Brilliant press, strong, rigid and excellent value for money. I paid £140 for mine last year.
Another reloading what to buy thread
- Thread starter Mattv
- Start date
Bit of a can of worms and budget dependant
I bought Lee everything for my 4 calibres, .223, 6.5, 5.5 and .303.
I was purely neck sizing with the Lee collet dies but every now and again they stick internally and you end up crushing a case. It was also very tough to get consistent neck tension.
So, I thought I'd give full-length sizing a go and it was awful, tried different lubes and they weren't the problem, I had to put so much pressure on the handle on the way down and up, I thought every case was going to stick.
Then I moved on and got Hornady K31 specific dies and some Forster dies, the difference between them and the Lee is night and day, buttery smooth resizing, you still need to put some effort in but nothing like with the Lee dies.
I want to try Redding but I can't find them in the calibres I want.
I will move to bushing dies for 6.5 at some point, but I haven't yet.
So, if you can afford it buy Forster or Redding, then Hornady are cheaper but still seem good. If you are cash-constrained then Lee will work OK, (I've loaded over 3k rounds with mine, and had 33 crushed cases), there are all sorts of articles on the internet about polishing them internally but I don't want to do that.
As for presses, I think any mainstream press will do, I have an RCBS and a Lee classic cast, the Lee gets the most use. If you have the Lee breech lock or Hornady lock'n load, then you don't really need a turret press but no harm in getting one if you want to.
After that, it's just a case of getting on with it and refining your process. I used to use a Frankford Universal Bullet seater, which worked fine, then I got all the Hornady OAL gauge bits and started to understand seating depth, at which point I set up a separate seating die for each calibre. Don't get too wrapped up with this when you start, just load to COAL and vary only your powder within safe published limits. Once you have a good powder load, you can start playing about with seating depth. If you only ever change one variable at a time and start with the simpler ones, you will be fine. For me, I'm at the refining neck tension stage, so it may be time for some LE Wilson dies and an arbor press with a pressure gauge, which will lead on to bushing dies.
Skip the bushing dies, and just use a neck expanding mandrel. It's much easier to control neck tension that way, as mandrels are now available in incremental sizes to .0005".
And you don't need an arbor press with a hydraulic pressure gauge, unless you just like knowing the numbers. A standard one will work fine. Wilson inline seater dies usually require neck expansion mandrels for the brass as well, for any long, high BC bullet (they tend to deform the nose of the bullet otherwise). AMHIK...
Probably a good idea to do a course and learn from someone with some knowledge, (although if you get 10 reloaders together your will get 10 slightly different methods) some clubs at Bisley offer a basic reloading course (look up OSM)
Or ask nicely and someone locally will probably let you see how they do it, and then get an idea of what you want
If you are like most of the engineers I know who shoot, you will probably want the better end of equipment
And a cast RCBS secondhand press works exactly the same as a new one even if its lost some paint.
Dont buy a kit, you will just want to upgrade all the parts
Redding dies ( bushing) and an lyman electronic scale , measuring tool, tumbler , brass trays, funnel a kinetic hammer, would give you good quality kit
dont bother to trim first time you reload ( you will,need to do so after a few firings ) and you should get started to a good standard
Dont try getting within a whisker of the lands, at least to start with and see what you can do ............the only elephant in the room is you may have kept your old once fired brass, but primers, bullets, and even powder is becoming like rocking horse ****, so good luck,
Or ask nicely and someone locally will probably let you see how they do it, and then get an idea of what you want
If you are like most of the engineers I know who shoot, you will probably want the better end of equipment
And a cast RCBS secondhand press works exactly the same as a new one even if its lost some paint.
Dont buy a kit, you will just want to upgrade all the parts
Redding dies ( bushing) and an lyman electronic scale , measuring tool, tumbler , brass trays, funnel a kinetic hammer, would give you good quality kit
dont bother to trim first time you reload ( you will,need to do so after a few firings ) and you should get started to a good standard
Dont try getting within a whisker of the lands, at least to start with and see what you can do ............the only elephant in the room is you may have kept your old once fired brass, but primers, bullets, and even powder is becoming like rocking horse ****, so good luck,
Len the dog
Well-Known Member
Reloading isn’t rocket science, there are essentially only a few steps involved and there are heaps of tutorial videos from the manufacturers that show really clearly and simply what you are trying to achieve with each step. The various books all tell you the same thing so read one a couple of times and you will figure it out easily enough.
Even starting with just the basic steps you will produce ammo comparable to factory with very little wastage so I really don’t see why people spend so much money on bullet pulling when the bullets are only 25p each. Get it wrong and just bin off a few bullets and reclaim everything else.
Even starting with just the basic steps you will produce ammo comparable to factory with very little wastage so I really don’t see why people spend so much money on bullet pulling when the bullets are only 25p each. Get it wrong and just bin off a few bullets and reclaim everything else.
