me a list of all that I need to make this happen?

Price from dealer is better.
 
I just got into reloading .223 and what I have is all u need.

Brass tumbler for cleaning Brass
Dillon 650 with dies
Lyman case trimmer
Dillon super swager, as I use ivi brass
Dillon case gauge
Powder scale
Bullet puller

Takes a bit of effort but not to hard. I load for my rob arms xcr and truly enjoy it. I loaded for my pistol before but this is a whole other game reloading .223
Satisfying though when you work up a load that shoots well in your gun.
 
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You'll need the press , scale ,BOOK, dies, and case lube pad.

those are the basics a set of calipers bullet puller, and case prep
 
the price of reloading is going to depend on the quality of the tools you buy. Lee is the cheapest. I use a Dillon for my .223 and pistol, and an RCBS single stage for my other rifles.
If you want to reload the slow and tedious way, get a RCBS starter kit for under $300. If you want to do it the efficient way, get a progressive for about $650.
And if yuo get a Dillon, If I am not mistaken, you get a set of dies with the press (you have to clarify which dies you want).
 
hoochie said:
the price of reloading is going to depend on the quality of the tools you buy. Lee is the cheapest. I use a Dillon for my .223 and pistol, and an RCBS single stage for my other rifles.
If you want to reload the slow and tedious way, get a RCBS starter kit for under $300. If you want to do it the efficient way, get a progressive for about $650.
And if yuo get a Dillon, If I am not mistaken, you get a set of dies with the press (you have to clarify which dies you want).
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So if I go with Dillon with all the basic stuff I need, how much total cost? I'm spending around $450 per month in just .223. Actually, maybe more.
 
heavenIsAlie said:
and a trimmer since its rifle brass
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+1

you can get away with this:

Calipers - measure brass, oal, etc.
Trimmer - something like a lyman etc.
chamfer tool - remove the edges from trimming and pesky primer crimps
Reloading book - get one, maybe two.

Scale - spend the money on a decent one
powder dispenser - again, spend the money - or buy a all in one like a RCBS chargemaster or a hornady LNL auto dispenser
Funnel set & brass block- I don't care what anyone says, this will make life easier for you.
Bullet puller -JIC

Dies - spend the money on this. RCBS is a good call IMHO.
LUBE - i just got a case stuck.....f*ck.


then add press and you are GTG.
 
Dillon stuff

hoochie said:
the price of reloading is going to depend on the quality of the tools you buy. Lee is the cheapest. I use a Dillon for my .223 and pistol, and an RCBS single stage for my other rifles.
If you want to reload the slow and tedious way, get a RCBS starter kit for under $300. If you want to do it the efficient way, get a progressive for about $650.
And if you get a Dillon, If I am not mistaken, you get a set of dies with the press (you have to clarify which dies you want).
Click to expand...
The dies do not come with the press - they are extra. The conversion kit of your choice of caliber comes with it. I would also recommend the Dillon carbide .223 dies. They are pricey but if you later decide to sell them you will recover most of your money. Hope this helps you!
 
I would actually recommend Lee Precision as they make affordable, quality stuff. You don't need no progressive press to load rifle! Too many places where you can screw up. Get something basic like a single stage or a turret press and you'll gain better understanding of how to adjust your dies and work out perfect rounds. Also get the Lee Factory crimp die. They make one for rifle as well as handgun. Check it out.
 
If I was to start over i'd get the Dillon 650, WFT trimmer or girard if I had the cash. Redding dies, Powder scale, calipers. Start with the speer reloading manual.
 
I'm thinking the Dillon 650 is the way to go. I realize a single stage would be easier to watch and not make mistakes, but I go through a lot of .223 and with a family of 4 kids, I don't get much time on my own. Let's face it, most of my CGN time is on my cell phone, while I'm on the move. Lol!
 
If you're shooting $450 a month of .223 (I'm guessing about 1000rds), you really need a progressive press. To crank out that many rounds on a single stage press would eat up every second of your spare time (which you probably don't have much of with four kids).

