Author Topic: Need advise on a reloading kit (Read 989 times)

Cabin4 · « **on:** July 09, 2003, 03:10:27 PM »

Okay, I am finally ready to get into reloading after years of shooting and hunting.

Can any of you recomend a high quality reloading kit. I have been doing some research and thier appears to be quite a number available(Lee, Lyman, RCBS, Hornady, ect) Everything from very affordable to not so affordable. I would like to stay under $300 if possible for a complete kit with everything I need to load not including the cost for dies and componets.

To start, I want to reload for the following:
30-06
45-70
30-30
357
38special
7.62x54r
45lc
243 win

I don't have any experiance in reloading so I want a kit that is very accurate, easy to operate, maintain and as fast as possible.

Any sugjestions, recomendations or ideas are appreciated.

Thanks

Tom W. · « **Reply #1 on:** July 09, 2003, 04:29:29 PM »

Hcliff · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2003, 04:45:03 AM »

RCBS rockchucker kit is a great way to start. Great quaility and good cost

Hcliff

Questor · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2003, 06:26:16 AM »

Bad news, Cabin4: You are a prime candidate for becoming a reloading fanatic. With all those calibers, you'll probably go hog wild and have a reloading laboratory at some point.

The RCBS Master Reloading kit is an excellent choice. It will last a lifetime.
It's more expensive that the cheapest stuff, but you will not regret the extra
cost.

In addition to the reloading kit, you need to get a Lee Autoprime tool ($10 to
$15), and the dies, shell holders, and powder/primers/cases/bullets. You've
probably already got the brass. You may want to add some other stuff later for
specialized stuff. A very nice refinement is the micrometer accessory for the
powder measure. It helps you return the powder measure to your settings for
a particular powder charge weight and cartridge combination. You'll definitely
need a notebook of some kind to record your load data. You'll also need
a set of shop goggles to protect your eyes in the extremely unlikely event
of a primer detonation.

The kit comes with the excellent Speer reloading manual, which has detailed
instructions for using the kit for both straight-wall pistol cartridges and
bottleneck rifle cartridges. There's a slight difference in the technique.

The most important thing to remember is that you're not a ballistician, you're
just following recipes that were prepared by ballisticians. Those recipes are
to be followed exactly. If you do that, then you won't have any safety
problems.

Good luck.

Jack Crevalle · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2003, 08:18:15 AM »

RCBS if you want a kit such as you describe. You might want to try to use somone else's stuff first though and see if you might not want to spend an extra $200 or so and get some digital equipment.

You can buy RCBS stuff at auction and still get their no-questions asked
service ( except on the electronics stuf which they don't make themselves).

savageT · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2003, 09:51:13 AM »

Please don't overlook <eBay.com> for reloading equipment and manuals....lots and lots of old and new manuals as Jack said. You are following recipies so you need different manuals. My second recommendation is to purchase the Model 5-0-5 beam scales rather than digital because you can see the beam come up to the line as you trickle in the powder. Yes, digital is nice/faster, but you need the beam scale to begin with and it's a lot cheaper too. Also, as you gain experience, you can save a bunch by buying used RCBS dies over the eBay auctions. They'll always replace parts or entire dies if you find them not to your liking. Price wise for new equipment, best bet is Midway. They are great to work with and are very helpful. Or, second choice is Cabela's...they will send you a nice catalog and prices are competitive.

Jim

Cabin4 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2003, 10:11:43 AM »

To everyone that responded to my question, Thank you very much.

Questor, that was some great detail you outlined.

I have printed this string of responses and I will be putting together a "kinda" list of requirements from it.

I have some great input and recomendations to follow.

Thanks again.

Cabin4 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 11, 2003, 12:54:59 AM »

I think I have setteled on the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit and a Lee Auto Prime II .

Questor, You mentioned a Micrometer Accessory. Can you reccomend a particular one by RCBS or other manufacture ? I am trying to better understand what exactly this item is. I may just go ahead and get one at the same time I get the kit and the autoprime.

