i am thinking about handloading .308 winchester cartridges. ABOUT how much would it cost for everything. i'll be starting from scratch.

thanks for your reply.

It depends on what you buy which will be determined by how much you intend to load.If you are only going to shoot a few boxes per year,you won't recover the cost of the gear for many,many years.If you intend to load a hundred rounds or so per year ,you can get buy with one of the cheaper LEE kits.If however you intend to load several hundred loads per year you might want to invest in something better like an RCBS Rockchucker kit.It will cost more but it will last much longer if you do a lot of reloading.There are also many tools that aren't absolutely necessary but sure make things quicker and easier.With all of the choices available the cost can vary from under $200 for very basic gear to over $1000 for a full slate of top quality gear including manuals.Try this link for a comparison of some of the popular kits.
http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteabro...**731***680***

As I look at my reloading gear right now, I will list what I have and approx total cost. (my first reloading endeavor started only 2 years ago.)

RCBS Rockchucker Master Reloading kit w/ manual powder measure and 5-0-5 scale. $ 300 or so if I remember right.
4 RCBS dies @ .30-06, .223, .45 ACP and 8mm Mauser @ avg $30 each
Frankfurt Arsenault case tumbler and inertia bullet puller, @ $50 and $30
RCBS hand priming tools @ $35
Frankfort Arsenault dial read caliper # $35
8 lbs of powder total ( I save the jugs) @ approx $19 each, or about $155
Probably about $150-$180 or so on bullets and primers total.

So, that comes to approx $875 - $900 or so, in two years.

Now, I could have spent probably and average of about $13 per box of factory loaded ammo.

I have loaded, probably about 35 boxes or so of ammo (don't have my log in front of me, so all is off memory), which comes to about $450 or so. I figure I still have about 2 years to even break even!!

MY POINT IS THIS DON'T START RELOADING TO SAVE MONEY!! START RELOADING TO ENJOY ANOTHER FACET OF SHOOTING AND TO LEARN AND APPRECIATE WHAT GOES ON IN THE PROCESS!!

going with the basics i got into the game for under 200 bucks and was setup to load 308 win and 38 spcl/357 mag. but once you get the basics and keep adding to your spread, over time you will have hundreds and maybe thousands into it before you know it. Even though i started out with less then 200 dollars worth of equipment after the first 6 months I had already shelled out close to 1000 bucks on more equipment. Reloading is extremely addictive everyone here I know will agree LOL

I started out thinking I was just going to reload a few boxes of .30-06 and .45acp a year. Got a cheap Lee kit and went to it. Before I knew it I was reloading for more and more calibers as I aquired new guns and even for some friends who have guns with less common calibers. Now I figure that I reloaded over a 1000 rounds last year. If you really think that you are only going to reload a few a year, get the Lee anniversary kit for about $70, it has everything you need to get started except the dies, bullets, powder, primers and cases. If you think you may someday reload more than that, start off with good equipment so you don't have to replace it later.

I used to figure out how much per round it was costing me to reload, and if you don't count equipment I was saving money per round.

I would think that with a basic kit and all the supplies you could start reloading for around $200. Check out midwayusa.com, they have a lot of equipment and supplies on there, it'll give you a good idea of what it'll cost, and you can sign up and start a "wish list" so that you can keep a running tab on everything you need/want.