Author Topic: Reloading Equipment (Read 890 times)

kinger · « **on:** December 30, 2004, 03:54:43 AM »

Hi,

This has most likely been around the block a time or two, but I'm going to ask anyway. I am wanting to get into reloading, something I've never done before, and I want to go about it the right way. I'm leaning toward buying the equipment piece by piece, as I can get it used/less expensive via forum/ebay. I thought about kits, but the RCBS kit is expensive, the Lee kit seems to only come with the aluminum press (I don't want that), and all of them seem to include "stuff" not needed, but leave out stuff I will need. So I'm looking for a list of equipment I will need in order to get started, and a recommended model of each piece so I know what to go look for. For example, a RCBS single stage press, or the new Lee heavy press seems the way to go...and I know I'll need a powder measure, scale, dies. What else?

Are any of y'all from the Central NY area that could "mentor" me through this?

Thanks,

Pete

longwinters · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2004, 05:47:54 AM »

Yep, you're right! This has been around the block so many times its time to change the tires :lol: But it is always a good question and I am sure lots of reloaders will give you ideas. I started reloading a little over 2 years ago and went with the RCBS Turret Kit. You will use everything they send you and you will see right away that the turret is much easier than a regular single stage (for rifle you will be able to put the die sets on for 3 different calibers). But you will need some other stuff. A case trimmer, a caliper, other reloading manuals, a tumbler, a book to put your good recipies in, and a Hornady Camlok bullet puller. I added this stuff within the 1st few months. And you are totally on the spot with looking for a "mentor". I did not have one and got all my info from the reloading manuals and this forum. Both, especially this forum, were great. But it is not the same as having someone sitting next to you and explaining the "what and why" of things.

Long

ggardner · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2004, 06:04:36 AM »

I have been reading this forum for a couple of months now and got some good info. Just started putting together some parts, one at a time and looking at the used market also.

Yesterday I was in a small town and had some time so I stopped into a pawn shop to look around. On the way out I asked the girl clerk if they had any reloading equipment and she pulled from under a pile of old gun cases a Lee anniversary Loading Kit. I looked it over and it had a bunch of items I needed including two sets of new dies. The box was 1993 vintage but all the items looked new. I saw where some one had written $199 on the box. I asked how much and she said it had been around so long they would take $100. Now I knew from shopping that an RCBS starter kit was better but about $265 so I thought "what a deal".

I get home, set it up, and go inside to order some loading stuff from Midway. Just for grins I checked the Lee anniversary Kit and it was on sale for about $69. $69!!!!!!!!!!!!! The moral of the story is not to get in too big of a hurry and study your products and prices before putting down that green. Good luck, GG

ricciardelli · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2004, 06:15:13 AM »

Quote from: ggardner

I have been reading this forum for a couple of months now and got some good info. Just started putting together some parts, one at a time and looking at the used market also.

Yesterday I was in a small town and had some time so I stopped into a pawn shop to look around. On the way out I asked the girl clerk if they had any reloading equipment and she pulled from under a pile of old gun cases a Lee anniversary Loading Kit. I looked it over and it had a bunch of items I needed including two sets of new dies. The box was 1993 vintage but all the items looked new. I saw where some one had written $199 on the box. I asked how much and she said it had been around so long they would take $100. Now I knew from shopping that an RCBS starter kit was better but about $265 so I thought "what a deal".

I get home, set it up, and go inside to order some loading stuff from Midway. Just for grins I checked the Lee anniversary Kit and it was on sale for about $69. $69!!!!!!!!!!!!! The moral of the story is not to get in too big of a hurry and study your products and prices before putting down that green. Good luck, GG

I just gotta make your year end on a worse note...I have seen the Lee Anniversary Kits for $58...(snicker)

rbwillnj · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2004, 07:15:36 AM »

There are a few basic questions you need to think about first.

How much do you plan to shoot?
How many different Calibers do you think you will be reloading
Rifle, Pistol or both, How much of each.

If you are a pistol shooter, and shoot 200-500 rounds per week, then you might as well start with a progressive press. If you will be reloading multiple calibers, get one with turrets that change out. (most of them do)

If you will only be shooting pistol, I think an aluminum press is fine. You can get a better press but it will cost you. I'm not a rifle shooter, so I'll let others comment on that, but everything I hear suggests you need a higher quality press, and maybe even a single station like a rockchucker.

If your not going to be shooting 200 rounds a week, I'd suggest a Turret Press.

