[mxaexm]

I'm about to buy another rifle (.223) and I'm thinking of getting into reloading. I spent most of my day today watching videos on youtube regarding reloading.

My question:

-What is the best reloading manual? (I'm thinking of getting Lee).
-What would be best entry level press.
-What other equipment will I need.
-I was trying to calculate how much it would cost to reload 100rd of .223 and it came to be around $50 (plus $30 for brass). Does this sound about right? Does it make sense to reload such small caliber?

Any suggestions and recommendations would be highly appreciated.

 

[EWestbrook]

Lyman makes a great reloading manual. Lee makes as good of an entry level press there is. You could buy the anniversary kit and have pretty much what you need. The .223 is very economical to load.

I'm sure you can search and find an abundance of answers to the questions here. Hope you find reloading as enjoyable as I have.

 

[MikeG]

Jump over to the Handloading Equipment forum. We have a couple of long threads with great info, one of them is a 'sticky' right at the top.

Short story, get a kit, easiest way to get started. Good luck.

 

[Darkker]

Yes the Lee books are quite good, especially the newest one. Gives alot of technical AND practical info, and tell's how to calculate reduced loads.

Best entry level press is the lee aniversary kit. It comes with everything you need, and dies.

Other equipment that you need is a caliper for measureing your loaded cartridge length(about $30 for a good electronic readout) and a inertia bullet puller(looks like a plastic hammer)

Cost varies. What equipment did you buy? extra dies(factory crimp, full length sizer, etc) are you buying benchrest components? Are you factoring in the cost of the equipment? Your time? etc..

Roughly however:
Primers: $0.02 each Bullets: $0.20 each Powder: $0.08/shell(varies widely) Dies: $30 Brass:is it once fired? or not. New is $20/50 pieces

It ALWAYS makes sense to reload.

 

[MikeG]

I'm going to move this thread into the Handloading equipment topic for you.

 

[45_70Sharps]

Get a kit. The lee kit is good, the RCBS is better. Let your budget choose. I started with a used lee kit and now have that press, two rock chuckers, and a lyman turret. Same story with powder throwers and all the other stuff.
Best manual... If you know what bullet you are going to use, it's good to have their manual some times. I like Speer's manual.
If you get a manual by a bullet manufacturer you will see lots of powder choices and loads tailored to their bullets. If you get a powder manufacturers manual, you will get lots of bullets and one brand of powder.
There are lots of manuals on line also.
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/index.aspx
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

That second one, Hodgdon has a ton of 223 loads.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Get the Lyman book one of the best, or the ABC's of reloading. As far as equipment go's, it's your money but I've found by buying quality tooling that will last a lifetime is the best way to go. You can go cheap now to save money but later you will want a higher quality press and dies.

 

[marsms]

There's the whole debate right now on another thread about Forster vs. Lee, and somebody (I think probably Stretch) says something along the lines of "Because of the small cost, people seem to think Lee equipment is a starting point to work up from", and I really think it is true. Besides the warranty (where they'll probably replace anything that hasn't been hit with a sledge hammer), the stuff is realatively inexpensive, and so darned user friendly!

If nothing else, their collet die set is certainly worth the money. I mean...no lube required is a great thing in my books. PLUS, if worse comes to worst, they come with an accuracy guarantee. If the dies don't make your gun shoot a tighter group than a competitor's dies, they'll refund you your money for it.

Other than that, if you have the time, read through the whole sticky at the top of the page. There's a fair bit of useless boring stuff in there (sorry, didn't know it was going to become a sticky), but there is a lot of great information from the pros there as well, including some astounding pictures!

 

[miestro_jerry]

I would go with the RCBS Rockchucker kit to start with, if that is beyond your budget, then the Lee kit.

I prefer the Lyman 49th Reloading Handbook over the Lee Handbook, but the Lee is a good book.

I reload all of my ammo, with a couple of exceptions. The 223 is very economical to reload, so is the .308 win, 9mm and 45 ACP.

Lets see, Powder IMR 4895 max load is 25 grains, that is 280 loads per pound. Primers at $40 a thousand, 1,000 remington 55 grain bullets, $100, and once fired brass, Remington or Winchester brass, $11.00 per 100. I prefer once fired military, but I have a decrimper to swage out the primer pocket, but polished and decrimped brass that is about $13.00 per hundred.

I buy a lot stuff from Ken's Brass, he does a fair deal for people: http://www.kensbrass.com/estore/index.php?cPath=24_58&osCsid=bd0280d1e91dff0d05edc8d2ebc6c701

The big cost is the press and related equipment, just one really good piece of advice, don't go cheap on a set of scales.


Jerry

 

[jmortimer]

Lee Precision Classic Turret kit from Cabelas or couple other sources. Get Modern Reloading by Richard Lee if you are using Lee Precision equipment. Read the reviews from actual owners of the Classic Turret on Midway USA or Cabelas and you will see that it is worth every penny.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Someone mentioned the Lee warenty, it's only good for two years.

The other manufactures are different Hornady= lifetime, RCBS = lifetime, Redding = lifetime, and the best is Dillon = lifetime no matter who owns the machine.

 

[broom_jm]

I bought a Rockchucker kit 20+ years ago and still use dang near everything that came in it. The Lee Classic Turret kits look very good, too, but for the kind of reloading I do, I've never felt the need for anything more. There is another thread going around about how a lot of times you run out of reloading steps to do long before you are tired of working at it. I wouldn't want anything faster because then I'd be done even sooner...and be even more disappointed that I had nothing left to reload!