Reloading Equipment from the USA

G

GR788

Active Member
Evening All,

With ammunition prices continuing to creep (jump or skyrocket may be more accurate - I was recently offered a bow of .270 lead for £89 in my RFD!) I have now got the view that reloading is going to work out cheaper in the long run and the increased accuracy potential appeals.

I am in the US next week and have been eyeing up some of the reloading kits on sale in shops such as Bass Pro etc and they are considerably cheaper ($630 or £480 with mil discount for the Lyman ultimate kit rather then £860 from a UK retailer) I'm all for supporting UK business however that is a considerable saving!

https://www.basspro.com/p/lyman-ultimate-reloading-system-100123068

ignoring the fact its heavy sitting around 24kg and bulky - I think I can make it work with additional baggage etc...

My question is: is this the best value kit to go for at that sort of price or is it worth spending more for a new coming to reloading and has anyone brought reloading kit from the USA on commercial flights and can anyone sanity check me that it is indeed legal!?
 
Best value is good condition used kit sold here, or at auction, or on other forums. It is legal to bring kit back as far as the UK is concerned but it is heavy and cast iron. Cast iron doesn't like being dropped...it fractures.

The ONLY USA kit I would buy would be either secondhand at an American gun show or if new the stuff that never makes it across here which is the semi-bespoke aka "semi custom" stuff. Or if it does arrive here is bloody silly daft marked up in cost.

Does this bespoke or "custom" gear reload ammunition any better for general deer stalking use? Nah!

Don't forget that USA electrical stuff is 110 volts.

FINALLY READ HMRC NOTICE 1. THE DUTY FREE GOODS ALLOWANCES AT £390 AREN'T THAT GENEROUS

DO KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS PLUS ANY PRINTED PRICE LIST ALSO IF POSSIBLE - TO AVOID BEING ACCUSED OF PRODUCING LOW VALUED RECEIPTS.

 
Last edited:
GR788 said:
The 110v thing is a very good point I hadn’t thought of! Thank you!
Click to expand...
I have an RCBS Case Tumbler that is 110 volts and it came from here on SD with the addition of a 240 volt to 110 volt transformer. So in the days of Tandy and etc. these 240 to 110 transformers weren't at that time that expensive. Mine is like this below. So as long as you have the USA plug on the thing you want to connect to your transformer should be OK I'd think. I never however tried it with any lead melting furnaces which would be a lot more than 300 watts though...just the case tumbler.

deal360.adstrong.com

Eagle (230V to 110V) 300W UK to USA Step-down Volta... - Deal 360

Discover Eagle (230V to 110V) 300W UK to USA Step-down Volta... 🛍️ from various online shops on Deal 360 🛒 Explore, choose, and buy now.
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My honest opinion is to buy used, but buy quality. In reality you can buy a lot of stuff for reloading you'll never really need, or buy too cheaply and then have to purchase a better version all over again. Some things aren't worth skimping on either.

It's really not that cheap in the long run. Not when you get into it. It is much more satisfying, however, not to be reliant on factory made rounds.
 
Small stuff can be expensive here iin the UK Hornadys comparators Forster case trimmers or decent dies and scales which would make for a small light package then get an older ca. 1995 Rock Chucker secondhand in the UK as they were made from better materials, now they come from China to the RCBS plant to be finish machined but the metal is iffy quality.
 
use dillon cost caculator, its free, you put in the cost of your bullets powder cases primers, and be HONEST, and it will tell you how much your reloads cost, i can load my 223 rem for about 24 pence a round and as mick miller says, buy quality gear it will last a lifetime i would advertise on here for your reloading gear atb and gl
 
24pence wozzer, I can't get the bullets alone for that

45pence is the cheapest I can load 223 up to 65ish with newer pricing but still significantly cheaper than buying 77/69gr factory ammo

Plus you buy components and not reliant on ammo been in stock
 
Just my thoughts but first & foremost, whilst it may not be an issue bringing the kit into the UK it may be one getting it out of the USA. A few years back a friend of mine got stopped leaving the USA & taken to an interview room where he was asked about some reloading dies in his hold luggage, he was polite & explained he’d bought them while staying with his brother who lived in the states because they were a lot cheaper than in the UK & that there were no restrictions on him taking them home with him. Unfortunately the officials didn’t see things the same way & despite his continued politeness things escalated to the point where law enforcement (or whatever the correct term is) were called. At this point it was made clear to him that he had two options, get formally detained by them, or, chuck the dies in the trash. He chose the latter.

Your call on the above.

Now to the kit itself, my first thoughts are as others have said, buy stuff second hand in the UK - with the exception of the dies which I’d look to buy new over here.

That said, looking at the lyman kit, I can’t tell you why exactly but to me it looks like it’s been put together to look ally & encourage new reloaders to buy it.

