Recommend Beginners Setup

[Tucker 1371]

Ok so I'm the kind of person who likes to buy once and never upgrade. I am currently looking at buying an RCBS Pro 2000 auto indexing press for $568 from Amazon and I plan to reload .45 ACP and .308 Win mostly for the purpose of saving money. I have about 300-400 pieces of .308 brass and a full gallon size ziplock of .45 ACP.

Can anyone recommend the rest of the doo dads I need to start reloading? And where to get them for a good price? Shell plates, dies, scales, case cleaners, books etc. I love links btw.

Also if you have any of these things for sale you can PM me.

Thanks!

[nemesiss45]

I buy most of my supplies from midway, they seem to usually have the best prices, but there are plenty of good sites out there.

as for what else you will need...

die set for each cartridge you will be reloading
extra die plate(s) for quick changing
calipers
scale
case trimmer
case prep tools (at least a deburr tool)
case lube
case cleaner (vibratory, rotary, or ultrasonic)
shell trays
assorted trays cups and bins
ammunition storage boxes

bullets, powder, primers, obviously

I'm probably forgetting some things you should have, and there are tons of things you will end up wanting... but that list should get your started


edit: also, get a reloading manual. I have the Lyman manual and it is great, but others are good too. buy it and read it through before starting (and it might be helpful to read one before buying anything) they are big books, but most of the pages are load recipes. the actual reloading instructions only take up like 50-100 pages.

[Jim243]

Take your pick, hopefully I can save a 1,000 words.

Jim

[Jay24bal]

Aside from the normal precaution of a beginner using a progressive press that you can read all over this forum, how much loading do you plan on doing?

If you have 300-400 308 Win cases, and about 700 45 ACP cases, a progressive press may be a little of overkill.

Sure it will get the job done, and get it done faster than a single stage or turret press, but if you only plan on reloading a little bit, it may not be worth the extra complexity of a progressive press.

[Gadawg88]

In no particular order:
Powder Valley
Midsouth shooters Supply
Graf & Sons
Gamaliel Supply
Natchez Shooter Supply (will not ship to TN, GA or AL)
Midway USA
Third Generation Shooters Supply
Missouri Bullet Co. (Lead bullets)
Precision Delta (jacketed bullets)
X-treme (plated bullets)
Cabelas (they have components but are usually high but sometimes have stock when others do not)

Your first purchase, even before the press should be a good manual. There are many, but the Lyman 49th ed. is a good start. Like the previous poster said, think hard about your needs and quantity to be reloaded before you drop the hammer on the progressive. I am not familiar with the RCBS Pro 2000, but I am sure it is a fine press. They make good equipment and I am not trying to persuade you not to buy it or turn your post into a which press is better rant. But, if you don't need to crank out 300 to 400 rounds an hour to keep up with your shooting habit, then a progressive may be more than you need. You can get a Lee classic turret press for $110 that will crank out 150 rounds an hour of 45 acp. You can load your 308 on it as well. You can easily remove the auto indexing rod and use it as a single stage as well. For that matter, you could buy a Lee Classic cast single stage for $114 to go with it to do high quality precision reloading for your rifle and still have over $300 left over to spend on all the stuff in Jim243's picture ( calipers, scale, dies, case trimmer, tumbler, media, powder trickler, loading blocks just for a start).

Many popular powders, particularly pistol powders, and some primers are hard to come by in case you haven't figured that out yet. Good luck with your journey. Lots of good advice to be had here.

[g.willikers]

Boy, what a can-o'-worms question.
The variety of answers will probably rival the number of those who reply.
It kind of depends on the amount and quality of ammo you want to reload.
And whether reloading is a goal, or hobby, in itself, or just a means to an end.
So, before there's meaningful answers to your question, there's a few we must ask.
How much ammo do you intend to load?
Which is directly related, of course, to how much ammo do you intend to shoot - say monthly?
Are you going to stay with the calibers you mentioned, or do you have aspirations of expanding to others?
Are you a minimalist or do you like to have everything gizmo and gadget?

[mikld]

Just wondering; do you have any reloading experience? Your knowledge and experience will have an influence on the tools you'll need...

[theshephard]

If your the kind, like me, who's "too poor to buy it twice", I really recommend buying this book, Handloading for Competition. Even if you don't plan on competing, there's a lot in here that can be helpful and particularly the author's discussion of tools that work and ones that don't add much to accuracy. It's about 12 years old now, but not enough has changed in reloading to make it out of touch or out of date.

[iroczu]

wish midway shipped to canada! so much good stuff on midway and pricing pretty decent at least compared to here in canada, but I'm running a Lee 50th Anniversary Reloader Kit plus bought another press so running two of them, with a rcbs dribbler and bought a digital scale. I didn't like how the one that came in the kit measured with inconsistencies, and! the primer autofeeder with the kit sucks imo!

so far works good i'm new to this too! i'm only about 80 rounds in to date but reloading some more this week for the weekend, good luck with which ever setup you go with! I find it relaxing and chilled

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Might help to know how much you shoot/plan to shoot? Per week,month? Might be anything from a single stage to a turret press to begin with. Also Budget?

