New to reloading - Please help!!

New Avon Arms
C

CPK

Member
Hello everyone,

I was hope you would be kind enough to give me some of your time and advice. I’m completely new to reloading and have been reading some of the comments on here and looking around at my options, I’m trying to keep costs down to a minimum and as such was thinking of purchasing either the Lee Classic loader or the Lee Hand Press. I shoot a .243 Tikka T3 lite with 100g soft nose rounds either Winchester or Federal and the groups are not great (c. 1inc @ 100yrds), which ties in with some of the comments regarding the performance of 100gr bullets in a factor 1-10 twist rifle.

I am thinking of reloading a 95gr Nosler BT round for use on Fox’s, Roe, and Fallow. I’ve always kept my used brass and as such only need bullets, primers, and powder.

I’m leaning towards the Lee Hand Press but would appreciate any advice either way and also on what basic equipment do I need to start reloading without breaking the bank!! And also if anyone has any advice regarding the bullet I’m thinking of, primers and powder. I was also wondering if there are any reloading manuals you could recommend?

I know that’s a lot to ask at once!!! But any advice would be brilliant, thank you in advance..:-D

CPK
 
Get Lee's "Modern Reloading, Second Edition" before all else and read it. It will help you decide what equipment you need. Welcome to reloading!~Muir
 
CPK said:
Hello everyone, I was hope you would be kind enough to give me some of your time and advice. I’m leaning towards the Lee Hand Press but would appreciate any advice either way and also on what basic equipment do I need to start reloading without breaking the bank!!
Click to expand...



The first bit of advice I would give you is to ask yourself one question " How much do I actually shoot? ". Last week I picked up one tub of powder £46, 100 bullets £27, cases I have but would have cost me £25+ per 100 and of course primers £5 per 100. Lets say you can reload the cases five times for the ease of the matter. You will get about 130 rounds out of the powder, so thats £46/130 which is about 36p per round. Okay so each round would cost you after you have invested in reloading kit, 36p + 27p + 5p + 5p = 73p per round or £14.60 per box of 20. PPU are around £11 (Henry Kranks price list) per box, and you can sell the brass.
If you only shoot 100 rounds a year, then think twice before investing in to reloading if your plan is to save money.
Your not going to reload good ammo with a lee hand press, just forget the idea trust me! and like all other tools nothing any good comes cheap, bottom line is it's going to cost you atleast £180 to get a basic set up which is going to produce good ammo and that you will be happy to use. So, if a budget is the name of the game and you shoot less than 100 rounds per year, forget reloading.

The second bit of advice, read read read and read more; before you go and buy any reloading equipment or you will end up making an expensive mistake.

The last bit of advice, buy a good second hand RCBS press which will last you for years, these can be found for around £50. Buy a good set of reloading scales, RCBS 5-0-5 are not needed, you just need a good set of scales which can be purchased for around £30 second hand. A set of second hand Lee dies will get you going, £15. All the rest of the stuff (case cutters and the like do not cost much but set aside £50), so with luck you could get set up with quality kit for
around £100 second hand.
 
Last edited:
as old realtree said it can cost a fair bit to get set up in the first place the only thing I disagree with is in 243 you should get closer to 175 rounds from a pound of powder.

I have a Lee classic cast press which I use to load 25-06, 222 and 223 it cost me £90 second hand and came with de-bur tool, load tray, lube pad, RCBS lube and primer pocket reamer, I bought second hand Lee collet dies for the 222 (£10) but now have Hornady new dimension dies for all calibres (£39 each new). I bought mitotoyo digital calipers from an engineering suppliers (£45) I bought second hand RCBS 505 scales (£40) a Wilson case trimmer from sinclairs international (£90) and an ultrasonic cleaner from Aldi (£17.99)

if you intend to load alot of rounds it will eventually save you money try the link and it should show you if it is worth it in you circumstances.

Rifle Cartridge Reloading Cost Calculator

Rick
 
i have to disagree with old realtree some people have a budget and spending a large amount is great if you have lots of cash but you can definately load on a budget without dought. my classic loader cost me £16 whole pounds and will produce a load equal to friends using expensive presses and dies and you will definately not be able to tell looking at paper which produced which load so if you really are on a budget dont be fooled into thinking that you cant afford to reload . so if you are just reloading a few start off with a classicloader but if you need to do more think about a press as i do agree that secondhand gear is cheap and will last for years and definately worth the thaught if you can stretch to that .the upshot with a classic loader is you can make a good batch up before testing and take the classic loader with you and keep seating your bullet till you are happy while shooting . keep us posted on how you get on ,atb wayne
 
Real old tree............ it's not all about the gear, a re loader with a bit of skill & patience can produce very accurate loads for their rifle, with very limited gear,......... seen anyone re-loading at the ranges?

  • :cool:.
 
finnbear270 said:
Real old tree............ it's not all about the gear, a re loader with a bit of skill & patience can produce very accurate loads for their rifle, with very limited gear,......... seen anyone re-loading at the ranges?


  • :cool:.
Click to expand...

Me! For the better part of last week working up inexpensive loads for a .222!~Muir

(On simple equipment!)
 
Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your advice its greatly appreciated, plenty to think about and I’m now waiting for the Lee reloading manual to arrive!!

Take care,
CPK
 
I have been playing with reloading for about 5 years now. Its a fascinating subject and i have learnt a huge amount about ballistics, internal, external and terminal ballistics. I am a much better shot now as a result of it. It's great fun if you don't mind the anorak tag. I can fiddle for hours getting a load right. Part of the sport as far as I'm concerned.

However, if you are a hobby stalker rather than a pro shooting hundreds of rounds a year, don't do it to save money. you won't!
 
I am new to this and approached from a "what the hell" mentality. I love playing with toys but have neither the time, money or space for a bench full of presses, scales, tumblers etc
I spent less than £50 in hardware (lee loader, lock stud, trimmer, primer pocket cleaner and deburrer
£80 in powder, bullets and primers.
Enough primers and powder for 3-400 rounds.
30-40p per round including the investment, only goes down from here. (better than £30 for 20!)

In it because of the rising costs not the ragged hole groups at 200yds!
 
Thanks for the advice again, begining to remind me of fly tying as complicated or simple as you make it to a certain extent anyway. I'm currently paying £40 for a box of 20 and with costs only increasing this seems like the best route even if it takes a couple of years before I start saving money, it wouldn't surprise me if ammo gets to £50 in the next 18months! so in all its got to be a better option. But thats off topic..

I will keep you posted on my progess and what kit i end up purchasing...

I recently design a high seat that fits on top of an old Aluminium ladder if anyone wants the design let me know and I'll send it over to you.

Thanks again,
CPK
 
If your thinking down the lee line have a look at the lee factory shop in the us they ship to this country but you may need to get a mate to order something to warrant the postage and tax. A couple of us on here have just got a batch of equipment and saved loads of money well worth a look.

Carl
 
I started of with the standard Lee aniversary set which then cost £90, and its absolutely fine. You can get the dies S/H or beg/borrow some to start off with.

Must say it can get highly addictive and your colection of stuff will soon grow. If you get the chance buy the best cases you can afford, Lapua seeem to last for ever esp if neck sized (.223). At current use 100 will probablyly outlast me.

D
 
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