In your situation, if I was going to buy stuff in the USA because it’s cheaper, rather than buying a kit with things in it you may or may not end up using I’d buy the ‘big ticket’ items only. So that’d be the press & decent die sets for each cartridge you're going to reload. I wouldn’t buy anything that runs on 110v.

As I say, just my thoughts.
 
As people have said - most reloading kit is available here secondhand if you look about.

Amazon US is a good place for bigger items (powder measuring scales/dispensers) or case prep stuff; as some can be shipped and and a suitable transformer steps down/up the voltage as needed for about £40. They do come up cheaper even with import fees etc. Still have a guarantee too so if does go wrong under warranty, Amazon being Amazon, easy to sort....

For the more exotic stuff (left field calibre dies, bits etc) some companies will ship direct too.

Midsouthshooter Supply offer a great service and if you need ITAR stuff they can sort it as well.

I had non ITAR stuff - dies for 6mm BRA - shipped in 4 days and saved about £50. No need to wait for a backorder from a UK supplier either.
 
Don’t buy a kit. You don’t need all the crap that comes in it.

Lee hand tools do the job and are as cheap as chips.
Second hand press as they don’t wear out. Insert primers on the press. Check on here and Holts auctions.
Lyman electronic scales for £50 comes with scoop and pan, don’t need anything else. Scoop is fine, it’s amazing how quick you can be with it after a while.

And that gives me SD of 5 on my CM 143 gr loads.

There is no need to spend hundreds of pounds to drop pooder into a wee brass case. It’s madness. Whole point of proper load development is to find a load where it is insensitive to variations. A point that seems to be lost on the people who do extensive load testing but still use a £1000 tool to drop powder loads. I don’t do any of that nonsense and still get single digit sd’s.

I do use top quality dies but thats another story.
 
bluesako said:
use dillon cost caculator, its free, you put in the cost of your bullets powder cases primers, and be HONEST, and it will tell you how much your reloads cost, i can load my 223 rem for about 24 pence a round and as mick miller says, buy quality gear it will last a lifetime i would advertise on here for your reloading gear atb and gl
Click to expand...
24p wow. That’s cheap
 
enfieldspares said:
Best value is good condition used kit sold here, or at auction, or on other forums. It is legal to bring kit back as far as the UK is concerned but it is heavy and cast iron. Cast iron doesn't like being dropped...it fractures.

The ONLY USA kit I would buy would be either secondhand at an American gun show or if new the stuff that never makes it across here which is the semi-bespoke aka "semi custom" stuff. Or if it does arrive here is bloody silly daft marked up in cost.

Does this bespoke or "custom" gear reload ammunition any better for general deer stalking use? Nah!

Don't forget that USA electrical stuff is 110 volts.

FINALLY READ HMRC NOTICE 1. THE DUTY FREE GOODS ALLOWANCES AT £390 AREN'T THAT GENEROUS

DO KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS PLUS ANY PRINTED PRICE LIST ALSO IF POSSIBLE - TO AVOID BEING ACCUSED OF PRODUCING LOW VALUED RECEIPTS.

Click to expand...
please before any buy have a deep look at the ITAR FED's regulation. LR ecopes, lbullets, reloading gear and ANY items suitatable to be used against Us military are non compliants with Itar regulation. Last time in N.Y. I was tempted by eome bulky boxes of Hornady Sst at a real bargain price but the BassPro shop owner told me that if cought at the borders I would run into severe penal process. this apply also to any thermal device.
 
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Reloading stuff isn't export controlled as I currently understand it - the things to bring back are the small things that are comically expensive over here, such as hornady bullet puller collets, dies etc.

Presses are a false economy in my opinion as you can buy them over here second hand for very reasonable money.

To echo what others have said - reloading won't save you money (unless you luck into 4,000 Barnes 50gr Varmint Grenades for £8 per 100 like I did two years ago), but it will guarantee you a consistent supply of ammunition decoupled from what's available at your local shops.
 
There is no problem legally in bringing most of that stuff back to the UK with you. On my recent trip to Scotland through Heathrow and Aberdeen, I carried four boxes of copper ttsx bullets and 250 cartridge cases (new with no powder residue) in my checked bags and had no issues. Also brought .375 dies and bullets back home with me. Up to you on the decision to buy or not.


Scott
 
Mountain Bug said:
There is no problem legally in bringing most of that stuff back to the UK with you. On my recent trip to Scotland through Heathrow and Aberdeen, I carried four boxes of copper ttsx bullets and 250 cartridge cases (new with no powder residue) in my checked bags and had no issues. Also brought .375 dies and bullets back home with me. Up to you on the decision to buy or not.


Scott
Click to expand...
Bullets need an export license, however customs and border control in the US don't look on departure and the TSA are clueless about what is export controlled, they just care about what's allowed on an aircraft!

I, you and many others have got away with carrying small amounts of magazines/bullets 😉
 
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