Looking to buy a reloading kit with .308 and 6.5cm dies in stock. Originally I wanted to get the Hornady kit but couldn’t find the .308 and 6.5cm died in stock. Anybody have a lead where I could buy a complete set?
Thanks.
Thanks.
- Thread starter richie3888
- Start date
do yourself a favor and do not buy a kit. you will end up with a lot of pieces you do not need or want and immediately upgrading and will find it cheaper to piece it all together when you get what you really want.
I been hearing that a lot. I at least want a press with the correct dies that I need. Then I could just pieces everything else.
you can just buy those separate. dies are something you want to spend money on. they matter a lot
Before you go spending money on equipment...... You might want to see how many / much components you can get your hands on.......primers especially. The only primers I've found at LGS is srp @ twice the price from before the shortages started . Hate to piss on your parade,but this is a tough time to get into handloading........but ,better late then never ?Its good to be able to make your own ammo.
Hold your wallet.
Reloading - its very time consuming and not inexpensive to get everything you need.
Factory Ammo - is equally hard to come by and similarly expensive
Pick your poison.
Reloading - its very time consuming and not inexpensive to get everything you need.
Factory Ammo - is equally hard to come by and similarly expensive
Pick your poison.
I’m not getting into reloading to save money, I want to build my ammo for precision. And I think it adds another element of fun to shooting. Sure I could buy match grade ammo, but where’s the fun in that?
Having only recently gone down this path, I agree with the suggestion to buy piecemeal. You'll need to buy the dies separately anyway, I'm not aware of any "kit" that comes with them since there are hundreds of different cartridges (well, maybe not that many, but you get the idea LOL). I started with a Hornady LNL kit that was gifted to us. Works OK, but now that I have a bit of experience I might have gotten different items. The quick change feature Hornady has is nice, but it is an added expense to get the quick change shells for multiple dies. There's plenty of info in the reloading section on what people recommend for various tools. And for components, yes the prices are quite a bit higher than 2 years ago...but so is ammo. And it does add another element to shooting, and I think I have learned a good bit in the process....never a bad thing IMO
Man, I'd be happy as hell to find SRP at $60/K.
Try $ 160.00 plus tax per k limit of one..........I hated paying that ,don't "need" them ,but things won't go bang without them.......just keeping inventory stocked
If you have a friend who does it, ask to try out his setup. You can find a press on most of the sale boards (Craigslist, Alaskaslist, and here). Make sure you have a place to occupy for loading. The press isn’t an item you setup and take down usually.
Several really good beginner reloading threads on here that are sticky. Also some good books to reference.
Good luck…it’s a rabbit hole.
Several really good beginner reloading threads on here that are sticky. Also some good books to reference.
Good luck…it’s a rabbit hole.
My local range has everything. Expensive but not too bad. Imr 4064 for $40 a pound and $75 for large rifle primers.
Depending what you want best I've seen is $120 per k to your door and they've been in stock weeks.
If that were the case for me, I'd be buying all I could afford at whatever limits ,if any ,they allowed.
Any Fed 205 match AR available ,I'd be in for 2/k
Edit : and Fed 210 match
Budget about $5K to make good ammo efficiently using quality tools.
not even close. You can do a lot with $1000 - $1500
If I was just getting started (knowing what I know now) I wouldn't hesitate to jump on a Dillon RL 550-650 setup.
You can still source components, it's just a bunch harder, and a bunch more expensive.
PowderValley gets shit in but you had best hone your sniping skills to get it.
Midway consistently has stuff and is easy to snag from them, but the prices are way on up there.
And so on and so on.
You can still source components, it's just a bunch harder, and a bunch more expensive.
PowderValley gets shit in but you had best hone your sniping skills to get it.
Midway consistently has stuff and is easy to snag from them, but the prices are way on up there.
And so on and so on.
