How much $$ to setup a solid reloading rig?

[T.C.]

How much of an investment am I looking at for a good (do NOT read "money is no object!"...but GOOD) reloading setup?

I'm considering reloading 9mm and 45 ACP

[72gator]

If you opt for Lee brand equiptment, $300 is doable. See equiptment list in the sticky. Lee Pro 1000 or Classic Turret press are both good options, and are available in kits saving you some money. There seems to be excellent feedback by Lee users here on the forum.

[angus6]

Kempf <http://tinyurl.com/yb3p2sa> has a Lee Classic Turret kit thats not bad add a scale both upgrades a extra turret and the second set of dies and your in the $300 range .
Great press have been using one for a couple years now for 9mm,38,223,308 but if I was just going to do hand guns I'd look for a used dillon square D. picked one up used for $175 and love it for the hand gun stuff

[Sevens]

REALLY depends on how much ammo you think you might need and how often. Also depends on what the future holds for you in calibers.

If you will never buy another caliber the rest of your days, the answer will be different.

How much do you shoot? Ho much MORE do you see yourself shooting? What's the actual purpose for the ammo you intend to make? Are you simply a guy who enjoys a range day a dozen times a year or less? Or do you fancy yourself a IPDA or IPSC shooter? Deer hunter, with designs on rifle ammo also? High power match shooter?

[jmorris]

You can make good ammunition with a Lee hand loader for less than $30 in equipment just not very much of it very quickly. You can spend $1500-2000 and make 100 rounds of match quality ammo in 3.5 minutes. Most people look for production rates (and prices) that fall in-between those two.

[Dustin0]

I have about $300 in my Classic Turret press, scales, tumbler, dies everything else. You can go cheaper with a single stage press. If you want to turn you about 100 rounds an hour get the Turret.

[Foxbat]

"I'm considering reloading 9mm and 45 ACP "

Much depends on your expected volume. Without it any recommendation is likely to miss its target.

[BigJimP]

You'll need a "startup kit" - brass tumbler, scale, reloading manual - $200-$300.

You'll need a press - with dies ( Dillon 650 ) is good solid, long term press for about $600. If $ 600 is too much / look at the Dillon SDB for about $ 425 and it comes with dies.

A 2nd set of dies, conversion kit - about $ 200.

So call it $1,000 ....for a solid loader like the Dillon 650 / if you go the route of the Dillon SDB you can do it for about $ 650 total.
---------------------------
adding a case feeder, other options are things you can do down the road - depending on what press you buy.

[azredhawk44]

Blue kool-aid is expensive. It's also geared for high volume shooters.

.45acp and 9mm parabellum are very easy, light cartridges to reload. If this is where your reloading adventures begin and end (no larger bottleneck rifle cases in the future) and your volume is a few hundred rounds a month...

Get a single stage press. Lee Classic Cast is a good choice and inexpensive.

You'll need dies. Spend the extra $10 or so for carbide over regular steel dies. Lee makes fine dies for most shooters' needs. Especially for pistol.

You'll need a powder scale. I have a Lee balance scale gathering dust in the garage now that I use an RCBS digital scale, but the inexpensive Lee balance will continue to coexist simply because it is reliable and accurate and doesn't need batteries or electricity.

You'll need a powder measure. Here, I part from the Lee product line and recommend an RCBS Uniflow. I've had a Lee Perfect Powder Measure fail on me in an insidious manner, throwing slightly increasing charges of powder. Could have cost me fingers, face or life if I hadn't caught it.

You'll need a priming tool. I suggest the Lee Auto-Prime II. this is a press-mounted tool that is fantastic. I have the original hand held auto-prime and I snap levers on it every couple thousand rounds, which is annoying. The auto-prime II eliminates this weak point in the system and I love mine. I've used the RCBS hand prime tool and hated it. Very mickey-mouse.

You'll need a case tumbler to clean your cases. Watch sites such as midwayUSA and Cabelas for media tumblers on sale. I got mine for $20 from Midway. I went several thousand rounds without tumbling my cases, though, so it isn't critical. Especially if you get carbide dies. If you get steel dies, it is more critical.

You'll need instruction. Lee's Modern Reloading: Second Edition is a great book. Read the first 2/3 before you start anything. The back 1/3 has load data.

As far as procedure is concerned:

You lose time every time you change your dies or change your process, so You'll want to process your brass in batches. Save lots of brass before beginning, and I'd suggest you process them in lots of at least 200 or so to begin with once you learn what you're doing.

Decap/resize all 200 of a given batch at once.

Then, prime all 200.

Then, powder-charge all 200.

Then, seat and crimp all 200.

If you change dies for each box of 50 as you go along, your rate of production drops sharply.

For handgun, I tend to work brass in large tupperware container batches. About 300-400, depending on caliber. I still use a single stage press to this day, though I do have a turret gathering dust in a corner that I need to put to use.

For rifle, I'm more meticulous and itemize my brass into tracked lots of either 20 or 50. Not necessary for 9mm or .45, though.