[Farmland]

I'm not going to start by asking your budget or how much you shoot. Things change and they change fast at times expectantly. People will tell you start with a single stage, turret and even a progressive. No one is going to agree.

You said you like links so I will try to help.

Here is a site with some good information and even goes through the types of presses.

http://ultimatereloader.com/

I started with the Dillon 650 and never reloaded one round before I started with this press. It took me all of an hour to get it going, of course I did countless hours of reading prior to starting. I used many sources for information.

No I am not going to tell which equipment manufacture either, I have used most of them and have settled on two companies, Dillon and Lee but in reality that means nothing except to me.

Where to buy? There are tons of places and some great on line place two. Here are some of my favorites.

http://www.gunstop.com/

http://www.midwayusa.com/

http://www.recobstargetshop.com/browse.cfm/2,197.html

Yes there are more but simple searches will find them for you.

Powder, bullets and primers. Most people have problems finding powder, mainly because they all flock to the big internet places such as Powder Valley. I buy 90% of my stuff local and have never paid the high price or hazmat fees most people pay. It is your choice where you buy but you may have to search local or pay the over price that most famous online retailers are asking. I tend to stay away from Bass Pro and Cabellas do to their high pricing. Like I said search around if I mention ones that have a lot of stock I guarantee you they will have none by tomorrow. But trust me powder, even pistol powder is easy to get if you know where to go.

Primers and bullets are pretty well in stock at most places and it is just shopping for the best pricing. The same can be said about most brass. Just search and in about a half hour you will plenty of place to spend your money.

Here is a decent link for what you will need.

http://www.handloads.com/articles/?id=33

This is another one.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/p...oReloading.pdf

There are a lot more out there but just do a search.

So you might ask what do I have?

Interesting when I think of it. Lets cover what I have had and used.

Dillon 650 (Progressive) http://www.dillonprecision.com/


http://brianenos.com/

Lee Breech Lock and Lee Classic cast (Single Stage)
http://leeprecision.com/reloading-presses/

Hornady LNL (Progressive) & Hornady LNL Classic (Single)
http://www.hornady.com/reloading/metallic-reloading

Lyman T Mag (Turret)
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/presses-and-kits/

Now I just use the Dillon 650 and Lee Classic Cast because it works the best for me.

Dies - I like them all and three main players in order are Dillon, RCBS and Hornady. @ NOTE Dillon dies are really made for progressive reloading, they lack a die that will bell the case.

Everything else is a mix, I like the Lee hand held primer but have the better RCBS. I use a RCBS balance scale but also a Lyman digital scale.

I could go on for ever but I think you get my point and I hope the links help you on your way.

My only warning if some one pushes one brand over another take it like a grain of salt. You may ask why I decided to go with the two that I now have. Well it worked for me and that is the important part.

The thing that is nice there are a lot of presses and equipment to fit any budget and only you know what you will be happy with. Is there any I would stray away from? No not really I can make anything work.

Have fun and I hope I started you in the correct path to make some decisions.

[skizzums]

www.grafs.com (fav for components)
www.fsreloading.com (my fav for hardware)

[iraiam]

One thing about re-loading any ammunition. Pay Attention!

No listening to music, telling jokes, watching TV, or in-depth conversations etc... while reloading ammunition, concentrate on the task at hand, the more automated the press the more stuff happens at once.

I strictly observe this rule while reloading, and have loaded many tens of thousand of rounds with only one single defective round (I ruined my perfect record )

[Tucker 1371]

theshephard: If your the kind, like me, who's "too poor to buy it twice"

This is me in a nutshell

Thanks for the responses y'all. I don't have a massive amount of brass on hand but I plan on ramping up my production to a couple thousand rounds of each per year while working a 40 hour week and indulging in other hobbies (working on my truck, guitar, etc). My goal is to crank out a massive amount of ammo of quality comparable to milsurp (so not match ammo but not Tula).

From what I'm gathering item number one should be a manual, Lyman 49th ed sounds good to me.

I need dies, I know different dies do different things, are all dies caliber specific or do some dies do things for any caliber?

Here is how I understand this press I'm looking at works-
Stage 1 pops out the old primer.
Stage 2 flares the case mouth.
Stage 3 loads the powder charge.
Stage 4 seats the bullet.
Stage 5 crimps the case securing the bullet and completing the process.
Somewhere in between the new primer is seated....

Do all of these require a caliber specific die?

Also, how long does a case tumbler take compared to a sonic cleaner?

Also, thank you Farmland, the link to brianenos was very helpful, I'm considering one of his Dillon 550B NR packages now

The RCBS Pro 2000 looks like it comes with primer strips, shell trays, and a powder measure/dispenser and micrometer. So that leaves me with a scale, case cleaning device, dies, shell plates, a manual, calipers?, and consumables to buy? Am I missing anything?

