Buying Re-loading Equiptment

[bk83gold]

I have been reloading with my dads reloading supplies and equipment. I am getting ready to move to the other side of town and with gas the way it is I think it's time for me to buy all my own equipment. How much should I put aside to get all the equipment needed to reload all my own bullets? I don't want the cheapest stuff on the market. Would I be able to get away with $600?

Thanks
Brandon

[lee n. field]

Depends.

Budget a couple hundred at least for a basic single stage setup. Will you be able to get set up with $600? Should be able to.

What does your Dad have? If you're used to using a progressive press, those are going to be more. If single stage, consider one of the kits out there like RCBS' Rock Chucker Supreme Kit.

[Bullet94]

I’ll second lee n. field’s suggestion. I don’t think you can beat a Rock Chucker.

[ethernectar]

Ditto on the 'Chucker

Depending on how many calibers you plan on loading for you can get a pretty complete setup with six bills.

matt

[rwilson452]

The short answer is, "that depends"

What are you going to reload?
How much are you going to reload?
If you want to load lots of pistol stuff your going to want a progressive press.
If your doing small numbers of precision rifle ammo. a single or turret press is in order.

I would suggest you stick with whatever your dad has to maintain continuity.

Most mfg offer kit sets for whatever press you decide on.

And lastly, if you don't like loading on what your dad has, you need to shop around

[guntotin_fool]

Question one. how much do you shoot?
if the answer is more than a little. forget a single stage and bite the bullet and buy a dillon. Instead of spending HOURS at the bench making enough for a half hour of handgun practice. I shoot all i want and spend just a couple of hours a week at the bench. I can and do load 400 rounds an hour of handgun or 223. bigger rifle cartriges do take a longer bit of time. maybe only get a couple of hundred rounds an hour of those. A Dillon 550 b will run about 350 bucks and each additional caliber will cost you about 70 bucks. truly worth it. get a good scale and you are set to go.

in my mind single stage press's are outdated and money wasted. There are just better technologies out there and it pays to use them.

[bk83gold]

The press my dad has is a single stage. I shot allot and I mean a lot. I only get one day off a week as I am a manager at a Chevy dealer. When I go out shooting I can go threw 5 to 600 rds of 44 mag and 357 and at least 1000 rds of 22. I never knew how much money reloading could save a person until I started shooting this much.

Dillon 550 b you say is there any other ones I should look at also? I have done a google search but there are a lot of presses to look at when google brings the information up.

Thanks
Brandon

[cheygriz]

If you shoot as much as you say, then you might as well start out with what you're going to eventually end up with. Dillon XL 650.

[Leftoverdj]

Yeah, at the volume you are shooting, you need a good progessive and Dillon is the best bet. In your shoes, I'd also keep an eye open for a used Rockchucker or a Lee Classic Cast to go with it. Other guns will come your way, and the setup cost and changeover time for the Dillon just ain't worth it for calibers you don't shoot much.

[BigJakeJ1s]

Don't overlook the Hornady Lock-N-Load AP progressive. Most of the features of the Dillon 650 at less than the price of a 550, with cheaper caliber conversions to boot. I don't own either, but am leaning strongly towards the Hornady. I've had excellent customer service from Hornady too (as good as anyone's experiences with Dillon).

Andy

[Acegoesbang]

hey if ya gonna shoot pistols just popping off rounds get a progressive or turret press like ammomaster rcbs or the dillon 650 at like 1500 rnds a hour but if you want to puch holes out at 100 yards and 5 inch groups and tighter at 500 then you need a single stage press the rock chucker or the orange crusher fire form cases and run you bullet out about .003-.005 from rifleings with long heavy low pressure rounds and make sure twist rate is right for the weight ....hand trikkle powders and reload a perfect bullet every time ... if it takes me 2 hours to reload 100 bullet that i can take out a black bird at 200+yards with or a coyote at 800 yards it's worth it .. if you reload to save money go cheap get a ammomaster or cheaper lee pro 1000 complete kit of popular rounds for just 133.16 and that every thing you need but dies n lube/cases n powder n primers

or lee load master $220 .. all i am saying is this i am not going to pay $1000+ to turn out factory grade ammo or surplus grade moreless when wolf sells but cheaper than dirt but i will pay good money for a single stage press that will perduce bench rest bullets...

[bk83gold]

For the most part I am just pinking cans or paper. Can the Dillon 550 still make bench rest quality ammo if I take my time? I would think that an expensive press like that would be able to do what ever you told it to do I have always had good accuracy with factory loads so if my new press could make bullets to that grade I would be more than happy. I have 6 days a week that I can reload before my only Sunday off so I probably don't need to go the Dillon 650. I need to use the rest of then money for dies and all the other tools needs to reload. I appreciate all the advice from every one.

Brandon

[scottys1]

I started with a Rockchucker that I still have and use regularly.

When my ammo appetite grew, I got a Dillon 550. The 550 is capable of building top quality ammo, but I usually won't fire it up unless I'm going to load a big batch (3-400 rds or more).

For bench rest quality rifle ammo, I would prefer to weigh each powder charge and for this you can't beat a single stage or turret press. I guess there is no reason you couldn't use a single station on a 550 as a single stage press.

Leftoverdj has a good idea. Buy a 550 for your high volume stuff and shop around for a used single stage. They can often be had inexpensively at gun shows, E-bay, or asking around at gun stores.

[bk83gold]

With that being said I think I already have the best of both worlds. My brother in law and my father both have the Rock chucker single stage presses. I can buy the dillon and reload my bulk ammo all day long and when I want really top qualily ammo I can go to my brother in law's house or my dads. I did not think about that until your last post. Thanks for sparking the idea in my head.

Brandon

[Guy B. Meredith]

I purchased a Hornady LNL on sale, primer tray, dies and scale for considerably less than $600. Consumables like 2000 bullets ($100), powder ($20), primers (5000 for $60) and 2000 new brass (about $180) added to that for a total less than $1000.