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Bazoo said:

You need a flip tray for loading primer tubes, but if one is loading with a ram prime, a tray is not technically needed. Dumping the primers on a paper towel allows you to pick them up.

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You can buy a primer flip tray for the cost of two rolls of paper towels. The flip tray will be more economical in the long run and a lot easier to use.

frogfurr said:

You can buy a primer flip tray for the cost of two rolls of paper towels. The flip tray will be more economical in the long run and a lot easier to use.

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I’ve used both, and I don’t see one being easier. But I see how if one was buying PTs just for purpose, and throwing it away each time it’d get speedy. But you could use the same paper towel for years. And, I don’t know about you or others, I keep paper towels in my home for other purposes. So grabbing one occasionally doesn’t add to a significant cost increase.

Might want a powder trickler. If you're willing to trust the powder measure to be precise and repeatable enough for your purposes, then there's not much need for the trickler, but I see you are going to buy a scale, and a trickler complements a scale very well in my opinion.

Plenty of different ways to do the details of loading, even though the basics rarely differ.

I don’t use a trickler. I trust my measure. I set it with my scale and that’s it. I can’t imagine weighing each charge.

One thing I do different than many, is I trim revolver cases. For consistent crimp, you need to at least sort by headstamp. But that doesn’t always work 100%. You’ll end up with a too long or too short case.

I often sort by headstamp pistol brass whether trimmed or not. It’s easier to load if the brass is all closer to the same. Many people use mixed brass, and I have too.

some people bemoan the use of case gauges but I find them indispensable for .223/5.56 and .308/7.62. A Hornady headspace comparator is also indispensable. I think you need both. The gauge can tell you things that the comparator won't. When I say gauge, I specifically mean min spec JP enterprise gauge or the min spec Sheridan gauge. The Sheridan gauge is nice because you can get it slotted with a window so it can tell you even more. I'd start with 45 acp and then .223/5.56 unless you shoot way more 9mm than 45 acp. 45 acp is nice because it's really low pressure and harder to kaboom a modern handgun with it though certainly still possible. be sure to shine a light into all of your cases before seating a bullet to make sure that A) they all have powder and B) none of them have twice as much powder as the others.

I have been reloading for 57 years and reading your shopping list made me realize what a daunting task it is to start from scratch. I started with a single stage, then a turret, and now a progressive. I've only had the progressive for about 5 years. I enjoy reloading and I frequently upgrade my reloading set up because the reloading equipment is always improving. I don't necessarily need the latest and greatest but I have a limited amount of time to reload and shoot. Still working full time. I recently bought some upgrades for my progressive that cut my reloading time by 50%.

I bought several bottles of the Hornady one shot and while it worked for things like 223 when you spray a bunch of cases in a bag then shake, it gets expensive over time. I switched to their Unique lube and am still on the same tub years later. You have to lube one at a time but a light dab gets you about 4 cases.

I have a RCBS JR and the primer feed set up on it sucks. I have a Redding T7 turret (a tank of a press and very high quality) and the primer feed sucks on it also. Finally I bought an RCBS bench primer and that carried me through for a few years.

My progressive is a Dillon 550B. Although many will say otherwise I love the primer feed set up on the 550. With an optional tool heads which (which I have) I can do a caliber/primer change in ten minutes.

Dillons are guaranteed for life. The aftermarket accessory availability is huge for Dillon. And although I do not own any Hornady reloading equipment but I would say the aftermarket accessory market for a Hornady LNL would be huge also.

And Dillons and Hornady's cost a lot more than Lee.

Just FYI or something to look into. I don't think the Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler Lite includes the pins. So that may be something else you will need to buy. If I am wrong about that my apologies.

.308 Norma said:

Now you've got me curious. I'd really like to see the picture(s).

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Sadly this afternoon we had a power failure hit us, out for just long enough for everything to shut down. Then when my computer came back on it wouldn't boot. Looks like it took out the HD. So now no email no pictures until I can get it repaired.

kmw1954 said:

Sadly this afternoon we had a power failure hit us, out for just long enough for everything to shut down. Then when my computer came back on it wouldn't boot. Looks like it took out the HD. So now no email no pictures until I can get it repaired.

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Been there. Hope it comes back up for you.

