Help me get into reloading

RIDE-RED 350r

RIDE-RED 350r

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Hello.
I am considering getting into reloading for the first time. I am not interested in turning out massive amounts of rounds per hour. Just a means of shooting a little cheaper and a fun hobby to while away a few rainy day hours. I plan to reload my brass as many times as reasonably possible.

I am looking at some of the complete start-up kits offered by Hornady, RCBS and Lee Precision.

What I am seeking the wisdom of my fellow S&W Forum members on is separating the "must have" items from the "nice to have" items when it comes to getting started at this most intriguing hobby.

I know that sometimes a little truth is lost in advertising so my question is: Does the Hornady startup kit really have everything I will need other than dies? I noticed so far that the Hornady kit is about on par with the RCBS kit. But the Lee Precision kit is much cheaper. I suspect a little "get what you pay for" here.

Can any of you make a recommendation??

As I said, I have zero experience in this, but am very hands on and mechanically inclined. I have a caliper and know how to use it. When looking through sporting goods catalogs and firearms/accessory sites I see a plethora of goodies that I'm not sure are on the "must have" list.

Looking for any and all guidance/recommendations on this topic. Links to any particular products would be helpful as well if it's not against forum rules.

Thanks very much. :)
 
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i have always liked rcbs stuff! lee is cheap but it does work good. most of the start up kits has what u need to get started. you can also get good used stuff on ebay, just compare it to new prices to see if u are getting a good deal or not. look on midway.com they are good people to deal with. if i can help with a question let me know i have 40+ years exp. i will help with anything i can.
 
A press,carbide dies ( for straight walled cartridges ),a scale,a powder measure,a couple reloading manuals,a hand held priming tool,a powder trickler and a good solid bench should cover it.You can always add more stuff as you go along.
 
I got the Lee Turret kit and love it. I always use it in single stage mode because I'm in no hurry and I like to focus on uniformity. The real advantage is that it takes less that 2 seconds to switch dies and less than 30 seconds to switch calibers.

I have never had any issues with quality and Lee has excellent customer service. It really is an excellent value.
 
I was just looking at Midway.com (Thanks for that tip Olskool) and the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master kit looks like a nice way to get started. I like how it is upgradeable to a progressive loader if I feel the need in the future. $288, that seems pretty fair for everything.

Is a brass tumbler a "must have" item? I'm guessing yes if I want to have consistent performance..

Also, I have been advised by some that a case trimmer and bullet puller would be very good to have. I guess the case trimmer for a guy like me who will reload brass multiple times would be smart. But what is the purpose of the bullet puller???

Sorry if these are dumb questions. :D
 
A brass tumbler is pretty much a must have, but if you cant afford one there are ways to do without. If you're shooting handgun a case trimmer isnt really needed, the bullet puller isnt either, its used to disassemble your mistakes. With a Lee turret press you can use it as a single stage but you probably wont want too. Dont let the price fool you, you get a lot more for your money with Lee equipment, you cant say that about many things in the world anymore. I own 2 and have loaded tens of thousands of rounds on them.
 
I've never used my case trimmer on pistol brass.You will need one for bottleneck cartridges though.A tumbler is nice for making pretty cartridges,but isn't a must have.A bullet puller can be put off til you need it and you will lol.
 
Thanks very much for the helpful replies fellas! That is exactly what I'm looking for. I will look into the Lee gear. That's 2 posters who have had nothing but good to say about them thus far.

Trooperdan: The thought I may actually shoot more has crossed my mind. But PLEASE, don't tell my wife that!! LOL!
 
If this is the Lee kit you are looking at I would pass. It's the one I started with and if I had it to do over again would have started with a little better quality.

The press was OK and the hand primer worked great and I still use both on occasion. The scales are the about the cheapest scales you can buy though probably accurate enough. The worst part was the powder measure. It was absolute junk.

breechlockkit.jpg


I've had great luck with Lee dies, but they will not be included with the kit. You will also need a dial caliper to measure overall length.
 
