Reloading: Starting Supplies

[devildave31]

I plan to venture into the realm of reloading soon and I am curious to know what is the bare minimum basic set of equipment required to reload a single caliber? I have read "For the New Reloader: Thinking about Reloading; Equipment Basics -- READ THIS FIRST by DaveInFloweryBranchGA, however I am looking for a more black and white, bare minimum requirements at the moment.

I am looking into the Lee Deluxe Turret Press kit plus a few other items, initially for .45ACP only. Later on I would like to buy extra turrets for .44 Spl / Mag and .223.

I am also looking for constructive input on Lee equipment, particularly the Deluxe Turret Press kit.

 

[FROGO207]

IMHO For the money you can't go wrong with the Lee kits. For black and white reloading setup you need the following............

1 A press
2 Dies of proper size
3 Measuring device for propellant (scale/measure set with meaningful info)
4 Measuring device for size (calipers for OAL)
5 A way to prime cases
6 Components (propellant/primers/projectiles/brass)
7 Most important!! A manual with loading info/how to do it.
8 Someone to help you learn the ropes is recommended.


There are many things that will enhance the process but you can get the LEE Loader and components then load away. Keep in mind that the manual that you get will allow you to select the proper propellant and projectile combo so I would get the kit with manual or manuals BEFORE ordering those items. Also if you can get the components locally you can save the haz mat fees associated with primers/propellant.

The most important tool to have is your mind. DO follow the recipes and start 10% low then work your way up to max load if needed. Rule #1 is safety.

Happy reloading

 

[FROGO207]

Sorry double post.

 

[devildave31]

I'm fairly certain that the Lee kit I was looking at came with all that (minus expendables of course).

Any input on the Turret Style Presses? I have heard some people say that you only benefit if you are doing a lot of loading, but not enough for a progressive. I'm attracted to the idea of not having to fiddle with changing out dies between stages, especially if I'm mostly doing the same caliber. I see that the ad claims that you can mount the dies once and not have to adjust them again, and I know that not at least checking them regularly would be foolish, but still it seems like it would be less hassle.

Everyone I know that reloads tells me to go with the RCBS, but my budget just won't allow, at least not yet.

 

[MidLife]

I recently purchased the "Classic" turret press kit. I was told this was slightly superior to the "Deluxe" turret press. I don't have the "Deluxe" turret so, I really can't compare. You can disable the auto indexing feature if you want to reload in steps. Also, if you get Lee's most inexpensive single stage press "kit" it comes with the Lee "modern Reloading book" for only four dollars more! I picked up the book and a "four dollar single stage press" I used the little single stage press for learning/familiarity with the dies and also as a dedicated decapping and/or "other" press.

 

[kludge]

2a. Proper shell holders for your cartridge (come with Lee dies)
9. Tools to trim and chamfer rifle brass.
10. Case lube for rifle brass.

The Deluxe Turret Kit is a good starting place.

 

[mbopp]

For years I loaded on a single stage press. Since I was shooting more 38/ 357 I picked up a used Lyman turret press and have my 38 / 357 dies mounted in that. And since I prefer to prime, charge, and inspect a case off the press it's worked out well, and I still have the single stage for lower-volume reloading.
I don't have any Lee equipment so I can't comment on it.
If you're going to be shooting a lot you may want to consider a case cleaner, either rotary tumbler or vibrator type. Eons back when I had way more time than money I made a powered tumbler using a 3# coffee can (back when coffee came in 3# cans.) I'm still using it. And corn cob or walnut pet litter and a dash of Nu-Finish is cheaper than reloading media.

 

[devildave31]

I got to looking on Lee's website, and now i'm interestd in the Pro 1000

http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1289490032.5140=/html/catalog/lp1000.html

Looks like it can be purchased for about 165 bucks depending where you look. I had been looking at a case tumbler, digital calipers and some other items as well.

I get the feeling that I should use the K.I.S.S. principle, but the progressive setup looks pretty nice for a decent price. I won't be buying for a little while yet, so I'll keep researching. Not to mention fishing for suggestions and insight from the experienced folks. (Hint, Hint)

 

[rsrocket1]

I think most would say the Deluxe or Classic Turret choice would be a good one. If you do some searching, you would not be surprised to find that most would tell you to be very careful before purchasing a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster. If you are mechanically adept and don't mind spending a fair amount of time (and patience) setting it up and keeping it running, the Lee progressives will be fine. If you get frustrated quickly or are in a hurry to get the thing working, do a lot more research on the Internet before getting the Pro 1000 or Loadmaster.