Skeptic13 said:

Just FYI or something to look into. I don't think the Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler Lite includes the pins. So that may be something else you will need to buy. If I am wrong about that my apologies.

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It did not include the pins back when I bought one ~4 years ago. The National Metallic pins (Midway house brand) have served me well. I use maybe 1.3 lbs of pins if memory serves.

BigBL87 said:

Appears you're right. The media from them costs me $12 for 2lbs and the Lite Tumbler runs me $68, so even with the pins it would still be a pretty good deal.

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It works really well for smaller batches. I generally do 100 9mm or 50-60 223.

frogfurr said:

I have a RCBS JR and the primer feed set up on it sucks. I have a Redding T7 turret (a tank of a press and very high quality) and the primer feed sucks on it also. Finally I bought an RCBS bench primer and that carried me through for a few years.

My progressive is a Dillon 550B. Although many will say otherwise I love the primer feed set up on the 550. With an optional tool heads which (which I have) I can do a caliber/primer change in ten minutes.

Dillons are guaranteed for life. The aftermarket accessory availability is huge for Dillon. And although I do not own any Hornady reloading equipment but I would say the aftermarket accessory market for a Hornady LNL would be huge also.

And Dillons and Hornady's cost a lot more than Lee.

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If this is the same system used on the Big Boss II you do not have it setup right. Mine runs flawless. The distance they give for setting the cup height is critical, and must be set correctly.

barnfrog said:

Might want a powder trickler. If you're willing to trust the powder measure to be precise and repeatable enough for your purposes, then there's not much need for the trickler, but I see you are going to buy a scale, and a trickler complements a scale very well in my opinion.

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Great suggestion! Maybe I should have gone into the reloading room before I replied, the trickler would have jumped out at me.

For precision rifle rounds, there is nothing more important IMHO.

Skeptic13 said:

Just FYI or something to look into. I don't think the Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler Lite includes the pins. So that may be something else you will need to buy. If I am wrong about that my apologies.

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You’re right, have to buy the pins separately.

I think that's a good choice for a kit.

You will find that the Lee scale is, while very accurate, somewhat unusual to work with.
The scale reads differently than others, and is more of a go-nogo than a scale to use for determining weight.

Some folks deride the Lee manual. There is a great deal of horn-blowing in it, but it is a solid manual to read for the fundamentals of reloading. There is also a good amount of info in there that can be found nowhere else.

Before you buy that setup PM me and I will put you in touch with a guy on a local forum that has a Lee Turret, with a good assortment of extras, for a decent price.

What everyone else said.
What I might add is perhaps start with .45acp or one of your other straight walled pistol cases because they are straight forward and more forgiving to load. I suggested .45 because it is known to be extra forgiving of minor mistakes.
When you are comfortable with those move on to your bottleneck rifle cases.
I don’t know if anyone mentioned it but a good penlight flashlight for inspection and for checking powder charges before seating the bullet is a great safety tool.

First purchase- books. Dont trust a bunch of opinions online when you can do acredited research yourself.

Bcwitt said:

First purchase- books. Dont trust a bunch of opinions online when you can do acredited research yourself.

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Yes, but (there’s always a but) one of the first things to research online are the known and suspected errors in the manuals you plan to buy. Some are rather egregious while others are more nearly sublime.

I bought the LCT kit for $185 right before the pandemic. Very happy with it - I didn’t like the auto drum for 9mm. For some reason I couldn’t adjust it right one day for case flare and full travel of the drum. It worked perfectly for about 4000 9mm rounds. I then purchased a single stage for rifle. And when I wanted to save more time, I bought a hornady lock n load with the case feeder. So much for saving money reloading… I would NOT suggest starting out with progressive. There is a lot going on. But, if I were to do it again, I might go single stage first and once I got the hang of all the operations I would get the progressive. The LCT kit is excellent to start out with and it will produce great ammo. I don’t shoot in high volumes but I wanted to save time which is why I upgraded from the LCT to progressive. Lee’s manual is more than adequate - I bought Lyman as well. There is plenty of load data either from bullet manufacture or hodgdon’s website so don’t worry about lee’s data being inferior to Lyman.

TLDR - You will do well with either a single stage or LCT kit. Start simple and enjoy the hobby!