Holy bleep - do I need all that?

[Elkins45]

Just to echo and somewhat consolidate what others have said:

To just load for one specific caliber so I could shoot more for the same $$$ and not for doing serious load development I think I could get away with the following:

Press
Dies + shellholder
hand priming tool
powder scoops

If you buy Lee dies then they come with the appropriate powder scoop and a set of recommended safe loads to use that scoop with.

I would strongly suggest adding an extra $30 and getting a powder scale. Weighing individual charges is slow, but having the scale adds a world of flexibility to your load development by not being tied to only the powders that work with your scoop. It also allows you to customize your own scoops to quickly dispense your favorite load.

You'll notice I put a hand priming tool in the list of essentials. To be strictly accurate it is possible to prime on the press, but the little Lee priming tool speeds up the process tremendously.

When I started reloading in 1980 I had a Lee Loader in 357 magnum, the Lee powder scoops and a RCBS powder scale. 31 years later I'm still using the same RCBS scale and I even occasionally use one of the powder scoops. I think I paid $35 for the RCBS scale back then and it sure felt like a lot of money, but now it works out to $1.13 per year. I'm pretty sure I've gotten more than $1.13 per year of value out of it. You have to think of these tools as lifetime investments, because it's doubtful you'll even need to replace them.

 

[hooligan1]

Just don't tell the mrs. or there'll hell to pay... if my wife knew one fourth of the money me and my boy's spend on reloading, she'd shut me down right now!

 

[Mike40-11]

I always recommend the Lee Classic Anniversary Kit for starting out. 100 bucks gets you everything you need but dies and components. Another 30 for dies and 20 for a set of calipers gets you in business.

 

[CPTMurdoc30]

Just wait till that Lee press doesn't cut it anymore. Then you buy a Dillon 550b and 30 carbine dies, 9mm set up, 40 smith set up, 45 acp set up, 308, 223, 243, ect.... That is when your money saving gets spendy.

You know the saying don't you?

He who dies with the most Toys WINS....

 

[jimbob86]

The cheapest way to handle case trimming is the Lee tools. You'll spend like ten bucks and they'll work fine. Slow, and hard on the hands, but they work great.

Chuck it into a 3/8" drill or cordless screwdriver, and it is fast and easy on the hands.

As for a case cleaner, if you use the Lee case lube and Lee case trimmer set-up chucked into a drill, just wrap a terry cloth around the case and give it spin after you have trimmed, chamfered and de-burred..... takes the lube off and leaves the case shiny and clean. No need for the case cleaner.

 

[Jim243]

even fiured out where the "break-even point" was. Somehow I've misplaced it.

Misplaced IT??? Hell mine is more like a moving target, and it gets further away each day I go to Midway USA's website. (LOL)


Good Luck Jimmy and stay safe.
Jim

 

[Sevens]

Chuck it into a 3/8" drill or cordless screwdriver, and it is fast and easy on the hands.

Definitely faster, probably cuts much better, easier on the wrists, no doubt. But I still find it murder on the hands/fingers, simply the tightening and loosening of the shellholder. And it's gotta be tight or things don't work.

I'd love to have little prongs on the shell holder... like a miniature Captain's wheel like from the U.S.S. Minnow, ya know?

I really should upgrade to a better trimming system... but I've used the Lee tools for years.

 

[wingman]

If your in to accuracy then once you find your reloads are more accurate then commerical cost of reloading disappears.

I've reloaded 40+years and prefer my reloads to commerical never use commerical unless I can't find brass and firing those are distasteful.

 

[Mike40-11]

Just wait till that Lee press doesn't cut it anymore. Then you buy a Dillon 550b and 30 carbine dies, 9mm set up, 40 smith set up, 45 acp set up, 308, 223, 243, ect.... That is when your money saving gets spendy.

Oh yeah, hit that point quite a ways back. I still use the Lee for competition rifle stuff though!

I THINK I'm still ahead on money, especially with prices these days. But I am most certainly NOT going to figure up the total I've spent on tools.....

 

[mapsjanhere]

It's really hard to see a break even point on something you can buy for $.30 a round. I started reloading for my 300RUM, store price $3 a round. I had my money back by the time I was through the first 100 rounds (barrel break-in basically).
Of course, I had spent another $500 by then on other "absolutely necessary tools" like a digital dispenser, but that's another story.

 

[jimbob86]

It's really hard to see a break even point on something you can buy for $.30 a round.

Depends entirely on how much you shoot..... If you are saving 10 cents a round, that's $5 a box of 50 ........ and it's probably better ammo.

$5/ box adds up pretty quick for me.

 

[Chaz88]

even fiured out where the "break-even point" was. Somehow I've misplaced it.

LOL I put that thing in a safe place twenty years ago, so that I would know exactly were to find it. I have searched high and low for it many times but I have not been able to find it since.

 

[c.j.sikes]

reloading tools

i am 80 yrs. old and started reloading when i was 20. i have own and used all type of equpt. good advice is buy once and get the right stuff. i say get a copy of the blue press, dillon equpt., buy only what you need at first then add to later. i have a 650, two 550, sq. deal, lyman single holder for making 22 cal. bullets from spent 22 l.r.and numerus other dillon equpt. he has a lifetime warrenty and is very helpful if you call them. what more can i say? it is a great hobby and it took me a lifetime toget here but i love it. have fun! cjs

 

[Lost Sheep]

c. j. sikes is wise, but expects a great deal much of us

c.j.sikes
reloading tools
i am 80 yrs. old and started reloading when i was 20. i have own and used all type of equpt. good advice is buy once and get the right stuff. i say get a copy of the blue press, dillon equpt., buy only what you need at first then add to later. i have a 650, two 550, sq. deal, lyman single holder for making 22 cal. bullets from spent 22 l.r.and numerus other dillon equpt. he has a lifetime warrenty and is very helpful if you call them. what more can i say? it is a great hobby and it took me a lifetime toget here but i love it. have fun! cjs

That's what I suggested in the preface to my thread: "Budget Beginning bench you will never outgrow for the novice handloader" which was informed by my recent (July 2010) repopulation of my loading bench. It is what I would have done 35 years ago if I had knownthen what I know now.
rugerforum.net/reloading/29385-budget-beginning-bench-you-will-never-outgrow-novice-handloader.html

Here's the bad news.

Most handloaders don't know what their needs will be next month, much less next year, and aside from that, their needs will probably change over time.

I don't think any progressive will be the ticket for me, but I had to use one for a while before I knew that. So, I bought and traded, bought and traded.

It's a wisdom chase. Good judgement comes from experience Experience comes from bad judgement. That homily is the near opposite of this one: The wise man learns from his experiences. The truly wise man learns from the experiences of others.

It is hard to pick the right one the first time you choose.

That's why there are divorces.

Lost Sheep

 

[brickeyee]

a bullet holder

A what?

Hopefully you mean a shell holder.

 

[jimbob86]

a bullet holder

Bullets on my bench are held in boxes (long term) or case necks/mouths (short term).