Re: Looking for reloading equipment
I understand where you're coming from. I won't suggest you get what I use, our needs are different.
Loading a thousand rounds of anything on any single stage press in a single setting would be tedious, not limited to the Lee. But, it would seem loading a thousand rounds of anything isn't on your plate at this point so that's irrelivant to your question.
By far the best bang for the buck is Lee's tools and they do work okay. That said, they have some really good and some not-so-good tools so lets look them over.
The Classic Cast is the one of the best presses available at any price and its cost is astonishingly low. It's made of cast iron rather than the cast alum alloy presses in the lower cost kits. Actually, the alum presses are much better than many would have you think but the light presses aren't up to the life expectancy of an iron press. Even if you later want to expand your capacity you will still have plenty of uses for a solid single stage press so it won't be a waste.
Lee's dies do as well as any. You get a "free" shell holder in both the Delux and Pacesetter die sets but not in the RGB sets. Shell holders are typcially $7-8 so that matters.
No "quick change" die bushing system offers any real benefit. It only takes a few seconds to swap screw-in dies and they need not be any tighter than firmly hand tight. They certainly DON'T need to be wrenched in and out of place.
Lee's little "Perfect" powder measure is made of plastic. It sure isn't perfect but it's really good and at low cost too. Properly adjusted and used, it throws charges as consistant as any and better than some much more expensive measures.
Lee's "Safety Scale" is very accurate and very sensitive but it's quite hard to use. Get the 505 scale from RCBS instead, easy to use and will last three lifetimes if you take care of it.
Lee's reloading manual has lots of data and very good insructions for beginning loaders too. And it doesn't cost a lot.
Lee's inexpensive and simple case trimmer tools work very well.
Bits and pieces: You will need a powder funnel. Get Lee, Hornady's Unique or Redding's Imperial case lube (not a spray lube and no lube pad, apply it with your finger tips). A loading block. A case de-burr/chamfering tool. A stuck case puller. And an inertia bullet puller will be helpful too. For all this, any brand will work as well as another.
All this is said to suggest you put your own "kit" together with these tools and not get locked into some things that anyone's kit will have you do. Start with this stuff, it may be all you'll ever want. If you do want other tools later you will then have the personal experience to best know what you would like without having to ask any of us.
You do NOT <span style="text-decoration: underline">need</span> a case tumbler, a progressive press (or even a turret press), a dial caliper nor a digital anything to load high quality ammo. All that's very nice stuff to have, but it's largely fluff. (And I can already hear howls of outraged disagreement! Oh well, but I loaded quality ammo for many years before any of that stuff was readily available and I did pretty good too.
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Good luck!