:) I have a Lyman turret press and load hand gun ammo and one rifle ammo the .223. It wouldn't be good for bigger rifle cartridges. If you are loading for handguns I recommend the Lyman Handgun Reloading manual. Get a manual and start reading and then ask questions here on things you don't understand. These guys helped me a lot with my questions on rifle reloading. I just started rifle reloading about two months ago but I have been loading handgun ammo for about 40 years. Don
 
I just got into it a month ago. Mt list was as follows:
Lee Breech Lock Kit (on sale for $105 at midway)
Dial calipers from Harbor Frieght- $18
Vibratory tumbler from Harbor Frieght- $55
Loading block- $8 from local shop
Rcbs bullet puller-$22 from local shop
Lyman Loading Manual- $25 from Gander Mnt
Dies for the above calibers ($30 each for the Lee carbide)
Lizard litter corn cob for tumbling ($7 from Tractor Supply)
I added componets- bullets from Missouri Bullet Company, powder and primers from Gander. By my estimate by time I load the 500 bullets for my 44 mag and 500 for my 357 mag, my equipment will have paid for itself 1 1/2 times.
 
Lee makes good pistol dies.My only other experience with them was a couple of lee load alls for shotshells which I quickly replaced with a mec 650.They ended up in a dumpster.Spend a little more and buy quality.That mec and my rcbs equipment are 35 yrs old now and still going strong.
 
I do plan to do some rifle reloading as well. Mainly .270 and 30-06. But the lions share will be pistol reloading as that is what I tend to shoot more of... .357, 38spl, 45acp and 44mag.

I was also looking at that Hornady Lock n Load kit.
 
I just bought the Lee Classic Turret kit. $232 shipped+ $32 for a set of .38/357 dies, and I am loading ammo. I am a newbie, but the purchase has made me happy so far. There is also the Lee Deluxe Turret press, but it's actually a lesser product than the Classic press.
 
Dooman said:
I do plan to do some rifle reloading as well. Mainly .270 and 30-06. But the lions share will be pistol reloading as that is what I tend to shoot more of... .357, 38spl, 45acp and 44mag.

I was also looking at that Hornady Lock n Load kit.
Click to expand...

It is good quality equipment. If you are looking to reload rifle calibers you will need a case trimmer. So plan for that as well.
I have the Hornady one and it does a good job.
 
The first question that should have been asked is how much reloading do you plan on or forsee doing, then go from there. If you shoot just a couple hundered rds a month a single stage will do the trick, a couple hundered rounds a week a turret should be the min. more than a couple hundred a week a progressive is in order. Rifle reloading is a bit of a different animal depending on how far you go with it compared to handgun reloading. I would suggest starting with the 357 and go from there. Buy some reloading books to start with and watch some youtube videos.
 
Twenty eight years ago an old fellow told me " buy a turret press". I took his advice and bought a Lee three hole turret press. I am still using it and I am really happy I took his advice. I was not looking for speed, just quality reloads. My Lee has done just fine.
 
I bought the Rockchucker kit 30 years ago and have no regrets. Yes, you'll need to add a tumbler and a bullet puller, not to mention a stuck case remover. The puller is to correct mistakes.
 
Dooman,
I am glad to see the direction you are moving, ie, reloading.
It looks like the equipment list is fairly complete so I won't add anything here.
I would however like to angle you toward a progressive press.
I shoot the same calibers you are looking to load in but now, thanks to the ability to reload, I shoot about 3-5 times the amount of .44 Mag that I did pre-reloading ability. In the past I paid as much as $45.00 for 50 Rounds of .44 Mag, a lot for my budget. At that price I was only comfortable shooting two or three boxes a month. Now I shoot that much in a week and with a lot less guilt and greater accuracy to boot.
Back to the progressive.
Last night I put the chicken on the BBQ, and, 20 minutes later, thanks to a progressive press and well ahead of the fully cooked chicken, I had 100 rounds of .44 Magnum loaded and in my range bag.
I, like you, started a thread which got me to where I am today. At first the progressive was a bit much but then I settled down and just took my time.
When developing loads I used it as a single stage, say 10 rounds per recipe. Once the recipe is correct for your gun/your application the production time is very fast, which for me, between dogs, kids, house, wife, profession, means less time at the bench and more time at the range.
As far as brands you are interested in I cannot comment as I went with a Dillon 550.
 
