Starting reloading in a few weeks

P

P71pilot

New member
I have wanted to do it for several years, but when i get my income tax returns back i am finally going to make the plunge and buy the nescissary equipment and tools, i also am probably going to cast my own bullets, so i will be ordering a lee mold and sizing die aswell.

I am pretty set on the LEE Classic turret press Kit available for about $195, which will come with most of what i need, i also plan on buying a

Lee carbide .45acp 4 die set
High quality digital scale
Frankfort arsenal case tumbler
media, and case polish
500 bullets to start, before i cast
Lee .452 sizing die

And of course primers, propellant. I am going to primarily be feeding my 1911, but may get other dies down the road for family/friends calibers

Any tips or suggestions? I need to keep total cost under $600, i really like the Dillon stuff but just a little too spendy for my starting budget.

Going to be loading primarily SWC/Truncated cone/Keith style lead bullets
 
Before you buy, check the kit at Kempf Gun Shop. They make their own kit up with the Lee Classic Turret, primer and powder dispensers, and a set of dies of your choice, all at a competitive price. You pick out your own scale - the Lee scale is not universally liked, and often considered the weakest part of their kits. You already said you were going to get a digital scale anyway, so the Kempf kit will come pretty close to getting you your first set of dies for free.

https://kempfgunshop.com/Kempf_Kit_w/_Lee_Classic_Turret_Press_-90064Kit-6575.html

You are going to want to pick up an inertial puller, too.
 
You will need some reloading books as well. I recommend the Lyman 50 ed. since there is a ton of reloading "how-to" information at the beginning of the book. Also, "The ABCs of Reloading" by James is a great book on the how-to part. Highly recommended.

Good luck! Watch lots of YouTube videos and ask a lot of questions!
 
If you are going with a digital scale, I'd suggest you also get a set of check weights to verify its accuracy on a regular basis.

If you read some of the threads on here discussing (or cussing) digitals and you will see why check weights are a good idea.
 
For me the digital scale was frustrating compared to the simplicity and reliability of my RCBS 5-0-5.

BUT, you said you were going to get a good quality scale and the one I got was, well, cheap.

IMhO .45 ACP must be the easiest and most forgiving round to load. That's what I started loading and after I 'discovered' the plonk test I had a lot of fun doing it and that was as a very raw beginner with no mentor or reloading experience before the interwebs existed.

A bit more about my digital scale. I took a dozen assorted coins, weighed them a couple times a day and kept track of the results. Did it for about a week. Too much variance for me to reload with the thing. I think the idea of check weights mentioned above is superb.

Good luck.
 
Lyman 50 would be a good manual to start with. I'd skip the tumbler and media if on a budget. Hot soapy water works fine the only downside is you have to wait a day or 2 before the cases dry completely and the brass isn't as shiny.

I've been using the Frankford aresenal $25/$30 scale for a couple years now without any problems. It did start to act squirrelly after 1 year but that was because the batteries were low. It has worked fine since then.

If casting is in your future I have no idea how well the Lee press will hold up in the long run. Sometimes a slightly oversized bullet can take a lot of force to push through a sizing die. I went with an RCBS rockchucker as my first press and don't regret it. Also I'd skip buying any kit as they typically include stuff you probably won't use.
 
The sizing die decaps the case.
Unless you were going to go to wet pin tumbling, AND wanted to decap prior to tumbling, for clean primer pockets,
I find a universal decap die is not a necessity for loading pistol, where I am not concerned about clean primer pockets, buts that's me.

I do use one for loading rifle especially in calibers with crimped primer pockets.

I have loaded quite a bit of 45 on the lee classic cast turret, but now do it on a dillon.
Mainly for economy of motion.

The lee press isn't going anywhere though. :)
 
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Digital scales need to warm up and can be affected by things like fluorescent lighting. I prefer my RCBS 5-10. I had a digital way back when; for me it wasn't worth the cost.
 
Any tips or suggestions?
Click to expand...

Sure, let's start here.....

...but may get other dies down the road for family/friends calibers...
Click to expand...

Be careful on this one. Being a new reloader, you may make mistakes. Not saying you will make mistakes, but it could happen. If you blow up your own gun, or your fingers / hands, you have no one to blame but yourself. If your reloads blow up someone's gun, or someone's fingers / hands, guess what? It will be your fault. You will be liable.
 
Actually, I can pretty much guarantee you'll make mistakes. I've been reloading for a little over two years now, and I can't count on my fingers and toes how many mistakes I've made to date. It's not a question of will you make mistakes, it's a question of which mistakes and your efficiency at catching them.

As for digital scales, my personal opinion is that you should start with a beam scale, just not the Lee beam scale. When I started out reloading I bought a cheap electronic scale from Cabela's and didn't understand all the issues that can occur with them. This led to all sorts of mistakes, most of which ended up with me dropping too much powder in a case. Fortunately none of those rounds exploded, but several were well over the listed max loads. I just got lucky. A few weeks of that and I decided that I really was emotionally attached to my fingers and face, so I got a beam.

After about 18 months reloading on that beam I picked up another electronic scale and love how much faster it is, but I'm also still very conscious of how easily the thing can start 'drifting.' Any suspicious powder drops can be quickly verified on the beam. Of course, you may have an entirely different experience, I'm just giving you my opinion.
 
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