Reloading Equipment

Looking for some advice. I have been shooting since I was old enough to hold a gun however I have never done any reloading other than helping a few buddies. My question is if you had the following calibers and were starting new reloading with the objective of being able to reload the following rounds at a reasonable speed (ie wife isn't going to let me spend an entire weekend day reloading) once experienced what equipment would you buy? I don't shoot competively, my objective is more reloading for reasonable distance (less than 400 yards max) at reasonable speed for hunting and range rounds. Not looking to spend a fortune but assume money is not a serious limitation.

Rifle
50 BMG
338 LM
458 SOCOM
308
270
223

Pistol
10 mm
45 Auto
357 SIG
9 mm
38 Special

Pistol collection will never expand beyond this. Rifle wise I may end up with 30-06, 25-06, 300 Blackout, 300WM.
I have and would recommend a Redding ultra mag press you can do the 50 BMG with it and I know you can do everything else although it may be overkill for some of the smaller rounds
 
A Lee Classic turret will do all but the big 50. Lee makes a special press for that too.
Join the Lee forum on Facebook, excellent info there.
The Lee manual is comprehensive and very good.
You can buy everything on Amazon.
You can produce ammo as good as factory premium which is all 99% of us need.
Lee press, Lee dies, Lee powder measure. 6.5 Creedmore Ruger American 100 yards.

View attachment 218624
Is that the ELD-M or
A Lee Classic turret will do all but the big 50. Lee makes a special press for that too.
Join the Lee forum on Facebook, excellent info there.
The Lee manual is comprehensive and very good.
You can buy everything on Amazon.
You can produce ammo as good as factory premium which is all 99% of us need.
Lee press, Lee dies, Lee powder measure. 6.5 Creedmore Ruger American 100 yards.

View attachment 218624
What powder is it IMR or H-4350 also is it ELD-X or M. thanks I'm working with the same gun for my Daughter!
 
A smart man once said, "Only cry once." That goes for reloading equipment.
I've got single stage, turret, and progressive presses. Quantity and quality in short order is fulfilled using my Dillon RL550 : 10's of thousands of rounds, unparalleled customer service, and excellent design. I load .223/5.56 and all the pistol calibers on it, from 50 rounds at a time to 2,000 in a weekend. I too have a Redding Ultra Mag, and wouldn't hesitate to load anything on it : from 50 BMG to serious forming operations. I use it for every rifle cartridge I own, and after thousands of rounds, it's still making great reloads. I use a variety of reloading dies : Lyman, Lee, RCBS, Dillon (in the RL550), Forster. All produce great ammunition for me and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them.
Whether you choose "red", "green", "blue", or "orange", you'll get quality and great customer service. Just remember, only cry once.
 
A Lee Classic turret will do all but the big 50. Lee makes a special press for that too.
Join the Lee forum on Facebook, excellent info there.
The Lee manual is comprehensive and very good.
You can buy everything on Amazon.
You can produce ammo as good as factory premium which is all 99% of us need.
Lee press, Lee dies, Lee powder measure. 6.5 Creedmore Ruger American 100 yards.

View attachment 218624
WOW, Clearly you have had better luck with the classic turret that I had. Mine had way too much slop in it and I couldn't get consistent ammo out of it. I fought with it for a year and a half thinking it was me until I finally bought a RCBS Rock chucker. Then things came together very quickly.
 
Looking for some advice. I have been shooting since I was old enough to hold a gun however I have never done any reloading other than helping a few buddies. My question is if you had the following calibers and were starting new reloading with the objective of being able to reload the following rounds at a reasonable speed (ie wife isn't going to let me spend an entire weekend day reloading) once experienced what equipment would you buy? I don't shoot competively, my objective is more reloading for reasonable distance (less than 400 yards max) at reasonable speed for hunting and range rounds. Not looking to spend a fortune but assume money is not a serious limitation.