Dusty Miller · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2004, 11:54:44 AM »

I don't shoot anywhere NEAR two hundred rounds a week so the single stage Rock Chucker press is just fine for me. I bought the kit and I'm glad that I did. A big bonus with RCBS is their "to die for" customer service. They are really outstanding.

K9 Big Dog · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2004, 12:06:58 PM »

Seriously consider the Hornady Lock-n-Load presses. Start out with the single stage press and when you're ready you can add the Lock-n-Load Auto-Progressive to your bench. The Hornady equipment is every bit as good as any of the other presses out there and the dies bushings make changing dies a snap.

Nightrain52 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 30, 2004, 06:17:09 PM »

THE FIRST THING YOU NEED IS 1 OR MORE GOOD RELOADING MANUALS BEFORE YOU EVER BUY ANOTHER PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. They can pretty well walk you thru the reloading procedure and give you ideas what equipment you will need. I know the temptation is there to buy used but stop and think about it. I don't think any of the guys here at Greybeards will steer you wrong but when you go buying used off ebay or some other places you don't really know what you are getting a hold of. Press could be sprung. Dies could be scratched up inside. Calipers could be out of calibration as well as powder scales out of calibration. It's like buying a used car-you pay your money-you take your chances. Buy good quality and it will last a lifetime. Follow the recipes in the manuals and don't substitute components. Always start at starting load figures and work up slowly. Approach maximum loads with caution.

kinger · « **Reply #8 on:** December 31, 2004, 12:56:59 AM »

Thank you all very much for your replies. I've been reading reloading and ballistics manuals, and getting an idea of what the process entails. I've also determined, based on your (and other) advice, new equipment is the way to go.

I've narrowed it down to two kits, and I'd like your advice on this. The first is the RCBS Rockchucker kit (around 245.00), and the second is the Lyman Expert Reloading Kit with the Crusher II press (around 260.) Any opinions/thoughts on these two?

I will be reloading for use in my TC Encore. Right now I've got a .223 and a .308 barrel. I've also got a .270 rifle I'll most likely play around with as well. I don't shoot anywhere need a hundred rounds a week (not yet, anyway!)

Thank you for your help!

Pete

Broken-arrow · « **Reply #9 on:** December 31, 2004, 01:22:47 AM »

I agree with Nighttrain, THE most important piece of reloading equipment is at least 1 good manual. You can't go wrong with either of the kits you mentioned. When I started reloading I did'nt want to sink a ton of money into it then lose interest so I bought the the Lee kit. Thinking I could up-grade to better equipment later. That was several years ago and I have had no problems with any of it. I now reload for 6 different calibers , including .308 and .223. :money:

longwinters · « **Reply #10 on:** December 31, 2004, 05:30:09 AM »

One of my best friends has the Lyman kit. The RCBS is much better and he wishes he got the RCBS Turret kit like I did. But whether you get a Turret kit or not go with RCBS, Hornady or Redding. If possible compare them in real life (not from magazine pictures) and you will see the differences in these compared to others.

Long

Darrell Davis · « **Reply #11 on:** January 01, 2005, 05:56:02 PM »

Hey there Kinger,

Good to see you are moving away from the Lee products.

They do have some good ideas, and maybe some good products, but for the most part the RCBS, Hornady etc. are a step, a good step, above in quality.

And yes, I have had and at present still do have a few Lee products, but most have been junked because of breakage or the fact they just didn't do the job. The one Lee product I use and would recommend is the Dipper set. As I scale almost all of my rifle loads I find the many sizes of dippers in the set are handy for throwing/dipping loads onto the scale pan.

Buy good, for junk is always junk no matter how low the price, while the price of quality is soon forgotten in the joy of using a well designed and made product.

If an when you need a bullet puller, and yes you will need one at some point, the Hornady cam lock that Longwinters spoke of is just one of the good Hornady products

One other product you should buy is a stuck case remover. You can, as I have done for years, jury rig a remover when it is needed, but the RCBS set will save you time in the long run.

Enjoy your reloading, it will open up a whole new field in your shooting world.

Keep em coming! :wink:

Flash · « **Reply #12 on:** January 02, 2005, 02:40:41 AM »

To sum it up for getting started, a manual, press, powder scale and dies for the specific calibers will get you going. If your reloading volume increases which it will, you'll need vernier calipers and a case trimmer. The other goodies will be your choice but aren't necessary.

