Want to start, what do I need? Lookin for cheapest

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Mossberg12

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I want to start reloading bulk .223 and 9mm. What all do I need to get started?


Basically I want it to go bang and make a bullet fly. I'm not going to chrono it and I'm not worried about any math related crap. Just don't want it to kill me.

I'm hoping to reload for my AR and 9mm pistol

Also looking for the cheapest possible solution, I'll build up to the expensive stuff later
 
Get a starter kit. You will save lots in the end. A progressve press would be good to do larger quantities for your semi autos. But it's good to start on a single stage to get the hang of things.
 
Cheap can mean different things to different people. If you have to buy it twice, it is not a real savings. I found the Lee clasic turret press kit to be a pretty good set up for the money. I use it to load 9mm, 45 and some 38-357. Iwouldn't mind cranking out some 223 on it when I get the dies to do it. If you are not shooting a ton of ammo per week it can keep up no problem. I can load a box of 50 in about 15min without trying to go fast.
 
I'm reloading with Lee Reloader (priming,mouth flairing and bullet seating) and Lee hand press(everything else) for close to 8 years.

For amount of ammo I load I have not found any reason to upgrade and I load 50 round at the time for 2-3 rifles a weekend.

If you are looking for shooting on the cheap Hand Press kit with Lee scoops is the way to go and after a while you will find out if/what you need to upgrade.
 
9mm I would advise using a progressive, but .223 you're probably better off with a single stage (or at least doing one or two operations on it). It's not the 'cheap' option, but really, getting both a progressive and a single stage would be a good idea.

So get the single stage first, figure out what you're doing, then buy a progressive.

9mm you can buy carbide dies and you don't need to lube.

.223 you have to lube regardless of whether you have steel or carbide dies (Dillon makes them). You will also have to trim the OAL on the .223
 
You can buy 223 cheaper than you can reload these days with CanAm and SFRC sales on Norc ammo. Cost me around 26cents a round to reload 223. Norc ammo was 25cents!
 
it will cost you less to buy bulk 223 than to reload it.
To reload "bulk bang ammo", you will need a progressive press.
A good progressive press isnt cheap.
If you need to go cheap, buy bulk 223 and 9mm ammo online...

Sadly, this is true. You are not going to reload 1000 9mm on a single stage lee. Not worth it.
Bare minimum is a lee loadmaster. This is what I use.

Then my suggestion would be a dillon xl650 with a casefeeder. That's the only way you will reload painlessly bulk ammo.
 
http://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/frame.cfm?ItemID=477&CategoryID=0
Dies, calipers and some reloading manuals and you are set.
Run in single stage mode until you are comfortable with what you are doing.
Go to semi-progressive when you want to crank out the ammo.
Read the reviews on the Classic Cast Turret press. There are a bunch of Lee haters out there,
but very few that have used the Cast Turret have anthing bad to say about it.
 
Rory McCanuck said:
http://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/frame.cfm?ItemID=477&CategoryID=0
Dies, calipers and some reloading manuals and you are set.
Run in single stage mode until you are comfortable with what you are doing.
Go to semi-progressive when you want to crank out the ammo.
Read the reviews on the Classic Cast Turret press. There are a bunch of Lee haters out there,
but very few that have used the Cast Turret have anthing bad to say about it.
Click to expand...



What he said!

I was in your situation a few years ago and decided to go with the Lee Classic Turret kit. The kit goes for about 250$ and from what I hear Budget Shooter Supply is excellent to deal with. On top of the kit I bought:
- hornady digital scale (65$)
- mastercraft digital caliper (15$)
- complete set of 9mm dies (50$)

Total cost was around 400$. Not bad at all for a starter kit. Plus I havent had a single issue in 2 years of use.

Now that being said I only reload 40 S&W and 9mm but the press can be used "Single" stage too for ease of learning. When I bought the kit I had no idea what I was doing. I read the book that came with the kit(Really good book), asked people who did it and watched a ton of youtube videos. Now I'd like to think I'm okay at reloading.:cool:

I have a friend who uses a Lee Single Stage to load 223 and he swears by it, the classic turret is pretty much the same thing but it makes things a little faster. Plus when you are learning you can do one stage at a time if you want.

Good luck, let us know what you buy! :cheers:
 
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I used a Rock Chucker for years. Now I finally bought the charge master combo for about $450. Some starter kits have them included. If you price out everything individually, savings are huge. Wish I bought the deluxe kit years ago. Then I picked up a used lee pro 1000 for $50 with 4 different sets of dies and a bunch of extras. Some people have troubles with the primer feed. I spay the plastic primer Shute with graphite spray and keep the primer tray full. I also use a can of air and give a little shot around the shell plate and primer stem to clear any bits of powder. I did 2000 9 mm in about 4.5 hrs on a rainy day. Without any troubles. Just gotta keep a keen eye on what is going on. And keep it clean.
 
Hashhockey69 said:
What he said!

I was in your situation a few years ago and decided to go with the Lee Classic Turret kit. The kit goes for about 250$ and from what I hear Budget Shooter Supply is excellent to deal with. On top of the kit I bought:
- hornady digital scale (65$)
- mastercraft digital caliper (15$)
- complete set of 9mm dies (50$)

Total cost was around 400$. Not bad at all for a starter kit. Plus I havent had a single issue in 2 years of use.

Now that being said I only reload 40 S&W and 9mm but the press can be used "Single" stage too for ease of learning. When I bought the kit I had no idea what I was doing. I read the book that came with the kit(Really good book), asked people who did it and watched a ton of youtube videos. Now I'd like to think I'm okay at reloading.:cool:

I have a friend who uses a Lee Single Stage to load 223 and he swears by it, the classic turret is pretty much the same thing but it makes things a little faster. Plus when you are learning you can do one stage at a time if you want.

Good luck, let us know what you buy! :cheers:
Click to expand...

How many 9mm rounds can you do in a hour? I can load a 100 rounds on a hour on a single stage lee press (breech lock one) but to get that I'm pushing it.
 
not to piss you off, but there is a reason why the cheapest reloading gear is the cheapest....
you might want to research about it a bit before spending money.
if I had to do it again, I would get a dillon xl650 at first for progressive.(with casefeeder)
if you cant afford it, get a 550 with manual indexing (even though I think that manual indexing on a progressive is the dumbest thing ever....)
 
single stage press is a waste of time and money. buy the ABC's of reloading and read it, buy a good progressive press (like a dillon 550) and have at it. take it very slow at first and do one round at a time. in no time youll be pumping out rounds like its nothing. i never understood the whole buy a single stage first then a progressive?
 
I went 650 with all the extras, life is good. Will last me till I die, or I can sell it for good resale value.

If you want to go cheaper, I'd say buy norc 223 from can-am and a square deal for 9mm.
 
nate18 said:
single stage press is a waste of time and money. buy the ABC's of reloading and read it, buy a good progressive press (like a dillon 550) and have at it. take it very slow at first and do one round at a time. in no time youll be pumping out rounds like its nothing. i never understood the whole buy a single stage first then a progressive?
Click to expand...

strongly agree to go with a progressive first if your after bulk ammo! but a single stage does have it's place when you want to mess around with mostly rifle loads. but you can easily learn on a progressive going with 1 round at a time.
 
Well, I got a LEE Anniversary kit, and it's done me good so far. I only replaced the scale with an RCBS RangeMaster 750, and a powder trickler.
 
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