Rifle
50 BMG
338 LM
458 SOCOM
308
270
223

Pistol
10 mm
45 Auto
357 SIG
9 mm
38 Special

Pistol collection will never expand beyond this. Rifle wise I may end up with 30-06, 25-06, 300 Blackout, 300WM.
I love reloading, even though I haven't been doing it for that long. It will most likely become an obsession, ask me how I know. A word of advice from some one who has just reciently learned and tried to take the cheap easy way into the world of reloading......buy quality stuff, it will save you money and frustration in the end. And buy things that will make the experience more enjoyable. The two best things I bought was the Lyman case prep center and the RCBS chargemaster lite. Total game changer for me. They aren't cheap but IMHO well worth it.
I started with the Lee classic turret press thinking that it would be a great press to spit out accurate ammo quickly, not the case for me. I hated that press but having said that I was wanting to make quality long range ammo for my rifles and I don't think that press was made for that. I think it might be a decent press for pistol ammo. I sold it and bought the RCBS rock chucker press and love it. I have no experience with beam scales but lots of guys swear by them. I'm a digital guy. There are some good quality smaller digital scales but they arent cheap either if you want the quality ones. I went through 2 of the moderately priced ones before I decided to get the charge master lite. By the time I bought the 2 scales and the powder trickler, I could have put in a bit more money and just bought the charge master in the first place. The lyman case prep center was another great peice of equipment I bought. The Lee case length gauges fit right onto it and saves the expense of having to buy a dedicated case trimmer. Its a super easy and fast way to get good prepped cases every time.
As far as dies go there are lots to choose from, I just happen to like the Hornady ones, They seem to be of good quality and reasonably priced.
Like I mentioned I only load for rifle so I have no idea what is involved for pistol. I'm sure you will get lots of ideas and opinions on all sorts of equipment from the wealth of knowledge of the other members here. These are just my experiences, I hope some of it helps
 
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I, like many, started on the Rockchucher Press, The window in the frame has been lengthened in several variations over the years. On my old press from 1977 is awkward seating bullets in 45-110 and, for example, 300 H&H. The point has been made several times about the press. Make sure the press is large enough for 50 BMG.
 
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Looking for some advice. I have been shooting since I was old enough to hold a gun however I have never done any reloading other than helping a few buddies. My question is if you had the following calibers and were starting new reloading with the objective of being able to reload the following rounds at a reasonable speed (ie wife isn't going to let me spend an entire weekend day reloading) once experienced what equipment would you buy? I don't shoot competively, my objective is more reloading for reasonable distance (less than 400 yards max) at reasonable speed for hunting and range rounds. Not looking to spend a fortune but assume money is not a serious limitation.

Rifle
50 BMG
338 LM
458 SOCOM
308
270
223

Pistol
10 mm
45 Auto
357 SIG
9 mm
38 Special

Pistol collection will never expand beyond this. Rifle wise I may end up with 30-06, 25-06, 300 Blackout, 300WM.
Looking for some advice. I have been shooting since I was old enough to hold a gun however I have never done any reloading other than helping a few buddies. My question is if you had the following calibers and were starting new reloading with the objective of being able to reload the following rounds at a reasonable speed (ie wife isn't going to let me spend an entire weekend day reloading) once experienced what equipment would you buy? I don't shoot competively, my objective is more reloading for reasonable distance (less than 400 yards max) at reasonable speed for hunting and range rounds. Not looking to spend a fortune but assume money is not a serious limitation.

Rifle
50 BMG
338 LM
458 SOCOM
308
270
223

Pistol
10 mm
45 Auto
357 SIG
9 mm
38 Special

Pistol collection will never expand beyond this. Rifle wise I may end up with 30-06, 25-06, 300 Blackout, 300WM.
 
If you can purchase factory ammunition, even though it is expensive, you may find the cost of reloading equipment plus components will be enough to purchase 10 years worth of shooting factory stuff. Having said that I have been reloading over 50 years, still love it. Yes, I've spent enough to cover the cost of years and years of factory ammunition shooting but I am able to fine-tune loads for my rifles and get excellent accuracy. And it is fun. Good advice here, consider it all and realize that you are going down a slippery slope. Enjoy.
 
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