Advice on jumping into reloading?

[KR24]

I'm interested in reloading but have absolutely 0 experience. Would it be a good idea for me to jump on a starter kit with the Black Friday deals? Or should I buy some books first to learn and get more information.

Just looking for some direction here. Thanks.

 

[wburke2010]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

It is always a good time to start reloading with the price of ammo these days. But I do not recommend getting a starter kit, it is better in my opinion to buy everything individually so that you can piece together a good setup. I started with the lee kit, and right away the only thing that I used was the press.

Here is what I use.

Foster Co-ax press
redding competition dies
Giraud case trimmer
rcbs tumbler
rcbs chargemaster
and a few other small items


Walter

 

[KR24]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

Thanks Walter. Like the list. That's exactly what I needed to hear.

 

[wburke2010]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

You really do not need the most expensive reloading gear or all the stuff on my list to make good ammo, I have slowly upgraded to where I am now and still have some stuff I would like to get. Two things I really recommend are the co-ax press and the charge master. If you afford those in the begging there are great to use and make reloading a lot easier. The Giraud case trimmer is also really helpful, I used to hate trimmer but with the Giraud it makes it one of the better steps now.

Walter

 

[milo 2.0]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

Yes, it would be ok to buy a couple books. Finding someone close by and learning from them would be better, finding 2 people with different gear would be even better.

Wa Wa's list alone with 1 die set puts the cost at $1100.00.
If you can pickup a starter kit at a steal on black friday, it wouldn't be a bad deal. But the price must be right, because you'll out grow most of it.

Like all hobbies, this is not cheap.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

I have been loading over 30 years and this past year bought my first progressive press. I have managed at times to load with little more than a press, balance beam,priming tool,spoon for trickling powder and a few other little gadgets I made myself out of ordinary stuff laying around the house or shop. I litterally loaded for years with less than $100 worth of equipment. My ammo even then was far superior to store bought.
Now times change and there is some great ammo available off the shelf, but my equipment has been building for years to match my needs. I used to need less than 500rounds per year for hunting and practice, I now have need to load larger amounts for competition, plinking, practice, and of late am interested in hunting a bit.
Start small, a kit will be fine. Don't get hung up in the gadget craze, it is expensive. Find a local guy to teach you the ropes before you invest your money in a bunch of equipment someone you never met, and likely never will, told you to buy. A knowledgable reloader will teach you how to find your lands with some simple tools you can make, that are easy to use and cost nothing. You don't need fancy dies and guages to load match ammo, you need knowledge. There is more than one way to skin a cat but all involve a sharp tool and know how.

 

[wburke2010]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

Sorry if it sounded like I was saying you need to spend a lot of money on good gear to make ammo. In no way did I mean that. As I have also loaded plenty of rounds with more basic and less expensive gear. I was just trying to show that eventually you will upgrade the kit, and replace it all. My personal opinion is that the kit comes with too much gear that is cheap and or useless and it would be better to buy stuff individually because you can save money that way and have a better starting point.


Walter

 

[milo 2.0]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

Wa Wa,
No need to apologize, you gave the guy sound advice, and your right, everybody upgrades. And kits suck.
Cabela's has the RC Supreme Kit for $719.00, plus the $50.00 rebate right now, I didn't price individualy though, seems OK.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

No need to appologize it was sound advice. I in no way advocate solely for the kit, one can handload with much less for sure. Actually I should have been more specific because "kits" have become very complicated and expensive lately. A small simple cheap kit may be ok. I would err on the side of quality. I personally do not like the Lee kits, in my opinion the press in that kit is the only thing I would use.
Matter of fact look on some auction sites and you can usually pick up a press, powder measure and beam scale very reasonable, as well as used dies and such.
If you do nothing else invest in a tin of Imperial Sizing Die Wax. In my opinion it is great for new reloaders especially. It is very forgiving as a lube. Doesn't take much to be slick as eel snot. Even with a bit too much it doesn't seem to hydraulically dent cases like some other stuff. A stuck case can be a real nightmare for new reloaders with little mechanical experience.

 

[wburke2010]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

I agree with the lee kit, that is what I started with a right away I was only using the press, and now I got rid of that. Also the imperial wax is great compared to the others, I was having problems resizing when I started out until I switched and have not had a problem since.

Walter

 

[turbo54]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

My opinion on this has changed several times over the last couple years, but currently, I'm an advocate of buying an all-up "kit" when you can buy one on sale.

