Book Recommendations and Hodgden Clays question

[DougE]

DrewW,
If you do go with the lee press, check this company out Kempf Gun Shop. Everyone seems to have the popular caliber dies on backorder ( and presses ) but these folks had the dies I needed in stock. Their prices are about as good or better than everyone else and they ship quick ....... I ordered this morning and they've shipped it out already. BTW ...... thank's smith crazy ....... I believe it was you that mentioned Kempf in one of your posts

.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Doug,
They are not too far from me. About an hours drive. They do have a ton of reloading stuff, almost all of it Lee. They have molds and also have a ton of Cowboy Action attire and such like.

Just be glad you are dealing with them over the internet. The old man has one of those personalities that lends itself to internet sales, if you catch my drift!

 

[DougE]

I know what ya mean, one of the local gun shops around here would be best served by doing internet business ....... fair to deal with, but not the friendliest sort by any means. Kempf must either have a heck of a stock, or few buyers since they are about the only ones around with lee 40 S&W and 9mm die sets ( not counting flea bay ......... those people buying there are getting raped ). I also ordered 1000 of the .38/.357 158 gr lrnfp bullets from them. The price seemed fair. Should be able to use the same load data as the lyman #358665. I'd like to keep this simple starting out.

 

[DrewW]

I will check out Kempf website, hoping to get an order placed with someone this weekend.

Doug where is Richmond KY?

There is a gun dealer just outside of Owensboro that is exactly like you guys are describing, he has a great selection of guns and his new prices are some of the best in the country but he is not personable in the least, that don't care if you buy anything in there or not.

 

[DougE]

Originally posted by DrewW:
I will check out Kempf website, hoping to get an order placed with someone this weekend.

Doug where is Richmond KY?

There is a gun dealer just outside of Owensboro that is exactly like you guys are describing, he has a great selection of guns and his new prices are some of the best in the country but he is not personable in the least, that don't care if you buy anything in there or not.

Drew,
Richmond is just south of Lexington. The shop we were talking about ( kempf's ) is in Indiana .They were quick to answer my email last night ( after hours ) when I asked if they had the die sets I needed in stock. I placed my order this morning and they shipped it out some time this afternoon so they seem like great people to deal with ....... at least on the internet as Skip pointed out lol. The local shop I referred to is definitely not the one outside of Owensboro since I'm a couple three hours from there.

 

[DrewW]

I figured you weren't from around this area, I know most of the cities around here even the tiny ones, but the shop I am talking about is right on the edge of Daviess county and once you get out of Daviess county I don't know as many of the small towns and cities.

 

[DougE]

the local grumpy dude is right here in Madison county ........ maybe grumpiness goes along with selling guns

 

[DrewW]

The dealer I usually deal with around here is a great guy, that old man remembers everything I have ever bought from him I can walk in there and he will ask me if I need any of the types of ammo I usually buy, ask if we need pigeons, powder, shot, or primers and he will do all that shopping for me while I look at guns. Then he always asks about each gun I have bought from him to make sure I haven't been having any trouble out of them.

Ok so I have been looking over the site and have made me a list of what I think I need to get started, here is my list some of you guys look over it and see if their is anything major I forgot, I do already have an RCBS 505 scale for the shotgun reloading so I don't need a scale but here is what I am thinking for reloading pistols.

Lee Classic Turret press
Lee Auto Disk Measure
Lee Auto Disk Riser
Lee Safety Prime Primer feeder
Lee Carbide Deluxe pistol die set .38/.357

I think this should be all that I need to get started other than reloading supplies.

I am assuming that I need the Auto Prime shell holders to use the Safety Prime system but not sure. Also can anyone tell me if the shell holder included with the die set is Auto Prime or not, doesn't say anywhere on Lee's site that I can find.

I think that is it for now, if you don't care to look over that list and let me know what else I may need or anything that is listed that I don't need I would appreciate it.

Thanks for all your help guys

 

[DougE]

You won't need any aditional shell holders if you're going to prime on the press ........... those auto prime shell holders are only needed for the hand held priming tool.

 

[Dale53]

DrewW;
You will absolutely need a good scale. I am a Lee fan but do NOT favor the Lee scale. I MUCH prefer the Lyman. Personally, I like my RCBS electronic scale most of all but it's pricy. Get the Lyman Pro 1000 (some 45/70 bullets exceed the capacity of the less expensive Lyman) mechanical balance.

Dale53

 

[DrewW]

Dale I do have a scale for shotshell reloading, it is the balance beam type it is a RCBS 505, so it is a decent scale. Is 505 grains enough capacity for metallic reloading? The only things I will be reloading right now is .38/.357 and some 30/30 rifle ammo. In the near future I will probably load some 7mm Mag rounds for deer season, that is probably as large as I will get right now.

The only other calibers that I may load are:
.40 S&W (would like to get an XD in .40)
maybe 25-06 or 30-06 (thinking about getting a rifle in either caliber)

Within the next year or two those are the only other calibers I can see myself needing to load.

 

[Dale53]

Your scale will do fine. I only suggested the larger one as the difference in buying one now will give you twice the capacity. I have shot a lot of BPCR's and those bullets often exceed the weight limit of the "smaller" scale.

So, you should be "good to go".

Dale53