Agreed. At its core, it is actually a very basic process which can be done with very basic tools - the Lee loader is a case in point. Caveat being - as long as you follow tried and trusted procedures and load data. If you want the process to go faster, or get incrementally better ammunition - then you can certain go down that rabbit hole and get a load more kit. Having someone go through the process with you certainly will kick start it all - and highly recommended. My club does loading courses every so often. There are loads of good tutorials on YouTube too.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
All my presses the 7/8th bushing is locked into the 1-1/4 thread so solidly they will never come off.
Maybe you are using the wrong tool. My understanding is that the proper tool to use to remove the bushing on the the Lee classic cast is a 1 5/16" wrench. Because, you know, everyone has one of those laying about, so they chose that.
Not sure what other presses use - probably similar.
Have you worked your figure on up to date prices I.e. 10-20p for a primer, 40-60p for bullets, £100 - 120 kg?
Worst case that’s £1.15 for .243, if your going lead free add another 50-60p a round.
Finding a consistent supply of primers or powder will be your biggest hurdle, but if you do get set up at least you have the option of both factory and home loads to keep you shooting.
Worst case that’s £1.15 for .243, if your going lead free add another 50-60p a round.
Finding a consistent supply of primers or powder will be your biggest hurdle, but if you do get set up at least you have the option of both factory and home loads to keep you shooting.
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Thanks for all the replies, I think I’ll stick with my gut and go for the Rock chucker kit. Even if I don’t use half of it the kit it works out nearly the same price as buying just the press, primer tool and powder thrower individually and I’ll have a case lube kit, powder funnel, load block, deburr tool etc. I will look at the Redding and Forster dies as I prefer to buy the best I can get to start with.
I’ve worked out costings on 11p for primer, 36p bullet, £100 kg powder, for .243 and a bit cheaper for my .223. Say around £1 for a 243 and about £0.75 for .223, to put that into perspective today I spent £105 for 60 .223 and £116 for 60 .243 factory ammo, a 1 hour round trip to my gunshop and another 4 week wait with them until they get another ammo supply. That’s £117 I could have saved today with brass I already have in stock, and my last restock was about 4 weeks ago. I think I could save just over £700 a year with the amount of rounds I fire, I know a lot of you say it’s so expensive to reload now which it probably is compared to a few years ago but do you realise the cost of factory ammo is going up in parallel. Wasn’t that long ago when I was buying Federal .243 BT for £24 a box, today I paid not far off £40 and that’s if you can get what you want. I think I’ve gone through 5 different brands/weights this year due to lack of supply which is far from ideal when you’ve found something your rifle likes, another benefit I can see.
I know consumables are in short supply at the moment but I would prefer to have the tooling so as soon as something becomes available I can get started especially if I can pick up some second hand stuff in the mean time.
Out of interest which primers do people use in their .223? (and yes I know they are in short supply!)
I’ve worked out costings on 11p for primer, 36p bullet, £100 kg powder, for .243 and a bit cheaper for my .223. Say around £1 for a 243 and about £0.75 for .223, to put that into perspective today I spent £105 for 60 .223 and £116 for 60 .243 factory ammo, a 1 hour round trip to my gunshop and another 4 week wait with them until they get another ammo supply. That’s £117 I could have saved today with brass I already have in stock, and my last restock was about 4 weeks ago. I think I could save just over £700 a year with the amount of rounds I fire, I know a lot of you say it’s so expensive to reload now which it probably is compared to a few years ago but do you realise the cost of factory ammo is going up in parallel. Wasn’t that long ago when I was buying Federal .243 BT for £24 a box, today I paid not far off £40 and that’s if you can get what you want. I think I’ve gone through 5 different brands/weights this year due to lack of supply which is far from ideal when you’ve found something your rifle likes, another benefit I can see.
I know consumables are in short supply at the moment but I would prefer to have the tooling so as soon as something becomes available I can get started especially if I can pick up some second hand stuff in the mean time.
Out of interest which primers do people use in their .223? (and yes I know they are in short supply!)
As an aside, I have noticed recently, that powder is shipping more often to the retailers here in the US (though prices have increased substantially). Just picked up an 8lb keg of H4350 and another of Tac.
It would appear the dry spell may be slowly coming to an end....
It would appear the dry spell may be slowly coming to an end....
I have a Hornady single stage classic press, but highly rate and recommend the RCBS dies. That’s what I have for my .204, 223, 260 and 300 Winmag. Some neck sizing dies and some FL die sets. You’ll only ever have to buy once… Not sure what stock is like for these now?
Sampo
Well-Known Member
1. Buy what you need as once you got trough a few rounds you will find what you use and doesn't use. I use a lee 4 hole classic turret press and removed the middle bit so that I can use it as a single stage press. Good thing is that I have one turret per caliber and once the seating depths are achieved, I barely have to make any changes for the same bullets. Consitency and ease is the key for me.
2. Again went for Lee to keep it consistent with the press. Carbide dies if you can access it better. Also don't forget to lube. You need full length possibly every 3rd time if shooting and reloading for the same rifle. (Shall wait for expert opinion but this is what I do)
3. Get beam scales. Its accuracy is better than digital scales unless you go for the real expensive ones. Rarely find digital scales to be that consistent and when it comes to shooting, I like to keep it as consistent as possible to the last .1 grain.