Thanks
Mark

savageT · « **Reply #8 on:** July 11, 2003, 01:21:43 AM »

Quote from: cabin4

I think I have setteled on the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit and a Lee Auto Prime II .

Questor, You mentioned a Micrometer Accessory. Can you reccomend a particular one by RCBS or other manufacture ? I am trying to better understand what exactly this item is. I may just go ahead and get one at the same time I get the kit and the autoprime.

Thanks
Mark

Mark,
The micrometer attachment fits the RCBS Uniflow powder measure dispenser tube. The existing one will work fine as long as you are not changing settings all the time. But, as you originally described, you have a large number of different cartridges to load, so it sounds as though it would be a time saver. Again, give Midway a call and they can answer any questions on the Master Kit you have.
http://www.midwayusa.com/midwayusa/applications/ebrowse.exe/browse?tabid=6&categoryid=690&categorystring=653+***

Leftoverdj · « **Reply #9 on:** July 11, 2003, 02:47:26 AM »

'Cause you're new and no one else saw fit to mention it, don't bother with .357 dies. The .38 Spec dies will do both. You can also save a few bucks by buying Lee carbide dies for the pistol calibers. You might want more expensive dies for rifle, but for pistol, the Lee's work great and the hollow expander is handy.

varmint101 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 11, 2003, 08:44:39 AM »

Just thought I would drop in and say that Natchez Shooters Supply or www.natchezss.com has the Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit on sale this month for $234.95 +freight&insurance+handling which is probably just under $20. http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=a-7002&category=Reloading&maxhits=20&keywords=RC09357 I think they also have a lot of their dies on sale too. Regards,

Matt

longwinters · « **Reply #11 on:** July 11, 2003, 10:47:19 AM »

I would go with the RCBS Turret kit. Lots easier than switching your die every time you do something different.

Cabin4 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 11, 2003, 04:55:19 PM »

varmint101,

I did see that on the natchezss.com web site the other day. I have a print out of that sitting right here on my table. Its a very good price. I'm counting my pennies and I even have a few things I may sell to fund this reloading "bug".

Thanks for mentioning it.

Leftoverdj · « **Reply #13 on:** July 18, 2003, 06:36:29 PM »

I have one of the Auto Prime IIs on order specifically because it looks simple to rig up a blast shield for. Any primer feed system can blow up on you. I once had the feed on a Lee Pro 1000 go off with a helluva boom and I have never felt the same way about priming since. I've loaded many tens of thousands of rounds with the handheld Auto Primes without incident but I'm gonna feel a lot safer with a good piece of sheet steel between me and that magazine.

Smokey Joe · « **Reply #14 on:** August 19, 2003, 08:29:08 PM »

Remember what your momma told you? Do Your Homework!

I agree with most of the posters that the RCBS Rock Chucker kit is the way to go, but before you go spending $$ on that, STUDY UP!

You want to have some unbiased knowledge of what you'll need to do what you want to do. The more you can read before you buy, the happier you'll be after you buy.

Reccommend The ABC's of Reloading It is published by Krause Publications, and available from their website http//:www.krause.com if your local shop doesn't have a copy.

You can never know too much about the reloading you're doing, and you can never master it all. It is truly a lifetime study.

The Shrink · « **Reply #15 on:** August 20, 2003, 01:41:00 AM »

Welcome to the addiction, Cabin4! I'll agree with all of the above. and also add a little teaser. If you want to shoot that 45-70 right, then you need to look at Black Powder reloading, and probably bullet casting. Those were made for soft cast bulllets, black powder, and paper patching.

However, let me hasten to add, learn one thing at a time. Don't try to combine basic reloading with BP reloading, because the techniques are very similar but the way you think of a load is very different. Learn one, get it down solid, and then expand.

