RCBS or Lee Kit for newbee?

[vahunter]

I'm new to reloading and just starting to purchase my equipment. Which company and kit would you recommend? Is RCBS worth the extra price or is Lee good enough? I plan to reload aprox. 200 rounds a month for .30-06, .243, & .30-30. Mainly for target practice and hunting. What else do I need to get started that I haven't listed?

-RCBS RC Supreme Master Reloading Kit for $269.99 OR
Lee 50th Anniversity Kit for $128.00 OR
Lee Breech Lock Challenger Kit for $99.99

-Die sets
-Shell Holder
-Supplies (bullets,brass,power,primer)

 

[sniper5]

Don't forget a case trimmer. VERY IMPORTANT. I don't see one in the RCBS kit and with Lee you have to order the stud/gauge separately. Also consider case prep. You can wet clean or tumble depending on how shiny you want your casings. Some just tie them into a mesh bag and throw them in the washing machine when the other half isn't looking. If you don't use carbide dies you'll need to lube.

Lee is not bad (a rare sentiment-most people are polarized and either love them or hate them and will argue passionately), RCBS is better (not much argument there, but pricier across the board). 200 rounds a month is not a high volume of ammo, although once you get hooked you will probably go for a higher volume.

You might also want to look at Dillon, Redding, and Lyman. Pretty much all competitive with different features/tradeoffs that you may or may not like.

Also take a look at resale value if you decide to upgrade. RCBS is pretty desirable and resellable.

One thing you eventually find, and I think all reloaders will agree, is that eventually by trading, selling, upgrading, etc. EVENTUALLY several brands will be represented at your reloading bench with one piece of equipment or another.

 

[jhansman]

I have the Lee Anniversary kit, and a year later I'm still using everything in it, except the powder measure. Now that they include the breech lock press with this kit, it's a better value than ever. I bought it figuring that if it turned out to be no good, I wasn't out that much. Turns out I get excellent ammo from it!

 

[rc109a]

I use the lee press. I did not have a lot of money when I started reloading a few years ago and was on a budget. Since then I have replaced some of my dies with RCBS and love them. The press works good. Will I replace it when it goes bad? Yes, I will. While it is a good deal for the money I thing there are better ones out there, but the costs show that as well. Until then I will keep using the Lee press. So far it has loaded 1,000's of rounds of 223,243,308,38,357,41,44,45, and 500 with no problems. Just my 2 cents and good luck with your decision...

 

[mallc]

Either works

The RCBS is more stout and has better fit and finish. Try http://www.grafs.com.

Scott

 

[jenrob]

rc109a if your waiting til that lee gives up the ghost then throw away all your dream'n catologs cause it most likely isn't going to happen
mallc have you looked at the new lee press. It will give the RC a run for the money
If you are just hunting and shooting targets the Lee will work great. I loaded for a while on a Lee press then upgraded to a Redding big boss II. Liked the way the primer went out the bottom like My Hornady press. The Lee press takes a little more force to FL size. my 4yr old a year ago could hang of the Lee and not FL my mags. but can Lean on the BBII press and do it. I also loaded 10,000's of rounds with the lee including doing enough pistol my wife was shooting around a 100rnds a day for a little over a month to get ready for qualifications. I still have rounds that I made on the Lee that I can stick in the b-eye at 200+ yrds.
Look for dies on retail-bay (e-bay) Don't worry to much about brand on dies just cheap. If those are the only cals. that you are going to load for (it'ss addictive) then I have spent the extra money and bought redding shell holders for each cal. I shot. That way I can just leave it in the die box when needed. Yes you will need lube if the kit doesn't come with it even if the dies are carbide. The cals. you listed are rifle and require lube. I would suggest the imperial sizing wax. a Case trimmer is going to be a must for rifle along with a mic to check the measurements.

 

[shadowalker]

I would with RCBS or Hornady over Lee. I just finished getting rid of the rest of my Lee equipment. Lee is cheap but in general it is also cheaply made, the exceptions being the FCD die and classic series presses.

I'd avoid the kits, they give you things you don't need and don't give you some of the things you do. Another option is getting the Lee classic press or Lee classic turret press but then getting RCBS, Hornady or Redding dies and other equipment.

 

[moooose102]

i am not sure whats in the rcbs kit, but i bought the lee aniversary kit. the press is great, along with most of it. but i have issues with 2 of the bigger things in it. the powder measure meters great, but leaks small grained powder like a siv! and the scale sometimes sticks so i have to tripple check everything i weigh to make sure it is correct. also, it only goes up to 100 grains. while this is enough for most powder, it is not enough for bullets, cases or my bp loads. kind of eats up the value when you start replacing stuff. i DO really like their case trimming tool. it is extreemly simple and easy to use, and it makes polishing the brass to a mirror finish a snap. so, i am going to replace the scale and look for a rcbs powder measure. i will still keep the lee measure, it works great on larger powder, i'll just buy an rcbs for pistol powder.

 

[vahunter]

What all do I need

What all do I need to make sure I purchase to do rifle reloading if I don't purchase the kit? What are things I shouldn't purchase and extra things that I need to purchase?

 

[jfh]

The new Lee Classic Cast Single Stage is a fine press, and would be perfect with the cartridges you are loading. Here's a link to the Lee page on it--http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1200767854.330=/html/catalog/classic.html

Further down the page, they have a link to a review of the SS, and Realguns has a link to a 3-part review of the Classic Cast Turret.

You could even consider getting the Classic Cast Turret and have the flexibility of auto-indexing once you've sorted out your (rifle) recipes.

Then, I would go to Kempf's and sort out a package using one of these presses--I think this would be the best price / performance package overall.

Jim H.

 

[THe Dove]

RCBS for me

I don't know about Lee or any other brand so I can't speak about them. I got a RCBS Rock Chucker Master Reloading Kit in 1994 and have cranked out thousands of rounds and never have had a problem. It is just a simple, tough and a dependable piece of equipment as far as I can tell. Well worth the money.

Just my opinion.

The Dove