Need Recommendations

I'd like to begin reloading my own ammunition and need some recommendations on what equipment I should look at/buy. I'd mainly be reloading .30-06 for my M1 Garand and Springfield 03A3, .32 automatic, 9mm, .45 Auto and .38.
I've looked around on the Internet and found all different brands of reloading equipment. I'm sort of leaning toward RCBS but I'd like to get some information from people who have been doing this for a long time. My first, and only, purchase so far has been The ABC's of Reloading by Bill Chevallier.
Thanks for any help I can get. :???:

While you might be better served with a single stage press for reloading rifle, you quote several handgun cartridges. I have the Dillon 550 and find it does all I want and more. I load rifle on it, (I am not a volume shooter so I use it more like a single stage), but when it comes to volume loading the 550 really shines. Combine that with Dillons outstanding "No BS" warranty and the presses are hard to beat.

I should add we all have our preferences and I am sure you will here from others who like their machines as well. My consensus is though, from reading similar requests on other forums the Dillon seems to be the preferred machine. One thing about it, if you decide at some future date reloading is not for you , you will get your money back quickly from the Dillon judging from what I see on Ebay.

Hope this helps

Bob

Welcome to the guide tranch!!!

I started with the Lee Anniversary Reloading Kit. Cabelas has got them for $67. i've loaded 1000's of rounds on mine. You can always upgrade the press latter to a Lee classic cast press

Start simple.
Toney's right on with the best starter deal in the Lee Aniversary Kit. Lee makes the best die sets for the money, and all of their products are great values. I really like the AutoPrime2, but the regular AutoPrime comes with the kit and is a good tool also.
RCBS make very good equipment, too, and has great customer service, but fairly high prices. There are a lot of green tools on my bench, including a Rock Chucker press and a Uniflow Powder Measure. My biggest gripe with them is that they nickel and dime you to death charging for the small but necessary parts that most others include. I also like Lyman products, especially their case trimmer with its various accessories and the T-Mag turret press, but I wouldn't touch a 310 tool on a bet.
If you are going to be loading a lot of rounds, Bob has it right about Dillon progressive presses - everyone I know that has bought one of their products raves about it, and their resale values are impressive.
BUT, the most important things to start out with are at least two (and four is better) current loading manuals like Sierra, Lyman, Lee, Hornady, Speer, Nosler, etc. I listed Sierra first because I don't think you will find anything more accurate for the money than their bullets, especially for your Garand (I don't feed mine anything else anymore), but I may tend to wax a bit too enthusiastic about their bullets from time to time. [smilie=1: Lyman and Lee manuals I think are must-haves, too.

For starting out, I recomend a Dillon AT500 press. It can be upgraded to a full progressive press later on by adding the proper accessories.

If that's too much money, try a Lee Classic turret press. This is a four hole die station press, but cannot be upgraded to a full progressive press...but pretty close to it. It will be coming out shortly on the open market as its quite new. Very sturdy cast iron unit, nothing like the plastic stuff they made in the past.

Read your ABC diligently, also the instructions that come with these presses.

Enjoy.

Jim

G'day & welcome to the Guide Tranch
You've probarly noticed that you've come to the right place for advise ! My reloading bench is a hoch poch of different brands of gear after all these years ! My fav Press is a LEE TURRET these days & up until recently I was reloading roughly about 800rnds of.223 per week on it . The Kits that are avalible are the way to go s you get everything that you need to get moving ! Remember start slowly & take your time .Ask questions & read everything you can on the subject ! Warning though !!!! Reloading is adictive! & may affect the contents of your wallet .If & when you become a gear junky[smilie=w:

Dave

I recommend a RCBS single stage press like the reloader spl 5 or the rock chucker. Yes you are asking yourself "why is this guy telling me to start with a $300 doller press?" because RCBS IS THE BEST!!!! The only press that I have ever used was my dads rock chucker, until last year when I got my reloader spl #3, and I have used that ever since. When I got the spl #3 I also got a used RCBS ram prime that was missing one of the priming arms.
Called RCBS: I am missing my L.R. priming arm for my ram prime. Coming right up. A couple of days later I went to the mail box and there they was. THEY SENT BOTH OF THEM!!! Good company, and the tools will last you a life time.
DANIEL/BS JR.