If you are sure you want to eventually move up to a full progressive, start with a Lee Anniversary Kit or Breech Lock Challenger Kit. For < $100, you will be able to learn everything about reloading, developing loads for your gun rather than every gun ever made and you'll be able to use everything in the future after you move up to a progressive (scale, tools, dies).

With a single stage press, you can do 100 pistol rounds in about an hour. With the turret press, a little quicker. With a progressive, you can do 100 pistol rounds at a slow and careful pace in 10 minutes. I say pistol, because in reality, you need to do quite a bit more brass prep with rifle rounds and you hardly get a big advantage with a progressive. By the time the brass is ready for the powder and bullet, you can do that all with a single stage press without changing dies. Watch the YouTube videos, almost everyone preps rifle brass before they go into a progressive.

Tumbler is good, calipers are a must, lots of containers and bins are handy.

 

[Furncliff]

Don't forget a bullet puller.

Mine is RCBS, they stand behind their stuff.

 

[mcdonl]

Reloading Trays, a good work lite and flashlite. I like to inspect the loads to make sure I do not end up with a double charge.

 

[devildave31]

I think most would say the Deluxe or Classic Turret choice would be a good one. If you do some searching, you would not be surprised to find that most would tell you to be very careful before purchasing a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster. If you are mechanically adept and don't mind spending a fair amount of time (and patience) setting it up and keeping it running, the Lee progressives will be fine. If you get frustrated quickly or are in a hurry to get the thing working, do a lot more research on the Internet before getting the Pro 1000 or Loadmaster.

If you are sure you want to eventually move up to a full progressive, start with a Lee Anniversary Kit or Breech Lock Challenger Kit. For < $100, you will be able to learn everything about reloading, developing loads for your gun rather than every gun ever made and you'll be able to use everything in the future after you move up to a progressive (scale, tools, dies).

With a single stage press, you can do 100 pistol rounds in about an hour. With the turret press, a little quicker. With a progressive, you can do 100 pistol rounds at a slow and careful pace in 10 minutes. I say pistol, because in reality, you need to do quite a bit more brass prep with rifle rounds and you hardly get a big advantage with a progressive. By the time the brass is ready for the powder and bullet, you can do that all with a single stage press without changing dies. Watch the YouTube videos, almost everyone preps rifle brass before they go into a progressive.

Tumbler is good, calipers are a must, lots of containers and bins are handy.

I had just talked to a friend who reloads and he has both the Lee Turret and the Lee pro 1000. He said almost exactly the same thing. He says his Pro 1000 will occasionally get its timing off a little and it requires some tweaking. He said he was pleased with the Turret model. So between the two of you I think I'll stick with that route. I wouldn't mind having to stay on top of the condition of the Pro 1000, however right now I want to get the basics down.

Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[GLOOB]

I'm new to reloading, but I also went through the pro's and con's of turret presses vs single stage.

As far as I can tell, one of the main benefits of a turret press over a single stage is you can use an automatic powder dispenser. You can then immediately seat the bullet in the next pull. With a single stage, you need to fill cases with a separate dispenser, then stack them next to your press. Then after you have a line of cases, you can seat them all. This is the main bottleneck for a single stage press.

Since the dies are just as easy to set as a single stage, and in fact you can use it as a single stage press, there seems to be almost no drawbacks to th turret other than space. Well, besides the marginally higher cost.

 

[Sediment]

Lee makes good quality, value priced equipment and their customer service was top notch the few times I've called them. Broken a few decapping pins and ordered more dies on the phone, lady on the other end was sweet and very helpful.

For a first time reloader I would like to stress that you be patient and PAY ATTENTION!! Turn off the TV, radio, iPod, etc... and block out all distractions so you can focus on the task at hand.

I learned with the Lee manual and single stage press, I think they sell it as their anniversary set. Mine came with the press, scale, powder measure and a couple items I can't think of right now. The powder measure it came with is a bit finicky when it comes to powder type. Ball measures well but stick powder makes me want to pull my hair out. I spent the cash and bought the RCBS Chargemaster, an electronic dispenser and digital scale combo with programmable settings, digital readouts, and calibration weights.

Having never used a progressive turret press I can't really comment on it's function. But please keep in mind it is fun to go quick and knock out a lot of rounds in short order, mistakes can be made with serious consequences. Practice with one die and one step at a time.