[dsv424]

I started out with the Lee Classic Turret from Kempf's for about $300.00 along with some extra dies I got in the beginning. Now after reloading for about a year and doing 10 different calibers counting the trimmers and a multitude of different gadjets I have accumulated plus powder, primers, bullets, and cases I have probably invested about $1500.00. But for me like a lot of other newbies I got addicted to the hobby and just love to reload. So I'm always looking for something new to try. Oh, didn't mention the 8 new guns I have purchased since starting reloading. Guess I could say my wifes not to happy with my new hobby though.

[Kyo]

I ebayed my deluxe kit for 135, ebayed the dies for 55, got 1000 bullets for 75, primers for 50(yes, it was too much), and powder for 20.
So 335 for my first 1000 rounds. pays for itself because reloads for 50 at the range are 18+tax and it costs me about 7.50 a box of 50. This is for 45 ACP btw.

[Farmland]

So the only reason ever to get a progressive press is because you are geared to high volume, I don't think so. Though is was nice to see people think only the blue Dillon press can do this. Really any progressive press can crank out high volume amount of rounds. Though my Dillon 650 does a pretty good job at it. The Horandy can keep pace with it though.

However this is not the only point to ever consider a progressive press. A progressive press will do very nice when running off any amount of rounds and there are a lot of times I use it for 50 to 100 pistol rounds. I have to do less steps individually and its pretty nice doing it in a far shorter amount of time.

Really there are a lot of nice progressive presses, Dillon, Hornady, RCBS and some others. I do not think the Lee is in the same category as these but it can even get the job done.

There is a very nice lineup of single stage presses such as the Lee Classic Cast, Horandy, RCBS, Lyman and others. I really love the single press when it comes to rifle ammunition when I really want to concentrate on each individual round. However I have been known to load some hand gun rounds when I feel like doing something a little different.

Of course there are the turrets that are offered by the same companies and the single stage press and it has it's won set of advantages.

So if you are looking to reload with a good set up and want to go the route of a single stage set up then you can get by for $150 - $400 by buying a good single stage kit. The turret will cost you a little but more.

A progressive press would put you in between the $450 and $1,000 range depending on what you are looking to do.

I have what I would call a good set up for reloading, though I don't have everything I want yet. That figure for me is just under $2,500 and includes a single stage press, two progressive presses, and a lot or related equipment such as scales, powder measures, case trimmers and the like.

If I just wanted to reload I could get by with what I think is the best Single Stage Press (Lee Classic Cast) a good powder measure, scale and some odds and ends for case prep ( hand trimmer, tumbler etc) for around $400.

[BigJimP]

Its my opinion, Dillion is priced fairly for what you get - and you'll get a good press. But all the big names make good equipment - RCBS, Hornady, etc. Some of them are a little cheaper than Dillon - but not better in my opinion - and I've used them all.

I'm not a big fan of a single stage press / it makes the reloading process real tedious to me - especially when a good progressive press for handgun calibers like 9mm and .45 acp can turn out 1,000 rounds a hour or more. I enjoy the reloading process / shooting my own rounds / teaching the grandkids to load, etc - but when it takes an hour to get 1 or 2 boxes ... I have better things to do with my time.

Be honest with yourself about your budget - buy what you can afford / but for what its worth I've had a Dillon 650 for about 5 yrs now, with a case feeder, and I'd buy it again - primarily because it has the "powder check option" - and I like that as an extra safety measure to prevent squib loads or double charges - both of which are very dangerous.

To me a press with a "powder check station" is manadatory if I was buying a new press / its a good innovation - but Hornady, RCBS, etc have it as well. In Dillon's lineup - you can't get the powder check on a SDB or the 550 / you have to go to the 650 press.

[Farmland]

Yeah I can agree with 19 years experience with the Dillon 650 it is a great machine. I have the powder check too and in all the years I have had it it has never went off. I often push it just to see if the batteries are still good.

I finally broke something on mine this Sunday. I forgot to move the triangle cam for the shell loader to the correct side when loading rifle and I cracked it. I sent an email for a free replacement on Sunday night and it came in the mail today.

[chris in va]

I just started reloading 9mm. My entire setup with the Lee Hand Press kit totals $120. Redding scale, Lyman book, calipers, loading block, 4pc carbide set (on clearance!) and used kinetic bullet puller.

Sure there's a reason why they call it the ThighMaster, but so far I've made 1000 rounds and all have worked perfectly once I figured out the correct OAL for each gun in use.

I can sit and watch a couple movies while decapping and sizing 800 shells picked up at the range. Cleaned them in a solution of vinegar, salt and water, dried in the oven for an hour.

Sure it would be great to have a turret or single stage press, but then I'd have to clamp or bolt it to something and having that thing in the livingroom would be awkward.

BTW everything except the manual fits in the box it came in. Everything. I can take it to the range and adjust OAL if I want to, or just take it with me if I ever feel the need.


I know this isn't what you're looking for, but just showing that a basic reloading setup doesn't have to cost a left kidney.