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First time reloader?? My list to start reloading!!

elfster1234

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Jun 3, 2012
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    EDIT 09/16/12: I now have everything to reload .308, .223, 9mm, 40s&w, and 45acp... Best money spent ever and I'm already getting my money back from the equipment cost,,,,, or I'm just shooting a hell of a lot more!!


    I just got into reloading myself and here is my list of what I got just to get going with .308,,,,, with reloading pistol ammo in the near future in mind. I might have gone over board with a couple items (like my tumbler, chargemaster, WFT brass trimmer, and case prep center),,, but I'm a big fan of doing it right the first time, buy once cry once like someone else on sniper's hide said before. Upgrading will cost ya more and you will wish you had it once your arm / hands start to cramp up. Got most of my stuff on Midway USA, Optics planet, Amazon.com, and at my local scheels once they priced matched items from midway USA. Using GOOGLE power shopping search is a powerful tool to get the lowest possible price!!! Search before you buy and make sure it is legit company if buying online! DON'T THINK THIS WILL HAPPEN OVER NIGHT!! It takes a LONGGGGG time to build the bench, get all of this equipment together (especially if funds are low), and then to finally LEARN how to use all it... OMG!!:

    1.)hornady lnl ap press, about $400 bucks with 500 free bullet deal... dillon makes a nice press also for more money from what I've been reading. If you do go with the hornady like me, then you just need to make sure the auto progressive timing is correct, primer shuttle timing is correct, and to keep the shell plate clean and ball detents greased. Actually got my 500 free 45auto bullets already (you get to select from about 10 different calibers??)) !!! Only took 2 weeks from the time I sent in my rebate to my bullets showing up on my front door step,,, but you need to pay shipping for the bullets which if memory serves me correct was $14 bucks??? If you are only doing rifle, then you might want to look into a single stage press??? you need a grease gun..... and all allen wrenches are in the box!!! you just need to search for them!!! allen wrench for the shell plate is in the LNL AP press box! you don't need to go out and purchase it (i made this mistake).

    2.)#1 shell plate for doing .308 if you are using a hornady LNL AP press...., #1 shellplate works for some other calibers also.. double check your shellplate# for the caliber you are working with!!! $about 25 to 30 bucks each,,,, so keep this in mind!!! I think I got mine from manventurepost for like $25 bucks? Just make sure it is the new style for EZeject!!! Not the old style!!!

    3.)hornady dry lube for cleaning reloading parts and dies, about $5 bucks.. need this to clean the factory grease off the press parts out of the box (especially the powder drop when you eventually reload pistol ammo or maybe .223)... right now I'm using the RCBS chargemaster 1500 for my .308 powder drops.

    4.)hornady spray case lube $8, red popcorn plastic bowl for brass spray lube $3, imperial sizing wax $5, and q-tips,

    5.)frankford arsenal electronic calipers, actually works rather nice... no problems here, $20 bucks

    6.)RCBS 1500 chargemaster combo trickler, one of my best purchases.. really like this big time, got mine for $305 bucks with $50 mail in rebate. Also get a powder funnel!!! funnel is like $3 bucks.

    7.) thumbler's tumbler with #5lbs of stainless steel media.. only way to go IMO, about $220 bucks for tumbler and media.. anything under $200 bucks for both tumbler and media is a good deal!. also need some lemishine (get at walmart for $4 bucks), and some really good blue colored concentrated dish soap.. Just make sure you keep your stainless steel media clean. I like to run just the media with dish soap for about 10minutes to make sure it is clean before I run a batch of brass. Nice part about this, if you are carefully not to lose media, you never need to purchase media again.. Saving you money in the long run and results are amazing! Also got a $3 dollar real rubber walk mat from walmart for my tumbler to sit on (really helps keep vibration / noise down). I've also heard of some people putting brass in the oven on the lowest possible setting.. Never had to do this with my air compressor / fan as shown in the picture.

    8.) grab about 8 brass case mouth up, and blow down neck with air compressor,, will dry brass in a heartbeat.. hopefully you alrady have this... greatly helps / speeds up drying time but is not needed.

    9.) fan & tray to dry brass completely if needed... hopefully you already have this.

    10.) i got a lyman's case prep center and was totally worth every penny. $105 bucks after coupon code on optics planet. does everything from reaming (for military crimps), pocket primer cleaning, uniforming, neck brush, blah blah blah... both rifle and pistol. Swager for military crimps would be nice and might be something for me to purchase in the near future. So far my reamer is working great and I've had no problems with my primers seating nor shooting them.

