Reloading equipment

Should have just got a press.

Electronic scale with auto feed.

Thanks. Will definitely look into that. I probably haven't used that type of scale since middle school.

Electronic scales wander under air flow and flourescent light. They are faster. I havve a cheap Frankford arsenal one but I use my Redding. The beam is more consistent unless you spend alot of money on an electric.

I use a Redding no.2 beam scale. Its accurate for what I need and its not that much slower. Its all relative anyway. Get some check weights too.

A bullet puller. If you seat a bullet with no powder or forget to size it, or something stupid. I have an RCBS die with the 270 collet. You could get the kinetic hammer for $15 bucks though.

I have over $1000 invested in my reloading equipment. i have everything I need. Some of it top of the line, but mostly Lee because its cheap and it works.

You will need a case trimmer. The $5 Lee hand trimmer works awesome but its slow. I got the Wilson case trimmer with micrometer. Its nice but expensive.

How are you priming cases? If you need a hand primer get the Lee ergo primer. Nothing beats it unless its a $100 Sinclair.


The Lee loader only neck sizes. Eventually your cases wont fit in the chamber and you will need a press to full length size them but this will be after around 4 or more loading's per case.

Congratulations, Upgrade on starting the journey that is handloading. If you're like most handloaders I know (myself included), one reason you're getting into handloading is to save money on shooting costs. OTOH, it's been my experience that you'll spend as much $$ as before, but you'll shoot a WHOLE LOT MORE! (And enjoy it, as well. )

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Now.
Comments, questions, complaints, moans, gripes, or bitches?

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Comments: You may not like some of my suggestions as it'll cost you a little more money, but it'll be money well spent. In addition, some of these recs pertain to future purchases.
-Do yourself a favor and don't settle for the Lee Classic Loader, even if you are just beginning. Buy a press of some sort. A press won't cost that much more and will be so much faster and useful. The dipper is useful for dumping an approximate powder charge on your scale then weighing it exactly. I bought my first (and only press) over 30 years ago (what's now called a 3 hole Lee Classic Turret Press).There's nothing wrong w/ the single stage presses, but if set up right, the turret press can load much faster than a single stage. If you buy a Classic Loader, you won't still be using it after 30 years. Buy quality tools the first time as you'll be using them for MANY years.
-Yes, buy a hand primer. I still exclusively use my >30 year old Lee Auto Prime.
-I prefer the $5 Lee case cutter and Lee case length gauge (you have to buy a different one for each caliber you load for) over my $80 Redding lathe trimmer. Buy the power drill adaptor.
-Granted, the Lee stuff isn't as refined as other brands, but mine has worked well. I use a variety of brands w/ my dies, including Lee, RCBS, Hornady and Redding. Lee dies are noticeably "cheaper" looking than the others, but I still produce sub MOA loads for my son's 223 using Lee dies. I don't like the spindle set up of Hornady dies. As far as dies, I think "the other green" (Redding) makes the highest quality, best looking mass manufactured dies.
-At some point (prolly later), buy a Universal Decapping and Depriming Die (costs about $10). Mine saved me on the opening weekend of deer season one year when the depriming pin on my 308 Win broke before I'd finished loading some hunting rounds. This leads me to #2.
-Buy a number of extra depriming pins.
-Once you figure out the basic powders you're going to use (you'll probably burn through a lot of 1# cans in the process), buy some 4-8# kegs of your preferred powders. Even w/ the $29 hazardous shipping fee you can still save $$$ buying powder and primers online in large quantities.
-Repeat above by buying 1000/carton of your preferred primers. I keep my brands/types of primers to a minimum.
-The customer service I've experienced from the different manufacturers has been good, but I've been especially impressed w/ Redding's.
-If you're manually weighing each charge, buy a $10 powder trickler. If not loading a large # of rounds, I still use my manual powder scale. I've got an inexpensive pair of electronic digital scales, but my balance beam scale is faster and more accurate. I've had my RCBS 5-0-5 balance beam >30yrs.
-Buy the case and shell holder set (again, mine's Lee). Much less expensive to buy the complete set than to buy them individually.
-When loading for multiple calibers in one session, only keep ONE can of powder on your bench. I've always had this rule, but managed to accidentally break it last year. It didn't harm me any, but I managed to mix 2 types of powder into a single can. One of the cans was brand new and cost $50/1#.
-You won't need these right now, but later you should buy a primer pocket uniformer (mine is Sinclair) instead of a primer pocket cleaner. The uniformer can be used to uniform the primer pockets (a step to enhance accuracy) as well as cleaning the primer pocket.
-The Lee powder measure kit is VERY handy, but also is not needed right now.
-Have available, and freely use, multiple handloading manuals. Most will very nicely walk you through the handloading process. Repeat...BUY a handloading manual. Hornady, Nosler, Sierra and Speer are all nice.
-Buy a $12 electronic 6" micrometer from Freight Harbor. Mine's lasted >20 years.
-I'd look at a kit like Lee Classic Turret Press. It'll have most of the basic tools you'll need. Altough the kit comes w/ a priming tool to be used w/ the press. I prefer to use the Lee hand priming tool when loading for precision
- Midsouth Shooters Supply will have the best prices on handloading tools and components.

Sorry this is so long. I've found handloading to be a very satisfying and relaxing hobby for a long time. But ALWAYS remember that SAFETY is of utmost importance.

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Sorry this is so long. I've found handloading to be a very satisfying and relaxing hobby for a long time. But ALWAYS remember that SAFETY is of utmost importance.

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I appreciate every bit of advice from you, and everyone else that responded. I have a touch of OCD, and am always safety conscious in everything I do. After time, I fully intend on buying a single stage press, but for now the LCL is what I will use. I completely had no idea, that the analog balance beam scales could be as accurate/more accurate than digital scale. I was also surprised by the recommendation of the Harbor Freight micrometer. (I do like certain tools they have)

I'm going to approach this new hobby slowly. I'm excited to get started, but funds are extra tight right now. (Aren't they always ). I'll be back later with questions on things such as bullet seating depth for one specific rifle and such.



Again, thanks for all replies.

Tigeronthehill and Saintsfan have had some good advice.

To me, reloaders typically fall into two categories:

1. Precision/Hunting Reloading

2. Bulk Reloading

I fall into #2 so my loads aren't super precise but are consistent and feed reliably.

I would advise you get the $70 RCBS Partner Press. I have used the hell out of mine and it's still going strong.



I also made some reloading tutorial videos in a big thread a few years ago. Here's the link:

Reloading Tutorial

Again, mine is more for the bulk loader so you may not get super precise accuracy but it'll be a good starting point.