Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Thinking about getting into reloading

Kicking around the idea of starting to do some reloading. If you had to start from fresh, what equipment would you buy to get going in reloading? Looking at doing mainly the 7mm remington magnum

Pretty tough to beat the RCBS rock chucker kit. Add a powder trickler, case trimmer, dies and your all set. If money is tight the lee hand held case trimmer will do, but you may develop arthritis after a few years...:)

RCBS Rock Chucker kit is a great setup.

Get a few loading manuals.


First.

Great advice... There's how to sections in there that many should read, but it seems very few do. I see many questions here that can easily be answered in these manuals...Cheaply and easily find optimum OAL (no it's not "COAL" in the books) with nothing more than a lighter and once fired piece of brass...

I started out on the 300 weatherby because I couldn't afford factory ammo at the time and I enjoyed shooting too much to not have ammo.... Like the others here have suggested, the RCBS rock chucker supreme reloading kit is your huckleberry. Easilly found on Ebay for very reasonable prices. New kits usually run around $260.00. You'll need to invest in a good set of calipers to measure things such as OAL and trim length. You'll need to buy a good trimmer, powder trickler and eventually a good tumbler. Down the road you'll need a good collet type bullet puller. I'd keep everything RCBS, since they have second to none CS. Good luck with it. Once you start, you'll be glad you did...

^^This first . Then if it seems like it's still something you want to do go for it. I started with a Lee Anniversary kit and loaded a lot of ammo on it . Still use that press for decapping . I'm going to agree with the others though RCBS Rokchucker is tough to beat. You won't wear one out and their customer service is great. I started originally to load reasonable priced 44 mag stuff and now load 20 different calibers. Also something to be said for taking game with something you loaded yourself. Good luck .

Second to what has been said above. Especially regarding manuals. If you can only buy one, I recommend the lyman.

Also, I own and load on presses made by RCBS, Lee and Dillon. THey all work. You can keep an eye out on craigslist for used equipment if that suits you.

I personally wouldn't buy used dies unless I know where they come from.

I started loading in about 1974. I have to say now that if I could only have one press, it would be a turret press of some type (mine is a lee 4 hole classic). The luxury of setting dies once and forgetting about it is pretty nice.

Yes.
And then read through them.


Casey

RCBS RC = good choice.......

Redding or Forster dies for your 7 Rem...

on a budget ? Look at the Lee deluxe set.....

Most information that is found in reloading manuals is available on-line, copy the information you need and start a ring binder for each caliber you reload for. At $25-$35.00 each a library of reloading manuals can represent a fair outlay of cash, money that could be more profitably spent on reloading equipment/components. I also copy loading info from sources other than reloading manuals and place in my ring binders.

Lyman reloading manual. RCBS Rockchucker press. I have a Redding powder measure with both the universal and handgun chambers. It throws accurate charges. I like the RCBS manual case trimmer over the Redding trimmer I have. A beam scale because they are more forgiving. From my experience RCBS or Redding dies. IME RCBS and Redding are the gold standards in customer service.

This really is the best idea. I was fortunate that our local library is part of a statewide system, and I was able to get Hornady, Lyman, and RCBS manuals sent to my local branch. Saved a ton of $. Maybe MO has the same kind of setup.

I'd also HIGHLY recommend getting a Barsness book. The Big Book of Gun Gack and Rifle Troubleshooting and Hand Loading have a wealth of really practical information in them, and can point you quickly in the right direction. I suppose one could say those books will steer you down the correct rabbit holes.

As for eqt., a good friend from this site suggested I go with the Lee kit. It's worked very well for me.

Good luck!

FC

I have had a Forster case trimmer but several years ago changed to the Lyman case trimmer because its shellholding arrangement is universal, fits all cases without adjustment or changing collets. I use a Redding measure for rifle loads and an RCBS Little Dandy for handgun.

It'll be work in progress. Just a little overwhelming all the info that is out there and the different equipment.

I have and use the RCBS little dandy for a lot of pistol loading. I have and use the Lee dippers for a lot of pistol and some rifle reloading. I have a Redding powder thrower that I got in 1974 and am still using. Along with the Redding beam scale that I got at the same time. l If I was limited, a good beam scale and a decent thrower will work for everything.

If you are overwhelmed, a kit would be a good way to get started. Also, if there are any friends in the area that could mentor you, that would be a help. My hunter safety instructor was a friend of my dad's and taught me what to do.

Amazon has the RCBS rockchucker supreme kit with everything you need for $280 delivered. Buy a set of dies and you would be set..

Amazon kit

Lee dies at Amazon

We all started somewhere...

Do you have someone you know (and trust) who currently reloads? Having a mentor can drastically speed up the learning process and shorten the learning curve.

If not, you've been given some good advice here. Knowing what I know now, I'd start with the Rockchucker Kit and a Lyman Reloading Manual. In the front of the manual is the "how to" and some of the "why".

You can buy the Lyman Manual brand new at Abe Books ( LINK ) for less than full retail. Abe Books also has many other used reloading manuals at deep discounted prices.

If your budget is smaller, you can buy a Lee Anniversary Kit ( LINK ) and buy Lee's Ultimate Die set for your 7mm Mag ( LINK ) to get you started and to figure out if you really want to do this without breaking the bank. The Lee equipment will help you build some very good ammo and will last a very long time if taken care of.

There are some very good websites with load data.

A few cautions if I might;

First, keep all distractions away from you while you are reloading.

Second, don't be tempted to go above the published maximum loads. They are there to protect you and the company, particularly while you are learning.

Third, If you're not sure about something, ask. There's no such thing as a stupid question, as I wrote earlier, we all started somewhere.

If you want to learn more, follow the reloading forums here and post a thread or PM some of the folks who frequent there. Most are very helpful.

Ed

My recommendation still stands. Let an experienced friend show you how.

In the absence of an experienced mentor there are several good reloading tutorials on the internet. Google the topic, Youtube has a lot of information both on the general topic of reloading and on specific aspects of the hobby. Another good place to find instruction and experienced reloaders is at sportsman clubs and shooting ranges, the range that I belong to sponsers several reloadin classes, the subject is also taught at the NRA summer classes held at the various gunsmithing schools around the country.

I recently was helping a friend put together his first loading system.

I can tell you from first hand experience the RCBS partner press handle angle is poor for seating primers. We couldn't get small rifle primers into new 6 BR lapua brass! The anvil on the primer arm had a small point that showed it wasn't machined properly. A replacement arm from RCBS had the same exact bump! Neither priming arm would seat the primers deep enough with the poor leverage of this press. (my old rock chucker seated the primers easily)

The RCBS Summit press doesn't have a system for seating primers at all!

The press that he ended up getting is the Lee single stage press with the breech lock system.

explained by Lee:
http://leeprecision.com/reloading-presses/single-stage/

This lock ring is attached to the die and from then on there is no need to worry about adjusting the die's depth .
http://leeprecision.com/lock-ring-eliminator.html

AND it has a primer system that works....