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Old October 20, 2012, 10:29 PM   #22
RC20
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 10, 2008
Location: Alaska
Posts: 7,014
No you won't save any money in the short term (I got mine cheap years back and more hand me over by a brother so I am feeding off past cheap as it were now I am back into it)

A kit is nice because while not always the best it gets you all the nit noid stuff you need to get going. Hard to figure out what you want and need if you have not done it. Some like one direction and others like another which is why there is a lot of choice. What works for you may not work for me.

I am adding to it now, I like the digital scales and got a cheap one (it actually worked better for how I am trickling powder as opposed to a higher qulaity one on sale that had the controls int he way)

Good tumbler has been added (that's one area I would go with the Ultra Vibe 10, expensive but well worth it as its quiet and does a fantastic job and yes I prefer dry media cleaning).

357 Sig should not be a problem, just follow instructions to the letter (Lyman's is pretty good I understand, I picked my stuff up from a lot of sources over the years).

If you can make an educated guess as to how much you need to crank out, that would dictate which direction you want to go.

I would be more inclined to go single press (two or three actually) anyway to start with to learn the art and then go progressive latter if you want.

Me, I have two Rock Chuckers and a Jr and that still does me fine. I load in 50 load lots or less most of the time, never more than 100.

My brother got a progressive and does ok with it now but a lot of issues and a mod (Hornady). Lot of fiddling. Dillon might be the better way to go but more expensive as they are the established top dog.

Get Carbide dies and if going single, competition dies are worth it as they work far better and are easier on bullets.

I go for the 4 dies setup for pistol straight wall as I have moved to the crimp as a separate step anyway and it saves a lot of adjustment fiddling.

And I agree with the following almost 100% and that's sang something

Quote:
All of the ctg's you listed will work fine in any single stage press with the exception of the 12ga.- That will need to need to be processed on it's own setup.

There's literally TONS of variations and alternatives to putting together a reloading setup. So, to avert any 'favorites' debates, as far as which brands of dies, scales, case prep tools, etc- let me most respectfully suggest grabbing a couple copies of reloading books off of amazon or some such source and studying those front to back before you proceed any furhter.
Two books I find very informative are "ABC's Of Reloading" and "Lyman 49th Edition Reloading Manual". Not only do they list many various loading recipes for your cartridges, but histories, used components, minimum and maximum loads. ALSO, in the front of these books are very detailed instructions, steps, considerations, and required equipment for reloading.

Once you and your missus have looked the books over, and get an understanding of the elements involved as far as time constraints, safety, reloading area setup, etc- THEN it will be so much easier for folks here to guide you through 'specific' issues rather than such a broad 'general' area.

For me, reloading is very much a worthwhile project, and highly enjoyable to boot. I don't knock folks who use progressive presses- I enjoyed one myself while I was the guy who cranked out practice and training ammunition for the Sheriff's Office I worked for. But, after 14 years of using my single stage- I still haven't graduated up to a progressive for my personal use. I enjoy the time and precision I get from the single stage (which happens to be a Lee and an obsolete Herter's by the way). Anyway, for the new reloader getting his/her basics down- I do recommend a single stage.
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