Really? Hmmmmmm......
simple press .............................................$150
Die sets (min. of 3 calibers)..........................$ 75
Tumbler & separater....................................$ 70
Electronic scale (VERY essential)...................$ 40
Brass (200 ea. for 3 different firearms)...........$120
Primers (ditto)............................................$ 20
Powder (2 one lb. canisters).........................$ 45
Bullets - 600..............................................$ 90
Lube, brush, reamer/chamfer tool, micrometer..$ 40
Loading trays, ammo boxes, funnels...............$ 30
brass trim-to-lgth. tool (not the cheap-o).......$ 60
Almost necessary equip. (many items)............$100
This comes to $840.
As any reloader knows, you can certainly start out cheaper than this but you'll end up wasting your money because you'll learn to buy quality equipment after going to way too much work per finished cartridge by going the cheap route. It's only cheap in dollars...... certainly not in time.
Well I guess the 1500 rounds or so I've reloaded and fired were unfit for use. Let me modifiy your prices to a little more realistic.
simple press .............................................$150
- Lee Hand Press Kit - $40
Die sets (min. of 3 calibers)..........................$ 75
- why do you need 3 calibers if you only have one that you need to reload (.380 for example) - $25
Tumbler & separater....................................$ 70
- I used my dryer, an old pillow case, and a wet rag, and got very pretty brass for free
Electronic scale (VERY essential)...................$ 40
- Why when the Lee Safety Scale is one of the best, cheapest, and accurate scales out there? - $20
Brass (200 ea. for 3 different firearms)...........$120
- If you keep it like I do it's free
Primers (ditto)............................................$ 20
- $5 per 100 roughly
Powder (2 one lb. canisters).........................$ 45
- sure, if you plan to load over 2000 rounds all at one time, my one pound of powder has lasted close to 1500, and I still have more
Bullets - 600..............................................$ 90
- where the heck do you buy from, mine cose $25 -$35 per 500 from missouri bullet company, plus $10 flat rate shipping
Lube, brush, reamer/chamfer tool, micrometer..$ 40
- I've never used any of that stuff, except for the micrometer, $15
Loading trays, ammo boxes, funnels...............$ 30
- once again, just keep the ones you already have - free
brass trim-to-lgth. tool (not the cheap-o).......$ 60
- I don't bother with it
Almost necessary equip. (many items)............$100
- not going to address it
I'm not saying you can produce immaculate ammo for less than $100 setup, what I'm saying is I got started reloading for around $100, and my reloads are just as fun to shoot at the range as factory ammo. They go bang and hit the target just like factory ammo, they just cost less than half the price.
I certainly don't feel like I've wasted my time and money on less expensive and very functional equipment.
