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Posted: 8/3/2016 11:37:42 PM EDT
| I want to start reloading. I was looking into the items I will need to get started and am looking at a Lee classic 4 hole turret press, the pro disk powder measure and riser, and dies. What else do I need besides the raw materials? I feel like a lot of the stuff is nice to have but not necessary and from a beginner standpoint I am not sure what the bare minimum is. I want to get started in .45 ACP and add .38sp and .357 once I get my SAA in and gather some of the nicer things along the way. I know you guys have tons of information to share and would love some of it! |
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Get the latest Lyman reloading manual.
Get the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit, includes all the basic tools to build your loads...fantastic warranty and service for many many years. Get the components to make your loads. Read the tacked posts in the begining of this forum. Always keep safety in mind and have fun. Reloading can easily become the primary hobby, pushing the actual shooting into second place. Welcome 
The RCBS kit is more expensive than the Lee, but I believe you get better items that allow you to build consistantly good ammo, making it easier to get into the hobby with less frustration and tool adjustments/tweaking. Just makes it easier to load and enjoy. |
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I'm assuming you've read the forum FAQ on equipment.
In addition to the stuff you've mentioned you'll probably need: 1. Calipers. Digital or dial. My el cheapo Harbor Freight digital works as well as my expensive Dillon dial. 2. Case trimming stuff for your wheelgun calibers. I'd go with the simple, in expensive Lee stuff (Note: you don't have to trim revolver brass every reloading and trimming pistol brass is generally a waste of time). 3. Brass cleaning/polishing. You can go cheap or top shelf here. My suggestion is that you wash your brass in a mixture of hot water, salt, vinegar, and Dawn (go to YT and look for a video titled "how to clean brass without a tumbler"). You can invest in wet or dry tumbling stuff later. 4. Some sort of case priming equipment if the press itself doesn't have one included. 5 A POWDER SCALE. Just get a decent beam scale (RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, Dillon but not a Lee). Do not trust the data from the powder chart supplied with the Lee powder measure. Verify it using a scale. 6. (optional) A lee pro disc powder measure "insert" this is an adjustable fitting you use instead of the holed disks. |
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Quoted:
Get the latest Lyman reloading manual. Get the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit, includes all the basic tools to build your loads...fantastic warranty and service for many many years. Get the components to make your loads. Read the tacked posts in the begining of this forum. Always keep safety in mind and have fun. Reloading can easily become the primary hobby, pushing the actual shooting into second place. Welcome
The RCBS kit is more expensive than the Lee, but I believe you get better items that allow you to build consistantly good ammo, making it easier to get into the hobby with less frustration and tool adjustments/tweaking. Just makes it easier to load and enjoy. You suggested the rock chucker, I see that is a single stage- would you recommend a single stage over a turret? And how are hornady manuals compared to others? |
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Top of the page in Reloading Tools and Equipment is where the lists of what you need are located. |
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Lee turret comes with small & lg primer arms.
I got the not classic thru walmart for right $100 shipped. The 4 die set from lee with the factory crimp is around $40. I just got a frankfort arsenal tumbler around $40. Frankfort calipers i forget how much those were Ordered the cheap rcbs scale for like $36 Pet shopz have ground walnut cheaper than media from the lgs. My "bench" was free Old setup with single stage 
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Quoted:
Get the latest Lyman reloading manual. Get the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit, includes all the basic tools to build your loads...fantastic warranty and service for many many years. Get the components to make your loads. Read the tacked posts in the begining of this forum. Always keep safety in mind and have fun. Reloading can easily become the primary hobby, pushing the actual shooting into second place. Welcome
The RCBS kit is more expensive than the Lee, but I believe you get better items that allow you to build consistantly good ammo, making it easier to get into the hobby with less frustration and tool adjustments/tweaking. Just makes it easier to load and enjoy. RCBS is offering a $75 rebate through 12/31/16 if you spend more than $300 on a kit. The Rock Chucker Supreme runs about $360 at Bass Pro Shops but Brownell's is running a sale right now for $300. Strangely enough they list two different Rock Chucker Supreme kits that look exactly the same but only one is listed at $300. LINK |
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Ditto on the RCBS Rock Chucker kit
Unless you have your heart set on a Lee turret press the Rock Chucker kit is an outstanding purchase. The press, scale, and powder measure included are all of excellent quality and the kit also includes a Speer Reloading book which is a $25-30 value in itself. I've seen these kits at Sportmen's Warehouse as low as $300. Given RCBS is offering a $75 rebate that's pretty hard to pass up. |
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Quoted:
