I have been thinking about jumping into it for a few years. Ever since i bought my first Ar. God i wish i had the 3500 rounds of brass I shot through them. I have a glock 21 .45cal. A 12 ga. Going to get a bolt rifle properly 30.06, 270, 7mm nut sure yet. I also want a ar in 5.56 and or a .308. So i am looking at reloading .45s and 12 ga now plus a large cal rifle round and maybe a second rifle round within the next 6 to 8 months. Iknow by spring i will have the bolt rifle or one Ar not sure yet.

So i think i need to start moving toward reloading. What is the start up cost for a good low cost starter kit that will do the 45s and still do the rifle round and to a lesser worry the 12ga shot-shells. The new gun store in my town told me he could have me out the do for the dies for my 45 pistol and everything i need to load them except my primers,powder, bullets for about 200 maybe 300 bucks. Does this sound right. The setup he had was kind of small and a red color if you can tell the brand by the color. Not sure what brand it is. Is it worth reloading the 45s since the local Walmart is selling the win. USA 100 round bucks for 34.00. he told me i could reload those shells for about 9 or 10 bucks a box. Is that true. Also if i reload the win USA shells to factory load how many times can i reload them. Now i know there is the issue of ammo price and avail. More so getting ammo is my issue. Heck it has been three months since i saw the 100 round 45s not even looking at the price tag.
Also can i get a 300 setup that will do handguns rifles and shotshell. Or will i need a different setup for shotgun shells?
Now my main issue for not reloading is the issue of a mistake that blows my gun up. If i load to the shells factory charge and not overload it is there a blow up issue? Or is a blow up more of a mistake when loading. Also me and a friend of mine was talking about this the other day. He reloaded when he was in the army and told me i should get into it. HE also told me if i did he wanted to have me reload his .38s What do you normally charge someone for reloading there shells with your stuff. Now i know that comes with powder price lead price so on. But is there like a set charge you add to or price. I was thinking like 5or 10 cents a round if any. He is a friend and i would be glad to help him. But if it comes in with 1000 rounds and says i want them next week. We got a issue. lol

my best guess is that you are talking more along the lines of spending about $1k+ to get started for all that you want to do.

You would need several different primers, several different powders, and bullets/lead shot. If i were you, and you shoot ALOT, I would look into buying a progressive reloader. If you are just a once in a while shooter, a single stage will suffice. sounds like he is planning to sell you a Lee press. there are many other tools which you will need.

I think the first thing you should do is to buy a reloading manual, for instance, the latest Hornady edition. If you are going to start with rifle or pistol brass. It has detailed instruction on what and how to reload. you will need a bench, lighting, power, etc. as well.

I think you should start by just reloading for your pistol if that is what you shoot alot. if you shoot alot of skeet, then get the shotgun reloader,..if rifle is your thing, then start there. personally, unless you have a progressive for the 5.56 you will spend hours reloading what you will shoot in just a few minutes, not really worth it, that and 5.56 ammo is relatively cheap to buy anyway.

Dont try to jump in so quick,...unless you have well over $1k to invest

I reload several rifle calibers and shotgun, thats what i shoot the most of. here is a pic of my bench. enjoy

btw, the calvert is only stored there, never mix alchohol and reloading

Ok, so the first thing you need to know is that metallic reloading (stuff with brass cases) and shotshell reloading requires completely different gear. Some of the accessories cross over (like the powder scale), but most of the stuff is fairly specific to either type.

Secondly, I think that you're getting a little ahead of yourself and trying to overanalyze this a bit. The first step is to simply figure out where you want to start (metallic or shotshell)

My suggestion would be to start handload for that which you shoot the most of dollar wise. In other words, if you shoot 4-5 rounds of trap every weekend, but shoot your pistol/rifle every couple months, then start with a shotshell reloader setup. For that, look into the MEC presses and kits. You can buy what is pretty much aready to go out of the box setup for the gauge of your choice. I reloaded shot shells for trap shooting as a teenager on a MEC press and it was pretty easy to do if I recall (I haven't reloaded shotshells in years, though).

If you shoot a lot more rifle/pistol ammo by cost, then a metallic reloading setup is probably the best start. I strongly recommend the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Master Kit as a initial starting point. For just a little under $300 you get pretty much all you need to get started loading metallic cartridges minus the components (brass, bullets, powder and primers). There are a few additional tools to get that don't come with the kit, but for around $400 you can get what you need for at least one cartridge. Once you decide where you want to start, then feel free to post any specific questions here. There are lots of very experienced handloaders here that will be glad to help you.

Mike

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/cata...tml/index.html

Nothing wrong with MEC or RCBS,...

http://www.midwayusa.com/reloading

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...847&hasJS=true

This ain't the nicest, but it sure does work, and will have you rolling out the goods.

pistol/rifle I do more shooting with my pistol then the 12ga. No place to shoot trap around here. I need to get a trap shooter though.

You can't go wrong with RCBS. They customer service is amazing too. If you have any problems or break something just call and they will send you replacements with very few questions asked other than your address. Much better than Lee stuff too IMHO.