Add some loading blocks to your list of parts, at least 2 of them. Don't forget to save the boxes your factory ammo came in, at least the plastic/styrofoam trays. I think most here would recommend getting a half dozen plastic MTM cases from CTD, Midsouth, or whatever your preferred retailer is if you can't find any locally.

Happy reloading!

 

[Landric]

There are a lot of opinions out there about what is best, what one should start with, was is absolutely necessary, etc. I'll give you my take.

I started handloading before the internet, so I didn't have an easy source for information and I basically just winged it based on some gun shop advice and my Speer manual. I bought a RCBS Rockchucker kit, dies, powder, primers, and bullets, and nothing else. I handloaded successfully, more or less, for about six years before I got stuff that I would today consider necessary, like a set of calipers, a bullet puller, and a brass tumbler. I say more or less successfully because I had some die issues that took a lot of trial and error to correct due to my lack of knowledge and a bag full of rounds with bullets seated too deeply, with too much crimp, crushed brass, etc. because I didn't have a bullet puller. On the other hand I made thousands upon thousands of rounds that worked perfectly and I never had a squib, double charge, or any other catastrophic failure. I was only loading for handguns, often shooting 300+ rounds a week, and I did it all on my single stage Rockchucker.

All that said, now that I know more, I suggest the following:

1)Lee Classic Turret (not the deluxe turret, the Classic Turret is a significantly better press). Kempf's offers a kit that has much of what you need:

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41

Get both upgrades for $22.00. The kit includes a powder measure, dies, and the safety prime system and is $199.95 including the $22.00 upgrade in .45 ACP. This kit both includes more than the Deluxe Turret kit and is a lot better.

2)A powder scale other than Lee's. I suggest the RCBS 505.

3)A bullet puller, again I suggest the RCBS one, but others work fine too.

4)A set of calipers, I use dial calipers, but digital is fine too.

5)A good manual, Lee's is fine, but if I were to select one manual it would be the Lyman

That should get you going just fine. A brass tumbler is great, but its not absolutely necessary, you can clean brass other ways.

I tried a Lee Pro 1000 and was nothing but frustrated with it. I returned it to Midway after much headache and bought a slightly used Dillon Square Deal B for about the same money. I use the Dillon for .45 ACP, most of the other handgun cartridges I load on the Classic Turret (along with .223), and my bigger rifle I load on a Lee Classic Cast (which replaced my Rockchucker, its just as good a press with a better priming system and primer catcher than the RC IMO).

 

[wrangler5]

I started with a Lee turret - back when they only had 3 holes. I have always appreciated the thing you are already aware of - set up the dies once and don't fiddle with them again unless YOU want to change something - powder charge or bullet/seating depth. I used the turret as a single stage when I loaded 308 match ammo or when I wanted to do 10-at-a-time loads of pistol rounds at different powder charges - I used a separate bench mounted powder measure for that.

I moved to a Lee Loadmaster when they first came out, something like 20 years ago. Probably the best cost/benefit progressive out there, but even the factory will tell you that they work better for people who are mechanically inclined. There are extensive how-to videos on Lee's web site for setting up and running one, but you need to do it just as they say (use STP where they tell you, for example, as other things just don't work as well or as long.)

That said, I bought a Dillon Square Deal recently just to do 9mm (I've fiddled with one in a local store for decades, and came across a good deal, so . . ..) I must say that, after getting used to the different rhythm, I would rather use the Dillon than any of my Lee presses, even though it doesn't have a case feeder like the Loadmaster does. It's just that nice a press to manipulate. BUT - like all things Dillon, it's EXPENSIVE. If you are only going to do one pistol caliber then the extra cost would be worth it (IMHO) but if I were going to load for a lot of different calibers I would NOT go with a Dillon press unless I had a TON of money to spend. To set up extra tool heads for a Dillon gets real pricey real fast.

Keep in mind also that, if you begin to run volumes that start to tax the turret press, a full progressive like the Loadmaster will be a dramatic improvement in throughput and is still quite functional to use as a near-single stage press. For example, when I want 5 sets of 10 rounds at different charges, to try out a new powder, say, it's a piece of cake to dump 50 cases in the case feeder and run them through the size, prime and case mouth belling (without powder in the powder measure) stages and then take each case out and put it in a loading block. This gets me a loading block full of primed and belled cases with 53 pulls of the handle, and I only touch the individual case once (to put it in the loading block.) Run a line of 10 under a bench mounted powder measure (you'll want one of these eventually anyway) then put each charged case back under the bullet seater, put a bullet in place and pull the handle. Repeat 9 times and I have a bin full of 10 rounds, for which I have again handled the individual case only once. Put the rounds in a box, adjust the powder measure and repeat for the next 10. You'll never want to use a single stage press again once you've gotten used to a full progressive.

