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Posted: 8/23/2013 6:38:36 PM EDT
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What are the very basic items/tools required to start reloading? I'm on a budget (college student), so cheap and not necessarily efficient is the name of the game I'm lookin to play.
Thank you all in advance! |
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Lee Anniversary Kit
This got me started many years ago. I'm still using it. |
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I started with this kit too. It's a great kit. I've since upgraded to hornady, but I still use the lee at least once a week. This is hands down the cheapest way. |
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Lee Loader
I have everything for high speed progressive reloading, but this little micro kit is fun in it's own right. Enjoy! 
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| I started one piece at a time. Lee hand press (I live in an apartment and don't have a work bench to mount a press on) lee hand trimmer, lee safety scale, lee hand prime, and lee Delux dies. Then I added bullets, primers, and powder as I could afford them. Initial cost was pretty low and I have loaded over 2k rounds. Ill eventually upgrade to a progressive |
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All you need is:
a press: 90-100 I have an RCBS Dies: 30-40 new per caliber Carbide for pistol or straight walled cases Priming tool and a set of shell holders for it ???? A shell holding tray: 5.00 A funnel: 5.00 A set of Lee Powder measure scoops: you can get these for $10-15 on ebay/gunbroker. They have 3 sets, yellow, red, and black. It helps to have all three. Make sure it has the slide rule with it! A powder scale: $20-30 You only need this if the powder you are wanting to use is not on the Lee powder scoop slide rule. The rule tells you how much each scoop throws for a given powder. If the powder is not on the chart, use the scale. You can find various reloading manuals online for free for some basic loading. Brass: Free Bullets: Blasting bullets anywhere from 70-180 per 1000 depending on caliber Primers: I pay 130 per 5K Powder: 8lbs for 130-140, or 1lb for 18-25 |
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Some guys like the lee loaders but they are way too slow for me.
You can buy the basic lee bench press for $40 or so. This is a tiny press but will work ok for pistol and smaller rifle. You won't be happy if you are trying to resize 30/06 or the like but this press is going to be about 10 times faster than the lee loader. you will still dies and other stuff. Most any brand single stage would be fine ,look hard there are deals on used stuff around . On new presses I really like the Lee turret . not supper heavy duty but will work well. I am not impressed with lee scales and powder measures- plastic junk but the lee dies are ok and a great value |
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