I would second waiting and taking your time with this. As others have stated primers are the hard to find item right now and getting more expensive every day. If you are determined I would do a lot of searching on here and youtube to find what people have found useful. I for one love my RCBS rock chucker for my precision single stage set up. Be careful as it gets more expensive as you get deeper, especially if you don't research well and end up buying something that doesn't work out for you. I started on a Lee single stage with it's own stand and now I'm building my second eight foot bench.
Attachments
Bullshit. These low rent fools don't know what they don't know.
Like I said, if you want to make good ammo , efficiently its about $5K. That is on the lower end. This is for 1 caliber, and it goes up as you add more
Dillon 550 with accessories to run 2 tool heads, one for case prep and 1 for Priming/powder/Seating $15-1800
AMP Anealer $1200
ATV4 $1,000
Dies, Bushings, Mandrels, Measuring tools,ect $6-800
Henderson Trimmer $800
Wet Tumbler and Case Cleaner $300
Probably another $500 min MISC shit assuming you have a good place to mount everything.
Now you can subtract like $1K if you want to use something like a nice turret press, but you will significantly increase the amount of time and steps. But the list above is buying quality stuff that will work. Most people using shitty anealers (Myself included) don't really even know if we are anealing. With the AMP, its down to a science.
Now we get to hear how something that's 1/10th the price is just as good from a guy who shoots 50 rounds a year......
If you spend $5,000 to get started reloading for ‘muh percision’ then you’re getting fleeced.
Ya know, I've been reloading for probably the better part of 40 years, not really sure, 45....50 ?
I have never needed an annealer, not once.
Those very rare times cases needed annealed I just stood them up on my welding rotatory table and had at them with a propane torch.
I've only had to do that like 2-3 times in all those years.
If the case has been annealed in the past it will not need it again, the molecular structure has been normalized and doing it again will net zero benefit.
A Dillon 550C is *about* $600 (was about 250 when I got mine) and there is zero reason to need 2 of them.
Every person who's ever used a 550 knows you pop out 2 pins and slide the other head in, put the 2 pins back, and you're good to go.
Why would you need 2 presses if just getting started ????
So, not intending any offense, right there is 2k off
$150 for a Mitutoyo caliper and $100 for dies....or maybe $200 for dies...eh.
$50 for a RCBS trimmer, not fancy but it works. (absolutely unsure current market pricing, haven't looked in decades, have one, don't need one).
$100 at Harbor freight for a tumbler or a ultrasonic...hell probably get both for $150 if you time it right (on sale).
Spend the rest on gold plating your bench, you should easily have enough left over to do so.
I have never needed an annealer, not once.
Those very rare times cases needed annealed I just stood them up on my welding rotatory table and had at them with a propane torch.
I've only had to do that like 2-3 times in all those years.
If the case has been annealed in the past it will not need it again, the molecular structure has been normalized and doing it again will net zero benefit.
A Dillon 550C is *about* $600 (was about 250 when I got mine) and there is zero reason to need 2 of them.
Every person who's ever used a 550 knows you pop out 2 pins and slide the other head in, put the 2 pins back, and you're good to go.
Why would you need 2 presses if just getting started ????
So, not intending any offense, right there is 2k off
DeathBeforeDismount's
Way too high ideas of what reloading is all about.$150 for a Mitutoyo caliper and $100 for dies....or maybe $200 for dies...eh.
$50 for a RCBS trimmer, not fancy but it works. (absolutely unsure current market pricing, haven't looked in decades, have one, don't need one).
$100 at Harbor freight for a tumbler or a ultrasonic...hell probably get both for $150 if you time it right (on sale).
Spend the rest on gold plating your bench, you should easily have enough left over to do so.
I would say $2K min, closer to $3K.
