You Tube....Reloading!
this…I wish years ago someone would have given me this advice. Stay away from the kits and buy the needed equipment (make a list) and get the best you can afford right off the Word go. If you think you are doing yourself a favor by buying cheap and then working up in quality later, it will bite you every time and you will end up with drawers and cabinets filled with stuff you never touch and wish you had never purchased…. Figure out what you need for the type of reloading you are going to be doing …As someone who has been reloading since I was 17 or so (I'm 71 now) I would recommend sticking with, for single stage, RCBS and if you're leaning towards progressive, Dillon. Hornady comes in down the list a ways. It will get the job done but personally, I haven't had good luck with Hornady stuff, although I know others have. Just my personal experience.
Get a decent beam scale and learn to use it properly before you buy a digital. Zero them both often, especially after being moved or bumped! This is critical, especially when you start moving up into the realm of max pressure loads.
I do not recommend kits, since you will just end up with a lot of mostly low quality stuff you will probably never use. You will need a half way decent dial caliper, a scale and a few other minor items before you start. Search tge archives, I'm sure there is bound to be a list of the basic things you must have.
Reloading is as safe as you make it. Learn to use whatever equipment you buy (read and understand the instructions before you start). Ask questions here regarding things you don't get, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask!
Cheers,
crkckr
Personally, I don't see myself getting into anything that would warrant a progressive set up. Like you, I'm a hunter rather than a precision shooter. I won't discount that there's some appeal to it, and who know's what the future holds. But for now, I'm looking at building a 22LR to practice with. So reloading won't be an issue there. The biggest issue for me is two of my calibers that I love...280AI and 8.6BLK. If I have to sit around waiting for those to come available on the shelves, I may be too old to care anymore.As someone who just set out on this journey myself in the last couple years, I'm happy to share my process and experiences so far. I thought my biggest challenge was going to be picking a brand to run with but sourcing components has been my greatest barrier to actually getting started. Luckily for you powders and bullets are available again (still some gaps though) and if you look hard enough, primers are out there now (I've only been able to find CCI though). I ended up choosing red and got the Hornady Iron Press kit. After talking with a bunch of local hand loaders and hunting friends that reload, Forster Co-Ax was in my top three options and Forster makes a lot of quality stuff. The Iron Press was similar in design and while maybe the fit and finish from a production scale standpoint is not as quality as Forster, the price on the kit was very good and I've become a huge fan of the Hornady Lock-N-Load bushing system for switching out dies (set it once and you're good to go - especially if you're just loading for one rifle per caliber). If you like green, get the RCBS kit as RCBS is also wonderful. There are true differences between all of them but at some level, you can just choose the color you like best and be happy with anything you get. Every press will have little idiosyncrasies and adjustments to make so it's more about learning good procedure and technique which can be applied to any press or piece of kit you pick up. A lot of the kits have basic things that you may end up replacing or not using but I found that the Hornady Iron Press kit came with enough great components that I knew I would use and I really only had to add a few things: head space gauge kit, extra Lock-N-Load bushings, case trimmer, OAL gauge, and I bought modified cases for all the calibers I load to make things even easier. The only thing from the kit I don't use is the powder measure. At the time I bought my kit, there was a promotion that also included Hornady's Auto Charge Pro which measures and dispenses powder for you. After leveling it and setting it up in the place I plan to always have it, I find it to be very accurate, repeat charges well, and it's easy to change powders out. I have borrowed a friend's beam scale to check it once in a while and I've never been off. A few times there have been maybe a .1 grain difference and if you're bench rest precision oriented, you may prefer to trickle your charges anyway. I'm a hunter and don't target shoot a lot or burn through large quantities of ammunition so this single stage set-up suits me just great and I like and use the Hornady custom grade dies too (their match grade dies offer more control over neck tension with bushings that have tight tolerances). Regarding your interest in scaling up, the biggest question there is if you think you'd ever want a progressive loader. Many will suggest/insist that you start with a single stage and build a strong and reliable hand loading regimen before jumping up to a progressive system with a lot of moving parts and things to pay attention to. Plenty of merit in doing so. You'll also find plenty of others that will tell you if money was no object, they would have immediately bought a Dillion Precision set-up like their RL550C and built their bench around that. I can definitely see the appeal there myself but I will say that I'm learning a lot from going through each separate part of the hand loading process and I like the ceremony of doing all the phases separately from case prep/cleaning, to sizing, to priming, and then seating etc. I have no regrets and I am enjoying the benefits of loading my own and no matter what color you choose for your bench, you'll probably be happy too. Good luck!
You live in Dillon Country! Go to their showroom in Scottsdale and play with the presses.Hello all,
I'm not quite ready to get into reloading as I don't have the space. However, I'd like to start looking at what will be needed to start down that rabbit hole in search of Alice.
1. How's Hornady's equipment? (I get a healthy discount)
2. What is needed at start up that can scale up eventually?
TYIA!
Really? I didn't realize that. I was excited when my son started interning for Haley Strategic, but then he turned down the job offer. Grrr.You live in Dillon Country! Go to their showroom in Scottsdale and play with the presses.
Yeah, I think once I wrap my head around what's needed, I could see if it'll fit.It doesn't take a lot of space to start reloading. I started back when I was in the USCG. Our ship was in the yards for new engines and we were living at the local Ramada Inn. I was reloading in my hotel room at night using this outfit right here. I held it to the dresser using a wood clamp!
The wood base was made by Lyman at the time (1983) and I have continued to use it since. I don't think Lyman offers them anymore but you can make something like it. It's just plywood screwed together with gussets in the right areas.
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Sure got that right. The rabbit hole, and it get deeper! There was lots of time when I purchase something, I would get it for my sons too. That rabbit is really big and deep. Not so much. The equipment that can purchase out there now can be expensive.this…I wish years ago someone would have given me this advice. Stay away from the kits and buy the needed equipment (make a list) and get the best you can afford right off the Word go. If you think you are doing yourself a favor by buying cheap and then working up in quality later, it will bite you every time and you will end up with drawers and cabinets filled with stuff you never touch and wish you had never purchased…. Figure out what you need for the type of reloading you are going to be doing …