starting to reload

First, buy this.

If you're going to be reloading mostly rifle ammo, instead of the Lee kit, take a look at the RCBS kit.

I started with a Lee kit and within 6 months had given away everything in it except for the book. While it's certainly possible to turn out good ammo with the Lee kit, the frustration you'll experience is just not worth it - especially for a newbie. You want to spend your time learning the process, not tinkering with your equipment. Just for the record, I can't imagine resizing a bin of full length rifle rounds on the press in the link.

The RCBS press will last you a lifetime. Even when you upgrade to a progressive, you'll use the Rockchucker to size rifle brass, etc.

If you're planning to turn out large quantities of pistol ammo, I suggest you save your money and buy a quality progressive machine.
 
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I think that if I were going to start over again, I'd first buy a classic lee loader and start there. Of course, it only neck sizes so you couldn't use it with a semi-automatic. Those sets are cheap and I find them used all the time for $20.

Then I'd get an anniversary set from a popular brand and go from there.

I'm hoping the local gun club offers a reloading course soon. I've reloaded some before but a lot of what I was doing was stuff I learned second-hand.
 
I just ordered my Third book to read and have been lurking about different hand loaders forums for a few weeks. I've picked up alot of great info. The best thing to do is to find a machine that best fits your level of comfort. Some of these devices are tricky for a beginner. I have seen several machines and have gone back and forth. But today I decided that I will start with the basic components to learn the trade. Some say its best to walk first before you run.
 
hunter46spring said:
I too am thinking about starting to reload. Im not really a hand gun shooter so it would be for rifle loads only. Is the Lee Breech Lock Challenger press kit

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/cat...68852.1114=/html/catalog/rlpress2.html#breech

a good Idea? It is only $105 at Cabelas compared to $290 for an RCBS kit. I know less than nothing about reloading so any information would be helpful
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If you are thinking of getting Lee I would get the Classic single stage press or the Classic turret press. These are the better presses that Lee makes.
 
I too would like to get into reloading. What's the rule of thumb? ie if you shoot x amount of ammo a month it's worth it to reload your own. Otherwise just buy it. And what is a good setup for .40s&w rounds? Thanks in advance.
 
menornbury said:
I too would like to get into reloading. What's the rule of thumb? ie if you shoot x amount of ammo a month it's worth it to reload your own. Otherwise just buy it. And what is a good setup for .40s&w rounds? Thanks in advance.
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I assume you mean the rule of thumb as to whether or not it would be worth it financially to reload. I too got into reloading to save a little money. The rule of thumb is this...reloading is expensive. You can crank out a large quantity of great ammo, tailored to your specific needs, in a short period of time, for minimal cost, and have a lot of fun doing it. Then you shoot it all, buy more components, and repeat the process. When you buy ammo, shooting is the hobby. When you reload, reloading and shooting are the hobbies, and both cost money, but both are definitely worth it.
 
ochmude said:
I assume you mean the rule of thumb as to whether or not it would be worth it financially to reload. I too got into reloading to save a little money. The rule of thumb is this...reloading is expensive. You can crank out a large quantity of great ammo, tailored to your specific needs, in a short period of time, for minimal cost, and have a lot of fun doing it. Then you shoot it all, buy more components, and repeat the process. When you buy ammo, shooting is the hobby. When you reload, reloading and shooting are the hobbies, and both cost money, but both are definitely worth it.
Click to expand...

Right on.

You're not going to realize a huge savings loading .40 S&W, 9mm, or .223 - especially if you figure your time into the equation (I don't but some do).

The only time you "save" money reloading is when you start to load expensive calibers. Reloading enables you to shoot stuff like .500 S&W, .44 Special, .45 Schofield, .38 Super, etc. for the same price as 9mm.

The other big benefit is that you can make better/different ammo than you can afford to buy. I can't buy 700gr .500 loads, but I can make them. I can't afford true full-power 10mm loads, but I can make them, etc.
 
EddieCoyle said:
Right on.

You're not going to realize a huge savings loading .40 S&W, 9mm, or .223 - especially if you figure your time into the equation (I don't but some do).

The only time you "save" money reloading is when you start to load expensive calibers. Reloading enables you to shoot stuff like .500 S&W, .44 Special, .45 Schofield, .38 Super, etc. for the same price as 9mm.

The other big benefit is that you can make better/different ammo than you can afford to buy. I can't buy 700gr .500 loads, but I can make them. I can't afford true full-power 10mm loads, but I can make them, etc.
Click to expand...

It is absolutely worth it to get set up to reload, and yes it IS expensive to get started but much of that cost is the press, dies, scale etc..

As a previous post stated , I think a year or two ago the savings for reloading was negligible and the argument was that you had more ammo for less, so you ended up shooting more.

These days I'm finding the savings to be significant. Much of the cost of ammo is actually in the brass and given that you're reloading, your only cost is primers lead and powder (and time, but I find I enjoy it) I was in M&M yesterday and they had a 100 round Winchester valupack of 40S&W for around $40!. I paid $19 for these a year ago at Wally world. To reload the same would cost you about $14-15.00. Nowadays if I need brass I just buy factory ammo and shoot it to recover the brass as that seems to be the cheapest way to get it.

Do it - you won't regret it.
 
thanks for the words of wisdom. Now, they must have reloading starter kits, which are the quality ones? Or should I buy seperate components.
 
Most of the brands have some sort of complete kit that they offer. Of them all, I'd say the Lee kits are the closest to a "starter" kit. You can get a lot of help at brianenos.com if you want to go with a Dillon, as I have not seen complete kits offered by them. That website will walk you through the fairly simple process of making your own kit, which is the route I took. I really depends on what sort of reloading you want to do. If you want to meticulously work up the most uber-accurate sub-MOA rifle ammo ever imagined, a quality single stage is for you. If you want to produce ammo in larger quantities, a turret (good) or progressive (better) style press should be your choice. Your budget and your particular interests are really the determining factors.
 
menornbury said:
I too would like to get into reloading. What's the rule of thumb? ie if you shoot x amount of ammo a month it's worth it to reload your own. Otherwise just buy it. And what is a good setup for .40s&w rounds? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

http://handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

this can help you once you start to find out roughly how much ammo you get for how much money


Loading 40 S&W like do her are my results

Cost / round $ 0.254
Cost / 50 $ 12.68
Cost / 1000 $ 253.5
 
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