TxStorm

I have questions and can't quite make up my mind till I get some of them answered. So any advice, input etc, would be ohhh so nice.

I'm looking at the Lee Anniversary kit w/reloading manual, low cost and most people seem to like them for beginners. This is great less then $100 and I'm off and reloading.. or am I?
1. Dies, I'm looking at reloading .30-06, and eventually if this works out also .243 and .40 S&W. Just talking about the .30-06, which dies would be best for a fellow using his personal fired brass? Figured I'd start there before looking at fresh never loaded brass. I'll probably only be loading about 50 rds a pop, if it matters.
2. What is the main difference in brass makers like Rem, Federal and Win? I mean, looking about there is normally a $5 per 50 price difference, mostly the Federal seems cheaper cost.
3. When and if I decide to buy brass, which would be best for a newbie, primed brass or unprimed? I imagine one less step would be great, but I don't know if the quality is that different then doing it myself where I get to pick the primer itself.
4. Cleaning brass, I notice the kit doesn't make too much mention of this step and I imagine after a few firings it will become a REAL concern. So what's the most cost effective way to do this? I've read about tumblers, media etc., but I want to keep costs down i case I decide to bail out on this.
5. How does one decide what bullet seating depth to go with and will the instructions explain this? I think I read somewhere about dies you have to adjust this setting before getting to carried away.. and it sounds like it involves calipers and math.. [:'(]

I reckon the rest like powders, bullets and what not will depend on the load data and what my rifle likes..

mossy33oak

I'm looking at the Lee Anniversary kit w/reloading manual, low cost and most people seem to like them for beginners. This is great less then $100 and I'm off and reloading.. or am I? No you will need alot of different items, most have been listed here time and time again. Do a search in the reloading forum for "getting started"
1. Dies, I'm looking at reloading .30-06, and eventually if this works out also .243 and .40 S&W. Just talking about the .30-06, which dies would be best for a fellow using his personal fired brass? Figured I'd start there before looking at fresh never loaded brass. I'll probably only be loading about 50 rds a pop, if it matters. What ever press you get, just get the standard 30-06 FL dies that go with them, unless you are shooting a pump or semi auto, then a small base die is recommended.
2. What is the main difference in brass makers like Rem, Federal and Win? I mean, looking about there is normally a $5 per 50 price difference, mostly the Federal seems cheaper cost. From my experience theres not alot of difference between the average brass companies. Flash hole shape is the difference. IMHO Winchester has some of the best low end packaged brass out there. Remington has alot of quality issues such as poor packing, and bent rough shaped brass.
3. When and if I decide to buy brass, which would be best for a newbie, primed brass or unprimed? I imagine one less step would be great, but I don't know if the quality is that different then doing it myself where I get to pick the primer itself. I would personally want to choose which primers I am using.
4. Cleaning brass, I notice the kit doesn't make too much mention of this step and I imagine after a few firings it will become a REAL concern. So what's the most cost effective way to do this? I've read about tumblers, media etc., but I want to keep costs down i case I decide to bail out on this. A tumbler is the way to go! It is relatively easy and it does all the work. You will want to clean your brass so you can see if your brass is damaged and ready to be discarded.
5. How does one decide what bullet seating depth to go with and will the instructions explain this? I think I read somewhere about dies you have to adjust this setting before getting to carried away.. and it sounds like it involves calipers and math.. [:'(] There are several ways to determine your seating depth one is a Stoney Point gauge the other is the old fashioned way of using a fired casing and putting a bullet in the neck and pinching it a little. Then chambering the casing and measuring where the bullet stops this is the base line from which you decide how far back to seat. Some guys start at .010" of the lands Ive seen .090" off alot depends on cycling through your magazine also. If you are not comfortable "measuring" and "math" you may not want to get into this, reading and using a good set of calipers is a must for doing this stuff.

I reckon the rest like powders, bullets and what not will depend on the load data and what my rifle likes..

Most all of these questions can be answered by buying several good reloading manuals and reading the intoduction to reloading segment. Not to sound judgmental but with the questions you askedyou should do this way before you ever press a bullet.

Pawildman

Mossy gave a lot of good advice there. One of the most important things you can and should do is get a good comprehensive reloading manual right off the bat and learn the terms and what is being discussed. A great way to do this is to find someone you know who is accomplished at it, or inquire at a gun shop to see if anyone locally would help you get started.After you get your equipment and manuals, you can get your hands on the pieces and get familiar with them. Don't be scared of calipers and a little math. It's pretty elementary stuff for the most part and will become second nature to you in a short time.
There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this site who will be glad to help you out as questions arise. I wish I had been able to have access to this instant help when I started out.
Take the plunge and I'm sure you will find a whole new world will open up for you.