Get the latest Lyman reloading manual. Get the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit, includes all the basic tools to build your loads...fantastic warranty and service for many many years. Get the components to make your loads. Read the tacked posts in the begining of this forum. Always keep safety in mind and have fun. Reloading can easily become the primary hobby, pushing the actual shooting into second place. Welcome
The RCBS kit is more expensive than the Lee, but I believe you get better items that allow you to build consistantly good ammo, making it easier to get into the hobby with less frustration and tool adjustments/tweaking. Just makes it easier to load and enjoy. Sage advice right there. Internet forum "How to" sections are good tools, but I feel a person is best suited by selecting ONE good manual, and the Lyman 49th or 50th is perfect, and reading it front to back rather than perusing Internet forums and youtube videos which can be done after you've learned the basics. |
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Others have mentioned the RCBS kit. I bought my kit in 1984, and still use the press and scale
Lee and RCBS both make a hand priming tool. You'll definitely want one or the other A good scale. I rely on a digital from Dillon, but the scale in the RCBS kit is really all you need. The Lyman and Lee reloading manuals. The calibers you mentioned are all excellent with cast Bullets, and those two companies manuals have good cast Bullet data. Case trimming equipment is not necessary at this stage. It takes a while to get handgun brass to stretch, so trimming is not really a top priority yet. Case cleaning eguipment.....that depends. If you are a clean freak, it is more important than if you don't really care about it. I reloaded for years without worrying about shiny cases. If it concerns you, get a dry/vibratory tumbler and use plain corncob media. That's what I use, except for my BP brass. A good set of calipers. A sturdy and uncluttered workspace. Reloading isn't all that complicated. It does require attention to detail, a bit of common sense, and a little caution. But it's a round of ammunition, not a manned mission to Mars. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
| Nothing wrong with the LCT, especially if you're on a budget. Don't get the kit though, you can get better quality for not much more $ (if any) by buying a scale and needed essential's separate. I tried the cheap digital calipers and hated em. Batteries are a pia, wouldn't hold zero, and unable to give the same measurement twice. Ordered the 'anytime tools' dial calipers off Amazon and they are tits...affordable too. |
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I will just toss out the question on turret presses in general.
The classic cast is a good press and the turret is probably as durable. It only takes a few seconds to change the dies out by threading them in and out. The turrets are prone to slop, more so in budget brands. Turrets are not progressives and gain you so little advantage I don't see the upside. Just my two thoughts. I would say to save more money go with the classic cast one hole set up if you don't want to pay for a RCBS rock chucker, Redding Big Boss II etc. You are on the right track going with the Lee iron presses versus their pot metal presses. |
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I will just toss out the question on turret presses in general. The classic cast is a good press and the turret is probably as durable. It only takes a few seconds to change the dies out by threading them in and out. The turrets are prone to slop, more so in budget brands. Turrets are not progressives and gain you so little advantage I don't see the upside. Just my two thoughts. I would say to save more money go with the classic cast one hole set up if you don't want to pay for a RCBS rock chucker, Redding Big Boss II etc. You are on the right track going with the Lee iron presses versus their pot metal presses. The turret presses are handy if one is prone to loading and shooting one or two calibers frequently. I shoot LOTS of .44 Special so those dies constantly occupy three of the six holes with the remaining three being occupied by whatever shooting whim happens to be prevalent that week. I keep a Rockchucker set up for rifle calibers. |
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I would strongly suggest that you don't buy Lee's Pro Disk powder measure. Buy any other make and model you want but that one. I like Redding powder measures, especially their bench rest models. Any powder measure will work better than Lee's disk system. Mine has been absolutely fantastic. Doesnt leak and dead on accurate, love it. |
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Mine has been absolutely fantastic. Doesnt leak and dead on accurate, love it. Quoted:
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I would strongly suggest that you don't buy Lee's Pro Disk powder measure. Buy any other make and model you want but that one. I like Redding powder measures, especially their bench rest models. Any powder measure will work better than Lee's disk system. Mine has been absolutely fantastic. Doesnt leak and dead on accurate, love it. Same here. It does tend to be at it 's best with ball powders. Very consistent with Bullseye and Win 231 type ball powders. |
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I'm a big fan of the LCT, espically for pistol calibers. Its probably the best thing lee makes, they are so simple to operate, easy to learn and great for beginners. I found it to be much faster than any single stage, changing calibers is fast and cheap. The on press priming works pretty good, the depriming into a tube works great. Now they even have an auto eject system for it. I'm not a huge fan of the lee disk measure, but it works. I made a conversion so I can use the dillon measurer on my LCT.
