Reloading on a budget? Is there such a thing?

[Johnny McCrae]

Here is a link to a distributor of LEE Products. I've bought several items from them and their prices seem to be fair.
http://www.titanreloading.com/

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Here is the Challenger Kit (I reached it through Titan Reloading link - neat, they serve Canadian customers as well.)

http://leeprecision.com/deluxe-challenger-kit.html

This will have enough leverage to suit your requirements and the items included will serve about 97% of your needs.

Also, check MidSouth Shooters Supply. They usually have some pretty good deals and even ship to me in Canada, or at my nephew in Tacoma.

[Blair]

I started reloading to, of course, save myself some money.
At that time a box of ammo was costing around $20.00. This depended on the manufacture.
True, it cost money to get set up for reloading my own ammo. However, I found that my reloads were costing me about $5.00 per box for the same number of rounds. It didn't take that long for me to realize profits from my reloading investments.
There are many variables with this choice. Perhaps, even more today? What with the much higher prices of reloading items today.
I still can't help but think that the savings would be about on the same percentage as it was 25 years ago.
My best,
Blair

[Crow Choker]

Starting out using a progressive reloader if you have no experience can be done, but if you don't know the basic's and all the little tricks and such and on how to produce quality and reliable ammo could be both frustrating and backfire on you. A lot of little things can sneak by you that prevent proper cycling, primers not seated properly, excessive length, maybe a case not properly charged, bad crimp. Being able to 'crank' out several hundred rounds an hour isn't all it's cracked up to be, progressive loaders do have their problems. It's like your car engine, if not timed right, it won't run right and do what it's supposed to. You can notice problems and have more control over things using a single stage. I've been at it since 76' not counting the years before that using an old Lee 12 gauge hand loader. Start out with a single stage and if needed, can always progress to the 'progressive'. I still use a single stage, if planned right, you can load as much as you need ahead of a shoot or practice sessions. Not slamming progressive's or those that use them, but it's not as simple as just loading a bunch of components in hoppers and start pulling a lever. The Titian outfit looks good, never heard of them before. Midsouth Shooters and MidwayUSA are good, although Midsouth is generally cheaper.

Old reloading manuals can work, but with a lot of limitations. Powder companies have changed burn rates on powders some over the years, adding this and that to make them burn faster, cleaner, etc. What was minimum or maximum 20-30 years ago, maybe less, has changed. Alliant Unique and 2400 are examples, what was recommended a number of years ago has changed to where they are saying to decrease the loadings by a certain percent. What has been published in the last 10 years probably is still current, but I'd try to get something as new as possible. Primers have also gone under gone a change, what was told to be used once, is now changed depending on the powder.  The newer the manual, it will have all/most current powders/primers being used, something the older one's won't, such as Trail Boss. I'd recommend Lyman's manuals. They publish information using all or the greater percentage of bullets, powder, and primer. The 'brand names' such as Speer and Sierra give only info using their bullets and primers if selling both. If you only plan on shooting cast (lead) bullets, Lymans cast bullet manual is 'top shelf'. It also has cast bullet black powder loadings. Go to the bullet and esp the powder companies websites. They give all current information for whatever caliber you are shooting. Most (the powder companies) still publish a small book I believe.

If you want loads to produce smoke, forget about 'smokeless' powders. That's why they got that name hung on them. Not totally free, but not enough to 'oh and awe' about. You want boom and smoke, blackpowder is the route. You can also use one of the 'artificial blackpowders', I've never used them, don't care for them. I shoot a lot of blackpowder percussion and load a lot of blackpowder (FF/FFF) cartridge rounds, now there's 'smoke and awe'! I don't consider myself an expert, just a well seasoned and experienced reloader and shooter. Hope this helps ya SchoolBoy.

