Reloading kit questions

Very hard to find primers right now. You can have every piece of reloading equipment they make but if you don’t have any primers then you are sol.

Would load for 6.5CM, 270, 308, 300WM, and possibly 300BLK. But mainly would like to precision load for 6.5 CM. The kits, for the most part seem like they would let me get my feet wet, then could slowly upgrade as I learn more about it and develop my own recipes and loads

Glad to hear your going to start reloading! Through the years, handloading has been an ejoyable and satisfying hobby for me. Like guns, you'll find all handloaders are partial to their own particular equipment and that's understandable; heck, I'm the same way. Indeed, kits will have some stuff you may later change, but they do allow you to get up and running and that's not a bad idea for a beginner. If you stay w/ handloading and are like many handloaders you''ll find yourself frequently adding to, or upgrading, your equipment. My list of recs is long, but you can pick and choose how detailed you want to be as you start handloading.

Some will say Lee tools are cheap and poor quality, but my personal experience w/ Lee tools has been actually been very favorable. The only piece of Lee equipment that disappointed me some was the "Disc Measure." It's about as accurate as most inexpensive ones, but makes a mess when used w/ small, spherical powders. 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. I've exclusively used Lee case and shell holders. My only press is a 3 hole Lee classic turret press I've been using for >30 yrs. 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. I'm uneasy w/ a beginning loader starting out w/ a progressive press. I've been using my Lee hand priming tool the same time period, as well. 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. I don't like the spindle set up of Hornady dies but I think they've changed it.. As far as dies, I think "the other green" (Redding) makes the highest quality, best looking mass manufactured dies.

Tips:
1. 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 sizing die broke before I'd finished loading some hunting rounds. This leads me to #2.
2. Buy a number of extra depriming pins.
3. 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. You can save money at Midway since they frequently offer free shipping and their hazmat fee is only $11.
4. Repeat #3 by buying 1000/carton of your preferred primers. I keep my brands/types of primers to a minimum.
5. As previously mentioned, I like to use the Lee Case Length Gauge and put it in a power drill. Much cheaper and faster than a lathe type trimmer.
6. The customer service I've experienced from the different manufacturers has been good, but I've been especially impressed w/ Redding's.
7. If you're manually weighing each charge, buy a powder trickler. If not loading a large # of rounds, I still use my manual powder scale.
8. Buy the case and shell holder set (again, mine's Lee). Much less expensive to buy the complete set than to buy them individually.
9. 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#.
10. All my case prep tools are manuel, as well. Instead of buying a primer pocket cleaner, I'd buy a Sinclair primer pocket uniformer. The tool can be used to uniform the primer pockets (a step to enhance accuracy) as well as cleaning the primer pocket. I also use a Sinclair flash hole deburring toolto improve accuracy.
11. The Lee powder measure kit is VERY handy.
12. Have available, and freely use, multiple handloading manuals. Most will very nicely walk you through the handloading process. I can't emphasize how important this step is.
13. Buy a $12 electronic 6" micrometer from Freight Harbor. Mine's lasted >20 years. and works as well as a $50 one from RCBS.
14. I'd look at a kit like Lee Classic Turret Press. It'll have most of the basic tools you'll need.
15. Midsouth Shooters Supply will have the best prices on handloading tools and components, but their shipping's getting expensive.
16. The above mentioned 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

quote:

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Would load for 6.5CM, 270, 308, 300WM, and possibly 300BLK.

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My experience w/ powders:
There are a lot of excellent powders for the 6.5, 270, 308 and 300 WM. I don't have a 6.5 CM, but I load for a 260 Rem, a ballistic twin. I started off w/ Hodgdon 414, but am now using Reloder (RL) 17. For my 270 rifle, I've use Hodgdon 4350 and IMR 4831 but settled on RL 22. For my 308, I use Varget, RL 15 and H4895. I've never loaded for the WM. There aren't a lot of powder for the 300 BLK. I don't have a 300 BLK, but I've had a 300/221 (the precursor to the BLK and a ballistic twin) >25 years. My 300/221 liked Hodgdon and IMR 4227. I also have a 221 Fireball. It uses basically the same brass as the BLK. My Fireball really like Hodgdon CFEBLK so I'd look at it very strongly for the BLK. You may be able to find one powder that runs well in the 6.5 and 308. If someone recs Varget, but aware that while it's a really good powder, even during normal times, supplies of it are frequently very spotty. A real key for precision loads is the brass. Lapua is the most expensive, but also recognized as the best. I've been happy w/ my limited use of Peterson and Starline brass. ADG is supposed to be good, also. I think Hornady and Nosler are not as good as the aforementioned brass, but a little better than Rem, Winchester and Federal. Nowadays, one frequently has to settle for whatever's available.

Stay away from H4831 and H4831SC powder. It sucks and if you find any, let me know so I can buy it and properly dispose of it. The same goes with CCI 250 primers

In all seriousness, watch a ton of YouTube videos and understand what’s they’re doing. Reloading for 300 yard hunting rounds is a lot different than 1,000 yard precision rounds.

1) only keep the powder you are using, on the table. Every other powder goes in to another room. Safety safety safety!

2) don’t watch TV or have distractions when doing anything with reloading.

3) buy quality brass, when you can find it. ADG, Gunwerks, Lapua, Peterson, Alpha and etc.

4) understand what to look for when testing rounds. Pressure signs and etc.

5) understand the basics first. Once you get that, you can have a better idea of whah to buy.

6). Good luck! It’s addicting. I reload for my brother and dad as well. I take pride in knowing they have killed a lot of deer and elk with the bullets I make for them. Each load is designed to maximize the accuracy of their particular rifle.

Lee classic cast

I paid $100 for mine but I think they went up on the price.

Lee is cheaper and does the same thing as the other companies. Don't let anyone tell you RCBS is better. It's not.

You are paying for cosmetics with the other companies. It won't load better ammunition.

I didn't buy a kit. I pieced everything together so I own stuff from every company but 80% is Lee because I researched before I bought it.

H110 does really well in 300BO for me.

Guessing you’re wanting to get banned?