I was actually gonna start a whole new thread!!
But for those of you who helped tip my desicion into reloading you'll be happy to head that after seeing this thread and seeing that I'm local Ted here took me under his wing and has been mentoring me in Reloading!! He's gone WAY above and beyond to help get me started and teach me so much i couldn't imagine how long it would have taken me to figure this stuff out! I def have a long way to go, but thanks to Ted I'm well on my way and have already done my first load development for my rifle!!
For starters, since this thread was originally about reloading equipment and to help any other weary shooters searching for tips to get into reloading... let's list what I've gotten!
After working with Ted for a couple weeks and learning what I actually needed, not what I thought I needed (and had no idea what they were in the first place) this is what I ended up with along with my brand spanking new to reloading take on it.
RCBS Reloading Kit:
Best kit for the buck IMO, I really liked the feel and build of the rock chucker press over the Lee or Honrady. This kit comes with all the starting essential like press, 505 scale, powder measure, priming tool, reloading manual, chamfer & deburring tool...etc.
Redding Master Hunter FL/Seater die set:
This is the main dies you'll be using to size your brass and seat the bullet. I went expensive cause I have the dough to spend and I like to buy things once, plus I'm aiming to build the more precise rounds possible. I've read TONS of people that get away with Lee's basic dies
Lee collet neck sizer die :
This is used to form just the neck as I didn't want to use a bushing die set
RCBS Shell holder x 2
You need these for your press and priming tool, i just got 2 for ease
Tumbler:
this is what cleans your brass for the next go around
RCBS Stuck case remover:
This is insurance for if I brain fart and don't lube a case and it gets stuck in my press. It's basically a little kit to tap and remove your stuck case if you forget to lube it when resizing. There's some dies that don't need lube, and certain types of dies don't use it (like if you're just depriming) so know if yours/or that type of die does!
One Shot case lube:
Lube you cases BEFORE sizing your brass! **some exceptions apply, but not with my dies
Berger Reloading Manual:
Buy a manual, I liked this one... in hard cover.... cause hard covers are cool in my book
Kinetic Bullet puller:
This helps me when I seat my bullet to low and need to pull it out a little, or if you need to take down a bullet for some reason (like if during your load development you reach your pressure limit and have rounds that you've made that are too hot for you gun... or knock a bunch of load development rounds over on the table and now you don't have any idea what each round has.
Lyman Universal Case Trimmer w/pwr adapter:
You need to trim your brass every so often, I'm very OCD and Anal so I really liked this precision trimmer as apposed to one of the hand help cheap ones. PLUS after only 50 rnds with the hand crank (on Ted's older one that I was using) I was ready to drop extra cash on one with a power adapter! My fingers were killing me and I have some tough Helicopter Mechanic fingers! lol
Hornady Comparitor Tool & Accs:
Ok this was the hardest to get my brain around! You DON'T usually size bullets from the tip to end (bullet Meplat to case Head) you size it from the widest part of the bullet (the Ogive) which is where the bullet rides the rifling in the barrel. Which would be ridiculously hard without something like this tool. So you need this to do that and with an other Headspace adapter you can measure case length from the Head (the primer side) to the Datum (umm... more confusing, and I can barely understand this concept let alone tell someone else so look it up) which is half way up the shoulder. Sinclair makes a stainless steel version but it's out of stock everywhere on the planet in .308, so I got the Hornady one with the extra bottom anvil... cause i'm OCD
Digital Caliper:
Get one! The cheap $20 Chinese ones are surprisingly very accurate, but me being me, I got a cheap one until I can find a good deal on a nice Starrett digital one! I think the Mitutoyo ones are a littler nicer and would easily spend the money, but I really love that the Starrett's are the only precision calipers still made completely in the USA!
Ok so here's the breakdown:
RCBS Reloading Kit $319.00
Redding FL/Seater die set $115.00
Lee collet neck sizer die $22.00
RCBS Shell holder x 2 $8.00
Tumbler $77.00
Berger Reloading Manual $27.00
RCBS Stuck case remover $19.00
One Shot $10.00
Bullet puller $15.00
Lyman Trimmer w/pwr adapter $110.00
Hornady Comparitor Tool & Accs $45.00
Digital Caliper $25.00
Total = $792
You could cut out $75 on cheaper dies, and $50-$80 on the trimmer and be down close to $600. The kit comes with tons of useful tools and is perfect for what I need. Oh and I bought the Berger manual before the kit so you don't need that either -$27 more.
My notes about the items are from one reloading newb to another to help understand what they are.... clearly not the best explanations, but if I'm incorrect please let me know so I can change the descriptions.