Reloading on the Cheap?

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Before I had a reloading room, I screwed/bolted my press and powder measure to a scrap piece of 3/4" MDF and just clamped it to a table when I wanted to use it and then unclamped it and stashed it out of the way when I was done. Just keep the bottom of the board and the table clean when you clamp. No dents or scratches on the table will help to keep you in the good graces of your S/O.
My case trimmer was (and still is) screwed to a small block of wood that I clamped into a portable vice that I picked up at an estate sale for a buck. Again, pad it before you tighten the clamp on the vice.
I hope that helps with your space issue.
 
You can get a lee turret kit setup with everything you need for around 200.

lee deluxe kit for 109.99 includes everything you need besides the dies and safety prime(if you want to prime on the press).
 
Lost Sheep said:
I am a handgun shooter, so my posts leave out some things that shooters of bottlenecked cartridges will need, if not right away, soon.

A lube pad (you can make do with a sponge, clean stamp ink pad or even a paper towel, or your fingers, but something a little more formal will be advantageous). Most rifle cartridges REQUIRE lubrication during handloading.

Caliper and/or a case length gauge. Bottlenecked cartridges lengthen with use, and then become hard to chamber. The also, when forced into the chamber, grip the bullet too tightly, increasing pressures. A couple of cycles of reloading should be OK, but eventually you are going to want to know if your cases are getting to long.

Case trimmer. After a few more cycles of reloading, you will have to trim your cases to the proper length. You can get by for a while without one, but pretty soon you will have a bunch of cases you can no longer reload because they are too long. But you can start without one.

Case mouth chamfering tool. After trimming, you will want to smooth the case mouth. A pocket knife can do, but it will surely be a little crooked. (Try to sharpen a pencil with a pocket knife and see how smooth and symmetrical it is compared to a pencil coming out of a mechanical sharpener.)

You can do this stuff with minimal and primitive tools, but get the good stuff as soon as you can.

Lost Sheep
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I'll get that stuff when I need it. I'm starting off with hunting loads, and then target so the brass won't be used that much for a while.
 
Your purchase list

CCBPES34 said:
I have been following Lost Sheep's guides, and I have a list of items.

Turret Press-$70
Dies-$25
Powder Measure Kit-$10
Powder Funnel-$4
Primer Pocket Cleaner-$2
Reloading Books,Manuals,Data-$37
Another Pair of Shooting Glasses-$8
Set-up Materials-$10
Bullets & Powder- $50
Shooting Ammo for Brass to Reload- Priceless
Total- $216

How's that look? It will take me a while after I purchase the rifle & glass to get reloading equipment, so I should have plenty of Brass to reload by that time.:)
Click to expand...
The prices look a little low, but you have a good start.

Since you are loading for a rifle and searching for ultimate accuracy and not large quantities, I would consider weighing each powder charge, so a good balance beam scale and a powder trickler would be most effective.

Two loading blocks (about $7 each) are handy for batch processing. Populate one block to the left of you with cartridge cases and have the other block to the right, empty. As you go through each step of loading, take from the right and place on the left. When that step is complete, switch the blocks and perform the next step. (This supposes you are doing a 50-count batch. If doing a 20-count batch, you could get by with one block, using the 20 holes on the left end and the 20 holes on the right end and the 10 holes in the center unoccupied.)

A primer pocket uniformer is not the same thing as a primer pocket cleaner and may be of interest to you. Again, for accuracy considerations. Also, if you are using found brass, it can remove primer crimps commonly found on military brass.

Good luck. Be safe. Always, all ways. Have fun.

Lost Sheep
 
I feel for you needing to reload on the cheap with little to no space.

When I started back into reloading I was in the same situation. But being head of house hold and being crafty with the money I restarted with this setup.
S7300229.jpg

I had a old home built 29g high fish tank stand and a very old desktop light along with a set of cheap arse calipers.

Seeing I was starting out with 9mm pistol ammo I was set. Total cost including press kit, tumbler with media and consumables came to $225. That got me through my first 1k rounds of 9mm. I did not have to buy brass as I had plenty of once shot.

As time marched on and the total round count of reloaded ammo kept climbing. A buddy gave me a complete older new in the box Lee kit including a set of .38/357 dies. With a CZ-52 and a 91/30 rifle. Along with a old shot shell loader. This meant the bench had to be updated. A slightly larger top and shelf had to be made and installed.

S7300250.jpg
S7300275.jpg

Reworked bench ended up like this ready to make ammo.

S7300303.jpg
S7300353.jpg

As it is I'm still cramped for space something awful and am about to invoke head of house hold rights once again. :) I have my LCT mounted on the same little bench.

bench3.jpg

If I had it to do all over again I would build a small loading station much like the new Lee setup except a tad bigger. And then exercise my head of house hold rights a bit better than I have thus far.

As you set off on your reloading journey. You will find that just hunting or plinking rounds won't be good enough for your efforts. You will I hope as others have found out. With a bit of testing. Understanding the process and the different consumables available to you. You will be making near match if not match grade ammo in very short order. Loaded to your weapons of choice.

As for rifle loading I wouldn't be using a hand loader at all. Except for MAYBE doing some load testing at the range.

Good Luck
 
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