POLL plz help

[halfbakedi420]

gettin ready for summer, and a reloading kit it is...i was wondering which everyone recommends and why ya think its better. is there an all in 1 kit where it comes ready to go just add bullets, powder and casings??..i dont want any junk, it'll need to last forever.. thx

1.

trim die
or
case trimmer


2. to clean casings

media powder
or
solvent

3. carbide expander plugs

yes

no

[pnut]

I'm a little confused by your poll as it doesn't really make much sense about the kit question.

The RCBS Rock Chucker is a pretty good starter kit but it doesn't have everything that you need to load both pistol and rifle.

In addition to the kit you would at the bare minimum the following:
Powder trickler - makes it easier to put that last couple tens of powder in the scale.
Trimmer: if doing rifle - I have the RCBS TrimPro and really like it.
Deburring/chamfer tool
Primer pocket brushes - I only use these on rifle
Tumbler - I own two of these and they rarely sit idle. I prefer walnut because i usually deprime and size before I tumble and the corn cob gets stuck in the primer pockets.
Calipers - I got mine at a local machine shop for $25

I buy all carbide die sets for my pistol and FL sets for my rifle.

[halfbakedi420]

thx pnut, and you guys who voted..looks like ill get the carbide, a tumbler..with walnut..and a case trimmer..i seen ya mentioned a couple names, but i am just starting out so ya might as well be speakin Russian(i don't know this language) to me...what are the best of the best name brands for each particular component..i e ..a press..the carbide dies etc.

[spaniel]

For case trimmer get the unit not the handheld junk.

I use carbide dies for pistol but not rifle.

For tumbling media I use some sort of corncob bedding cheap from a pet store.

[spaniel]

For rifle:

-Press (Rockchucker ++++)
-Dies -- Need FL, neck and seating for a bolt gun. Should seldom use FL
-Trimmer
-Scale -- DON'T GO CHEAP!! I got a cheap digital and have to double-weigh every charge. Get a great digital or triple beam balance.
-Trickler -- I rarely use mine, I use Lee Dippers to trickle
-Primer pocket wire brushes
-Lee priming tool
-Priming tool case holder(s)
-Press case holder(s)
-Case brush (removes trimmings, lube)
-case mouth deburring/chamfer tool
-Tumbler
-Reloading blocks to hold shells
-Digital calipers
-OAL gauge set to clip on caliper

Other useful items
-Lee dipper set
-Shoulder length set to clip on caliper

Off the top of my head...

[bronko22000]

I prefer RCBS equipment to the others simply because it is good and their CS is great when you do need it. Case in point, I have a.45-70 that I have been loading for for years using RCBS dies. I wanted to try some of the new Hornady FTX (pointed, flex tipped) bullets but my standard seating plug was crushing the tips. I called RCBS and they said they didn't make one yet for the pointed bullets but he would send me a plug for a .45-500 and all I needed to do was drill the center out a bit to accomodate the flex tip. No charge.
Another thing you may want to consider purchasing is a hand help priming tool. I like them because you can actually feel the primer seating into the case and bottoming out. And you do not have as much force as the press where you might crush the primer cup/anvil which could result in a misfire.

[pnut]

I buy all RCBS for their quality and great customer service. If you have a problem with something just call and they will ship you a replacement part, no questions asked.

[homers brother]

Most of what should be said here appears already to have been.

1. Case trimmer. No contest. Faster, cleaner, and you determine how much to take.

2. Corncob media. Yeah, it's annoying picking it out of flash holes, particularly in small cases (i.e. .223). But, it's cheap, lasts awhile, and cleans cases as well or better than any walnut or other tumbler media I've used.

3. I've used standard RCBS dies (incl expander plugs) for years to reload pistol and rifle cartridges. Never an issue.

I started out about 25 years ago with a RCBS Rockchucker kit (press, Uniflow powder measure, case lube kit, deburring tool, loading block, and 5-0-5 beam scale.

Since then I've added a tumbler, bench mounted case trimmer, caliper, RCBS Universal Priming Tool, Primer Pocket Brush, a baffle for the powder measure, RCBS Powder Trickler, and am using Stony Point/Hornady gauges to determine seating depth by firearm.

I'd also recommend obtaining a chronograph. Chrono'ing a string of test rounds will yield valuable data that may help you weed out inconsistencies between your reloads that cause poor performance (particularly accuracy). Did I mention case prep, case prep, case prep?

[halfbakedi420]

thx for your post and votes guys..starting to be perty clear.