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Can anyone give me an idea what it costs to get started reloading? I've done some research on the per round savings, but would like to know the up front cost and don't know everything needed: Press, dies, scale, ???
A rough estimate for my budget would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to buy crappy stuff, but don't want ultra delux model either, simple and good's the word.
Thanks a lot!
Sorta depends on what you want to reload. I think I spent about 400.00 to get started, and added a lot more equipment as I dove into it a little deeper.
I would try and find someone selling their gear on one of the forums. I have seen a few kits and setups selling for a decent price recently.
The basics are these components.
You will need the press. This holds the dies which will de-prime the shell, resize the shell and seat the bullet.
A shell tumbler for cleaning the brass before reloading.
A shell trimmer to trim the neck of the shells because they expand in length as well.
The shell dies. Purchased by caliber. I prefer Full Length shell resizing dies for all rifle. RCBS also has Competition dies to help get the bullet seating down to an art.
The shell holder. Purchased per caliber. Holds the shell in place when working with the press and shell die
Hand primming tool if the reloading press you choose does not have one built into it.
A powder scale. Spend the money and get a digital one.
These are the basics to get you started, there are so many options and different tools to make the process quicker, more precise and of course more expensive :D
I use all RCBS stuff because their customer support is top of the line, the equipment is good and fairly priced as well.
Check out rcbs's web site.
http://www.rcbs.com/default.aspx
Buy yourself the Hornady "Handbook of Cartridge Reloading". This is one of the best reloading data books out there. They cover a ton of powder, primmer and bullet cobinations for every caliber out there.
I'm sure I'm missing or fogetting something... But I think I get the "basics" down.
Now isn't a good time to start. everything is unavailable and when it is waaayyy too expensive.
I would hold off for a while, or just stop at garage sales and see if anyone is parting with an old press and equipment.
Thanks for the replies!
I meant to put the calibers I want to reload: mainly 9mm and 30-06 to start with. That's a lot of stuff that's needed!
sniper7: Yeah, I've heard that used stuff is selling more than new on E-Bay. This is for down the road a while anyway, still have some toys and hunting gear to buy first, but I've been trying to get some lists going to plan out my purchases (it's looking like the plan will already extend a couple years). :)
Yeah I just did a search of all the reloading sites I know of and everything everywhere is out of stock no backorder. pretty crazy times right now. Hopefully it will catch up before I run out of my stashed supplies.
only thing I saw available was shotgun reloading supplies.
I can tell you this when it comes to components. I ordered 10,000 small rifle primmers from Cabela's and I did get them. It took almost 3 months for them to ship, but they did.
It really comes down to what calibers you want to load and quantity you expect to reload. Anyone can start out fairly cheap with a single stage press and do any caliber with basic die sets and basic equipment. Single stage presses are easier to learn with, and most pong range precision shooters prefer the single stage for very high end rifle rounds. The draw back is it is very slow going, round cound production will seem to take forever.
Things change when you start looking at burning large quantities of ammo in competition. Then you need to look at a progressive reloader. Regardless, just starting out, you are going to want to start with one of the lower end progressive reloaders if you go this route. I DO NOT recommend trying to jump into one of the higher end progressives to begin with. Since you are looking at doing both rifle and pistol rounds, you can skip the RCBS Piggy-back. I wouldn't recommend it anyway. You can also skip the Dillon Square Deal B. It will only do pistol rounds.
I would recommend starting out with a Dillon 550b progressive. A second would be an RCBS Pro 2000. I have a Pro 2000 and have reloaded well over 250k rounds on it. For me, shooting aprox 30k rounds a year, it's a little on the slow side. But, it's a solid machine that makes great rounds. The 550 is just about the same machine, but has a few differences. Bottom line both companies back their product, and Dillon relentlessly ensures their customers get their support.
The Pro 2000 is more expensive, but works a little better to reload rifle rounds. The 550 is faster to reload with. The Pro 2000 uses a different primer feeding mechanism compared to the usual primer feed tubes that Dillons and other reloaders use. So, it takes an additional tool to load the primers into the primer feeding strips. It's not that expensive, but it is different.
Lastly, you will have to change from small primers for the 9mm to large primers for the 30-06. Some machines are easy, some machines are a bitch. Both the 550 and the Pro 2000 are pretty easy to swap over. The single stages are too. Really look at how difficult it is to swap out calibers to include the shell plates and primer seater before making a decision on a machine.
Hope this helps. There's tons more info out there. Do the research before deciding. If you decide to go with a Dillon, I would recommend going through brianenos.com. He's a shooter and understands the machinery, and is reputation for customer support is solid.
Specialty Sports in COS actually has a few RCBS rock chucker presses in stock, for around $300.
I think the best thing to do is give someone a few beers and go to there house and see how it all works. Thats kinda how I got into reloading. Hoser invited me over to show me how it all works and now I am a reloading junkie.
I have a dillon 650 with case feeder and I love it. it really burns out ammo. dillon stuff is not cheap but personally I think its worth it. If you ever have a problem with a dillon machine the tech support is outstanding.
Great idea! I've got nearly 100 rounds of 9mm brass I'll give/share with someone willing to show me this. It may be a while before I get anything, but it would be good to see it in action!Quote:
Originally Posted by CareyH
Thanks to everyone else for all the ideas also, I can see I have a lot to learn. I was interested years ago before I had to sell my first rifle and think it could be something I'd really get into!
I really enjoy reloading. Go in the garage, grab my Ipod and sit down for a few hours reloading. To me it's very relaxing.
First off, I think you're getting some bad advice here. Most reloaders will tell you - if you are just getting into reloading to only get a single stage press, not a progressive or turret press. As a beginner, you need to keep it simple and have each step clearly defined. You can always upgrade once you've got more experience under your belt.
Secondly, someone indicated that a tumbler is a "basic component". I disagree. They clean up your brass quite nicely, but are not essential.
I recommend picking up a few (not just one) reloading manuals from different companies (i.e. Lyman, Sierra, Nosler, Hornady). Read through the book - focusing on the reloading process and the essential and recommended tools. Do this BEFORE buying any equipment so that you know what you are getting into and how to properly (and SAFELY) reload ammunition.
Single stage press sounds right to me...I definitely want to keep it simple.
I started with a single, but if you fall for reloading you'll end up with 3 or 4 progressives [Coffee]
Single stage presses work just fine, but you'll quickly grow tired of them, I have a lyman and a lee multi stage press.
My RCBS single stage sits around and collects dust.
Besides, you can use the Lee turret press, as a single stage anyway, by just taking the rod out of the center.
I don't think it's that hard to learn for a noob, that he'd HAVE To buy a single stage press first.
here's my setup, from left to right, RCBS Rock Chuker, Lyman 5 Stage, Lee turret press, and my Lyman bullet sizer.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ndchewy004.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryanek9freak
Nice bench [Beer]
I was thinking the same thing! It looks like some nice rifles too!Quote:
Originally Posted by RRD3
Definitely hook up with someone who reloads and get some "bench time" with them. I started with a Dillon 550 progressive and have been loading for over 12 years. I have a 650 progresive now. There are no "right presses" to start with.
I agree with everyone that you need to get some books/reloading manuals to get some help with. Part of it comes down to how much you want to spend. RCBS, Dillon, Hornady, Lyman, etc. They are all good presses and serve their users well. I prefer Dillon because of their lifetime NO BS warranty, but that is just me.
Good luck. I'm in SE Aurora, if you want to see my press in action. I load approx 300-500 rounds at a time. I leasrned from a police officer friend of mine who loads between 5k-10k/month.
Jason
PS. Really nice bench pics! I see a new thread in the making.