New starter reloading kit vs Buying used press and buy the rest piece by piece from amazon/ebay to complete a kit

[erwos]

The saving money aspect is great (and takes on its own importance as you can get into high volume), but for me, it's more about having ammo that does the same thing EVERY TIME. Back pre-2020 when I was mostly shooting factory ammo, and it was always "buy the cheapest thing you can find". And that had very uncertain results. But standardizing on a particular brand/type of ammo meant I was at the mercy of availability and pricing, nevermind that I often found that factory ammo was not as consistent from lot to lot as you'd think.

Nowadays, I reload it all, and every single round is pretty much the same. There's no more guessing. And if there's a shift in components (say SPPs to SPMPs), I know exactly what changed and know what to test.

 

[trickg]

You bring up a good point about consistency of ammo, and I think that many, if not most, other people are in the same boat - get the absolute cheapest ammo available.

And color me crazy, but it seems to me that being able to find decent quality components - particularly bullets - at a decent rate is easier than find decent quality ammo at a decent rate.

My rate of reloading has increased a good bit since I got the Dillon press, and I'm very close to having everything I need - at least for a little while - in terms of equipment. I'd still like to get a Rock Chucker, but from this point on, I can load for just about every caliber I own.

 

[Uncle Duke]

The saving money aspect is great (and takes on its own importance as you can get into high volume), but for me, it's more about having ammo that does the same thing EVERY TIME. Back pre-2020 when I was mostly shooting factory ammo, and it was always "buy the cheapest thing you can find". And that had very uncertain results. But standardizing on a particular brand/type of ammo meant I was at the mercy of availability and pricing, nevermind that I often found that factory ammo was not as consistent from lot to lot as you'd think.

Nowadays, I reload it all, and every single round is pretty much the same. There's no more guessing. And if there's a shift in components (say SPPs to SPMPs), I know exactly what changed and know what to test.

Yep. In a hobby where so much focus tends to be on how much time is involved, as well as cost savings? I can ham hock enough shots on my own thanks, without shooting the least expensive factory ammo available that may or may not wind up where I wanted it. That...to me...tells me absolutely nothing about what I did or didn't do. For me, that sort of a guessing game is a complete waste of time and money both.

 

[Uncle Duke]

You bring up a good point about consistency of ammo, and I think that many, if not most, other people are in the same boat - get the absolute cheapest ammo available.

And color me crazy, but it seems to me that being able to find decent quality components - particularly bullets - at a decent rate is easier than find decent quality ammo at a decent rate.

My rate of reloading has increased a good bit since I got the Dillon press, and I'm very close to having everything I need - at least for a little while - in terms of equipment. I'd still like to get a Rock Chucker, but from this point on, I can load for just about every caliber I own.

Different games have different rules. With pistols, there's precious few people good enough to squeeze the n'th degree of precision out of loads, factory or otherwise. Since I'm not one of them, the "plenty good enough" precision available with either is just fine. Cost savings, time savings, the ability to create load variations and meet power factors and more all can take center stage.

Rifles can be another matter. If one is looking for minute of silhouette, that's one thing. And that's both fine and dandy. But many can do better. More than a few can do much better. Then there's precision rifles, and trying to put holes on top of each other. Those gains come in tiny increments. Rifle/ammo combos capable of producing those sorts of gains are another matter still.

 

[trickg]

Rifles can be another matter. If one is looking for minute of silhouette, that's one thing. And that's both fine and dandy. But many can do better. Then there's precision rifles, and trying to put holes on top of each other. Those gains come in tiny increments. Rifle/ammo combos capable of producing those sorts of gains are another matter still.

This is something that has always fascinated me - that there are accuracy nodes for bullet seating depth, how much a person bumps the shoulder back, or in some cases if they make the decision to only neck size. Bullet's matter tremendously too - a bullet that works great in one gun of a particular caliber may not work as well in another.

I'm just now starting to delve into the ins and outs of reloading rifle for accuracy, but it's a fun rabbit hole to go down.

 

[Uncle Duke]

This is something that has always fascinated me - that there are accuracy nodes for bullet seating depth, how much a person bumps the shoulder back, or in some cases if they make the decision to only neck size. Bullet's matter tremendously too - a bullet that works great in one gun of a particular caliber may not work as well in another.

