Help me build my shopping list for reloading

[ussoldier1984]

Ok I already am researching and have the lyman's 49th edition on the way to read But I would like some help on a basic shopping list of what I need to reload. I will be reloading 308 .40 cal and 38 special.
I have a decent budget but I need help with what is good. I would appreciate your opinion on what a newbie to loading needs to be successful. I am a beginner so keep it to what I actually need to learn and be successful. As I learn more I know I will get more and learn more.

 

[jrbfishn]

A quality scale and calipers. Powder dispenser is a timesaver but not absolutely a must. A trickler if you are loading for as accurate as you can get.
I prefer to start people with a single stage press. The choice of manufactuers of press and dies are dependent on how much you want to spend and what you are loading for.

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[ed308]

I prefer to buy once cry once. Buy whatever press you like and think you'll like down the road. You'll also need dies, powder dispenser, case gauges (especially for rifle), scale, calipers, primer flip tray, primer pickup tubes, case trimmer, tumbling media, tumbler, bullet puller, and lube. And of course brass, bullets, primers an powder.

 

[jrbfishn]

Tumbler is nice but there are other ways too. I do more pistol than rifle. Yes, a case trimmer, headspace gauge, case lube and a primer flip tray for auto primer feed press. I use a hand priming tool. Puller comes in handy to pull apart mistakes but can come later. When depends on you. Even if you start with a single stage and move up later, that single stage still comes in real handy. Especially for smaller batches.


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[Dawico]

A "kit" is a good place to start if you have nothing. Lee makes good stuff but a RCBS or Hornady kit is a step up in quality.

They do not include a tumbler with media, media seperator, calipers, dies, powder, primers, bullets, brass, or a bullet puller.

The Lyman is a good book. Read it cover to cover and make notes on any questions you have. We are here to help.

 

[ussoldier1984]

would a good caliper from home depot work for this? I was looking at the hornady kit, it looked pretty complete. I wont actually start reloading until after I read the lymans book but I want to start purchasing the absolute necessary to prep for it and as I read the book I can put my hands on the tools to visually see what they are talking about instead of just reading.

 

[ussoldier1984]

I was looking at this press because I can not mount a press to a table as I do not have a work shop I live in an apt and this seems like it might fit the bill for reloading for now what do you think?
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Lee-...gclid=COv224ei-ssCFZSMaQodlYAEQw&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Vaquero]

I was looking at this press because I can not mount a press to a table as I do not have a work shop I live in an apt and this seems like it might fit the bill for reloading for now what do you think?
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Lee-...gclid=COv224ei-ssCFZSMaQodlYAEQw&gclsrc=aw.ds

That would be ok for neck sizing only. Probably be a tough go for .308 full length sizing.
I suggest an "O" block press mounted to a 2x6. Then you can clamp the 2x6 to the table.

 

[Dawico]

That would be ok for neck sizing only. Probably be a tough go for .308 full length sizing.
I suggest an "O" block press mounted to a 2x6. Then you can clamp the 2x6 to the table.

Absolutely agree on all counts.

 

[jrbfishn]

I have the Lee hand press. Works great for pistol and portability, but you are going to get a good workout doing rifle cases. If you only have one rifle in each caliber the neck sizing would work and be much easier. And it is slow. The biggest advantage to it is that it is very portable.you can fit everything essential to load a couple calibers, including some powder and bullets in a .50 cal ammo can. Other than that, get the bench model single stage and mount it to a board you can C-clamp to a table.

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[ROGER4314]

Hi....welcome to reloading! Your Lyman 49 manual was an excellent choice. There is a wealth of information to be found there.

Advice? I've always used RCBS and Dillon equipment. Some of my equipment is 30+ years old and still perfectly functional. Money "spent" on quality reloading gear isn't "spent." It's invested and quality gear does not depreciate much in value. If you got a Dillon press, you could sell it in 24 hours if you had to.

I prefer RCBS dies and have had great luck with those. Because I keep a stock of repair parts for my die sets, I try not to switch brands. There isn't a bad word to say about any dies that I've owned. Lee dies have performed well for me and use their taper crimp dies for all pistol rounds in the final stage of the Dillon RL 550B.

