Cost for Getting Set Up to Reload

[lrrifleman]

@IAM Rand,

As Lyman use to advertise, the 310 Tool was "reloading in a nut shell"!

Just remember, have a supply of case lube on hand when sizing cases with the 310 Tool!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Just remember, have a supply of case lube on hand when sizing cases with the 310 Tool!

I started with RCBS formula Number 2 (water soluble) and a new ink pad that was 75 cents! Still use them on occasion.

Ivan

 

[RobertJ.]

It just occurred to me (and I didn't read through the thread to see if it had already been suggested) that you might want to go ahead and lay up some components while you have the opportunity, especially primers. That way, if you choose to go ahead with it you'll have them. If you choose not to, you won't have any problem finding a buyer. Projectiles right now are looking real good, powder is making a nice comeback, but primers are the most iffy.

 

[llowry61]

It just occurred to me (and I didn't read through the thread to see if it had already been suggested) that you might want to go ahead and lay up some components while you have the opportunity, especially primers. That way, if you choose to go ahead with it you'll have them. If you choose not to, you won't have any problem finding a buyer. Projectiles right now are looking real good, powder is making a nice comeback, but primers are the most iffy.

This could be a now or never proposition. With what I bought previously the dollar cost average is still reasonable. I never thought I would see it, but I believe components will be unavailable in our lifetime.

 

[mikerjf]

I was gonna suggest the same thing. Maybe first buy should be a pound of powder? Ain’t nothin happenin without that!

38Special, you could start with Bullseye, Unique, W231/HP38… probably others.

I’d skip the Lee Loader. Hated mine. A good solid single-stage press will do everything you need, and still be useful for depriming or something if you get a turret/progressive later.

Never had a tumbler. Washed a few, that were real cruddy.

 

[lrrifleman]

This could be a now or never proposition. With what I bought previously the dollar cost average is still reasonable. I never thought I would see it, but I believe components will be unavailable in our lifetime.

Sadly, I fear that this could be a fair assessment! I bought a device that allowed me to make percussion caps for my 1861 Navy. I had discovered that with this tool, using empty soda cans and roll caps, I could make my own percussion caps. Not too long after that purchase, it has become near impossible to find roll caps! It has gotten to the point where it may be easier to find hen's teeth!

 

[LoboGunLeather]

@IAM Rand,

As Lyman use to advertise, the 310 Tool was "reloading in a nut shell"!

Just remember, have a supply of case lube on hand when sizing cases with the 310 Tool!

An essential note on the Lyman 310 tool is that this device provides only cartridge neck resizing, not full-length cartridge resizing. Generally this is fine for reloading only for the firearm in which the cases were fired in, but problems can arise if we are reloading for use in any other firearms.

Not all chamber dimensions are equal in every dimension. Neck sizing only provides everything needed for re-use in the same firearm. Full-length resizing is intended to return the fired cartridge to dimensions that will work in any appropriately chambered firearm.

Reloading 101, usually included in the first chapter of any decent manual on this subject.

 

[Nightowl]

Lots of good advice above and opinions!! First thing I advise is to buy a Lyman Handbook of Reloading and read the "how to" sections at the front. The rest is a manual of loads. For .38 Special, there is little reason to buy jacketed bullets, lead is fine, coated is even better, especially for indoor shooting.
I used a single stage press for probably 25 years before I bought a Dillon 450, then sold it and went to a 550B. The latest is the 550C. Dillon has a lot of video instruction on their website. I have reloaded several hundred thousand rounds, I guess and saved a lot of money, over the present cost of $35/50 rounds of range ammo.
Besides, its something to do on rainy days!

 

[Grayfox]

I've been reloading for 40 years and do at least a dozen different cartridges. Still do it all on an old RCBS Rockchucker press I bought used way back when.
I hate to rain on your parade, but right now may not be the best time to take reloading up. Powder and primers are hard to come by and prices are outrageous. Where just a couple of years ago a box of 1000 primers was around $30-40, now they're anywhere from $75-100+. That's if you can find them.
Powder is pretty much in the same boat. Before you make a decision, you might wanna do some searching on what you need in the way of powder and primers, current availability and pricing.
For the last 2-3 years I've been buying factory ammo in bulk for the more common calibers and saving my dwindling supply of powder and primers for the more expensive and harder to find calibers.
I consider .38 Special to be a common caliber. Might wanna check into bulk pricing for factory ammo. Start at Ammoseek.com.

 

[rwsmith]

The thing is........