What I ended up doing was buying a used RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit with a vibratory cleaner for all the little tools I'd needed, then I also got a Hornady LNL AP progressive, some used dies and a whole pile of quick change bushings for the actual reloading. The single stage RCBS press and RCBS spare powder funnel still sit in a dusty box, but the scale, and most of the tools saw a lot of use in the begninning.

If I had to do it again, I'd have just bought the RCBS 505 scale (really like) and a RCBS chamfer/deburring tool (gets plenty of use with all the military brass I horde). I'm not a fan of the RCBS trimmer though ever since I noticed the guide lock keeps coming loose and causes me to trim extra brass off my precious military brass it's been dispatched to spend the rest of its life on a dusty shelf.

I would at least consider a Hornady LNL AP press though, the quick change bushings are fantastic and you get 500 free bullets with the purchase. That said, Dillon makes a fine product also.

What I'm really looking at trying to justify now is a Mr. Bulletfeeder, a Hornady case feeder and a Giraud Trimmer. My main problem is getting out to the range enough to even use up 1000 rds. Granted, it didn't take much convincing to get myself some RCBS collet die bullet pullers. My kinetic bulet puller was getting too much of a work out :(
 
The lock n load progressive would be a good choice too. I've read a ton of great stuff about them. The price point is better than Dillon too.
 
DARKSTANG said:
The lock n load progressive would be a good choice too. I've read a ton of great stuff about them. The price point is better than Dillon too.
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I've never used a Dillon, but I'm very happy with my Hornady LNL. I can't really see anything that I'd change on it (some people lament not having more stations, but the Dillon has the same number of stations as the Hornady, so you're no farther ahead). Also, the LNL kit comes with a powder measure that has seperate charge adjusting devices for both pistol and rifle cartridge reloading. This is quite nice, as to use just the rifle adjusting device alone is not precise enough for fine tuning a pistol load.
 
I hate to say it, but I'm going to wimp out and say, once I get it perfect with .223 then when I'm ready to do .40 ill be buying a whole other press. I'm one of those people who won't touch it if it's perfect. I'm also not one to try different things with it incase I bugger it up. Alot of extra money running 2 but good for my piece of mind.
 
DARKSTANG said:
I hate to say it, but I'm going to wimp out and say, once I get it perfect with .223 then when I'm ready to do .40 ill be buying a whole other press. I'm one of those people who won't touch it if it's perfect. I'm also not one to try different things with it incase I bugger it up. Alot of extra money running 2 but good for my piece of mind.
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Sounds expensive... swapping out toolheads and powder measures etc. seems to work pretty good for me, doesn't take long :)
 
Utah said:
Sounds expensive... swapping out toolheads and powder measures etc. seems to work pretty good for me, doesn't take long :)
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I know,
It is horribly expensive, but they will eventually pay for themselves anyways. It's just that tick I have with my mind. The whole if it ain't broke don't mess with it, theory. Knowing my luck, i don't want to be the next guy on Spikes "1000 Ways to Die" Lol! That would be my luck, lol!

All sarcasm aside, though. It's worth the extra money to me to run both.
 
You know what would get you the exact same results at far less cost? Buy a Hornady LNL AP, some extra bushings and TWO (2) complete powder measure assemblies. it's tinkering with the powder measure that I find eats the most time up when I switch calibres.

Set up powder measure A for your favourite .223 Rem charge and powder measure B for your favourite .40 S&W and you're off to the races. The Hornady LNL AP uses the same primer setup for small rifle and small pistol, so that stays the same and changing dies and powder measures with the hornady quick release bushings takes literally one second per station to do and is completely idiot proof. All you'd have to do is swap a new shell plate on and presto, you've switched from calibre A to calibre B in under 1 min flat on your first time doing it. Seriously, it's really easy and your results are inevitably repeatable to the last time you used your press in the new calibre with the quick change bushings (the dies don't move forward or back and you don't re-adjust them, you simply swap them out).

If you don't believe me, find someone with a LNL press and see it for yourself in action.
 
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