I started with a Lee Challanger press (not the current breech lock setups, mines older). Had I known then, what I know now, I would have bought the Classic Turret press right off the bat. You can get the Classic Turret Press kit at about 200 bucks, add a set of dies and you are ready to load.

There are some other ammenities you'll want to add, such as a digital caliper, shell holder trays, etc.

What's nice about the Turret is, you have a Turret disk that holds all the dies, so you set them once and just swap out the Turret to change calibers. With a Turret Press, similar to progressive (only you work on one bullet at a time), when you start with a spent casing, you take it all the way through to a finished product. With a single stage, you pretty much do it in batches because you don't want to waste time swapping out dies in between every step.

I still use my single stage when loading my big bore rifle loads, I'm not loading many at a time, so no big deal. I like the Turret for pistol and 223 because I can turn out roughly a hundred rounds in an hour.
 
I notice someone dogging the lee scale and the PPM (Perfect powder measure). Both pieces are excellent.

I struggled with the thought that the 25 dollar scale cannot possibly be any good. I loaded a lot of big bore rifle with it, there's lots of leeway there. When I got in to pistol loading, less leeway. I fretted and bought a 100.00 digital scale. What I found was that Lee scale was dead on, and that Digital scale is finicky! Constantly have to TAR the weigh pan because the scale would creep.

As to the PPM, once you load powder in to it. Dispence some and adjust. You might want to get a system for a given powder and stick with it, if you do, it drops consistent. Such as Unique powder. When using Unique, I flick the drop handle 4 or 5 time to prime the drop tube as well as make sure it all dropped. Some powders don't require they, but Unique, is Unique.
 
No body has mentioned the Dillon 550 progressive press. I have one I bought used for $350.00. Purchased lee carbide dies and 550 tool heads as I added calibers to my reloaders capability. I have loaded in excess of 100,000 rounds in the last 8 years and the performance is still outstanding. Dillon's no BS warranty is outstanding. Customer support is outstanding. I now load 9mm, .38 super, .38 special, .40, .45 acp, .223 & .308. Quality is outstanding. I give the Dillon 550 2 thumbs up. Good luck with your reloading.
 
The Classic Turret press is my go to press. I use it all the time. I sometimes feel like I'm neglecting my RCBS RS, Dillon RL300, and Classic Cast, but it's so handy the feeling soon passes.

As far as powder measures go, my Lee PPM throws extruded and flake charges more accurately than either my Uniflow or my LNL. It is about the same with ball powder. The problem is it's made of plastic or nylon. That doesn't inspire confidence. The Uniflow and LNL are made of steel and cost way more, so they should last a lifetime. I'd get either one down the road. You might also like a Lyman model 55.

I don't use Lee scales. I use any scale manufactured by Ohaus.


I've had good results using Lee dies and for the most part I buy them. I don't mind used dies and will seek out Pacific Durachrome whenever possible.

Never overlook used products. If you find something interesting just ask and I'm sure you will be warned of any quality issues.
 
Well, I just discovered that I own a rock tumbler kit. Sooo, I put some media in it and 50 empty 44 brass to try it out.. Think it will work?
 
Dooman said:
Well, I just discovered that I own a rock tumbler kit. Sooo, I put some media in it and 50 empty 44 brass to try it out.. Think it will work?
Click to expand...

Should do the trick. When looking at reloading kits myself, I had basically narrowed it down to either the RCBS Rockchucker kit and the Hornady Lock-N-Load. Ended up finding a Rockchucker kit for sale at a yard sale, so ended up with that. Really the only difference I would say between the RCBS & Hornady--do you want the $50 rebate for RCBS (up to $75 if you buy additional) or do you want 500 Free (well S&H) bullets with Hornady?
 
Dooman said:
Those are the exact 2 kits I have started to focus on... Free bullets sounds good.. ;)
Click to expand...

Dollar wise the bullets promotion from Hornady is a bigger savings. As 500 leads of 45 acp for example is going to be well over a $100 value, vs the $50 rebate from RCBS.

I had also thought of buying Forster Co-ax, but the cost for the press alone is about as much as the 2 kits previously mentioned.
 
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