[will52100]

The Lee single stage will work fine, but if you can swing it I highly recommend the Lee classic cast turret press.  You can use it as a single stage, or you can use it's auto advance.  The main thing I like about it is once the dies are set up your pretty much set except for occasionally cleaning them.  And if you want to change calibers it's easy and cheap to have extra turrets already set up.  It's not as fast as a true progressive, it takes 4 leaver pulls per round vs. 1 round per pull, but it's easier and quicker than a single stage and gives you time to sort things out.  I really like mine for rifle loadings and some odd stuff that won't fit on my Loadmasters.  To me one of the biggest advantages to using a turret press is not having to do batches, I can start with a clean case and finish one at a time with a loaded round.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/785993/lee-classic-4-hole-turret-press-deluxe-kit

I don't know about the auto drum measure, have heard good stuff about it.  I've got auto disk in every pistol caliber I load for and with a powder baffle they are extremely accurate.  The auto drum has good reviews and should handle stick powders better than the auto disk which does not like stick powders at all.

Also check out http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/index.php?sid=2ff90d966b90ced192fa30d006da66d1  Tons of good info on Lee stuff and how to make it run right, also has a buy/sell/trade section and you can occasionally find stuff cheap.

I use nearly all Lee dies, for a straight wall get there carbide dies.  The only dies I've ever had an issue with was a RCBS, the Lee's I've never had a problem with.

Hope this helps.

[Ben Beam]

Whelp, it's a done deal. Brownell's had the Lee turret press kit on sale and I also fund a coupon, so I ended up getting it for $189 shipped. Too good to pass up. Still need dies, supplies, and a few other things, but we'll see how it goes.

I experimentally tried putting my brass in my cheap ultrasonic I got off Amazon with the following mixture: 1 cup water, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp dish soap. They came out looking fine.

I'm going to move over to the non-blackpowder forum, which is where I should have posted in the first place, but you were all so helpful. Thanks for everything!

[Coal Creek Griff]

You will no doubt encounter some frustrations, but I find reloading to be very rewarding.  I find it to be quite relaxing and satisfying.  When I reload a batch, they look like beautiful jewels.  You won't be sorry.

CC Griff

[Ben Beam]

As long as I don't injure myself or my firearm, I'll be happy.

[will52100]

As long as I don't injure myself or my firearm, I'll be happy.

That's the main thing, just take your time and have fun with it. 

One suggestion on the powder measure, I don't know about the auto drum, but on the auto disk I normally take anywhere from 5-10 powder drops manually(basically what ever I'm feeling like, 2-3 drops would likely work fine) before running a case through and this makes the measure drop dead on.  With the auto drum I'd drop at least 2-3 times before expecting consistency.  Even then you should be OK as long as your in the middle of your charge range, I'm just a little OCD about powder charges.

One other thing, your brass doesn't have to be bright and shinny like gold, just clean.  Bright and shiny makes them easier to find on the ground and look better, bur stained cases will work just fine as long as they are clean.  You can always invest in a tumbler latter.

The Lee powder measure is a little aggravating, but works just fine once set up.

Good luck and have fun.

[Baltimore Ed]

Reloading is one of those things that REQUIRES your total attention like brain surgery or building ships in a bottle. Fortunately all my reloading mishaps were minor and came to light during practice and not during a match. Start low and work up. I've found that the most accurate loads tend to be on the light side. Be very wary of interruptions in your reloading cycle. Whether from an outside source like a phone call or a family member or from a machine stoppage due to a bad case or primer or powder refill. After an interruption is when the danger is highest and a double or no powder dump can occur. Get a current manual but you don't need one with every cartridge in the world. I like the guides that are only for a single caliber but with all of the different powder manufacturers. Don't guess. I was 10 ft from a second generation Colt SA that cut loose after an intentional gross overload of ww 231. Only the Colt was destroyed, cowboy, spotters and RO were fine. The shooter wasn't trying to blow up his gun and actually thought that the load was ok. But in all honesty, it's very satisfying to shoot a clean match or have a successful hunt with good loads that you built yourself. Good luck, have fun and stay safe. Don't forget to wear your glasses too.

[Ben Beam]

To be extra cautious, especially at first, I plan to weigh every round individually. Any numbers too far out of the norm will get additional scrutiny. This should help prevent the risks of over or under charging. I also have a digital caliper which should be accurate enough for checking overall length.

I just weighed a bunch of Herter's factory loads to see how consistent they are. Anywhere from 24.7 to 25.09.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I got my vibratory cleaner onlne as well. It was small but does a handful of pistol cases at a time. I use a similar mix for cleaning.