    11.) hornady die bullet puller, and for .308 I purchase #7 collet for .308, about $30 bucks for both

    12.) LE wilson headspace gage for .308... nice to have but IMO can get some false readings if brass is out of a semi auto. Must have for bolt action rifles. About $25 bucks

    13.) Get about 2 to 3 ammo boxes. About $5 bucks each.

    14.) RCBS stuck case remover. About $15 bucks.

    15.) get about 2 to 3 reloading trays about $3 to $4 bucks each.

    16.) primer turning tray is about $5 bucks

    17.) some type of case trimmer... i purchased the WFT (world's finest trimmer) for .308.. purchased right from WFT thru paypal for about $65 bucks? need a drill for this also in which you hopefully already have.. that's if you go this route. one of my best purchases and really really speeds up the process and is really consistant within 2.005 to 2.007 brass lenth, BUT you must full length resize to use such a tool. Great for AR's / semi autos, but some people with bolt actions only neck size? Not sure how this would work. Anyway, I can do a whole batch of .308 brass in seconds.

    18.) some type of reloading bench with hopefully some shelves. Purchased the adjustable xtreme garage work bench metal frame kit for $60 bucks on sale from local lumber big box store, 1 pc of 3/4"x2'x8' pre-cut plywood for $10 bucks, 1 @ 8'long in stock / cheap countertop on sale for $35 bucks (pl400 10oz tube adhesive and screwed the 3/4"x2'x8' plywood to underside of countertop for a 1-1/2" thick workbench top / <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">use screws just short enough so they dont poke thru countertop!!</span></span> didn't even need to rip / cut 3/4"x2'x8' plywood from big box lumber store which was nice)... then screwed thru metal frame to bottom of the 1-1/2" thick workbench top (3/4" thick countertop and 3/4" plywood = 1-1/2" thick)..... (used 1" screws for polebarn steel that already have a rubber washer / steel washer on the head,,, just needed to drill some holes thru the top metal rail of the extreame work bench frame / kit & screw from underneath rail, thru rail, and into bottom of the 1-1/2" thick top with about 1" screws)....... <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">JUST MAKE SURE YOU DRY FIT THE COUNTERTOP BEFORE YOU SCREW IT HOME TO THE METAL BENCH FRAME!! Need to make sure metal bench frame adjustable feet clear the wall, even on both ends, backsplash is flush with wall, and you keep enough countertop sticking out the front to mount your presss!!!! might need some drywall shims between the metal frame rails and the new countertop!......</span></span> then ripped up some 1/2" plywood that I had laying around into 1/2"x3"x4' long pcs (2 of them total for 8' lineal feet) to fill in the backsplash gap so the backplash wasn't crushed when power lagging the bench to the wall thru the backsplash of the countertop..... pre-dilled some holes with very slight counter-sink thru the countertop backsplash so the power lag screw head would ride flush on the surface of the backsplash and look nice..... then 5/16"x4" power lagged screwed (make sure you get the corrisponding bit for the power lag screws) thru the backsplash and bottom of metal workbench frame rail to 4 wall studs (1 wall stud on each end and two in the middle).... MUST BE INTO THE 16"O/C STUD!!! do NOT over tighten the power lag screws on the bottom metal rail (so the metal rail doesn't bend!)..... bench is ultra solid with absolutely no movement... metal frame / kit has adjustable feet for non-level floors which was nice as my basement slab is CRAZY out of level... <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">JUST MAKE SURE YOU LEVEL THE FRAME / COUNTERTOP BEFORE YOU SCREW IT HOME INTO THE 16"oc STUDS!!! BE CAREFUL OF ELECTRICAL WIRING IN THE WALL!!!! I framed / wired the wall so I knew what the deal was before I started!!!</span></span> Shelves I made out of 1x10x8 standard boards that cost me $5 buck each,,, and each shelf bracket cost me $3 each.

    <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Xtreme Garage Adjustable Workbench Frame Kit: http://www3.menards.com/main/building-ma...9455-c-9442.htm </span></span>

    19.) for .308... i started out with benchmark powder (varget would be nice also),,,, sierra matchking 175grn hpbt bullets, and either #200 or BR-2 CCI primers.... hopefully you already have some .308 brass.

