Back story - I have been shooting only about 5 years. First pistol, then IPSC / IDPA. Then rifle (AR-15) and then 3 gun. Then 18 months or so ago I bought a LWRC REPR and shot some F-Class (my range is 300 yards). Then I bought a Sig SSG3000 within the last year and did much better in F-Class. And the whole time, I have used factory ammo, until my last F-Class match. A good friend of mine gave me some of his hand loads because I had given him over 1000 pieces of .308 once fired brass. The loads he worked up were Hornady .308 178 grain AMAX w/ 43.5 grains of Varget with an OAL of 2.945. My group size shrunk considerably shooting this ammo over the factory stuff (FGMM in 168 or 175 or AMAX in 168). And now I am thinking about reloading.
I have read lots on this forum and others. I plan to order at least one, if not multiple books, to read. I plan to visit my friend to actually see the process in person. And then I am going to order some stuff. Here is what I foresee - I will not reload to save money. If I assign a value to my time, reloading is more expensive than buying ammo. I plan to reload for precision .308. I do not plan to reload .223, 9mm or any other calibers. Factory ammo is good enough for minute of man when shooting 3 gun with .223 and 9mm. I am only concerned with reloading .308 because I want those 20 round sub-MOA groups at 300 yards for F-Class. While precision is the number one goal, time is also a very important factor. I am self employed, married, have two small children and hobbies other than shooting. I am lucky if I get to shoot once or twice per month as is, so I need the reloading process to be quick and to not waste time. I figure I will want to reload at minimum 600 rounds per year. At maximum, 1200 rounds per year. That gives me between 50-100 .308 rounds per month to play with.
So, I know there are tons of you on this board with lots of reloading experience who have used lots of equipment. Based on my situation, if you start with a blank slate, what do you buy?
I have read lots on this forum and others. I plan to order at least one, if not multiple books, to read. I plan to visit my friend to actually see the process in person. And then I am going to order some stuff. Here is what I foresee - I will not reload to save money. If I assign a value to my time, reloading is more expensive than buying ammo. I plan to reload for precision .308. I do not plan to reload .223, 9mm or any other calibers. Factory ammo is good enough for minute of man when shooting 3 gun with .223 and 9mm. I am only concerned with reloading .308 because I want those 20 round sub-MOA groups at 300 yards for F-Class. While precision is the number one goal, time is also a very important factor. I am self employed, married, have two small children and hobbies other than shooting. I am lucky if I get to shoot once or twice per month as is, so I need the reloading process to be quick and to not waste time. I figure I will want to reload at minimum 600 rounds per year. At maximum, 1200 rounds per year. That gives me between 50-100 .308 rounds per month to play with.
So, I know there are tons of you on this board with lots of reloading experience who have used lots of equipment. Based on my situation, if you start with a blank slate, what do you buy?