I just thought of this, a digital scale; Amazon only tells me the deal in Canada, but check it out; Get the ELITE version.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00EPO9M2Y/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1977604522&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0012LOQUQ&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_r=20KPF2DGCPMX5KKJQB2G

Older models only read to .2 gr., but the last one I got reads to .1 gr. Even if it doesn't it will work for almost any reloading chore, except perhaps benchrest.

[will52100]

I used to be super OCD about powder weights, were talking dead on, no plus or minus even a .10th of a grain.  Still am with match rifle rounds, but not so much on pistol.  I found the auto disk would hold within .2 10ths of a grain, most times within .1 or dead on.  I picked a powder, either titegroup or Unique that had a broad range and got in the middle of it.  And I'd weight every 20th round or so, or when I'd stop to refill my primer feed or powder or case feeder.  I'd also look in the case, and with bulkier powder like Unique I could easily see if the powder charge was "about" rite so a double charge or way under charge would stand out to me.  I'm very cautious about double charging as well.

Any way, just take your time and you should be OK.  Check out youtube, very handy to have a visual reference to setting things up vs. Lee's useless instructions.

[Crow Choker]

The turret press sounds like a good option. Ya can have all the needed dies right already set, so all you have to do is 'turn the dial' so to speak instead of taking each die off and setting up another-which once you get the hang of it isn't a big problem. The Brownell buy is a good price. One thought though, unless you buy new dies, be cautious of buying anything used. The sizer die can become scratched by grit/dirt etc that it picks up from dirty brass cases and will sometimes then scratch every case that is sized unless it is repolished. I've heard of some dies that were junked because of this. I've seen some dies at gun shows that look like they've been buried for 20 years or have had never had a cleaned case used in them. Some guys are just reloading slobs IMO. As someone else posted, go with carbide or whatever the company may call it. Beats the hassle of lubing and then having to clean the lube off.

will52100 is right about getting pistol (and even lever action rifles ammo) to the Nth degree with the powder. Shooting offhand, fast, point shooting, etc doesn't require the same 'minute of angle' precision that a long range rifle needs. If they are .1-.2 tenths plus or minus won't affect your accuracy or be enough to blow your gun up. When I first got into reloading 38 Spec wad cutters for police completion shooting, I would set my powder measure to throw 2.5 grains of Bullseye into a pan, set the pan on the scale, then finish the last .2 with a powder trickler to get the 2.7 grains I wanted. Took forever. Finally realized all this was in vain for double action bang-bang-bang shooting, set the powder measure for 2.7 grains, then checked the powder measure about every 20 rounds. I then and still do under a bright light, look directly down into a 50 round loading block tray of powder charged cases to see if any are double charged. I will double charge one case to see 'what' a double charge of the powder I'm using looks like if it is a small charge in a big case, but do it for most powder charges. That is of course if a double charge will even fill a case, some like Trail Boss and Black powder ya can't with revolver size cases.

Late PS: The Lee manual you get with the kit is a good source. I got one maybe 8 yrs ago. Good info on  "How T0 Reload" and a lot of various load info, although I still prefer the Lyman book.

[Baltimore Ed]

I'd forgotten that many years sgo I also used to throw a low charge and trickle it up to the exact amount, for everything. What a waste of energy. Totally not needed for regular cas matches, ipsc, idpa, wild bunch or zombie matches. If you're doing a cas long range side match or building hunting loads then that's different and you need to be right on the money. I love my Lyman turret press. To speed up operations I installed a Dillon measure on it with the auto dump features, works great.

[Montana Slim]

I'll second (or third/fourth) the Lee Turret suggestion.
My first venture in metallic cartridge loading was with a 3-hole Lee & used it for 25+ years. It will load most anything your likely to want.

I did buy a 4-station Lee (Classic Cast) a couple years ago. Having the 4th hole is useful for some applications & I added the primer gizmo.. You can start with manual primer feed (your fingers) &  Lee powder dipper set. & later add the Lee primer feeder and add an inexpensive Lee Auto-disk powder measure. Takes care of your wish list for x-mas & birthday for several years to come.

To me, loading with a 4-die set has the advantage of easier setup & adjustment. I like that I can independently adjust the bullet seating depth on the 3rd station & set the crimp firmness on the 4th.

I don't know how much money you'll save....but I guarantee you'll shoot more for the $$.

Slim