Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Newbie reloader help

im planning to start reloading for my sons 243
but dont have any experience
any good loaders for starters and good low price

Everyone has to start somewhere, sometime! Welcome to the wonderful world of "rolling your own"!

The MOST important thing you can start with is a good reloading manual from one of the major manufacturers. Speer, Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, etc. and READ it.
Most of them will lead you through, step-by-step.

As for equipment, try the Lee Anniversary Kit; http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=423081 and a set of dies.
You CAN go cheaper with a Lee Loader, but you will eventually want a press, and the is a good way to start without mortgaging your first-born .

The 'fire is a great place for specific advice. I know I've learned a lot here and I've been handloading since 1975.

Good luck and stay safe!

Ed

The Lee Press Kit #90030 for ~$100 is not a bad starter kit. The hand primer system is way better than one built into the press that comes on some models. You will need a few other items as well.

Scale - ( Midway has a electronic one on sale for $20) probably would not go with the lee scale, it seemed a little flimsy but proably will work.

Calipers

Dies

Manual - Speer makes a good one IMO

Case tray

+1
To what has been said, keep it simple, READ the loading manual(s), You can find them in used bookstores if there's one in your area to save a little $$$$ and you will figure out what direction you want to go with tooling up. The Fire has lots of great people and info. And try to remember, hand-loading is not an affliction, it's a disease

As well as the fire, there is a ton of online videos and information. Just be careful as there can be good solid safe information and then there's really bad information.

Hornady has a pretty good page on internal ballistics. CLICK HERE

Take good notes on what combination's work well for which rifle. Track your brass usage so you know how many times you loaded a piece of brass. No community brass amongst rifles of the same caliber. Most of all ask questions and have fun!!!

Start by reading Lyman's Reloading Handboook and The ABC's of Reloading.

I'll recommend a list of equipment, but you should make your own choices. The Redding Boss press is excelllent quality and the correct size for your cartridge. The RCBS 502 scale is made by Ohaus and is a two-poise beam scale of very good quality; Redding's is also good. Redding makes a heavy-weight powder trickler. Lee has powder dippers that will serve the same function as an expensive powder measure that won't have sufficient accuracy for the powders you'll be using. This powder equipment can be supplanted by an RCBS ChargeMaster Combo, if you wish to make the investment. Wilson case trimmer. RCBS has good hand-held priming tools; many prefer the Lee AutoPrime tool. VLD-style inside chamfer tool. Imperial sizing wax, or Kiwi neutral shoe polish. Inexpensive (Chinese) dial caliper. Lee primer pocket cleaner. Caliber-specific loading blocks and funnel. Check out Sinclair's catalog for accessories and gauges. Forster die set and RCBS shell holder. You can go cheaper and more expensive, but this is equipment that you won't be replacing.

Get more than one manual. If you have one manual, you will tend to think it is the gospel. If you have two, you will wonder why they disagree. If you have three or more, you will realize that every gun is an entity unto itself, and different bullets have unique characteristics.

I agree on the Lee kit from Midway for a low volume beginner. I wish I had something like the Campfire back in the early 70s when I started. I was pretty much on my own. There are some real gurus here.

you tube reloading basics part 1-4 not too bad.

"im planning to start reloading for my sons 243
but dont have any experience
any good loaders for starters and good low price"

Yeah. Even for "starters and a good low price" you will need a sturdy press but you won't need anything like a turret or progresive press. Lee's "Classic Cast" single stage press is an excellant all steel tool of high quality and low cost.

Lee's dies are good too. Get the "Deluxe" die set and you will have the two required dies plus a great neck sizer die and the correct shell holder, all making up a very high grade die set at low cost.

Lee's "Perfect" powder is perhaps the best adjustable measure on the market for coarse, tubular rifle powders (the most commonly used types) but it will leak ball powders unless it's assembled very carefully. Any measure will dispense ball powders quite consistanly.

Lee's simple and effective case length trimmer tools are very good, fast and inexpensive. Ditto their simple case "chamfer-debur" tool.

Lee's little powder scale is accurate but quirky and less useful than any other; meaning it's the pits, IMHO. And I don't trust inexpensive digital powder scales. Get a beam type scale from Redding or RCBS; paying for more than the most basic model is a waste tho. And support your scale on a shelf near eye level. Those who say beam scales are hard to read and slow to use are usually setting them on the bench top - that's not quite as bad as putting one under the bench but it's close!

The Redding powder trickler is the best of its type available but you can do the same thing with a spoon or the little plastic powder dipper that comes with the Lee dies.

You will want to include a case/loading block, a powder funnel, case Lube (Lee's is as good as any), a stuck case puller, a 6" dial or digital caliper reading in thousanths is really nice to have but not mandatory (those from Harbor Freight Tools are often on sale for as little as $14). A case tumbler is also nice but is really an unneeded luxery, case polishing is just for eye appeal.

Don't bother with a case lube pad. They aren't really very helpful and do get dirty pretty fast. It's better to carefully apply lube - Lee's or Imperial Die Wax or Hornady's Unique - with finger tips as you pick each case up for sizing.

A stuck case puller is nice to have for when you finally rip the rim off a case and leave it in the die. But you can duplicate the RCBS type very cheaply when you need it with a 3/4" - 3/8" drive socket, a 1/4" fender washer, a #6 drill bit, a 14" x 20 tap and a matching grade 8 bolt of the proper length.

As you may see, I don't care much for "kits", they lock us into a single brand for every thing and no one maker has the better choice of tools across the board.

Make a sturdy, well lit bench to work on, add a good reloading manual (the Lyman is great for newbies and old guys too) and you will be off to a good start.

tHANK YOU ALL FOR THE RESPONSES
I APRECIATE IT ALOT
ED HAD READ MY MIND
I THINK THE LEE ANNIVERSARY KIT IS A GOOD
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
I WILL TO TRY TO GET SOME BOOKS
AND MAYBE CONSULT THE FIRE FOR ANY "GOOD" LOADS
AND I ONLY PLAN TO RELOAD 9MM,30-30,243,AND MAYBE 38 SUPER OR 45
IF I GET A COLT 1911

You ONLY plan to load for those? You know what they say about the best laid plans!

The other guys had some good advice about accessories! I completely passed that stuff over when I was typing but,looking at my loading bench, I realized that you can get carried away REAL quick!

It is an addiction....

Best,

Ed

Another one for the Lee bin.

I actually started reloading only 8 months ago. I will agree that the Lee Anniversary kit is the way to go. I would probably add a digital scale and a Lee zip-n-trim for case trimming. I have most of the reloading manuals now but the ABCs of Reloading was very helpful.

I bought all equipment seperately but wound up with what's in the anniversary kit. I started with Lee dippers and measuring every charge. About 3 months ago I bought the Lee perfect powder measure and it is great. Tighten the screw a little and it won't leak ball powder.

The Lee zip-n-trim is a really fast and inventive way to trim cases. All Lee equipment is very good and very affordable.

My son uses the Lee kit and is very satisfied. The one thing that he did do is pick up an RCBS 5-0-5 scale as he was used to my Ohaus 5-0-5 and the Lee scale seemed odd to him. I had a Lee Challenger 2001 press for many years before getting the Lee Classic Cast last year. I really like it. It costs a bit more, but piecing together around it would be another alternative to the kit. We like the Lee Collet dies very much. Neither of us have much use for a powder measure. We do not load in volume and just weigh each charge on the 5-0-5.

my son wants to use this kit aS WELL
since he has more time to reload than me
how old is your son 5Sdad

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