..............
I hate to rain on your parade, but right now may not be the best time to take reloading up. Powder and primers are hard to come by and prices are outrageous. Where just a couple of years ago a box of 1000 primers was around $30-40, now they're anywhere from $75-100+. That's if you can find them.
Powder is pretty much in the same boat. Before you make a decision, you might wanna do some searching on what you need in the way of powder and primers, current availability and pricing.
For the last 2-3 years I've been buying factory ammo in bulk for the more common calibers and saving my dwindling supply of powder and primers for the more expensive and harder to find calibers.
I consider .38 Special to be a common caliber. Might wanna check into bulk pricing for factory ammo. Start at Ammoseek.com.

...that I don't see it getting any better. I don't think the 'old days' are going to come back. Right now ammo is at least available. But that can change in a heartbeat and we could have another years long drought where you can't even buy .22 ammo.

 

[venomballistics]

I was gonna suggest the same thing. Maybe first buy should be a pound of powder? Ain’t nothin happenin without that!

38Special, you could start with Bullseye, Unique, W231/HP38… probably others.

I’d skip the Lee Loader. Hated mine. A good solid single-stage press will do everything you need, and still be useful for depriming or something if you get a turret/progressive later.

Never had a tumbler. Washed a few, that were real cruddy.

Before we go shopping for powder nowadays ... he's better advised to buy a couple pounds of manuals.
I've recently seen an 8 pound keg of bullseye in the wild. first siting in years for me.
He'll need to work with what he can find, which might be CFE Pistol, or something else deviating from the well traveled path of bullseye.
With a manual, and its data, he can be better armed to make that decision.

 

[max503]

You don't "set-up" to reload. You start small, with just barely enough stuff to allow you to make boolits. Than you add on as you go.

 

[LostintheOzone]

I've always considered revolver and rifle cartridges as something that needs to be loaded by hand. Pistol maybe. Shotgun maybe. There seems to be enough people buying 9mm and shotgun ammo to keep the prices pretty close to the cost of loading your own. There are times when prices and availability gets wonky because of pandemics and elections but it's not often. I still load 9mm but no longer load shotgun ammo. For the price of 9mm and shotgun target loads today, it doesn't make a lot of sense to load it. It's always in high demand by people shooting games.

If I were starting out loading for a revolver cartridge I would take my time and find some used gear. Lots of used single stage presses and dies out there for cheap. Check your local range cork board for used gear. I've sold used gear at my range. You'll have to buy some new brass because used 38/357 is scarce. That's because people are loading it. They just don't throw it in the range bucket like 9mm.

Good advice about buying a manual first. Read it before you buy anything. You'll need it anyway to load.

The revolver cartridges I load are 32 long, 38 spl, 357 and 38 Short Colt.

 

[scattershot]

I have been reloading for 50 years or so, picking up odds and ends of equipment from time to time. Initial startup can be expensive, but the real advantage to rolling your own ammo is not saviNgs, but the fact that you will have ammunition when it isn’t available elsewhere.

 

[series guy]

Not saying reloading is addictive but…….

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

Nice set up, series guy.
What brand are the reloaders?

 

[rockquarry]

Nice set up, series guy.
What brand are the reloaders?

Nothing wrong with any of those presses. They will do anything something far newer machines will do, it just takes a little longer. Few consider how quick, easy, and inexpensive it is to do a cartridge changeover with these loaders.

I've had four progressives over many years; got rid of them all as they weren't needed for someone loading no more than 12,000 or so handgun rounds a year. I have always reverted to a '60s Texan turret press that was well used when I bought it more than forty years ago.

I load rifle cartridges on other presses (all single stage) but a turret machine should work fine for rifle cartridges.

 

[series guy]

All the presses are Lyman All Americans. The powder measures are RCBS. Most of the dies are Lee. Once set up I don’t change dies. I have cleats on my bench that the press bases slide into. Caliber changes take seconds. I enjoy loading as much as shooting.

 

[walnutred]

Forego your next planned firearm purchase and invest in reloading equipment. In the long run you'll be better off. Chances are in 10 years whatever firearm you think you want now will have been traded off and forgotten and you'll still be reloading for your current firearms.

 

[tom2]

I got started in the 80s with a Lee Loader which cost very little, for .38 .357.
Basic tool. Slow but will do the job. I had one can of powder and some bullets and primers. My loads with the Lee dipper were mild but worked every time for fun shooting. The whole cost of that was not much back then. Later I got a Lee press, a scale, a standup powder measure that I rarely use, and a basic caliper and misc odds and ends like primer hole cleaning tool etc. Cannot remember what that stuff cost but I got pound cans of powder with 18$ price stickers so you know it is getting to be 20-30 years old at least. Right now primers are the beast. I payed 100 for 1000 recently, bit the bullet as it were. But I have not used up all my old primers yet. Loading for revolver for practice can be cheap and is pretty easy to do, if you use proper care. Case length in revolvers is not hyper critical like auto rounds are.