Sorry if I don't exactly know the nomenclature of everything I am attempting to talk about

[Danielmurph]

Welcome to reloading I myself am also new. While there are precautions to be aware of it really isn't as some would make it sound. My biggest advice I could offer is do a lot of research. There are some dangers but like many things in life common sense and knowledge will keep you safe. As far as a case tumbler I got mine from harbor freight as well as other various tools you may need. The tumbler cost me 40 dollars. Dies and shell plates I ordered from graf and sons, they were very quick with processing my orders. Powders and primes I got locally because I couldn't afford to buy enough to mitigate the hazmat fee. But projectiles I get from grads. Good luck and take it slow and remember use common sense.

[Jim243]

Start with the 45 ACP's they are the easiest to load and give you a margin of safety when reloading. Pay attention to details, check everything twice and don't go faster than you are comfortable on any one step, when in doubt, stop and ask someone here for advice. I know it will seem like a lot of questions, but everyone will be willing to help.

Good luck and shoot straight.
Jim

[Jim243]

I need dies, I know different dies do different things, are all dies caliber specific or do some dies do things for any caliber?

Yes dies are specific to each caliber, general you will purchase a set of dies (2 to 3 per set) for each caliber.

The first is the decaping die that full length sizes the case as well as pops the used primer out of the case.

depending on who's die sets you use (I like Lee's) the second die will be putting the powder in the case and flairing the mouth of the case. (with other die sets this is done with a funnel and does not flair the case mouth.

The third or second depending on die set will be for seating the bullet into the case at a specific OAL that you will need to set with the die. The seating dies can also put a tapered crimp to the case if you need to. Generally pistol cases are not crimped. Revolver rounds are almost always crimped. Rifle cases are about 50/50 crimped depending on the reloader and their philosophy.

Be sure to get a caliper (tool for measuring OAL), Harbor Freight has cheap ones, I personally like the digital.

Jim

There are hundreds if not thousands of video's on Y-Tube on reloading and how it is done, plan on spending a lot of time watching these.

Good Luck.
Jim

[fretless33]

In hindsight, I probably should have gone with a single stage press rather than a progressive simply because I use my progressive press as a single stage most of the time anyway and don't have the need to crank out hundreds of rounds in one session...yet LOL

With that said, why don't you go with something like the Hornady Lock-n-Load classic kit? It comes with virtually everything you need (including a manual), so pretty much all you would have to get are the caliber specific dies and trimmer. Look at kit options, because some kits are more complete than others.

I personally would get a kit, trimmer, caliber specific dies and a separate crimping die and call it a day...you could probably get all this for under 500 bucks!!

I forgot to mention that I also use a tumbler and sonic cleaner for my preferred cleaning methods...from my experience I found you'll spend the most time prepping your brass than anything else.

[Tucker 1371]

Ok the picture is becoming a little clearer for me now, thanks for the info again.

So from what I understand about the RCBS press I'm looking at I'm going to need a separate case flaring die as that is it's own stage in the press as is the loading of the powder.

Also from what my googling has told me apparently the same shell holder/shell plate should work for both .308 and .45 ACP.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/249...ProductFinding

[WESHOOT2]

Dillon XL650, with case feeder, roller handle, and powder-check station(s).

[stubbicatt]

all offer good beginner's kits. They are adequate to get started. You will add to them as you go, different tools for different tasks.

Last summer I put together a kit for my son, set me back north of $500 by the time I was done. He is still making changes, buying additional tooling.

[Gunnels]

The press you are buying in not a beginner kit. It is a very nice kit, but not a beginner kit. Based upon how much brass you have you will probably run out in about two hours.

When you first start reloading you will take a lot of time getting your press adjusted properly. Progressive presses will take longer.

You will also make some mistakes. It is better not to make mistakes when your are grinding out 300 rounds an hour. A slower press will allow you more time to focus on what you are doing.

You will also probably spend some time experimenting with various loads to determine what you and your guns like best. When experimenting you only want to make 10 or 20 rounds and then go test them. Again, progressives are not the best for doing that.

Supplies, primers should be available locally, bullets are available online, power is almost impossible to find anywhere. Don't set your heart on just one powder. You probably will never find it. Narrow your search down to a group of powders and be grateful if you find one of them. You should be able to find your initial supply of used brass locally. Try places like Craigslist and the local shooting ranges. Only shoot at ranges that allow you to pick up your brass. You should never to buy any additional brass after your initial purchase. Brass is like rabbits. It seems to multiply.

[Tucker 1371]

How many times can one case be safely fired?

[Gunnels]

I only reload pistol cartridges. For pistol cartridges you can reload them until they break or you loose them. I think you said you were going to reload rifle bullets also. They are different. More limited life span of the brass.

[Brian Pfleuger]

How many times can one case be safely fired?

Handgun brass will last until you lose it. Bolt action rifle brass, properly sized, will last a long, long time. At least a couple dozen loads. Semi-auto rifles are rough on brass.