But with the RCBS sale right now its hard to pass up that deal. It will get you into reloading and then if you find you want more production later you can upgrade presses. |
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RCBS is offering a $75 rebate through 12/31/16 if you spend more than $300 on a kit. The Rock Chucker Supreme runs about $360 at Bass Pro Shops but Brownell's is running a sale right now for $300. Strangely enough they list two different Rock Chucker Supreme kits that look exactly the same but only one is listed at $300. LINK Quoted:
Quoted:
Get the latest Lyman reloading manual. Get the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit, includes all the basic tools to build your loads...fantastic warranty and service for many many years. Get the components to make your loads. Read the tacked posts in the begining of this forum. Always keep safety in mind and have fun. Reloading can easily become the primary hobby, pushing the actual shooting into second place. Welcome
The RCBS kit is more expensive than the Lee, but I believe you get better items that allow you to build consistantly good ammo, making it easier to get into the hobby with less frustration and tool adjustments/tweaking. Just makes it easier to load and enjoy. RCBS is offering a $75 rebate through 12/31/16 if you spend more than $300 on a kit. The Rock Chucker Supreme runs about $360 at Bass Pro Shops but Brownell's is running a sale right now for $300. Strangely enough they list two different Rock Chucker Supreme kits that look exactly the same but only one is listed at $300. LINK The part numbers are different, and the description states, "All RCBS reloading kits have been updated to include the Universal Case Loading Block, .17-.60 Debur Tool and the Accessory Handle—2" for the later part number. |
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I have had good luck with the RCBS powder measure. Just have heard too many folks that need tips on keeping their Lee disk in adjustment.
I have several RCBS powder measures, each set up for my favorite powder usage. Ebay and stuff sometimes has screaming deals on used equipment. I still load all my rifle rounds on the single stage press. Run everything in large batches, then make the required die changes and move on to the next step. Handgun needs are filled by using my old Dillon Square Deal press. 
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I want to start reloading. I was looking into the items I will need to get started and am looking at a Lee classic 4 hole turret press, the pro disk powder measure and riser, and dies. What else do I need besides the raw materials? I feel like a lot of the stuff is nice to have but not necessary and from a beginner standpoint I am not sure what the bare minimum is. I want to get started in .45 ACP and add .38sp and .357 once I get my SAA in and gather some of the nicer things along the way. I know you guys have tons of information to share and would love some of it! I would 100% part the items you need and do NOT purchase a kit.. if you watch all 10parts of this series before you purchase, then you'll have a solid idea of what you need to purchase Reloading 7.62 & 5.56 from start to finish |
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Quoted: I would 100% part the items you need and do NOT purchase a kit.. if you watch all 10parts of this series before you purchase, then you'll have a solid idea of what you need to purchase Reloading 7.62 & 5.56 from start to finish Quoted: Quoted: I want to start reloading. I was looking into the items I will need to get started and am looking at a Lee classic 4 hole turret press, the pro disk powder measure and riser, and dies. What else do I need besides the raw materials? I feel like a lot of the stuff is nice to have but not necessary and from a beginner standpoint I am not sure what the bare minimum is. I want to get started in .45 ACP and add .38sp and .357 once I get my SAA in and gather some of the nicer things along the way. I know you guys have tons of information to share and would love some of it! I would 100% part the items you need and do NOT purchase a kit.. if you watch all 10parts of this series before you purchase, then you'll have a solid idea of what you need to purchase Reloading 7.62 & 5.56 from start to finish |
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Rockchucker kit. RCBS carbide pistol dies. Avoid Lee for now. I am partial to the Speer manual, personally. Follow the steps outlined in the manual. And turn off the internet.  Asking here is guaranteed information overload and everyone telling you how they do it. And no way to separate the good from the bad. Like dude above telling you to watch his vids on loading bottleneck cases. He didn't even notice you seem to only want to load pistol cases for now. Perfect example of folks answering questions you never asked. Good luck. Reloading is a great hobby that extends shooting enjoyment into the wee hours of the morning and to the coldest, wettest, and windiest of days!  |
