Beginner Reloader - to kit or not to kit

[big5ifty]

[223]

I think the video contains a lot of good info, but perhaps the info is too much for a beginner.

In SA I would recommend one of the Lee kits. Choose according to what you are starting with, rifle or pistol.
Then add the die sets, case length guages and other tools as you learn and progress.

Your kit will never be complete. There will always be some tool to add for a specific task. I sit with 8 presses on my bench, and I have left space for 1 more...

[Treeman]

Your kit will never be complete. There will always be some tool to add for a specific task.

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Or a better version of the one you have, I have started selling off items. I am back to one press and one scale, one of the better of each.

[223]

Your kit will never be complete. There will always be some tool to add for a specific task.

************************************

Or a better version of the one you have, I have started selling off items. I am back to one press and one scale, one of the better of each.

The reason for having more than 1 press, is to cater for different uses.  Mine are:
1. Lee Classic Cast for Rifle cartridges.
2. Lee Load master for 9mmS, 9mmP, 40S&W and 10mm Auto.
3. Lee Pro 1000 for 38Spl, 357 Mag, 44 Spl & Mag and 45 Auto.
4. Load All 2 for 12 Gauge.
5. Lee APP for de-capping handgun cases in bulk.
6. Old worn-out Lee 2001 Challenger for de-capping rifle cases.
7. Lee 3-hole Turret press for factory crimping handgun ammo (from Pro 1000) and all other odd jobs.
8. Redding C-frame press mounted upside down (in a welded angle iron bracket) for bullet sizing.
My lubrisizers are not mounted at present as I changed to powder coating and size with the Lee push-through dies in the inverted Redding press.

[Treeman]

Your kit will never be complete. There will always be some tool to add for a specific task.

************************************

Or a better version of the one you have, I have started selling off items. I am back to one press and one scale, one of the better of each.

The reason for having more than 1 press, is to cater for different uses.  Mine are:
1. Lee Classic Cast for Rifle cartridges.
2. Lee Load master for 9mmS, 9mmP, 40S&W and 10mm Auto.
3. Lee Pro 1000 for 38Spl, 357 Mag, 44 Spl & Mag and 45 Auto.
4. Load All 2 for 12 Gauge.
5. Lee APP for de-capping handgun cases in bulk.
6. Old worn-out Lee 2001 Challenger for de-capping rifle cases.
7. Lee 3-hole Turret press for factory crimping handgun ammo (from Pro 1000) and all other odd jobs.
8. Redding C-frame press mounted upside down (in a welded angle iron bracket) for bullet sizing.
My lubrisizers are not mounted at present as I changed to powder coating and size with the Lee push-through dies in the inverted Redding press.

***********************************
You may need another room just to house the press population.

[223]

Your kit will never be complete. There will always be some tool to add for a specific task.

************************************

Or a better version of the one you have, I have started selling off items. I am back to one press and one scale, one of the better of each.

The reason for having more than 1 press, is to cater for different uses.  Mine are:
1. Lee Classic Cast for Rifle cartridges.
2. Lee Load master for 9mmS, 9mmP, 40S&W and 10mm Auto.
3. Lee Pro 1000 for 38Spl, 357 Mag, 44 Spl & Mag and 45 Auto.
4. Load All 2 for 12 Gauge.
5. Lee APP for de-capping handgun cases in bulk.
6. Old worn-out Lee 2001 Challenger for de-capping rifle cases.
7. Lee 3-hole Turret press for factory crimping handgun ammo (from Pro 1000) and all other odd jobs.
8. Redding C-frame press mounted upside down (in a welded angle iron bracket) for bullet sizing.
My lubrisizers are not mounted at present as I changed to powder coating and size with the Lee push-through dies in the inverted Redding press.

***********************************
You may need another room just to house the press population.

I am fortunate to have a dedicated reloading room.  Yes, it is getting smaller.  I would like to move to a bigger reloading room / gun room / man cave thing, but that will have to be built first.  With building costs being what they are, that may not happen very soon, unless...

[oafpatroll]

I think a kit for a rank beginner makes sense as they want to get started and the kits allow that to happen quickly with little risk of buying something totally unsuitable. If I help someone start up from scratch again I would consider advising this rather than putting in the time to find the stuff second hand for them.

[janfred]

For a beginner a Lee Anniversary Kit, die set, vernier, trickler and bullet-puller.

There are few things in the Anniversary Kit that you don't use. Most plinkers and hunters do not need more than that to load reasonably accurate ammunition. Only caveat being that loading in volume might be slightly frustrating.

[oafpatroll]

I know someone who only ever reloaded for his SAP surplus .303 with a Lee Loader. He was a poor, elderly guy who lived on my uncle's farm and paid his way by hunting and sharing some of his meat with the family. Lee's marketing back in the 60's and 70's included references to people who held records with ammo made on the Loader. You can make functional ammo with much less gear than most of us throw at the problem nowadays.

Not suggesting that one shouldn't use the tools at our disposable, just that they weren't always ubiquitous.

[Treeman]

As I posted on Gunsite  long ago.
I once went on a hunt and the main man was taking long to come to the bakkie, I went around back of the house and there he was loading some cases by filling the case to the brim by funnel and then tapping case at a angle till propellant was at the shoulder. The bullets were loaded to the canelure  - that was his loading.
He quickly loaded maybe 5 cases and joined us for the hunt. He hunted on the theory of "to hit something you need to shoot at it, the more you shoot the higher the chance there is of hitting it".