Broken-arrow · « **Reply #13 on:** January 02, 2005, 03:35:28 AM »

:-) Darrel D. , Could you tell me what kinds of problems you've had with the Lee equipment ? I'm not being critical, it just might help me out in the future. To tell you the truth I've expected to have some sort of trouble because the stuff was so inexpensive, but have had none. I've loaded roughly a couple thousand rounds , from .223 up to .264 Win. mag. Any feed-back will be appreciated.

Broken-arrow

jgalar · « **Reply #14 on:** January 02, 2005, 03:41:55 AM »

I've been reloading about 15 years of so and use mostly Lee products. I have never wore out or broken anything in that time. The only non Lee dies I own are Lyman and I prefer the Lee dies. The stuff works very well for me and I don't see a need for spending more money to do the same thing.

Just my oppinion.

Leftoverdj · « **Reply #15 on:** January 02, 2005, 07:25:23 AM »

Quote from: ggardner

Yesterday I was in a small town and had some time so I stopped into a pawn shop to look around. On the way out I asked the girl clerk if they had any reloading equipment and she pulled from under a pile of old gun cases a Lee anniversary Loading Kit. I looked it over and it had a bunch of items I needed including two sets of new dies. The box was 1993 vintage but all the items looked new. I saw where some one had written $199 on the box. I asked how much and she said it had been around so long they would take $100. Now I knew from shopping that an RCBS starter kit was better but about $265 so I thought "what a deal".

I get home, set it up, and go inside to order some loading stuff from Midway. Just for grins I checked the Lee anniversary Kit and it was on sale for about $69. $69!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You did not get stung. The extra set of dies and no shipping makes up the difference.

Darrell Davis · « **Reply #16 on:** January 02, 2005, 12:03:48 PM »

Hey there Broken-Arrow,

As per the Lee equipment, I start off with the hand held primer tool.

I think it was/is a very good idea, however it broke. It just didn't last, which a bit of quality in their materials would have corrected. Just a little cost in quality could have saved them a customer

As per their dies, #1, I don't like a de-priming stem that cannot be lock in a solidly position! And #2, I don't like locking rings that don't! The hoky idea of using a rubber O-ring to hold the "lock" ring in place may have been cheap to produce but it sure isn't close to any quality I've ever seen. I want to be able to lock in my die adjustments and keep the adjustment until I am ready to change it.

Then there was the case trimmer and the de-buring tools that I once had, both almost unusable. The pictures of the current trimmer as seem in the catalogs may be a bit more automated then the unit I had, but it is still about the level of the walk behind plow when compared to the likes of RCBS, Lyman, Hornady etc.

Now I must admit that the Lee dies are finished better then the Herters dies I started with 30 or so years ago, as the insides of the Herters dies looked like they had been reamed with a dull pipe threader. However, even those Herters dies didn't have the problems common to the two sets of Lee dies I have had. And no, I no longer have any Herters tools, as they also were replaced long ago.

You need to realise all of the above is just IMHO, but I like the feel and the usability of quality tools and am willing to pay for that privilege.

I will be one of the first to buy products from a company which has a better and cheaper idea, B U T that "idea" must show quality and have longevity to keep my business. However, I have been around the block just to many years to have time for low quality, no matter how good the price looks!

Keep em coming! :wink:

mudriver · « **Reply #17 on:** January 02, 2005, 01:55:55 PM »

Just thought I would add to the conversation. :? I knew when I was starting out two years ago that I would be loading for several people and in large quantities. So I saved up and got a Dillon XL 650 progressive press - and the other people I loaded for bought other equipment, dies, etc. Even though the starting price was higher - I've made a return quickly on just the cost savings and the fun factor (the ammo is cheaper but we shoot 3 times as much). I also use a variety of dies from Lee, RCBS and Redding and (possibly because of the nuances of a Dillon press) RCBS are the worst.

This may not apply to your situation - but keep in mind - for some reason reloading causes you to shoot more and shooting more will make you wish you had a progressive.

kinger · « **Reply #18 on:** January 02, 2005, 03:48:12 PM »

Thank you, all, for your input. I appreciate it! One more question regarding this topic...do any of you have any experience with the Redding Boss press and the kit (Pro Pak) they sell? How does it compare to the Rock Chucker?

Thanks again!

Pete

Badnews Bob · « **Reply #19 on:** January 02, 2005, 07:53:57 PM »

The Lee classic cast is way better quality than any other press of its type. As for the rest of Lees stuff... I use a lot of it but won't place judgement because I can't give a fair comparision, Their cast press is the cats meow thou.

And a lot cheaper to buy.