Reloading

I would probably start with one of the kits. Once you have some experience reloading you will be able to determine for yourself what upgrades you want to make.

What will you be reloading for? plinking, competition, hunting?

Start with something simple and get a good manual before you spend a lot of money . Read the manual before you start or have someone that reloads walk you through it .
I’ve been doing it for 10 year and don’t buy ammo anymore. I load mostly rifle ammo and my son loads pistol ammo.
I have a Lee single stage press and it’s fine for what I do. It helps you learn each part of the process.
I load 300 Wsm, 3006, 7mm08,308,243,257 Robert’s, 3030, 8mm Mauser, 35 rem and whelen, 270, 45-70,and 204 Ruger. Lots of bullet and powder choices that all have their uses. It’s a fun hobby and can get expensive quick.

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Is $2500-3000 enough to get a decent quality setup or should I increase the budget.

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I’m by no means an expert but this is a really high budget just to be able to do rifle ammo if you’re just talking equipment. At the end of the day the list of equipment that’s a need and not a want is short, and your wants are going to be personal preference. Save that money for components, because they aren’t cheap.

When I got started the general thought was the kits sell you a lot of stuff you arent going to use, but maybe that’s changed. YouTube is your friend, I wouldn’t buy anything until you have watched enough to answer the question of kit vs individual pieces for yourself.

When I got started 10+ yrs ago, I bought the RCBS supreme master kit. It comes with a beam scale. It comes with the Speer manual, mine came with Nosler manual back then. You will need a powder trickler, bullet puller, micrometer calipers, and a case tumbler. I bought a $40 digital micro on Amazon, then spent 120 on a dial Mitutoyo. I use the dial calipers all the time. I bought the RCBS digital scale, I still use the beam scale though. Frankford Arsenal makes quality entry level case prep equip.

Spend money on anything that measures things to ensure consistency.. Get started with a basic set up and then as you get further down the rabbit hole, you will know what you really need for what you reload for.

Buy multiple manuals and cross reference them.

You will learn a lot by doing and mistakes will be made and that's OK too. And if all else fails, do what we all do and come here to ask the questions! Have fun!

Buy a Dillon XL 750. Don’t waste your money on anything else.

Once cases are prepped, kick out 100 rds in minutes.

Prepping range brass.

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$2500-3000 enough to get a decent quality setup

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Definitely. I mean you can probably get a decent setup for under $750.

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or should I increase the budget.

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Again, Definitely




There's already a lot of lists of what you'd need, but I have jumped into the deep end and can tell you what my dream set up for precision rifle would be. Realize that this is the stuff that I got interested in after starting. Was first to make cheap ammo for a few range guns. Then started loading for more precise rifles and got the bug to get down to that 1/2" MOA and below. The reloading is as interesting as the shooting to me now.

-Press would be a Area 419 Zero press. Turret for multiple dies and it's just well designed top of the line. $1275. (I have an RCBS Rebel and it works fine)

-Tumbler I have is a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler $119 and I see no need to upgrade.

-Case prep center I have is Frankford Arsenal Platinum. Cuts down brass, chamfer/deburr/pocket cleaning/etc.. See no need to upgrade -$176

-I just got a competition primer seater to dial in primer depth consistently. This is like chasing that last tiny bit of precision, but it is also easier to use than a hand primer I've been using. It's a Derraco PCPS and is like $200.

-I have an arbor press which only seats bullets. Can be done on your regular press, but these help with bullet alignment and it's unbelievably easy to work with seating depth on the level of .001". Can also feel and even measure the seating forces to confirm uniformity in neck tension. Mine is K+M and was like $160

-I use a friends AMP annealer and will be getting my own one day. It's pricey but is fast, accurate, and scientifically sets the annealing for your brass. Will improve brass life and neck tension for consistent loads $1700. (again this is pretty high level, but just showing what a damn near top level set up could be)

-L.E. Wilson seater dies to go with arbor press. These allow you to get that micrometer adjusted seating depth. Go for about $140 per cartridge you are loading.

-Forrester full body dies. This is where I resize the brass and that's it. I pull the de-primer and expander ball. About $75 per cartridge.

-Dedicated de-primer die. Have a Lee that was probably $30. Can de-prime while dirty so I don't have to worry about messing up sizing dies, but de-prime before tumbling. Works on all calibers I reload.

-21st Century neck expander die system. After sizing with the Forrester dies, I expand the neck with these on the press to the desired ID for the needed neck tension for the load. Accurate to .0005". For reference I expand a .243" neck to .2410" before seating the bullet to have .002" neck tension. This is consistent seating force with good annealing. Can buy the die for like $45 and each mandrel for $25 or a kit for your bullet size for $190. Works for any cartridge and is based on bullet size.

-Mitutoyo 6" Calipers are known to be some of the best $175

-Hornady Case and Bullet comparators for the calipers $100

There's some little stuff like lube, brushes, bullet pullers, but it's small costs compared. You don't need this level at all. Just pointing out you can damn near get a top of the line setup many reloaders would be jealous of for under $3000. If you take out the annealer from my list I think you are well under. You can also easily go cheaper on some things like the press. It's definitely not necessary to get an Area 419 press. Can save nearly $1000 and get a damn fine press. Can chamfer and deburr with a hand tool. A $60 hand primer works and is probably not sacrificing much at all. I admit I do believe in annealing and am lucky to have access to that tool. That's one you'd be crazy to buy starting out, but I'm also not interested in any other tool since using it.

Anyone that reloads 9mm in small or large quantities... What can you get down to price per round? More curious than anything

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-I have an arbor press which only seats bullets.

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I use my K&M to neck size my bolt action brass as well using LE Wilson neck sizing die.

And to help you along with your reloading journey, you will now need to get yourself an Autotrickler with A&D scale.

Gets you powder loads down to +/- 1 grain of powder for the ultimate consistency.

It's so fast as well.

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Anyone that reloads 9mm in small or large quantities... What can you get down to price per round?

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I live in Houston. There's a place called Capital Cartridge that is based here. They sell copper plated 115 grain for like $31 for 500. Price jumps when you ship, but I can pick up there on the way home from work without going wayyy out of my way. I bought a bunch of CCI primers on sale a while back, but Capital Cartridge also sells some super cheap primers. Don't know how good they are, but it gets cost per round down. I use Titegroup and it's like 3 cents per round. Save casings. I think it still costs me ~15 cents per round and I load on my single stage press. It's time consuming, but I have an autotrickler and some good music, I can get a few hundred rounds done in an hour once brass is prepped.

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get yourself an Autotrickler with A&D scale

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Forgot to include that in my list. I've looked into it. I have the Frankford Arsenal Intellidropper (Actually have 2, they have a really good warranty and the bluetooth on one went out). It's not the greatest in usability, but I'd say it's quite consistent. But only 0.1 grain resolution.

The RCBS Matchmaser goes to .01 grain just like the A&D scale. It's what I want eventually. I've seen some of the youtubers switching saying it's just an easier interface. It's a freaking $900 trickler, but it's better than the $1300 you'd spend on the Autotrickler and A&D combo.