The kits aren't bad to start. It depends on what you expect and what your shooting goals are. If you're going to hunt and hone your marksmanship, recreationally, then a kit may be good for you. If you intend on jumping into precision marksmanship, buying higher end components, a la carte, may be better. I fit into the former group. I have a good friend, who competes and does well. He started with a Frankford Arsenal kit and still uses the press. If you can't find dies, sign up for email alerts, on solid websites, like Midsouth, Midway, Brownell's, etc. If you're open to used, checkout online forums. Components can be very hard to find, these days. search out, local to you. There are shops within 100 miles of me that have plenty of primers, powder and other components on shelves, but they don't ship and I don't have a day to drive there and back. Also, gasoline @ $4/gal, adds considerably to the expense. There's no cheap way to shoot, in 2022, that's the bottom line. The cheaper way to maintain skills is to get a decent bolt action 22lr, with a scope the same, or similar as you hunt, or shoot precision with and practice, practice, practice.
All midway prices. So probably on the high side
Rcbs RC $180
Rcbs chargemaster $430
Redding s match dies $205
Redding competition shell holder $82
Rcbs trim kit $135
Hornady calipers $42
Powder and funnel $15
Chamfer tool $15
Annealer $300
So I'm around $1,400 and you can load plenty accurate ammo.
You can save money by substituting components like manual scale and trickler, skipping the annealer, and getting cheaper dies. I've loaded plenty of ammo without them, but they do make like easier.
Rcbs RC $180
Rcbs chargemaster $430
Redding s match dies $205
Redding competition shell holder $82
Rcbs trim kit $135
Hornady calipers $42
Powder and funnel $15
Chamfer tool $15
Annealer $300
So I'm around $1,400 and you can load plenty accurate ammo.
You can save money by substituting components like manual scale and trickler, skipping the annealer, and getting cheaper dies. I've loaded plenty of ammo without them, but they do make like easier.
I find even the kit is able to do submoa easily.
What I think stops me is lack of standardizing my (brass prep) processes because I gotta try everything, and my trigger happiness which translates to almost mag dumping my handloads..
What I think stops me is lack of standardizing my (brass prep) processes because I gotta try everything, and my trigger happiness which translates to almost mag dumping my handloads..
If I was starting out right now, I would look at the RCBS master kits as a place to start, you can order directly from them, then order Forster micrometer dies, that will get you loading good ammo, then you can decide how far down this rabbit hole you want to go and sell off what you don’t like or need. If you are looking for a good press comparison check out ultimate reloaded press shootout. Spoiler the good old Rock Chucker does very well
Buy the redding big boss 2 press. Mighty armory decapping die. Get a set of redding type s full length sizing die and competition seating die. Powder funnel. Rcbs primer flip tray, get that one cuz it's square. Do it right and get a charge master 1500. You can Get em used on the hide or ebay or just buy a new one. Set of dial calipers and a set of hornday bullet and shoulder comparators. Bullets brass powder primers. The rest of that kit will go in the garbage, believe me I went that route and I quickly tossed alot of the useless shit
...you didn't say if you were considering a specific type of reloading press...single stage, turret or progressive. Do you also plan to load for other pistol or rifle calibers? Multiple calibers means you will have the to buy the caliber specific dies separately, I have yet to see company offer a "kit" that contains multiple caliber dies. Measuring tools (calipers, scales, etc.), case prep/cleaning tools are essential not only for you desired "precision" objective, but also for safety as you "learn".
...as much as I hate to say it, you won't know if reloading will be for you until you actually do it. There have been many that started but then gave it up after realizing it wasn't to their liking. In those cases there is an economic factor to consider, i.e., how much of your equipment costs can you recover or walk away from.
.... there is a learning curve to reloading and it isn't realistic to think you will produce "precision" ammo right away.
...good luck on your journey.
..here's an online source that carries good products, and in my experience, maintains a really good inventory and ships VERY fast.
www.titanreloading.com
...as much as I hate to say it, you won't know if reloading will be for you until you actually do it. There have been many that started but then gave it up after realizing it wasn't to their liking. In those cases there is an economic factor to consider, i.e., how much of your equipment costs can you recover or walk away from.
.... there is a learning curve to reloading and it isn't realistic to think you will produce "precision" ammo right away.
...good luck on your journey.
..here's an online source that carries good products, and in my experience, maintains a really good inventory and ships VERY fast.
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