reloading questions

[brohymn2]

hey im looking for a cheap reloading setup, something to get me started,


also guys who reload .308, how much are you looking at per round for costs,


thanks a tons

-k

[fish_e_o]

i have the rcbs rock chucker kit and it's awesome and simple to use

it's about 85 cents a round for me to reload 308

[shooterbuck]

I bought the lyman crusher kit. As far as I now its the only one that comes with a case trimmer...which your gonna want. approx 500 $

[mudbug]

Anyone ever try the Lee Anniversary Reloading Kit? Any thoughts about those, they go for about $135.00.

[Gonehuntin']

Yeah man. A good solid starter kit for sure. heck of a deal. After I got some of the family loading gear back, sold most of it to a beginning reloader. It all works, not fancy, not as solid feeling as the RCBS or Lyman gear, but it all works well. I love the scale, kept that, still use it, thousands of rds. later.


I really like the powder thrower too, you could twist the hopper and shut off the feed when you were done using it,no spillage when pouring powder back to container.

I still ended up with Lyman and RCBS after a while, but I would not hesitate to recommend Lee gear to anyone. It's quality is good relative to the cost, and well designed with a certain price range in mind.They use a lot of "engineering plastics" And if you find it's time to go to a more premium kit, you will have no trouble moving the equipment to someone just getting into it. Richard Lee's book is great too, has cast bullet loads, how to's, jacketed loads, tons of info (Modern Reloading II)

Just go easy on the thumb pressure on the Auto Prime. The lever you push with your thumb can snap after a while,but replacements are cheap, I've broken 3 or 4. check out Lee Factory Sales, they are the cheapest deals on Lee equip. I have found. They sell everything. And individual small parts.

[twofifty]

On the Lee AutoPrime lever breaking easily....greasing the two friction points with axle grease goes a long way to reducing the effort required and therefore reducing the strain on the lever.

I re-grease my AutoPrime every 600 rds or so.

[Gonehuntin']

Hmm.. greasing the auto prime. Sounds good thanks for the tip. Always like good advice. I'll try it when my parts come in.

[acrtech]

go for the Lee kit ! Ive had mine since "95 when I got into shooting sports
($125.00) and thought I too would upgrade at a later date... didn't have too. why fix what aint broke. I do however use rcbs dies and redding dies. the auto prime ll works great(seperate purchase). Also, pick up one of those rcbs bullet pullers that work great with the press. Alot quieter at night time reloading sessions when everyone else is sleeping. My recent expense was a Lyman 1200 DPS3(love it). I also have been lucky at finding some reloading manuals at gunshows, garage sales, and used book stores.

Happy reloading !!

[skidderman]

Reloading costs depend a lot on your component choices and how much expenditure you need to find the right combination. You can purchase nosler partions for a buck a bullet or you can use hornady for 45 cents a bullet so that alone can make a big difference in your cost. You may or may not have already found the powder that works best for you but I originally went through a ton of money trying to find a powder that would not give high pressures plus good performance. Settled on Reloader 15 and will never switch again. It is mathematically very easy to determine your costs by:

Dividing the number of grains per shell by 1 pound powder = powder cost. If you look in your manual you should be able to figure out how many grains are in one pound of powder.
Bullets to cost per bullet depending on which ones you use
Primers per primer, used to be about 4 cents each
Cost of casings if you use new, if reused then you save here.
Add it all up and you know to the cent what each reload costs.

[highwayman]

"... how many grains are in one pound of powder."
1 pound of powder = 7000 grains

[eric2381]

This is a calculator I use to figure out costs. You can change the variables to fit what you're doing.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp

I can't say enough about RCBS equipment. I've got it all, and I like RCBS and Redding the most.

Good luck, Eric

[noneck180]

R/C press
Chargemaster Combo
Funnel
Lee Auto Prime
Digital Calipers..
inside/outside reamer tool
I heard those lee trimmers are good..and cheap.

[acrtech]

Hey, I just googled reloading bench and came across this site

http://www.three-peaks.net/reload.htm