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Everyone here will give you a lot of ideas of where to start. I would ask the question, is there someone locally who can teach you how to reload and allow you try out different types of equipment? Lots of gun shops and other groups offer reloading clinics. If there is any way possible, try before you buy. At the end of the day, there are lots of ways to get to get into the hobby on a modest budget. If you dont have to have everything by Monday. Estate sales offer items for pennies on the dollar. The EE on this site has great deals every day if you have cash ready and watch for few days. I wont get in brand bashing or bragging. Used quality equipment that comes with a lifetime warranty is a better value than shiny new stuff of lesser quality. In order of importance, A reloading mentor-grumpy old guy with OCD.... Several reloading manuals. (amazon is a great place to look) buy the best powder scale you can afford When you shop for dies, think that is best to seat and crimp in two different stages. Purchase accordingly. My first press was a turret press. The store owner who sold me the press set the dies for one bullet. I used an RCBS little dandy powder measure for years and thought life was good. Good loading and shooting |
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I wouldn't worry about case trimming tools for handgun cartridges. I bought them all when I first started. Then, I painstakingly went through every piece of brass I owned and trimmed them to the same length. It was a complete waste of time. None of my handgun brass has ever needed trimming since then. The necks split before the case stretches that much. |
I am a HUGE fan of the Hornady press(es) with their bushing kit. It allows you to change out each die without having to make adjustments to the die again. You put a bushing in the pres, adjust your die (any brand die), lock it to the bushing, and then you can remove the die with the bushing with a 1/4 twist. I have a Dillon progressive, but will always stick with Hornady for that feature in the future. Die locked to bushing, now all you have to do to switch dies is insert and twist a 1/4 turn:  |
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I just screwed up and bought some RCBS shell holders. I should have thought sooner since the shell holders are interchangeable between the manufacturers and I already have Lee's in most of the stuff I need, and I could have bought Hornady at cheaper than the RCBS. Then again, I will get the RCBS rebate, so I guess it works out to about the same.
I think I am still going to go with the RCBS Rock Chucker for my single stage press. But you can buy the Hornady quick change adapters for it. |
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I am a HUGE fan of the Hornady press(es) with their bushing kit. It allows you to change out each die without having to make adjustments to the die again. You put a bushing in the pres, adjust your die (any brand die), lock it to the bushing, and then you can remove the die with the bushing with a 1/4 twist. I have a Dillon progressive, but will always stick with Hornady for that feature in the future. https://ii.cheaperthandirt.com/fcgi-bin/iipsrv.fcgi?FIF=/images/cheaperthandirt/source/49811_1.tif&wid=480&cvt=jpeg Die locked to bushing, now all you have to do to switch dies is insert and twist a 1/4 turn: http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/3210/mg00081.jpg Yes! Excelent tip.
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I'm a new reloader also, we've been reloading now for just a few weeks. We (my sister and I) also purchased the Lee 4 hole turret press with the auto load powder system. The ability to set up your dies in the turret and never have to adjust them again is a HUGE plus. You simply install and adjust each die set in it's own turret and then swap the turrets when you need to change calibers. No having to start from scratch every time you swap calibers, it's awesome in my opinion. A lot of people told us to buy Dillon and such but that stuff is WAY out of our budget and likely many peoples budgets. Yes, that expensive equipment is nice but it's not necessary when starting out. I will tell you that we are extremely happy with the Lee 4 hole turret press and I would definitely recommend it to other people. You can use it as a single stage until you are comfortable with using the auto advance feature. Using the auto advance isn't as fast as a progressive press but it's much faster than using a single stage. We bought the anniversary kit that came with quite a bit of stuff that I can't remember at the moment but it's a really good value. It's probably still available, we bought ours through Amazon. Some people say you should start with a single stage press only and that's not a bad idea but if you are committed to going slow and being careful you can start with the turret press and not have to upgrade in a year.