I'm just now starting to delve into the ins and outs of reloading rifle for accuracy, but it's a fun rabbit hole to go down.

Bullets can indeed matter tremendously. Sometimes in ways you might not think.

I've never been as much of an AR platform guy myself, the way many others are. I tend to spend more time with bolt rifles. But one thing I found with a simple bullet change in MY AR's, is just how much more precise I can be with a good and equally inexpensive soft point bullet, as opposed to the FMJ standard that is used probably 95% of the time. The difference....for me....is astounding. So while I've always respected and desired the AR platform for the variety of its other worthwhile attributes, one thing I learned with some experimenting is that it can also be made to be comparatively surprisingly precise.

 

[Rockzilla]

Bullets can indeed matter tremendously. Sometimes in ways you might not think.

I've never been as much of an AR platform guy myself, the way many others are. I tend to spend more time with bolt rifles. But one thing I found with a simple bullet change in MY AR's, is just how much more precise I can be with a good and equally inexpensive soft point bullet, as opposed to the FMJ standard that is used probably 95% of the time. The difference....for me....is astounding. So while I've always respected and desired the AR platform for the variety of its other worthwhile attributes, one thing I learned with some experimenting is that it can also be made to be comparatively surprisingly precise.

sounds so familiar, take a bolt whether a Triple Duece, Swift, or a 338LM and things all around, moving that bullet in and out changes things, and design. Maybe if I spent as much time working up loads in the AR as I do bolts...who knows Got nothing against the AR platform...

-Rock

 

[Trigger Time]

This is something that has always fascinated me - that there are accuracy nodes for bullet seating depth, how much a person bumps the shoulder back, or in some cases if they make the decision to only neck size. Bullet's matter tremendously too - a bullet that works great in one gun of a particular caliber may not work as well in another.

I'm just now starting to delve into the ins and outs of reloading rifle for accuracy, but it's a fun rabbit hole to go down.

When I first started reloading for rifles, I was really surprised at how different the chambers are cut from one rifle to the next, even the same brand and caliber. When you consider that the factory ammo has to fit in every manufactures guns it easy to see the benefit rolling your own.

 

[Darthargel01]

ran across this in my travels
figure with shipping about $210 so far 2.25 hours left 3 bids, of course we all know how that goes
sold for $190, figure $40 for shipping, $230 not bad

thought I had the URL in the image..sorry

RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

hibid.com

View attachment 379438

Thanks!

 

[Pinecone]

The kits tend to have things you will not use. So buying a used press, and picking up what you need tends to be cheaper.

As others have pointed out, you have to decide why and what you are reloading. If you are going to load a few rounds for hunting, or even just some long range rifle rounds, a Dillon makes NO sense. A single stage will be fine.

A single stage is good to start for learning. One step at a time.

Also, it is good to have to work up loads, try a new caliber, etc. My loading bench will always have a single stage press.

 

[trickg]

The kits tend to have things you will not use. So buying a used press, and picking up what you need tends to be cheaper.

As others have pointed out, you have to decide why and what you are reloading. If you are going to load a few rounds for hunting, or even just some long range rifle rounds, a Dillon makes NO sense. A single stage will be fine.

A single stage is good to start for learning. One step at a time.

Also, it is good to have to work up loads, try a new caliber, etc. My loading bench will always have a single stage press.

I bought a Lee Challenger kit - I think I used everything in that kit at least once. There are a few small things that didn't get much, if any use - I don't think I ever used cutter and lock stud, but everything else got at least a little bit of use.

I still use the Lee Perfect Powder measure occasionally, and I've upgraded some of the other things. For that reason alone I'd steer anyone looking at the Lee kit towards something else - probably the RCBS kit. The stuff in the RCBS kit is fairly high quality and doesn't really require an upgrade.

Regarding single stage, I can use my Dillon 550 as a single stage press. It doesn't auto advance, so a person can either choose a station to use, or they can pick up the single-stage conversion for it where you have a toolhead with a single center-mounted die and shell holder on the ram, but the ram is rock solid as it is - the only downside is that the shell plate has a bit of give, so it takes a bit of thought and care for setting up dies for rifle.

With that in mind though, it gives me the best of both worlds - precision single stage loading, or I can rip through some loading using it as a progressive.