4. Doesn't really matter. I have a mix of Lee and RCBS based on used ones I can find in here. Tend to use one per caliber so that I never have to adjust it. The trick that works for me is to use a handheld drill into which the bullet base can be locked into and if you can find a block of wood to get the other part into, you can get through a lot in 30 mins.
5. A normal tumbling media case cleaner should work fine. I don't make it ultra shiny, just enough to identify any safety issues and to discard the faulty ones.
6. Get single fired brass on SD, which is a lot cheaper than new ones. Also brass usually does last more than 4 times, might need a full resizing. Never bothered with annealing and doubt if I would ever care to bother around with it. Just keep the brass labelled and process them in batches of 50 or 100 to keep it consistent.
2. Again went for Lee to keep it consistent with the press. Carbide dies if you can access it better. Also don't forget to lube. You need full length possibly every 3rd time if shooting and reloading for the same rifle. (Shall wait for expert opinion but this is what I do)
3. Get beam scales. Its accuracy is better than digital scales unless you go for the real expensive ones. Rarely find digital scales to be that consistent and when it comes to shooting, I like to keep it as consistent as possible to the last .1 grain.
4. Doesn't really matter. I have a mix of Lee and RCBS based on used ones I can find in here. Tend to use one per caliber so that I never have to adjust it. The trick that works for me is to use a handheld drill into which the bullet base can be locked into and if you can find a block of wood to get the other part into, you can get through a lot in 30 mins.
5. A normal tumbling media case cleaner should work fine. I don't make it ultra shiny, just enough to identify any safety issues and to discard the faulty ones.
6. Get single fired brass on SD, which is a lot cheaper than new ones. Also brass usually does last more than 4 times, might need a full resizing. Never bothered with annealing and doubt if I would ever care to bother around with it. Just keep the brass labelled and process them in batches of 50 or 100 to keep it consistent.
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Len the dog
Well-Known Member
Look carefully at the stock code for the kit, some shops are still selling older kits with the discontinued beam scales, powder thrower and sierra manual. I went on the RCBS website to see what the current kit stock code is and went from there.
I am in no way affiliated or have any interest in the business or people but I bought my rockchucker supreme kit from McAvoy's as it was the up to date kit and also the best price.
Yes McAvoy‘s is who I’m looking at getting it from, they seem to be the best price for most of the reloading kit
Yes you will still save money and you will have more control of the supply than relying on factory alone so go for it. The thing to do is buy in bulk for primers as soon as you find some and then once you have a load buy in bulk for the other components, that way you will have reliable supply.
Primer wise really any small rifle primer other then rem 6.5 and murom .223 (non magnum) as they are only really up to hornet pressures.
If you are going to be running .223 right at it’s pressure limit magnums (br4/cci450) would likely be better but most people load for accuracy not speed so unlikely a concern.
Best of luck with it all!
PS
Bit of a trek but Dauntsey guns have both large rifle
www.dauntseyguns.co.uk
And small rifle in stock currently
www.dauntseyguns.co.uk
As you can see there isn’t a lot of choice on type/brand!
Bit of a trek but Dauntsey guns have both large rifle
Dauntsey Guns, Wiltshire, Wiltshire's Friendly Gun Shop: Primers, Large Rifle
Wiltshire based gun and shooting equipment shop serving the Chippenham, Swindon, Bath and Bristol area, Wiltshire Rod & Gun, Wiltshire Rod And GunPrimers, Large Rifle</title> ?>
And small rifle in stock currently
Dauntsey Guns, Wiltshire, Wiltshire's Friendly Gun Shop: Primers, Small Rifle
Wiltshire based gun and shooting equipment shop serving the Chippenham, Swindon, Bath and Bristol area, Wiltshire Rod & Gun, Wiltshire Rod And GunPrimers, Small Rifle</title> ?>
As you can see there isn’t a lot of choice on type/brand!
That’s a lot of crushed cases! I’ve loaded many thousands with Lee dies and apart from a handful of hornet and the odd blonde moment setting up a neck size die wrong I could count the number of crushed cases on one hand!
I don’t think they require a huge amount more effort than the RCBS or Redding competition dies I have either!
Lee dies are absolutely fine and produce good, consistent and accurate ammunition.
crow juice
Well-Known Member
I started loading on my Grandfather's old RCBS A2 press in 1976. Which was a heavy duty iron press like the Rock Chucker. I ultimately bought an RCBS JR in 1981 and a Rock Chucker in 1991. Both still in service and used monthly. I think the Chucker kit will get you going and you will never regret that decision.
I have about 40 sets of dies. About half are Lee and about half are RCBS. I don't like the Lee is well as the RCBS BUT both work very well. The Lee 4 die sets are the best value out there. In either case I highly recommend you throw the set screw lock rings away and buy Hornaday or Forrester rings.
My original dies from the 1970's are still in use and still under Warranty from RCBS . You can't beat their customer service.
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