The reason I advocate this, is it's just too damn hard to collate what all the folks on the internet tell you to get into one actual list of stuff to get. You end up being confused about what each piece is needed for, if you can skip one, etc etc.

It shouldn't be that hard (and it isn't), but it is overwhelming to a newbie. If you get a complete kit, you KNOW that all you've gotta get is a die set, powder, bullets, brass and primers, and you can actually make some fucking ammo.

I started out with some hand-me-down stuff, and I think I sat down to "make some ammo" about 10 different times, only to realize I needed something else to actually make it happen. It was f'ing frustrating!

Just know that a kit is ONLY THE BEGINNING! Count on spending whatever your kit cost to begin with, times 3 or 4 before you're pretty satisfied with your setup.

If you piece something together, you will certainly avoid ending up with duplicate bits and pieces, but you won't be up and at 'em, loading ammo, as quickly.

 

[wburke2010]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

After reading some of the responses I wanted to actually see what kind of kits there are out there now. I found this one from miway that I think would make a good start.

RCBS reloading kit

Here are the reason I think it is good:

Has the hand primer system, which I think is the easiest and best way to prime

Has everything to load right away including a reloading manual

There is nothing on there that is not really needed, and it is priced in the right range for a beginner

Only thing that I would add to the kit to start right away is:

Imperial sizing lube
primer pocket cleaner
flash hole uniformer

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

In my opinion that is indeed an excellent kit and it is not terribly expensive. A Rockchucker is hard to beat and it is what I use exclusively for single stage loading. You can load a long time with that kit and really lack for nothing.

 

[beercow]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

I would take a step back and do some more reading about reloading first. The stickies in this forum are very good. I also started with a book called "The ABC's of Reloading". Knowing more about the process will give you a better idea of what gear you need. Having said that, I started with a lee single stage classic press kit but quickly upgraded most of it. The level of gear really depends on the amount you are willing to part with.

 

[milo 2.0]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wburke2010</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Only thing that I would add to the kit to start right away is:

Imperial sizing lube
primer pocket cleaner
flash hole uniformer
</div></div>
Some shellholders
A caliper
And the list goes on.

This kit from cabela's is more in line with today's loaders,

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoo...nknown;cat104792580;cat104761080;cat104516280

Holy shit, that's a link, copy and paste, hell, if you're going to put it on a card, go for the gold.

 

[clmayfield]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

I would read as many books as possible before starting to build your set. Know exactly what you want to do and how you do it before buying stuff you don't need. You really need to understand exactly what you need first.

I put together process flow diagrams before I bought my first piece of equipment. As a result, I have very little that I bought that I don't use. Stuff I no longer use include a Hornady New Dimension Sizing Die and an RCBS Chargemaster. Honestly, I never used the Chargemaster as much as I should have because I was using it to throw charges and then I would weigh them. After a while I realized that I might as well throw them with a cheap measure if I was going to be doing a final trickle up anyway.

It was just a bad investment. I hadn't thought all the way through that one... a perfect example of why you need to decide ahead of time what you are planning to do and how you are planning to do it.

Remember to buy tools to measure bullet seating depth, headspace, and distance to the lands on your chamber. If you don't know what any of this means, then buy some books and read until you do. Have an opinion on Neck Only Sizing versus Full Length Sizing. If you Neck Only size, know that you will need a body die to bump the shoulder back. If you don't know what this means, read until you do.

Understand why people anneal and turn necks. Even if you decide not to do these things, it is important to know why people do or do not do these things. There is a thread around here on reloading books. Check it out.

 

[Cproflow]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

I started off with the same mega-RCBS kit Milo-2 linked to a few years back. It is true that you find new/different/better items to make up your overall workflow...but that kit really was pretty nice to start off with. Even though it was pricey (I think I got it for $650 or so--big sale), it was worth it for me at the time.

When it arrived, I had no friggin' idea what parts went with what! I figured it out though...hehe.

I pretty much only use the press (sometimes, mostly on a Redding T-7 now) and the Chargemaster. Most everything else got replaced.

 

[wburke2010]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

I agree milo if someone had the capital that would be the kit to go with, although it is a bit more expensive but well worth it.

Here is the link for the kit milo suggested

The bad part about reloading is you are never done buy gear and or upgrading unless you always reload for the same caliber. I thought I had a good setup but I could make a list of twenty things off the top of my head I would like to have.

Walter

 

[KR24]

Re: Advice on jumping into reloading?

Thanks for all the advice. Think I need to do some reading to learn more before diving into this.