While I know there are those out there that will disagree with this, I nevertheless feel that it is a well thought out position that will insure proper grounding in the basics. I believe that it is a serious mistake to start a new loader with a progressive machine, and this is why: there is no single element of the process that is particularly difficult, but there are an awful lot of little things one needs to learn in order to turn out safe and effective ammunition. A single stage press allows a beginner to consider each of these processes one at a time and allows the chance to learn each thoroughly before moving on to the next step. It gives him (or her) the chance to handle and visually inspect each case before and after every step and to think about exactly what is being done.
Yes, it takes longer to work a single stage press. So what? You take your time and progress slowly and carefully through the steps. You build skills and confidence. There is a gentleman on one of the gunloads forums that is starting out the hobby with his son. They have started with a Lee Loader. I applaud his good sense. He is thoughtful and methodical and both he and his son will become safe and careful loaders (they already set off a primer by accident, and that sure got their attention - they were back almost immediately and not ashamed to be asking questions to insure it didn't happen again).
In time, you develop your own routine, how you lay out your tools and supplies. You gain an intimate knowledge of the entire process and slowly you begin to grasp the whole process in its entirety. Before very long you are rolling right along and you have gained a level of awareness that lets you perceive immediately if something is not right, and you have the know-how to solve the problem and the sense to prevent its repetition. You are going to make mistakes. That is what learning is all about. You are much better off making them when you are only having to deal with one step at a time and can easily go back and correct them while they are still only minor problems.
The greatest danger we face is the possibility of double, triple, or NOT charging a pistol case with commonly used powders. If you are using a single stage press, all your cases are lined up in a loading block and you can take a bright light and inspect each one. You KNOW everything is right and safe because you can see it yourself. With everything that is happening at once on a progressive press, a beginner is not going to have a sufficient grasp of what is actually going on to be able to be aware of the many things that need attention, and will likely not catch common problems until actually at the range, with potentially disastrous results.
Please understand that I am in no way disparaging progressive machines, - especially Dillons, the standard by which all others are judged - they are technical marvels that save us a lot of time when we have a lot of loading to do. It is merely that you have to have more than just a minor clue to run one safely. When you've been at it a while, fine, go for one if you have the volume to justify it. It helps if you know folks who have more than one kind so you can check them out first and get a better idea of your needs and which machine will best serve them, and it takes some experience to make that sort of self assessment. To my mind, setting up a beginner on a progressive is like taking a teenager off a bicycle, putting him behind the wheel of a semi, and giving him a map and a pat on the back. It makes more sense to teach him first how to drive a small car, learn the rules of the road, then move up to a stick shift, then maybe to a big van, etc. You have to learn to walk before you can run. Big mistakes in our hobby can and do kill people, and I have watched too many fools come too damn close too many times for me not to urge caution and patience.
Also to be considered is that not everyone is temperamentally suited to the hobby. It takes a good degree of concentration, some maturity, and no small amount of patience, especially in the beginning. Better for someone to find out with a cheap press and minimal outlay of cash that he doesn't have the attention span or the innate ability to pay attention to the little details necessary to do it effectively and safely. A man can be intelligent, well read, an accomplished hunter, a great performer on the target range but still just not have what it takes to craft ammo. The time to find that out isn't when he's up to his ears (and over his head) with a $500+ machine.
OK, now I'll put the violin away!

Well said Vesifier ! I think sometimes we lose site of the fact that the origanal point of the exercise was to empty the swamp .........When you find yourself up to your backside in aligators [smilie=w: Yep keep it simple !


Dave

actually I was just thinking and I started loading with a hole in a board!!!!! Yes, I would decap the primer with a primer punch and then prime a new one with a lee auto prime, and then use the hole in the bourd to push a pellet in the 22 hornet case. no powder. I use that load, loading that way until I sold the 22 Hornet.
DANIEL/BS JR.
actually I still use that methed for the 223 some times.

In my opinion, all the posts above here are true and as correct as can be! I actually have an old Bonanza press from back in the 40's sometime that belonged to my dad. I learned to reload on it myself.

But with the progressive press discussion, I have seen many people discuss them like "progressive" is the only thing they do! I have a Dillon 550b, and have NEVER used it progressively. I use it like 4 single stage presses at times, and as a single stage most of the time.

For instance, the sizing die can be installed only. Brass inserted at position #1, are sized, de capped and primed. As another is loaded, the finished pieces work themselves out the other end.

Then if you get into forming brass for odd calibers from parent cases, four dies can be added, one to each station to partially expand or reduce the brass from one stage to another.

I think the progressive press has so many varied uses. And as I said I have never used it for progressive volume loading. It's too easy to make a mistake, or have a powder metering malfunction. I simply don't trust the progressive operation with anyones press.

Tranch, this is probably posted too late to be of any help, but here's my idea on your question. I had heard how much money you can save by loading your own. I started on a Lee Hand Press kit, many years ago. I learned how to reload on it. Used it for a long time but it hurt my hand after a few hundred rounds so I got me a Lee single stage press, and a primer feed for the Ram Prime that came in the old hand press kit. I learned more about the reloading process (most important was not to drink beer while you're reloading) and got me a Lyman T-Mag press and all the whistles and bells I could put on it. Then I was rolling! By then, I had 4 presses and a bench full of other stuff I needed. Then I got a got a Dillon 550-B and a MEC 650 and some more stuff I need in addition to the other stuff I had. I really don't know what my investment is, at this time, but what ever it is, it's worth every penny! Reloading is some of the best therapy around. A few years ago, The Warlord ask me how much money I've saved. I told her that I saved the price of a case of beer every time I sit down at the bench.

