New to Reloading

[RetiredNavy]

I appreciate all the information. That is a lot. I will be reloading 7mm and 30-06 for hunting and my son and I both have 9mm handguns. We do not shoot a lot but go once in a while, normally when I am sighting in the scopes for hunting. Over the years, I have kept all my brass so I have a lot to get started with.

 

[VIKING]

I started out with a little RCBS jr. and plan on up grading as soon as my shooting out grows my equipment. So far that hasn't happened but I've only been using my Jr. for 44 years. Got it when I was 18 and I'll soon be 62. Lots and lots of ammo has been created and the little Jr. is still working as good as it ever did. Oh, btw, I got to put in my opinion about the Lyman 49th edition manual as well. I've got several manuals but this is still one of my favorites.

 

[ASP785]

I never recommend people starting out with a turret press. It's not fast enough to load high volumes of pistol ammo and the play in the turret has the tendency to create concentricity issues. I learned this the hard way. I know some swear by a turret press but I think an RCBS or Hornady single stage press is the way to go for beginners. I personally prefer Hornady equipment because it works and the Lock N Load bushings are awesome.

 

[jduff8505]

Hey RetiredNavy, I'm retired Navy too. Just started reloading myself. I bought the Lyman kit from Bass Pro and bought the Lee 3 die sets. I also bought the turbo tumbler and got the media with the walnut shells and jewlers rouge mixed right in. I have had a lot of fun doing this, I'm sure you will too. You can always PM me with any ideas you have.

Jeff
USN 85-05

 

[dlbleak]

I appreciate all the information. That is a lot. I will be reloading 7mm and 30-06 for hunting and my son and I both have 9mm handguns. We do not shoot a lot but go once in a while, normally when I am sighting in the scopes for hunting. Over the years, I have kept all my brass so I have a lot to get started with.

sounds like a nice single stage for rifle and a turret for the 9mm and you'll be good to go. the lee aniversary kit from Midway along with an "O" press should work. put the lee powder scale that it comes with on ebay. it'll bring about 20 bucks and replace it with an rcbs or lyman scale. this would be the most inexpensive way to get going.

oh, and welcome to OSA. i was born and raised in enid. i come through often on hunting trips. if you need me to stop by let me know and i'll see what i can do.

 

[RickN]

I agree on the Lee turret press. I have one I use for handgun calibers and a really old Lee Reloader single stage for everything else. I really need to replace the Reloader because it is about 25 years old and starting to wear out. Could be because I use it to deprime brass and average about 500 every day.

 

[44minimum]

I'm going to agree with whoever recommended the lee turret press. Use it as a single stage while you're learning, then use the auto index feature for loading in higher volume. Read a Manual or two before purchasing anything, and you can learn lots and lots from the videos on youtube or even the reloading manufacturer's websites.

 

[clintbailey]

Don't remember the name of it but there's also a "magazine" reloading manual that comes out once a year I believe, I bought one at Walmart a year or two back. Its around ten dollars. It doesn't have the in depth stuff like the regular hardback manuals but is usually updates with newest cartridges and covers several brands of bullets for each round, instead of just Hornady or Nosler bullets, etc. I think it's a good addition to the regular manuals. And I have to say I like my Rock Chucker press it I bought 4 years ago pretty good as well.

 

[bettingpython]

I do all my 45ACP on a lee pro 1000.

I am in the process of converting 5.56 to 300AAC so my RCBS rockchucker is getting a work out now.

I'll probably be upgrading to a bigger progressive once I am past the conversion stage since the Lee Pro only offers 3 stations.

 

[Dr_Mitch]

The Lee reloading book is the best value, and the best price. It is also a treatise on why Lee products are the best, so be ready for that. For doing a lot of shooting you need to go progressive. A lot being several thousand to tens of thousands of rounds per year. If you're only shooting a couple thousand rounds, up to a few thousand, a single-stage is the way to go. There is one great benefit in having a single-stage AND a progressive, if you shoot .40S&W, in that you can set the single-stage up for resizing/debulging the brass. Glocks allow the .40S&W brass to over-expand and also bulge at the case head due to a lack of support, and these cases must be put through an extra sizing operation before being used in a chamber that meets specifications.