For me the best starter kit was the lee kit that cost around 80 bucks or so. The only thing you need is a set of dies and you will need to get acaliper for measuring your cases. It is a cheap kit, but it helped me decide if reloading was something I was interested in. Since then though I have been upgrading everything to RCBS. The only thing I have to do yet is the press.
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Hunting is like Marriage, you get out of it what you put in it. Sometimes you score and sometimes you don't, but its always fun going out!
Lee has a kit that is just a little more (like 30 dollars I think) that has their classic cast press. I have the anniversary kit and am upgrading to a different press.
They all make good ammo .The only difference is how fast ,so if time is not of the essence get a hand tool or single stage press and a set of dies.Small base dies may be required for semi's,pumps and lever actions.Not always.......................Harold
The Lee anniversary kitcomes withthe challanger press (aluminum). I bought Lee's stuff at first but have found myself upgrading everything, mostly to RCBS (do use the Lyman universal trimmer and tumbler though). I did stay with Lee's press when I upgraded to the Classic press which I am soooooo glad I did as it is a great heavy duty press. If I had it to do over again I would have bought the RCBS kit to begin with.
My opinion today is that it isn't worth my time to reload shells when I only shoot about 10 a year.
The cost of the press, die's, powder, brass, primers, bullets are all out of this world right now.
Even at $20 a box for factory loads. It will take me 200 years to recoop what I have in reloading supplies.
Right now I have close to 50 boxes of reloaded ammo and another 50 to 60 waiting to be reloaded and a dad that spends all day on the internet - that doesn't want to sit in a chair and polish brass and trim shells and pull on the lever.
2 reloading presses that he has abandoned and another 2 more sitting in a box.
My bedroom floor makes the empties rattle when I go to get into bed at night - because there is so many empty boxes of shells on the dresser in a box - waiting to be reloaded.
My opinion today is that it isn't worth my time to reload shells when I only shoot about 10 a year.
The cost of the press, die's, powder, brass, primers, bullets are all out of this world right now.
Even at $20 a box for factory loads. It will take me 200 years to recoop what I have in reloading supplies.
Right now I have close to 50 boxes of reloaded ammo and another 50 to 60 waiting to be reloaded and a dad that spends all day on the internet - that doesn't want to sit in a chair and polish brass and trim shells and pull on the lever.
2 reloading presses that he has abandoned and another 2 more sitting in a box.
My bedroom floor makes the empties rattle when I go to get into bed at night - because there is so many empty boxes of shells on the dresser in a box - waiting to be reloaded.
LOL to the last post. But The Rifleman does bring up a good point. If you are not planning to shoot much, then it probably isnt worth the time or expense that it takes to reload good ammo. The real difference between good ammo and just run of the mill stuff is the time and preporation that goes into it. If all that you are after is the ability to make plinker ammo, or just good hunting ammo then the Lee kit will work very well and you wont be out too much $$$ to get started. If you are wanting or foreseeing yourself getting hooked on the hobby and wanting to make top notch ammo for extreme accuracy then the Lee Rockchucker kit is really the only way to go. Dont overlook Hornady or Lyman either though, they also make top notch reloading equipment. I have the Lee Anniversary kit with the Challenger press and dies and am glad that I took a chance and gave the Lee brand a shot. I have reloaded several hundred rounds of pistol and rifle rounds and the savings have more than payed for themselves by now since I can now shoot a whole lot more for a whole lot less.
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Just a gun enthusiast looking to gain more knowledge.
Best reloading kit
