Good starter kit or junk?

[jcountry]

I have the Hornady single stage, and so far I like it. (I also really like the book that comes with the kit. Lots of books out there are crap. This one is well written and makes sense.)

It is cool how you can change out the die bushings and not have to reset the dies.

I am pretty new, but I haven't had any problems yet. I also agree with a previous post about learning on a single stage. Progressives are simply too complicated to set up right until you know what is going on. Better not to screw up by trying to crank out volume.

 

[Clarke123]

Right now, there's a lot of folks considering / getting into reloading simply because there has been such a shortage of available ammunition. This is starting to change, and the pace of store shelf-availability is increasing daily. If you wait until retail ammunition and components become more plentiful, there should be a corresponding increase in LNIB reloading kits hitting the market.

My all-time favorite is the Lee Classic Turret with its cast-iron base. Keeping a supply of extra turrets on hand will allow you to quickly and accurately switch calibers, and you also have the option to do progressive OR single-stage reloading with it.

BTW: Have you read the "stickies" at the start of this forum? If not, you should ... reloading isn't for everybody, and most certainly not for anyone who will not follow each step of the reloading process, for every cartridge, every time. It is a time-consumer that many working dads and husbands will find impossible to undertake.

Look here for some advice on what you will need. Also note that a case tumbler / vibrator cleaner should be one of the last things you need to buy. We didn't even know about them until just the past decade!

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=33

 

[Byte Stryke]

Right now, there's a lot of folks considering / getting into reloading simply because there has been such a shortage of available ammunition. This is starting to change, and the pace of store shelf-availability is increasing daily. If you wait until retail ammunition and components become more plentiful, there should be a corresponding increase in LNIB reloading kits hitting the market.

My all-time favorite is the Lee Classic Turret with its cast-iron base. Keeping a supply of extra turrets on hand will allow you to quickly and accurately switch calibers, and you also have the option to do progressive OR single-stage reloading with it.

BTW: Have you read the "stickies" at the start of this forum? If not, you should ... reloading isn't for everybody, and most certainly not for anyone who will not follow each step of the reloading process, for every cartridge, every time. It is a time-consumer that many working dads and husbands will find impossible to undertake.

+1
I will add that some "working dads and husbands" can do it, look at it as a hobby. I will clean, setup a few hundred cases an afternoon on my little single stage then not 'load' them for a few weeks er so.
I have several thousand commercial target and SD loads in store , so the need to reload is not really there.
It's something to do on a rainy day and it relaxes me.

*IF* you are all about the roundcount/hour, you may have issues.

 

[Kornbread01]

Strictly due to being financially challenged, over 40 years ago, I started loading .38 Specials & .357 Mags on one of those little Lee handloaders & sat in the floor with an old oak wooden block , hammering the cases through each step. Powder was measured, by little plastic scoops. Eventually I got an RCBS single stage Rock Chucker & stayed with it for many years, buying, swapping , avidly reading each & every reloading & handloading book I could lay my hands on. Stayed up lots of nights cranking out ammo for hunting, plinking, target shooting. Can't do too much learning. Still have that old Rock chucker, only it is boxed up, put away , now, & it with good dies, helped me produce some very fine ammunition , which only failed me ONE TIME, when I got a bad batch of CCI primers. From what I know the Dillon 550B would be a wonderful progressive machine for one who is experienced & ready to invest in a lifelong & very interesting, useful hobby.

 

[jcountry]

Right now, there's a lot of folks considering / getting into reloading simply because there has been such a shortage of available ammunition. This is starting to change, and the pace of store shelf-availability is increasing daily. If you wait until retail ammunition and components become more plentiful, there should be a corresponding increase in LNIB reloading kits hitting the market.

My all-time favorite is the Lee Classic Turret with its cast-iron base. Keeping a supply of extra turrets on hand will allow you to quickly and accurately switch calibers, and you also have the option to do progressive OR single-stage reloading with it.

BTW: Have you read the "stickies" at the start of this forum? If not, you should ... reloading isn't for everybody, and most certainly not for anyone who will not follow each step of the reloading process, for every cartridge, every time. It is a time-consumer that many working dads and husbands will find impossible to undertake.

Look here for some advice on what you will need. Also note that a case tumbler / vibrator cleaner should be one of the last things you need to buy. We didn't even know about them until just the past decade!

http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=33

Great site!

Thanks for the link!

 

[jwhited]

I just ordered my first set of handloading equipment. I made sure to watch lots of videos, do lots of research and find out exactly what I would want to start off. I determined that buying a "handloading kit" wasn't going to be my best bet. So I ordered individual tools of a variety of makes. A Lee press and dies, Lyman tumbler, trimmer, and case care kit, Hornady calipers, RCBS hand primer, etc.

I learned a lot from watching this series of videos:

 

[jwhited]

+1
I will add that some "working dads and husbands" can do it, look at it as a hobby. I will clean, setup a few hundred cases an afternoon on my little single stage then not 'load' them for a few weeks er so.
I have several thousand commercial target and SD loads in store , so the need to reload is not really there.
It's something to do on a rainy day and it relaxes me.

*IF* you are all about the roundcount/hour, you may have issues.

I've had various boxes and bags of assorted brass that I've been holding onto because I planned on "someday" getting into handloading. I'm still waiting on a couple shipments of equipment, but I did get around to cleaning up a few hundred cases, ready to decap and size.

 

[jcountry]

^^^^

Great videos! I am watching all of them. Best reloading stuff I have seen on youtube by far!

 

[slbdawg]

Reloading lets you find fun things you didn't know about, like removing crimp rings from hundreds of .223 military brass by HAND!