One thing that I will highly recommend is a high quality electronic scale and a triple beam balance scale. The triple beam is essential for double checking the readings on your electronic scale, which are never 100 percent accurate in my opinion. We bought one of those small MGM electronic scales and found it doesn't read correctly all the time. Today, while trying to find a load for our 9mm's, the electronic scale was reading loads .2 grains off. Now we have to double check everything with the triple beam balance scale instead of double checking it occasionally to see how it compares with the electronic scale. The best electronic scales are pricey but a scale is only as good as it's accuracy and it's hard to develop loads knowing that your electronic scale may or may not be reading correctly. We will probably stick with using the beam scale for now just because we can't afford a high dollar electronic model at the time. Another thing I'd recommend is several loading manuals. We have the newest version of the Lee manual that came with our press but there's no way you will find everything you will ever need from one book. I'm constantly having to search the net to find the load data I need. As I mentioned, I'm still a noob so I don't know very much yet but that's what I've learned so far. |
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I'm a new reloader also, we've been reloading now for just a few weeks. We (my sister and I) also purchased the Lee 4 hole turret press with the auto load powder system. The ability to set up your dies in the turret and never have to adjust them again is a HUGE plus. You simply install and adjust each die set in it's own turret and then swap the turrets when you need to change calibers. No having to start from scratch every time you swap calibers, it's awesome in my opinion. A lot of people told us to buy Dillon and such but that stuff is WAY out of our budget and likely many peoples budgets. Yes, that expensive equipment is nice but it's not necessary when starting out. I will tell you that we are extremely happy with the Lee 4 hole turret press and I would definitely recommend it to other people. You can use it as a single stage until you are comfortable with using the auto advance feature. Using the auto advance isn't as fast as a progressive press but it's much faster than using a single stage. We bought the anniversary kit that came with quite a bit of stuff that I can't remember at the moment but it's a really good value. It's probably still available, we bought ours through Amazon. Some people say you should start with a single stage press only and that's not a bad idea but if you are committed to going slow and being careful you can start with the turret press and not have to upgrade in a year. One thing that I will highly recommend is a high quality electronic scale and a triple beam balance scale. The triple beam is essential for double checking the readings on your electronic scale, which are never 100 percent accurate in my opinion. We bought one of those small MGM electronic scales and found it doesn't read correctly all the time. Today, while trying to find a load for our 9mm's, the electronic scale was reading loads .2 grains off. Now we have to double check everything with the triple beam balance scale instead of double checking it occasionally to see how it compares with the electronic scale. The best electronic scales are pricey but a scale is only as good as it's accuracy and it's hard to develop loads knowing that your electronic scale may or may not be reading correctly. We will probably stick with using the beam scale for now just because we can't afford a high dollar electronic model at the time. Another thing I'd recommend is several loading manuals. We have the newest version of the Lee manual that came with our press but there's no way you will find everything you will ever need from one book. I'm constantly having to search the net to find the load data I need. As I mentioned, I'm still a noob so I don't know very much yet but that's what I've learned so far. Electronic scales are accurate. You need to warm them up, and make sure they are not being affected by air vents in a room. I can get my Dillon scale to change by blowing on it from a foot away. Some are also sensitive to "dirty" electricity. That is when your electrical connections are bad or you have other interfering appliances plugged into the same string of outlets. |
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Also at Brandi;
If you're using Lee dies I can see your point with their lack of set scews. Most dies have a set screw on the lock ring. Once you get your die set, you lock the allen set screw and you keep your setting. (some grub screws do fail though due to poor locking, the brass set screws are the worst imho, they strip out the allen head before you got enough tension to lock them. OH and there are two types, one type has the set screw pointing to the die center line and the tip engages the die body. The second type is the split ring type and the set screw tightens the split ring. I prefer the second type by far. As of late Hornady and Forster use that type. The older RCBS did have that type but they switched decades ago. Lee dies they have the rubber o ring underneath that only works while the die in in the press or turret. Some astute reloaders simply take the lee die rings and drill and tap a hole and put their own set screw on. That pretty much requires a drill press to do well. Nothing wrong with the Lee gear for general use as you can attest. It works. A single stage if you do your work in larger batches is just as fast, The larger the batch the less consequence in time on the die changes. ETA and with the set lock type rings it takes less than 30-45 seconds to swap the dies out; Break loose with wrench, screw out one, screw in the next, use wrench to slightly snug up, just enough to prevent the die from backing out loose. (BTDT  )
With any "other than Iron" press, watch out how much cam over you have set on your dies and press combo. That's were the dreaded cracked frames come from. |
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Same here. It does tend to be at it 's best with ball powders. Very consistent with Bullseye and Win 231 type ball powders. Quoted:
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I would strongly suggest that you don't buy Lee's Pro Disk powder measure. Buy any other make and model you want but that one. I like Redding powder measures, especially their bench rest models. Any powder measure will work better than Lee's disk system. Mine has been absolutely fantastic. Doesnt leak and dead on accurate, love it. Same here. It does tend to be at it 's best with ball powders. Very consistent with Bullseye and Win 231 type ball powders. I agree here too. My Lee Pro disk works great. The double disk works good even with Varget, which I hear gives other powder delivery systems problems. I've been using my Lee Classic Cast 4 hole turrent for about 5 years now and am very happy with it. Load 9mm, 38 Special, 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 10mm, 40 S&W, 308, 223, and 30-30. Also have a Hornady 50BMG single stage press and Hornady 50BMG powder measure for the big stuff. OP, Lee will give you the most bang for your buck, is quality equipment and will be the fastest for the money. No it is not a progressive but it's quicker than single stage reloading and cheaper than most progressive presses. Buy a few extra turrents and a caliber change just takes a few minutes. I really like mine. |
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