And under no circumstance start off with a progressive reloader. Single stage until you know intimately what you are doing in each stage.
Progressives are great. Walk before you run!
Sirhr
Progressives are great. Walk before you run!
Sirhr
That’s how I loaded my 3006 for a decade, 100 rounds a year maybe. And their little hand trimmer.Lee 90245 Lee Classic Lee Loader .308 Winchester 308 Win. *Insured Shipping* 796793853878 | eBay
LEE LOADER 308 WIN. Lee Loader is a complete reloading system, kit includes everything needed to reload 308 Win, except a rubber mallet.www.ebay.com
I started with one of these when I was sixteen. It loads excellent shells.
1 box of 100 primers. 1 box of 100 bullets. 1lb of powder. And you will load your first 100 rounds. And pay for your loader.
It was two years and hundreds, probably thousands, of .38 specials before I got a press.
Sirhr
good morning fellow hide members. with no real end in sight of ridiculous ammo prices and looking at long term benefits, I'm trying to get a ball park figure to get set up for reloading. initially I'm planning on reloading .223 and then eventually move in to .308 and 9mm. The majority of the ammo is going to be plinking ammo until I start to get more comfortable and confident with it and then I would like to start looking at loading precision loads. I'm not looking to win awards with my set up but I also want to make sure I'm not cutting corners. Thanks for the input!
Forgive me as this is from memory this feb
I think I spent about $1500 to get setup with a single stage press.
Now that included a lot of dies and a big batch (8lb---STOP LAUGHING IT WAS A LOT FOR ME!) o powder (things were starting to get scarce, so I took a risk on a powder that would hit my major calibers and lots of bullets.
It does take time to be proficient--my first time out everything was going great then suddenly my stuff wouldn't chamber--went back and somehow I had not sized enough. Guess who guages every round (Kharma bit me, I stopped checking right went they went bad) now.
My first rounds of 300 Mag were fun through. That's where i really save $$ no more $2 a round.
What I (and my wife) like most about it is it gives me something to do other than be pissed off about politics/jobs/kids. Probably haven't saved a dime (yet), but possibly added a few years due to stress releif. (Although I at today's prices I am RAPIDLY paying off this investment).
And I shoot a lot more: except for all those primer hoarders i'm gonna come to a screeching halt soon.
That is a BIG caution. Right now is a SUPER FRUSTRATING time to start reloading. All the ammo shortages hit reloading too--powders I want to try-- never seen. I've never seen a pkg of small pistol primers (I was just gonna buy 9mm before that went south) and now EVERY primer is scarce (well not Magnum Large Rifle--I'm shooting a lot of 300 win mag these days). I don't want to discourage you, just be prepared to suffer through this --whatever-- and make sure to stock up when things normalize.
If you can get some primers--lots of good powders in stock---maybe not the super cool ones, but where I'm sitting I was pleased as punch over my imr4064 loads and just being able to shoot different 300 win mag at 200gr was fun (even at fresh brass im under cost on that one).
its a trap. don't get into reloading to save money. I've tracked everything I've purchased, including a couple presses that I didn't use as much. Over 5 years I've spent more than I want to admit publicly, but you could buy a used Honda Civic with the amount I've spent. I've then calculated how much per round it has cost me IN TOTAL for all the reloading equipment. Now that I'm into precision rifle reloading I will start to show some progress in savings. Let me add that I've bought every gizmo and gadget including an AMP annealer, a Forster coax, Dillon 650. I bought a Dillon square deal for pistol but gave it to a friend after getting the 650. I had an RCBS shotshell press I sold because It wasn't saving any money to load shotshell.
Expect to learn and learning costs money for sure. My suggestion in hindsight is to just get a single stage and reload rifle only. Pistol brass I reload but it isn't as much of a savings and the accuracy gain isn't as noticeable at pistol distances as it is at 1000 yards with a rifle.
Expect to spend between $1000 and $1500 for all the equipment and tools. Once you've settled into a routine, you will begin upgrading equipment based on your likes and dislikes about the process. My advice would be to start with books. All loading manuals have a section dedicated to explaining the process. Once you've read through it once or twice, you will begin to feel more comfortable making decisions about where to begin. Here are a couple of online resources that can help.good morning fellow hide members. with no real end in sight of ridiculous ammo prices and looking at long term benefits, I'm trying to get a ball park figure to get set up for reloading. initially I'm planning on reloading .223 and then eventually move in to .308 and 9mm. The majority of the ammo is going to be plinking ammo until I start to get more comfortable and confident with it and then I would like to start looking at loading precision loads. I'm not looking to win awards with my set up but I also want to make sure I'm not cutting corners. Thanks for the input!
\Don't bother buying the loader,etc...unless you can buy raw materials-PRIMERS,bullets,brass....powder is still plentiful but the others are'nt.....40yr handloader and I'm amazed at the lack of materials.