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Old June 12, 2006, 02:25 AM   #1
choover
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A list of EVERYTHING I would need

Ok, looking to reload as previous post said. I am wanting to start with reloading 2 calibers, 357 mag, and 357 sig. Putting together a price list here

Please post what would be the best starter kit to buy, most economical, and include anything extra I would need to get with it in order to begin. Please recommend bullet manufactures, powder ect. I know I am asking a lot but I am looking to find out what I have to have if I wanted to begin tomorrow.
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Old June 12, 2006, 09:34 AM   #2
JoeHatley
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Here is a good 3 part article from Real Guns that should get you started.

www.realguns.com/archives/reload.htm

Links to the 2nd and 3rd parts are at the bottom of the 1st article.

Good Luck...

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Old June 13, 2006, 07:46 AM   #3
BigO01
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As far as startup costs go here are a few things for you to look at .

Press kit from Midway $90 on sale $94 regular price http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=622290

Dies $29 http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=242098

Frankford Arsenal Stainless Steel Dial Caliper Standard $20

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=119623

Thats all you realy need for startup tools , although if you want to clean your cases this is a nice addition .
Frankford Arsenal Case Tumbler with Rotary-7 Media Separator Kit 110 Volt $79
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=616153

So for $202 + shipping you're good to go for one caliber

If you have a local source for powder and primers you can get 1000 primers for about $16-20
1 lb of powder runs about $17 , and if you go with 4 lb cans it is even lessper lb .

If you load a popular target/practice load 200gr lead semi wadcutters fill the bill for about $30 for 500 also from Midway .

A typical load is say winchester 231 with 5.4 grains of powder for practice .

Cost per round is pretty much this
Powder .015
Primer .02
Bullet .06

Total round is $0.095

Total for a box of 50 $4.75

A box of Winchester white box Ball ammo at Walmart runs me $20 + tax and I buy it for the brass . At $9.50 for my reloads thats a savings of a little over 50% .

All of this doesn't include shipping and taxes of course on your tools or components but that isn't much realy , and if you have a local source for powder and primers the cost may be less especially if you buy larger quantities than I have laid out here .

As far as hard work goes , well , I have never considered reloading to be hard work it is and easy sit down and go at your own pace past time .

Good luck with whatever you decide .

I posted this on another forum for a new guy about the 45acp the prices will run the same for any standard pistol caliber .

As far as good powders go Winchester 231 is a good one and for your sig try Power Pistol made by Alliant here is a link to there website and they have reloading data on it for all of there powders http://www.alliantpowder.com/default.aspx

here are a few more powder companies

http://www.accuratepowder.com/

http://www.hodgdon.com/

http://www.imrpowder.com/

http://www.vihtavuori-lapua.com/
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Old June 13, 2006, 01:35 PM   #4
choover
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Thks Big, thats what I was looking for
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Old June 13, 2006, 02:36 PM   #5
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stuff n tools

I don't know it it was a special sale or not, but recently Midway had digital calipers and micrometers for around that $20.00 price. I'd been wanting to convert to digital and got one of each--they work just fime--better than the dial type for me.
A copy of "Modern Reloading" would be a good investment.
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Old June 13, 2006, 02:51 PM   #6
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If you happen to have an ultrasonic cleaner...

You might want to try it before investing in a tumbler. I've got a small one that I got from amazon.com for about $35 about a year ago primarily for cleaning eyeglasses and small parts, but it will hold about 50 .38 Spl brass (deprimed) and does a good job in about 10 minutes. I spread them out on a towel and let them dry out overnight, but I would imagine you could put them on a cookie sheet in a 200 degree oven for about an hour if you're impatient.
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Old June 13, 2006, 03:14 PM   #7
BigO01
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I forgot about those amamnn thank you , those will be very usefull especialy for auto pistols if your cartridges Overall length is off by too much you will get feeding jams , I try to keep my reloads very near that of a factory round +-.005 of an inch for my 45's .

Also when it comes to a starter press I strongly suggest a turret , because you will be able to get all your dies set and not mess with them as you can change out the entire turret head and change to a different caliber .

With the Lee 4 hole a extra turret head is $10 .
Lee's turret has two problems . 1 the priming system can be a pain in the butt . You can get one of their auto primes $10 + set of shell holders for it $13 and make priming an extra step after you resize and deprime your cases or you can try polishing the bottom of your sell holder .
The second problem is the turrets indexing it fails alot but all you have to do is index it by hand .

Lee's stuff is inexpensive and sometimes has a few glitches but it will do the job and not cost you a ton for tools .
I have heard alot of good about the new Classic Turret that is made of cast and not plastic if I were just starting out I would buy that one myself , and may even get one as a second press in the future .
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Old June 13, 2006, 06:12 PM   #8
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I second the idea of starting of with a turret press, for the convenience of setting up the dies once and forgetting about it (unless you change bullets, which may take a minute or two of twisting on the seater adjustment knob to get the new overall length right.) I started with a Lee turret press 20+ years ago, and used it happily until I moved up to their Loadmaster about 10 years ago. Still use the turret occasionally, though, so it was not a lost investment. And I think I've seen where Lee now has a more automated primer feed device you can add to a turret press - probably worth looking into, as this was the biggest nuisance on an otherwise very productive machine.

If you catch them at the right time, Lee people will admit that their machines seem to work best for people who have a bit of mechanical inquisitiveness. Both of my Lee presses took a bit of fiddling to get running smoothly - they were not just out of the box, bolt it down, and away you go. Took maybe an hour or two to get everything just right, polished up, tightened properly, etc. Most of the fiddling is described in the instruction materials that come with the machines, or on the fairly extensive Q&As on the Lee web site. Once you get one of their presses running it is usually pretty smooth sailing unless one of the little plastic parts gives out (typically the rod indexer on the turret press, the primer feed slider on the Loadmaster) but these parts are only a dollar or two, so you just keep a few spares on hand for when the inevitable happens.

The payback for fiddling with a Lee press is usually much lower cost of acquisition and expansion. Check out the price differential between a complete caliber change (including primer sizes) on a Dillon 650 and a Lee Loadmaster, for example. I'm pretty sure that a single caliber conversion with primer change on the Dillon is more than a complete second Loadmaster set up for a second caliber.
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Old June 16, 2006, 03:08 AM   #9
choover
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thks to everyone for your help, you've all been great
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