The other thing you might want to investigate is Rifle's Handloader magazine. It is published bi-mothly, alternating with Rifle. A caution, however; Don't rely on magazine published loads for your primary information. Get one, or better yet, several reloading manuals, and especially the one from the bullet manufacturer you plan to use. These are carefully developed loads using pressure barrels and are carefully matched to the bullet size and shape, all relevent variables.

NEVER exceed their MAX load, and most of the time you will stay well below that. For most powder/bullet/cartridge combinations your most accurate load will be somewhere in the middle of the range, not on either extreme. Velocity really isn't an issue in most comparisions, it doesn't make much difference if the bullet gets there a millisecond faster, it matters if you can hit what you aim at! Even in varmint rounds the difference in bullet impact with a variation of 100 or 200 fps is negligable. In all likelihood YOU DON'T AND WON'T NEED MAX LOADS!

What we are all telling you is: Read, Read, Read! Know your subject before you ever put a primer in a case. This way you are much less likely to create problems and more likely to become a happy reloader with a happy family!

X-man · « **Reply #16 on:** August 27, 2003, 09:36:22 AM »

Cabin4,

The rest of the guys gave you some good advice there. Everything on my bench is RCBS Green. They make solid, well built equipment and they really stand behing their product.

If you're pinching your pennies, eBay, AuctionArms.com and the other on-line aution sites are probably the best way for you to go. You'll find that the RCBS stuff, even used, really holds its value well. Since you're loading mostly rifle stuff, a single stage press like the Rock Chucker II or Rock Chucker Supreme are fine choices. Once you get a little experience under your belt you can start tweaking your loads to fit your individual rifles.

As for reloading dies. I highly recommend getting RCBS dies and opting for carbide for the pistol calibers you're planning on reloading. Saves some time lubing and a lot less messy. As for the more common rifle calibers, eBay is the way to go. I've seen like new die sets in .30-06, .243 go for $5-$6! Don't get carried away bidding, however, if you aren't that used to on-line auctions. I've also seen guys pay 30%-40% or more over retail, for some items! Most of the big mail-order houses like Midway, Natchez, Cabela's, etc... sell their die sets in the low $20 range, sometimes even lower!

Some guys love LEE stuff, and that's okay, they offer an inexpensive way to get into reloading, but I've found it is best and cheaper to buy the equipment you're ultimtely going to end up with. RCBS, Redding or even Lyman for the single stage press. Redding or RCBS for mag dampend manual powder scale. RCBS priming tool, Redding or RCBS powder measure (Micrometer screw highly recommeded). RCBS case trimmer & chamfer tool. I'd also add a good quality dial or digital 6" caliper for measuring cases, bullets, etc...

If you're patient, you can build your equipment collection piece by piece, if not, go for one of the kits. RCBS probably has the best customer service in the business and they remain my number one choice. For instance, I bought a used and abused RCBS Lube-A-Matic II on-line last year. Emailed RCBS with a list of replacement parts I needed to rebuild the lubrisizer and asked for shipping cost. Got an Email back stating that the parts were on the way, NO CHARGE! And that was to CANADA! Hope things work out for you, I"m sure you'll enjoy taking game even moreso with your own ammunition.

Blackhawk44 · « **Reply #17 on:** August 29, 2003, 09:56:12 AM »

Befire you buy equipment on eBay, be sure to have a Nachez or Midway catalog on the desk. Many times, dies and kits can be bought cheaper by catalog. Why do you think the new stuff is always available on auction? Because they can make money. Money you could spend on more dies...

TNSCOOTER · « **Reply #18 on:** September 15, 2003, 05:10:27 PM »

Ebay is a Terrific place to buy RCBS epuipment! You just need to look out for the sellers that charge more than you can order it for.
Pay really close attention to the shipping charges.A lot of people are making money on shipping.Stay away from anyone that tries to charge you $8.00 to ship a FL die set!!
That said ,there are some really good deals to be had on E-BAY.
Good luck with whatever you chose. :grin: