Reloading "Kits" - need advice

[Daveinjax]

I'm with tricky on the co-ax press and forster dies. You can't beat the lee collet neck die followed dy a forster bullet seater but the co-ax press is 2 1/2 times what the whole lee kit is and the forster set is $92.00 alone. The lee kit will get you about 97% of the accuracy. To get the last little bit is a fortune in tools and time. Get the lee kit and the few other tools and start. You will get addicted and it will be easy to upgrade later.

 

[FEENIX]

I started with Lyman® T-Mag Expert Deluxe Reloading Kit 3 years ago ...

Paid $299 back then with 6 months to pay option at BassPro.

Lyman® T-Mag Expert Deluxe Reloading Kit | Bass Pro Shops

It has served me very well thus far.

 

[Trickymissfit]

I'm with tricky on the co-ax press and forster dies. You can't beat the lee collet neck die followed dy a forster bullet seater but the co-ax press is 2 1/2 times what the whole lee kit is and the forster set is $92.00 alone. The lee kit will get you about 97% of the accuracy. To get the last little bit is a fortune in tools and time. Get the lee kit and the few other tools and start. You will get addicted and it will be easy to upgrade later.

First of all the average guy shooting a .308 will never shoot over four or five different bullets, and many will never do more than three. You really don't just have to have the micrometer head on the seater, and always remember you can add it on later if you so desire. If your turning necks and then sizing off a bushing, I think I'd go with the Redding "S" die or the Lee Collet die. Then just buy the Redding body die to push the shoulder back a couple thousandths on an inch. The nice thing about the forster is that once you have the lock rings set, you cab forget ever needing to move them again. The priming device on the Forster is better than any I've ever seen on a press, and is better than 85% of the hand held devices.

Another option that is probably going to run you about the samekind of money that the big Forster press and dies will cost you is the buy the following:
1. A Lee cast iron press
2. A Redding body die
3. A Forster N.M. .308 sizing die
4. A K&M arbor press
5. A Wilson .308 bushing die and seater
6. A K&M priming tool
7. The Hornaday gauge set
8. a good pair of digital calipers (Mitutoyo, B&S, or Starrett)
9. A Wilson case trimmer
10. As an option, you might add the Forster seater.

later pick up a NECO case gauge without the dial indicator, and look for a B&S Best Test indicator in .0005" readings. Also buy a good pair of 1" micrometers, and learn to use them.

The setup I layed out will make better ammo than any of the presses, and with it you can load at the range. What you choose for a measurer is your call, but I think I'd just buy a new Lyman off Ebay and add the Sinclair bottle adapter and a couple drop tubes. You'll still need a trickler and a scale (I ain't going into that quagmire again). You can buy the Lyman and all the Sinclair stuff for about half the price of a good Harrell (the best). If you decide to neck turn later, then buy the K&M tool (one of the very best)
gary

 

[Daveinjax]

I'm with trickymissfit on the quality tools but I know what what a tight budget is. I still think the lee kit with a couple of extra tools is the way to go on a budget. Buy Lapua brass as it will save money in the long run. The classic cast press would be an upgrade if you can go that far.

 

[Billy7]

I'm with trickymissfit on the quality tools but I know what what a tight budget is. I still think the lee kit with a couple of extra tools is the way to go on a budget. Buy Lapua brass as it will save money in the long run. The classic cast press would be an upgrade if you can go that far.

Want to thank everyone for their help. I really appreciate it.

BTW, Feenix that Lymann kit is now $99 more than when you bought it!

I ordered the Lee Anniversary kit. My budget is pathetic and Like others have suggested - it's a good starter set that will get me up and running and can always upgrade down the road. Wanted to ask and make sure it wasn't a throw away compared to the other. I've become skeptical of low priced items in the gun world.

Also got on order: Lee 3-die .308 Deluxe kit (yellow box), Lymann Chamfer tool (vld), Lymann flash hole uniformer tool and Redding pocket primer uniformer tool (large).

Hopefully that's basic enough to get started. Let me know if I'm missing anything and thanks again everyone!

 

[Daveinjax]

Didn't see a comparator and OAL guage with a dial caliper to measure the throat and loaded cartridges from the ogive. You will want at least the calipers and comparator. You can find the lands by coloring a bullet with a marker and puting it in the chamber pushed out to where the lands make a mark but it is not very easy to measure that way.

 

[FEENIX]

BTW, Feenix that Lymann kit is now $99 more than when you bought it!

Yep, I noticed that ... glad I got it when I did. Not sure if the other brands also went up.

Good luck and happy safe reloading, shooting, and hunting.

 

[Trickymissfit]

I'm with trickymissfit on the quality tools but I know what what a tight budget is. I still think the lee kit with a couple of extra tools is the way to go on a budget. Buy Lapua brass as it will save money in the long run. The classic cast press would be an upgrade if you can go that far.

honestly I'd not recommend buying premium match quality brass to start with. The average novice will destroy a few cases learning the art of reloading. Being as he's shooting a .308, I'd look for good used brass at the range. Or better yet buy a couple hundred Remington cases to start out with. I have a cigar box full of cases I learned on.

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Lee cast iron press, and if I you can make their collet die work for you, then your well on the way (I never could get what was said it'd do). But I would buy the Forster seater. I would not buy a "kit"! Most of the stuff that comes in one will be discarded in less than 12 months as you find a better way to do something.

There are Wilson trimmers all the time on Ebay. I do not recommend an electronic measurer for a novice. Learn to do everything the hard way, and the rest will follow much easier for you. I never said anything about it, but I will also recommend that everybody buy a copy of Fred Sinclair's hand book on precision reloading. There's at least a couple lifetime's worth of information in that book.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Want to thank everyone for their help. I really appreciate it.

BTW, Feenix that Lymann kit is now $99 more than when you bought it!

I ordered the Lee Anniversary kit. My budget is pathetic and Like others have suggested - it's a good starter set that will get me up and running and can always upgrade down the road. Wanted to ask and make sure it wasn't a throw away compared to the other. I've become skeptical of low priced items in the gun world.

Also got on order: Lee 3-die .308 Deluxe kit (yellow box), Lymann Chamfer tool (vld), Lymann flash hole uniformer tool and Redding pocket primer uniformer tool (large).

Hopefully that's basic enough to get started. Let me know if I'm missing anything and thanks again everyone!

too late now, but the K&M primer pocket tool is the one you want! It fits in a drill motor or one of the electronic screw drivers you can buy at Wallmart.
gary

 

[Daveinjax]

Trickymissfits is probably right about learning on cheap brass when I think about it. I just got two bags of winchester 308 brass and it was terrible ! Try the remington brass. Range brass will have you all over the paper if you can't keep it seperatd by the box it came out of.

 

[Billy7]

Again, thanks everyone. I'm still here checking in in the thread.

I've been saving all my 308 brass so got plenty to tear up.

Will be checking out a comparator and OAL gauges. Which brings up my next question for a suggestion on a guide book. Only doing 308 right now so don't need many recipes for every caliber ever created.

Got primers and powder enroute saving for the actual bullets now. Realistically only shooting paper for accuracy out to 300 right now but the occasion to go out longer may arise soon.

 

[boomtube]

My advice to any noobie is to avoid kits. NONE of them are complete and that means more than just dies. And no brand has a lock on the 'best' tools for each job. But, that said, NONE of the kits are bad and NONE of the tools they include are bad so the worst you can do is really okay and you can save a little bit of money with kits. Sometimes it pays to start cheep anyway. For one thing, a lot of guys start out fast but burn out fast too; there's not much point in having a pile of costly tools stored under a work bench. And we will never get more than we pay for but it's REALLY easy to get less than we pay for!

Bottom line, if you start low and later want to get into it deeper you will have some personal experience that will help you make intelligent choices for what YOU like and actually need to up-grade, not what one of us likes or needs! What I often see is well intended people telling others with entirely different needs exactly what they 'need' and a lot of it's pure BS for the new guy!

I have three Lee presses but they are just a minor part of my system. Lee's iron presses (Classic Cast/Classic Turret) are as well made and durable as any but even my oldest Lee alum alloy press hasn't developed any 'spring'. In fact neither of my very small alum Lee's C presses have nearly as much (measured) spring as my cast iron Rock Chucker that is touted so often as totally ridgid; it ain't!

Get a Lee single stage kit but avoid those silly 'quick change' die bushing gimmicks. And have fun!.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Again, thanks everyone. I'm still here checking in in the thread.

I've been saving all my 308 brass so got plenty to tear up.

Will be checking out a comparator and OAL gauges. Which brings up my next question for a suggestion on a guide book. Only doing 308 right now so don't need many recipes for every caliber ever created.

Got primers and powder enroute saving for the actual bullets now. Realistically only shooting paper for accuracy out to 300 right now but the occasion to go out longer may arise soon.

Pretty much all the bullet makers have good manuals. I have Lyman, Sierra, Nosler, Barnes, Lyman cast, and hodgdon(both yearly and the old #26). If I were locked to one or two I'd go Sierra and Nosler. You can always get info from powder makers on the web too.

 

[Daveinjax]

When buying small amounts of powder and primers it is often cheaper to buy at a local shop. When you add the hazmat shipping charge it wipes out any savings you get ordering. If you have friends who reload you can combine orders to spread the hazmat fee over more items. A box or two of 155 gr target bullets and you are there. Buy the cheapest as at the range you are shooting and the level you are loading at you will never see the difference. Good luck !