[kirby25]

hi,

with the rising price in ammo these days and with the talk about another increase, i have started to keep all my brass for my 9mm, 40 and 223. my question is for anyone that has reloaded and used one of those $15 hand reloader deals where they say all you need is a hammer, bullets, powder, and primers. how do these work? are they safe to use(make a safe reload to shoot?) i realize they would be much slower then a big hundred dollar press one but i dont have that kind of money and dont mind it taking longer. any feed back from anyone who has used these please let me know what you thought of it. and yes i know i should buy or read a reloading manual before i start and i plan on doing so but i want to know if these are worth the money first. thanks in advance. heres a link to the type of reloaders im talking about.



http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/brows...***731***680***

 

[G56]

Don't waste your money on something like that. I don't like Lee stuff in general, it's cheaply made, but the absolute minimum place to start would be a Lee Anniversary Kit, like this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/...&t=11082005

 

[kirby25]

ok say i had 100 to spend....

 

[FieroCDSP]

There are base costs for reloading. Lee stuff is least expensive and works just fine. I use it almost exclusively because I don't have the cash for the Dillon or even Hornaday stuff. The aniversary kit is a minimum kit for start-up, but lacks the dies for whatever caliber your loading. Lee 4-die sets run about $22-28 on Midway. Thehighroad.org has a great reloading forum with stickies for basics and costs calculations.

There are a few things you need to learn about reloading first (I wish I had this).

-1:It's time consuming. With a single stage like the Aniversary kit has, you're looking 100rounds/hour max. Plan to spend the better part of a weekend loading for a two-hour pistol shoot session. Rifle goes a bit better because you usually shoot less.



-2:Costs:reloads-vs-factory. If you factor in bullets/powder/primers, it's quite a bit cheaper, for the most part. You really have to sit with a calculator and figure it up to get an acceptable load going for you. Once you factor in shipping for all of that, you're looking at a lesser savings. For 9mm or 223, you'll be hard pressed to shoot cheaper than the lease expensive factory. It's often cheaper to shoot the aluminum cased ammo in 9mm than to even consider reloads. That's not to say it can't be done. Lead bullets are a lot cheaper than jacketed. Plated aren't as cheap, but take some of the sting out and can be used where lead cannot. Unless you're close to a manufacturer, you'll have to ship or buy in massive bulk at shows. 1K of 155gr bullets weighs 22lbs. If you save up and get bulk 3Kpacks, Midway pays the shipping. As it stands, I can load 40cal 155plated for 11cents/rnd.Less than half factory jacketed. Lead goes cheaper.

 

[FieroCDSP]

-3: There are a lot of extras that you need (or at least help). Dies are a necessity. Books are important. The ABC's of Reloading is a must read. It explains everything in detail and is an easy read. You can live with just those charge lists, as well as the ones that come with the dies. A good tumbler helps, but isn't absolutely necessary. Clean cases keep your dies clean and prevent scratching. All of this leads up to number....



-4:You will never recoups your costs if it becomes an actual hobby. First, you'll reduce your costs in half, but start shooting twice as much, negating any savings. You'll always want/need another accessory to make better loads, then a new press, then etc....

Lastly:

-5: You'll start collecting brass at any costs. Trash-bin diving is a symptom of reloading.



If it's really important to save a lot of money off the startup costs, you can try the Lee Hand-Press. It's basicly a single-stage that you have to muscle. It uses the same dies as the bench-presses, but only costs $20 bucks. I use it when travelling or when I'm no-where near my press. If you get that rather than the Aniversary kit, add up your costs for the Safety Scale and maybe a Dipper set. It'll probably come out to about what you'd spend on the kit, shich gives you the scale, a measure, and other things.



Beginning costs for reloading are difficult to keep under $100. A more realistic is $150-200.



Hope this helps, and don't hesitate to ask questions.

 

[natelear]

FieroCDSP is right. You need to plan on spending a couple hundred bucks. Save your change for another month or three and get a starter kit from hornady, rcbs, redding or lee (http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/productview?saleitemid=820810&t=11082005). One that has a press, powder measure, scale, manual, shell holders, etc. You will probably want a bullet puller of some kind for when you make mistakes or end up with a load that shows signs of being too much. If your going to load much, you might want a hand priming tool also. And not to forget the cleaning, you will need a tumbler to clean any picked up or dirty brass.



Make sure you get quality components from reputable sources and learn how to do everything correctly. Questionable components and practices can turn your gun into a jam-o-matic and create a dangerous situation. Over charges and squib loads can lead to exploding handguns and really ruin your day. I'm not trying to scare anyone, I'm just saying you need to respect the level of forces your working with in a weapons chamber.



Generally you wont end up saving money on ammo. You'll just end up shooting a lot more for the same money (twice the "bang" for your buck

).



Just like learning to shoot. Take your time and learn to do it right up front and you'll save hourself a lot of headache later.



Best of luck. Shoot safe and have fun!!!

 

[coltman1985]

I als recommend saving up for a "decent" set-up. I would go progressive with out a doubt! JMHO :wink:

 

[slow ride]

I highly reccomend a good single stage, like the Lee anniversary kit. It comes with everything you need in a simple inexpensive package. Once you use it and learn the basics of reloading your own ammo, shop around and get a more sophisticated set-up.



I started with the Lee anniversary kit, read the book, and asked alot of questions. Later on I went with the Lee Classic Turret Press, after seeing how slow the single stage was! I like my turret press o.k., but wished I'd have got a Dillon! (550b).



Whatever you go with, welcome to the addiction! Reloading is a great way to save $$$, and shoot more often!

 

[woodeckt]

I have to agree with the lee anniversary kit. I am going to be reloading both rifle and pistol and just got mine setup. With school and work and home life has been tough to get it all done. I just got my AC unit put into my shop window yesterday so I will not cook myself while reloading in this heat. I got the anniversary kit and will use it to learn with and then when I am comfortable I may go with a progressive later. Right now my wife and I are not doing any competition shooting it is just the two of us and sometimes a friend that shoot. I got my reloading stuff so I can do some custom loads for hunting. This year will be my third year deer hunting (posted in member pictures is my 11 point I got last year) and I want to get a good load for my Remington 700 .30-06. I also wanted to reaload due to the fact that my loving wife bought me a .44 Henry for Christmas last year to hunt with as well and the cost of that ammo is outrageous. I have run the numbers and I can reload .44 for less than half what it costs to get factory ammo. I know I will shoot much more with it once I get going reloading but that is what I want to do. Once we get good and comforatable with our M&P's we will be looking at shooting IDPA and I will be realoading for that as well. Hopefully with only 3 more semesters of school I will be getting into my shop and getting moving on my reloading. Good luck to you and what everyone says get a good BOOK and read it.