I've managed to rearrange my home sufficiently that I think I can finally take up reloading.
I'm planning to reload for plinking to begin with, and then once I learn my way around reloading a bit, I want to start doing load devlopment for (probably) subsonic 300 BLK and 308. Might want to try and run up a recipe for 38 Special subsonics too.
Now comes the fun part, equipment selection.
I've played around with a variety of hardware, and I think I've come down to a turret press. Having been a bit of an engineer in a prior life, I've concluded (although I could be wrong) that the best results are gonna come from tight tolerances and consistent setup. With that in mind, I'm currently thinking a turret press like the Lyman Brass Smith 8 station, carbide die sets for 9mm and 38/357, and "good" quality dies for 300BLK, 308, and maybe 30-06 and 76.2x54R in the future. I'll probably do my brass cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner, and I'll invest in appropriate tools like scales, powder measures, brass trimming rig and a good set of calipers.
I'm no Mr. Moneybags, but I'd rather "buy once, cry once" on this initial press. Who knows, in the future if my focus changes, there might be other presses I'll add, but I want to be able to churn out 100 rounds of good quality ammo an hour to begin with, and don't mind if it's a bit more expensive than commercial ammo on ammoseek.com.
What should I be looking out for?
What questions should I be asking that I don't even know I need to ask?
Any recommendations for equipment other than the ones I list above?
I'm planning to reload for plinking to begin with, and then once I learn my way around reloading a bit, I want to start doing load devlopment for (probably) subsonic 300 BLK and 308. Might want to try and run up a recipe for 38 Special subsonics too.
Now comes the fun part, equipment selection.
I've played around with a variety of hardware, and I think I've come down to a turret press. Having been a bit of an engineer in a prior life, I've concluded (although I could be wrong) that the best results are gonna come from tight tolerances and consistent setup. With that in mind, I'm currently thinking a turret press like the Lyman Brass Smith 8 station, carbide die sets for 9mm and 38/357, and "good" quality dies for 300BLK, 308, and maybe 30-06 and 76.2x54R in the future. I'll probably do my brass cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner, and I'll invest in appropriate tools like scales, powder measures, brass trimming rig and a good set of calipers.
I'm no Mr. Moneybags, but I'd rather "buy once, cry once" on this initial press. Who knows, in the future if my focus changes, there might be other presses I'll add, but I want to be able to churn out 100 rounds of good quality ammo an hour to begin with, and don't mind if it's a bit more expensive than commercial ammo on ammoseek.com.
What should I be looking out for?
What questions should I be asking that I don't even know I need to ask?
Any recommendations for equipment other than the ones I list above?