 

[noylj]

The Bare Minimum?

1) Lee Classic Loader 45 ACP $21.99 plus a plastic-headed mallet. The dipper, with loads listed, will get you going and it really is all you need. However, it probably will not be all you will be happy with. Wipe off exterior of cases before resizing.
2) Lee Reloader Single Stage Press $27.99. A very inexpensive single-stage press. Why? Because even when you move up you will still find uses for it. You can use it with the Bulge Buster kit, the cast bullet lube and sizing kit, and decapping cases before you tumble them (see above—not something you NEED, as an exterior wipe with a cloth is all you NEED)
If you don't like the idea of learning how to use a dipper, you will want a scale (the Lee is more than adequate, but most people just don't like it) and a powder measure or a powder trickler.
The Lee Perfect Powder Measure, again, is more than adequate but most people don't like it. I happen to really like the Lee Auto-Disk Powder Measure for $24.99. The disks are fixed, so you can't use charge weights between the cavities, but you shouldn't need to. Loads just aren't that sensitive. You would mount it on the press and charge all your cases at once during the case expanding step.
For this, you will need a case tray so you can line all your charged cases up for inspection: Frankford Arsenal Perfect Fit Reloading Tray #5S 45 ACP 50-Round Blue on sale at MidwayUSA for $4.99.
If you want to make a really big jump in powder measures, MidwayUSA has the Hornady Lock-N-Load Powder Measure on sale for $60.99. You can mount the press to your bench and charge directly into the case (after case has been expanded) and move directly to the press to seat the bullet (no need for loading trays) as long as you visually inspect each case for powder level.
I would get a good electronic balance, but many like the old balance beam. You could get the Lyman Pro 500 Magnetic Powder Scale 505 Grain Capacity for $47.99.
You will need to prime the cases. Get the Lee Auto-Prime and you can prime by hand or you can get:
Lee Auto Prime 2 Press Mounted Priming Tool $14.99
or
Lee Ram Prime Priming Unit for Single Stage Press $9.79.
Finally, you need dies: Lee Carbide 3-Die Set 45 ACP $25.99 and it includes a shall holder and a dipper (with charges shown on the instruction sheet)
3) To me, either the Lee Challenger Breech Lock press or the Lee Classic turret press are excellent for the person not ready to move to a progressive. However, the little Lee press above is still well worth the money and deserves a place on most reloader's benches. The turret I think is nearly ideal for rifle cartridges and the turrets are so cheap, it pays to buy one for each die set-up you will want.
You don't need case trimmers or case gages or primer pocket cleaners or uniformers and flash hole deburrers or any of that stuff.
You may want to get a Lee taper crimp die ($10.99) so you can separate seating from crimping.
Go to YouTube and watch videos of the different presses. Go to Lee's website and watch their videos. In fact, just spend an hour or so investigating the Lee site. It is well worth it.

 

[greyling22]

Landric's kit gets you all you need. press, dies, autodisk. you might be able to buy all the parts cheaper on midway (with coupon code) or midsouth

for a 45 you can get by without calipers and scale, though I would recommend you get them eventually. Same with a reloading manual. I recommend them, but between calling lee and asking questions on the internet you can get by without one. Load data comes with lee dies.

I would also get a bullet puller and/or be willing to throw away anything that seems shady to you. saving 15 cents on a bullet is not worth blowing your fingers off.

Turret presses are great. not as potentially confusing at a progressive press, but with an auto indexing press you don't risk double charging or losing track of what you were doing like you can with a single stage. And it's lots faster. I started on a lee turret press when I was in high school and didn't know anything. I made a couple without powder and a couple without primers and several with the bullet seated too deep and too much or little crimp, but none of that is real serious.

DO NOT EVER TRY TO RESEAT A PRIMER AFTER YOU HAVE ADDED THE POWDER AND OR BULLET my uncle tried that after reloading for 20 years and nearly lost a finger.

press in operation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awQI2sGeJh0

stroke 1: resize case on the way up, insert primer with the white thing, seat primer on the way down.
stroke 2: flare case to insert bullet and add powder.
stroke 3: seat bullet
stroke 4: crimp bullet into place.