To end this ramble; if I had it to do all over, I'd do it the same way...start with a single stage press, learn to reload and then get a progressive press. JMHO
Good luck with your endeavor. JB

I learned to load at the age of 7 with a hole in a bench! I would decap the primer with my lee hand press, and then seat the new primer with a lee auto prime, and then push a pellet into the 22 hornet case with no powder. I learned to use use the single stage press the next year. I learned on a RCBS rock chucker, and never used any thing else until i got my own press last year. I got a RCBS reloader spl 3, single stage, and I still use it today. I have never loaded with a progressive, except for the shot gun loader, and with that I use 1 shell at a time, and when I turn on the powder I forget to turn it off, so I get the bench covered with powder, and will not touch the thing for three months.
DANIEL/BS JR.

All good advise. My $.02.....you are either going to love it, become addicted, and spend a small fortune, or you will lose interest and the gear will gather dust and get kicked in the corner. Start cheap and basic. Once you've decided if you like it or not, all your cheap basic gear can be passed down, or sold at a garage sale.

I still have the first Lee loader that got me heavily involved nearly 40 years ago. It's stored in a 400 square foot room FULL of handloading and casting equipment.

Don't know Versifier but he sounds like a wise old sage. All good advice here though. R-E-A-L-L-Y important is that part about looking into each case before stuffing a bullet into it. Have a good friend of many years experience who got in a hurry and neglected to do that recently. He got a double charge of 2400 in his once nice Marlin 1895. When he touched it off it rained steel and walnut for a while. They never found more than a few splinters off the forearm, the barrel is now a trough, he's missing the end of one of his fingers, and it took 13 stitches to close the top of his thumb. He was darn lucky. It could have been much worse. Look into those cases... and only keep one can of powder open at a time on your bench!

I'm not trying to scare or discourage you in any way. Making our own is lots of fun and very rewarding. But you have to always be safe and careful... even if you've been doing this for decades. Don't allow familiarity to breed contempt. Have fun and be safe!

Here is my .02. I have been reloading for a while now,and one of my rules for safe reloading is to use a powder with a loading density that is more than 50% of the case capacity. Can't double charge a round........Be safe.........Jim

That's a good idea, Rambo. But in the real world it isn't always possible. Some calibers it just doesn't work out well. Some that come to mind are some of the old cartridges designed to work with black powder that we now often use smokeless in. One of my .45-70's is that way. When I use a powder of the right burning rate it doesn't use up 50% of capacity. But if one were to double charge it would be easily noted if you looked into the case.

Your idea was fine as far as it goes but for some of us it just doesn't work out that way. Still a good idea to load a whole tray and peek into each case under good light. And never have more than one can of powder on the bench at a time. Just a few helpful ideas to keep us out of trouble.

You can find dozens of opinions on which presses to buy but I believe the best advise you just got about reloading is.... THIS

Quote:

---

BUT, the most important things to start out with are at least two (and four is better) current loading manuals like Sierra, Lyman, Lee, Hornady, Speer, Nosler, etc

---

.

Tranch, I'm back in reloading after a 40 year absence from it. I've read many posts in the last few months on equipment, dies and etc. From my reading, I've come to the conclusion that asking what brand of reloading equiptment to use is like asking what caliber is best for white tail deer hunting and etc. Everyone has their opinion. But there seems to be a general consensus that RCBS is a high quality product with a good warranty and factory service. So, if you want a cadillac buy their products. If you are happy with a Ford, use Lee products. All of them will get you there. Personally, I bought the Lee anniversary press and dies to save money and so far I've been happy with Lee. But, then I'm happy reusing the Lyman Ideal handloading 310 tong and dies for my 30-06 that I bought 40 years ago.

The type of reloading press you buy should go right along with the volume of rounds that you want to reload. If you plan to shoot lots of pistol ammo go with the progressive or semi-progressive press. Pistol ammo can take up to 4 different dies or stages to load where as rifles only take 2. Over the years i've loaded ammo on one of the lee starter kits(this didn't last long), an RCBS jr press, dillon 450, 2 dillon 550's and now I use a dillon 1050 to load my pistol ammo.(38/357/40 s&w and 38super.
I my humble opinion you can't go wrong with any of Dillon's equipment. I use RCBS single stage presses where all that were avaiable in my neck of the woods.
The one thing that you need to remember is to buy the best that you can afford because it costs twice as much to do it over.
Larry