TUK101

If you want to save some money and buy some time till you can afford a tumbler to clean your brass, then you can pick up a Lee Case trimmer that goes into a drill for about $5 and while you have the shell in it you can use a piece of steel wool and it will get the brass all shiney again. Its not as good as going through the tumbler where it will get both inside and out clean, (I know, not so much the inside, but it does a bit). Also, by priming your own shells it will save you a bit more per round. Basically you are paying whoever you are buying your brass from about $0.25 per round to prime your cases with the cheapest primers that they can throw in there, when primers are only about $2 per 100. I actually kind of enjoy the deprime/prime phase of doing things with my Classic Lee Hand loader. No press involved, just a hammer and dies and a punch.

TxStorm

Thanks Gents.. I may look at the tumblers again.

And Mossy:
A bit short but hey it's all good. HOWEVER, I did as you suggested and did that search using your key-words.. and surprise, I only got 6 hits, most from the same thread and not too much at all in any of them about all this extra stuff I may need to get STARTED. Not for sure knowing why the basics won't work to see if I like it or not, but again.. it's all good. And just as an FYI, math really isn't the issue or my ability to do such. I work all day long with various complex formulas and merely am not finding it too appealing to add more to my daily life. Now, from a few replies, I am gathering the math involved isn't too complex and shouldn't be much of an issue. I do appreciate your advice about the various brass available, exspecially your 1st hand info on the Remington brand. Don't imagine I would have ever found that tidbit in a Reloading Manual. I do fully intend on reading the manual if and when I purchase the kit, these questions were more an attempt to get a list together of all things required so they may be ordered at one time.
I did ask these questions here as a simple low cost no investment alternative to buying (online and shipping most likely)and reading said manuals. I do apoligize as it seems I managed to bend a few folks out of joint.

thndrchiken

For low cost entry level equipment there is nothing wrong with Lee products. The extras you'll want to have when starting out is a tumbler, a hand priming tool like the Lee Autoprime, your dies, I personally like Redding dies but there is nothing wrong with Lee and I would really suggest spending some extra money and buy a higher quality scale.

TxStorm

Thank you! The kit I am looking at lists the items as:

Press, Auto-Prime, 11 Auto-Prime Shellholders, chamfer tool, primer pocket cleaner, 2 oz case lube, Cutter and Lock Stud (Case Length Gage and Shellholder sold separately), powder scale, powder measure and powder funnel.

So, do you suggest something digital for a scale instead of Lee's balance beam type? Any personal favorite on brand?

TUK101

The scale will work fine to get you started. I just started reloading about 2 months ago and have found that you can make reloading as simple or as complicated as you want, and the same goes with the equipment and the costs that go with it. One thing that I highly recommend though that i didnt see in your list is a trickler. It really speeds up the powder measuring process and also helps to keep your powder from making a mess and getting on your fingers (which have a tendency to get into your eyes). I really do not think that mossy3oak meant any disrespect towards you or meant to insult you in any way. But if I where in your shoes, and I acually am, I would just get the Lee kit and use it until I can find a need for something better.

dmurphy317

TxStorm,
The Lee aniversary kit is a good place to start and will work for many years with little maintenence. As noted in the list you will need to get the case length guide and holder for the caliber you will be reloading for trimming. They are inexpensive and work surprizingly well. The Lee dies work well and I would suggest you get thedeluxe set that includes the collet die if you think you want to go that route. TheRGB 2 die set works fine but for a little more you can have the full set that includes the collet die and a shell holder that doesn't come with the RGB set.

You can start reloading with the kit plus the 2 items I listed and that would be about the lowest entry price you could get without going with the Lee Loader or similar. Some convenience items you may want to consider are a powder trickler, used to fine tune the amount of powder on the scale to get it just right. A tumbler is nice but as mentioned earlier, you can use some 0000 steel woolwhile the case is on the trimmer stud and clean it in just a few seconds for much cheaper until you decide wheather you want to invest more money in gear. The scale that comes with the kit is servicable, actually mine has served well for over 5 years now.

There are lots of other goodies out there also but for basic reloading for a budget price, you are headed in the right direction. I still use most of the items that came with my original Lee aniversary kit and have had no big issues with any of them, even after several thousand rounds of reloads.

mossy33oak

Please dont take what I wrote as being short, it is hard to convey emotion over the internet. I took a long time to type that up and wouldnt have done it if I was "bentout of joint". I did the same search and came up with nothing also. I flat out begged the moderators here about a year ago to let us come up with a list of items that we as a forum would recommend to anyone getting started and pin it to the top and it was never approved. As far as you deciding on what to buy I would be happy to send you a pm of all of the "gadjet" stuff that I currently have on my bench if you would like. However, my recommendation (if you plan on reloading more than a box or two a year), would be to get the RCBS Rockcrusher Supreme Kit. It has ALOT of what you will need to get started. I still had to buy 10-12 things besides what came in that kit, but it has the bulk of what you need. PM me if you would like the info I offered.