New to reloading, review my purchase before I buy

Looks like a good set up to get you going. You will need a scale to measure powder loads. How are you planning on measuring?

Personally, I'd ditch the drum tumbler and stainless pins and go with a regular old vibro tumbler with some corncob media. The drum is a mess because you have to change out the dirty water, then you need a sifter to get all of the little pins out, then you need magnet to capture all the pins and sort them from the dirty water, then you still have to dry your brass or they will tarnish from being wet. If you're doing a batch of 500 cases or more, then the wet tumbler might be worth it, but anything less than 500 and it's too much work. Vibro tumbler and corncob media is much faster, fewer steps, and a lot less hassle.

You'll also need a powder measure of some kind. Try the Lee Classic cast iron measure that goes on top of your powder through/flare die.

And you need a proper reloading manual like the Lyman, Hornady, or Lee reloading manual.

Starting out... ditch a tumbler altogether. You can rinse brass off and reload it until you get deeper into the hobby. Spend your money on a scale. Yes a scale comes in the lee kit, but it’s the single worst product Lee has ever made. A cheap digital scale with a check weight or three is a better, easier bet.

The kit should come with Richard Lees “Modern Reloading” which is decent, but I would also look for a second book. For .357 and 44 you want something from the late 70s or early 80s. I like my Lyman 47 for loading stuff that was exceedingly popular in that era.

If you use android or IOS look for an app called “reloading assistant”. It pulls data from all the major powder manufacturers websites and is easy to use. It’s a paid app on IOS but it’s worth the two or three dollars you have to pay for it.

The harbor freight digital calipers have served me well and they’re cheap. A tumbler isn’t necessary to get started especially loading straight wall cases.

The kit is pretty great but i +1 on the extra manual, preferably from a component company you plan on using. I have a hornady, speer, and a few lyman manuals. I use them all for cross checking stuff. Also another +1 on the crappy lee scale. I use mine, but it sucks. A powder trickler may be a good idea for working up loads. Also a kinetic bullet puller.

Plus one on the scales. The $35 hornady digital works well. I would pass on the ABCs book and get the Lyman manual. It has a wide variety of bullets and powder choices. I reloaded for years before I bought a tumbler.
Pick a powder like Universal to start with. It meters fairly well and is good for light to medium loads in both cartridges. Start with plated bullets and don't go crazy with the powder charge.

Also if you don't get a volumetric measure, at least buy a set of Lee dippers. They work well as a safety check if you are using a scale.

I would add an under $40 digital scale, use a dry method tumbler, and get a kinetic bullet puller.

IMHO the Lee Classic turret is a best buy.

I would say get the Lee Classic Turret Press Delixe kit, a set of dies and get to loading. I find the Lee scale to be really good. I zero it to start, then set it to the weight I want to load, dump charges in there until it’s the right load and get going. Throw a few more in there throughout the loading session to check them. It’s accurate and simple, not sure what else you need out of a scale.

Just be sure to read the sections in the Lee Modern Reloading book on loading procedures and die set-up. The Lyman book’s loading procedures section is very good, too.
Don’t forget the stickie in the THR reloading forum. Reloading knowledge stickie. It’s invaluable.

Me personally I use my lee auto disk powder measure much more than the drum. Gotta have pretty brass and if you have the cash get a thumlers vibratory tumbler.

Looks good to me but please go to MidwayUSA.com and check prices. Right now the press kit is cheaper there than Amazon and Midway is also offering Free shipping at the moment.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/785993/lee-classic-4-hole-turret-press-deluxe-kit

titanreloading.com is also a great one-stop-shop resource. Their place is just down the road from the Lee factory.

I've used Titan many times and being in Wisconsin if I order really early in the day many times I have the order next day. Accept at this time Midway looks cheaper still with the free shipping. Something I forgot to ad in my previous post would be to look at an extra turret or two as long as you are already paying a shipping charge.

I am one of those guys that trims their revolver brass. You produce a much more consistent crimp this way. That being said I know some guys never even bother with trimming brass, so for just starting out maybe you don't need to worry about this until you figure out your "hooked" and want to get the most out of your loads. I personally use the hornady cam lock case trimmer and shellholders and have no regrets.

What everyone said is where I stand.

Fyi China Inc makes the calipers and scales for most of the loading companies so I’d save a few bucks and get the calipers and scale at Harbor Freight and use a 20% off coupon and save some money.

Also I’d recommend getting a ma Hal or two first, read them and then get your gear. The LCT kit is a good start but you’ll find if you decide to keep going you’ll get other tools to make things easier. If you don’t keep reloading, then not getting a bunch of extras would be good as it’ll save you money.

Finally, find some folks in your area who reload. And ask questions here. Safety first and be warned that reloading can be a new hobby as some of us enjoy it more than shooting!

An individual almost has to work to buy tooling intended for the hobby handloading market that flat out doesn't accomplish the intended task. Money buys speed and elegance, experience and persistence buys quality ammo., a strict budget buys frustration. If the individual interested in becoming a handloader thinks that spending $400 or $500 to enter then ranks of handloaderdom is a lot of money then they will probably find better uses for their time.

I leave the recommending to others that know much more than me. My scant experience has taught me that wet tumbling is more work than it is worth, wet tumbling on a budget is even more work. There is a vibratory tumbler on the market that cost roughly $40 that in my experience works great.

Since we are packing smokeless powder in a firearm cartridge and then shooting this hardware in the vicinity of our person and given the potential for disaster, I would simply throw out the comment that the candidate for handloader perfection consider the purchase of a good solid beam powder scale. This is going to cost about $80

Midway USA is one of many retailers that support the shooting sports. Amazon doesn't. Consider this when saving a buck or two.

Any of the current load manuals have a section on how to reload. Another poster mentioned the Lyman, I think this is a good place to start. Until you get a few 1000 rounds successfully loaded consider loading 38 special standard loads in lieu of magnum. There is a lot of room in that case to make mistakes.

Having a dedicated workspace and a good solid bench at a comfortable height to mount your press and a place to organize your stuff is half of the battle. The other half is getting used to the fact that you will not be saving any time or money by reloading your ammo.

thomas15 said:

good solid bench at a comfortable height

Click to expand...

This is pretty important. If it's uncomfortable for you to reload, you won't do it for very long.

Agree on the bench. You can work around height a bit - can mount the press to a 2x10 and countersink holes on underside so bottom of board is flush. Then clamp that to your bench. That's a good way to raise it to the right level if needed and prevent buying/building a bench for now. However, it's gotta be sturdy. If it wobble or gives at all, will drive you nuts working a press on it. I built mine out of laminated 2x4 & a butcher block top. Pretty solid, but still didn't like how it would move a little so lag bolted to the floor joists

On the Lee scale - do yourself a favor and just put it in the trash immediately. I saw a positive comment above - someone was able to get it to work and that's awesome for them. But it is very difficult to read and use in general. It is a very, very poor tool. Looking for something like a used Ohaus 505 in good shape isn't a bad scale to start with.

You don't need a tumbler for starting off. When I got into this hobby 40+ yrs ago I just used a rag to wipe the outsides off, and load. That all that needs to be done, remove debree that may scratch your dies.. Did not buy a tumbler till some 20 yrs later. Have sinced moved to the wet system. The nice thing about the wet is that it controls the dust which is toxic.

I have loaded for several revolvers for several years and do not own a tumbler. If I decide to get something it will be a dry tumbler. I do not load large enough runs to think about a wet tumbler.

You also need a powder scale and a good bench. When you can get all the reloading manuals you can. Some are free.