So far, I've had 3 Dillon 450 presses
2 Dillon RL 550B's
One Dillon SD (Square Deal)
2 RCBS Rock Chuckers
One small RCBS press
Two Lee Loader sets.
Three MEC 600 jr shot shell loaders
One Texan Shotshell press.

All of them performed well except the SD Dillon was too tiny to operate with my giant hands.

My house is only 1000 square feet so space is precious. I set my presses up on a table with folding legs and put a blanket down to catch any spills. My buddy & I cleaned out the second bedroom now dedicated for the gear. The table can be turned to make the desired equipment accessible. Been using that table since about 1980 or so. It's made of a solid core door with folding legs.

Note that the MEC shotshell loader has a cookie sheet installed under the press to catch the inevitable powder or shot spills. There is a MEC 600 loader in .410 that can be switched out in that position.

Here's a pic of the current setup.

Flash

 

[ussoldier1984]

That would be ok for neck sizing only. Probably be a tough go for .308 full length sizing.
I suggest an "O" block press mounted to a 2x6. Then you can clamp the 2x6 to the table.

What is a "O" block press?

 

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Stuck case remover and bullet puller. You will have mistakes.

Also, whatever list you make leave a few dozen blank spaces, you'll need them.

If you're doing rifle, you'll want to stay away from the hand press.

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[Wyldman]

If you need a full sized press, for rifle calibers for instance, you might consider using a Workmates work table to mount it to. It's collapsible so it doesn't take up too much space when put away, and it's very strong and able take the pressure of resizing rifle cartridges. I have been running a Lee Turret Press like this for many years with great success.

I 2nd the comments about the Lee hand press, wholeheartedly! While it can be used for resizing rifle cartridges, it is a workout. BUT! While decapping, or repriming cases, it's great! I just sit in my chair watching TV with my wife while batch processing brass, quite often.

Any good quality stainless steel DIAL caliper that can read down to .001" is going to be adequate, but a better brand name tool will last much longer and retain it's accuracy much better. It doesn't have to be Starrett or Mitotoyo, but if you can afford them, I'd suggest buying one. Lyman offers a nice one at a pretty reasonable price.

Digital are easy to read, and mostly pretty accurate, but the damned batteries have a tendency to go flat at just the wrong time! Without batteries, they are extremely hard to read accurately.

I could also suggest purchasing the Lee reloading handbook. It doesn't have a vast wealth of reloading data (recipes) compared to others like the
Lyman or Speer manuals, but the whole first half of the book is a step-by-step primer on the basics of safe reloading. A really great place to start, IMO.

I got me a rock 'n roll band - it's a free for all!

 

[Dawico]

What is a "O" block press?

A press that makes a full O shape around the ram and die area. Presses that are open in the front (C shaped) can flex and possible break because of all the force involved with sizing rifle cases.

The hand press you linked above is considered a C shape but you can't use enough force to break it. Or size a rifle case with it.

For rifle cases get an O framed bench mounted press. The hand press looks affordable but you will find it won't size rifle cases properly or easily. Just skip it.

 

[Dawico]

I use cheap Frankfort Arsenal calipers and they work well. Just take the battery out when you are done with it or it will kill the battery.

 

[Dawico]

You should always save your brass, even if you don't reload. It makes for a good trade/ sale item if you don't need it.

And no, you can't have your brass back from Hicksville........

 

[ussoldier1984]

You should always save your brass, even if you don't reload. It makes for a good trade/ sale item if you don't need it.

And no, you can't have your brass back from Hicksville........

Darn it, lol yea if figured that much. I picked up a decent digital caliper from home depot today made by the huskey brand. I am still trying to figure out where I can store things when not in use. I was thinking of setting up a table at my storage unit a few mins from the house that way its out of the way and when I go reload I wont have to worry about setting up everytime.

 

[XinTX]

Another +1 on getting an "O" style press. Resizing some large rifle rounds may require you lean on it a bit. Unless you have a Charles Atlas grip, forget the hand press for anything other than small, straight walled pistol cartridges. I will probably pick one up for decapping or some light duty work. And get at least two reloading books. You'll find at times one will give more data on a particular caliber than another. They tend to give you more options.

 

[ussoldier1984]

You guys are awesome, It seems a lot of you guys like lee's products so I am going to look further into them and see what one I think might fit the bill and post on here the model and get your thoughts.