    20.) I got the redding 3 die national match die set for .308.. It is really nice to have the dial seater,,, but the 3 die set cost me $135 bucks!! OUCH!!!

    21.) surge protector power strip to protect my uber expensive reloading equipment $15 bucks.

    22.) cheap zip lock bags (small and large) with a white area on bag to write on... cheap way to help sort your brass... also need black magic marker.

    23.) hornady OR sinclair's headspace guage (clamps onto calipers) $20 bucks.... other nice item to have would be a bullet comparitor so you can figure out bullet ogive!!... don't have this yet, but this is my next purchase.

    24.) non-clorinated break cleaner to clean all traces of lube off finished ammo. $5 bucks.

    25.) went to walmart and purchased a $2 dollar redish colored popcorn bowl (see picture), and a $3 dollar white colored plastic veggi / fruit strainer for sifting out my stainless steel media (see picture)... just make sure the holes in the plastic strainer are not too small (or it will take forever for SS media to sieve thru),,, and the holes are not too big (no bigger than the diameter of a 9mm brass casing)... name of the game is you want the stainless steel media to fall thru, but not your brass... I actually ended up drilling some extra (i think) 3/8" holes (just smaller than 9mm brass diameter) into the plastic strainer which really made a difference on media seive time.......... As for the drilled 3/8" plastic burrs, take a lighter to them. It will clean up all the plastic burrs fromt he drilling process. Put plastic stainer inside plastic pop corn bowl (make sure holes of the purchaed strainer are about 2" lower than lip of plastic popcorn bowl), and run water over media / brass while stirring everything up with your hand with slow running HOT water over top. Media falls thru in under 30seconds and will be sitting at the bottom of the plastic popcorn bowl... Just make sure there is about 2" between the plastic strainer and bottom of bowl you sit the strainer inside of (so your media has a place to go!!).... <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Works great especially for only costing me $5 bucks</span></span>. Walmart also has really cheap $1 dollar white towels!

    26.) purchaed the RCBS powder lock out die for when I eventually use the powder drop / reloading pistol / reloading .223 as I will most likely not be using the chargemaster 1500 for dropping my powder (but you will need a scale of some sort to make sure the powder drop is dropping the correct charge!!)....

    27.) as for mounting the hornady LNL AP press to your bench.... I used 1/2" bolts and NOT 5/16" like hornady said so... If memory serves me correct, I think I set the middle of my 1/2" holes 2-1/2" back from the face of my bench edge so the 1/2" washer on the bottom would NOT hit the metal frame rail.. Something to really double check BEFORE you start drilling holes in your beautiful brand new countertop..... IMO, I think using 1/2" bolts with double nut / double washer made a 100% improvement on how solid it is, BUT your hole location must be NUTS ON if using 1/2" bolts!

    This is the question I asked AND answer from hornady:

    QUESTION: I'm installing my LNL AP press to my new bench. Directions say to use 5/16" bolts, but the holes in the press mounting plate are 1/2"??? any reason why i cant use 1/2" bolts?

    Also, directions say to screw mounting holes 2-1/4" back from the front of the bench..... is that 2-1/4" from the front of the bench to the MIDDLE or EDGE of the hole?? Also, any reason why I cant mount the press furthur back than 2-1/4"??? what is the max distance you can mount the press from the front of the bench edge (to middle or edge of hole)????

    ANSWER FROM HORNADY: An easier way to gauge how far to set up your press is to look on the bottom side of the press and you will see on the frame it is cutout and there is a little lip between the red powder coating and polished frame. Set it up on the bench to that lip and then with a pencil mark your holes, then drill. You can use the 1/2" bolts if you like we just recommend the 5/16" bolts.

    28.) metal cabinet for primer, powder, and such

    29.) got two total cheap plastic filing cabinets from walmart for $10 each for my brass (see pictures).

    30.) metal trash can for spent primers, trash can for regular trash, and trash can for bad brass.

    31.) FINALLY,,, EYE PROTECTION!!!!



    My set up:
    reloadingcenter.jpg


    BRASSPREP2.jpg


    BRASSPREP1.jpg


    BRASSPREPCENTER.jpg


    CLEANBRASS.jpg


    BULLETWEIGHT.jpg
     
    Re: First time reloader?? My list to start reloading!!

    Looks great! Hold your press on the bench where you want it, cycle it, if the handle extends all the way down & clears the bench you should be good. You have a great setup & some great equipment to start with. Good luck & enjoy!