Getting my very first Press

[TrickyDick]

Well, My birthday is Saturday, and I told my wife what I wanted; she said "You're only getting $50." So I convinced her to combine my father's day gift with my birthday gift, in which that $100 went towards a LEE Breachlock challenger kit.

So, My sister in law got me the Lee 2nd edition Reloading manual, and my In-laws are getting me a die set.

Luckily I'm a hoarder, so I saved certain brass I wanted to load.
Particularly, 7.62x54R. (since it's EXPENSIVE)

I'm not loading for a Mosin, but instead a PSL-54C
So I'll look into getting .311 150 Gr Spitzer bullets for it. Maybe .312 as well.

But aside from components, a tumbler and a plastic hammer, am I missing anything?

 

[JohnM]

What's the plastic hammer for?
You need a good scale.

 

[witchhunter]

Lube, scale, priming tool, chamfer/deburr tool, trimmer, powder funnel, powder trickler, loading trays, powder measure. Good luck.

 

[StretchNM]

That's a good kit. The Breechlock press is lightweight and not the best out there, but it is entirely functional for anything you will reload. Later, when you want to step up, to argueably the very best single stage or turret press out there, you can invest in a Lee Classic Cast or Turret.

Argueably, the most accurate beam scale available will come in the Breechlock kit. It may be fussy, at first, but its accuracy and sensitivity can only be doubted by those with no experience with the scale.

You'll need some case prep tools, eventually (primer pocket cleaner, bore brushes for each caliber (for cleaning inside the case neck), some case trim tools, and a set of calipers(!!). The Breechlock Kit will come with some of the tools mentioned (for one caliber), but definitly not the calipers.

My recommendation, when selecting the Kit, is to get the one with the Safety Prime (Or is it the "Auto" prime? Anyway, it's the hand-held primer).

Good luck! And you're going to have to woo your wife into knowing that $50 doesn;t go far in this hobby! D)

ON EDIT: Sorry witchhunter, I was composing at the same time as you.

 

[oldreloader]

What Stretch said except I prefer the safety prime press mounted priming system. Too many years on a drilling rig with cold wet fingers set arthritis in the old hands.

 

[GLOOB]

Make sure your x54R brass is boxer primed before you try to size/decap it. (If it's berdan primed, maybe that's even better. I think Powder Valley has some berdan large rifle primers in stock?)

All you really need (besides what you listed in your OP) is a way to trim and perhaps a pair of calipers for measuring OAL and brass length. The kit you got has everything else you need.

+1 What's the plastic hammer for?

 

[Lost Sheep]

I don't see where JohnM's question "What's the plastic hammer for?" was answered.

It is an eraser. Also known as a kinetic bullet puller.

If you have an instance where you have loaded a round and for any reason need to disassemble it, there are two ways. The kinetic method and the collet method.

Lost Sheep

 

[TenDriver]

Get yourself a Lyman chamfer / deburring tool. The Lee version is functional but frustrating. I believe you can prime on that particular press but could be mistaken. The powder trickler can wait. They make life easier but isn't a necessity. You'll need some way to trim your brass as well.

 

[TrickyDick]

Well, I already have a caliper, so I'm good there. and the hammer was the bullet puller and, it's always good to just have a plastic hammer on hand.

I'm well aware of the Berdan situation to steel cases, and found 3 different ways to use them.

I'm also going to buy the Lee chamfer gauge, which I believes allows you to trim without going over too much