Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best reloading investments

Over the last 30 years or so I have spent a whole bunch of money on guns and various reloading/shooting equipment. Some of it is a requirement and something you just have to have. A press and dies for instance. However, there are lots and lots of reloading accessories, some of which have much more value than others to the user. Over the years I have picked up lots of things I thought I really needed, and spent some dang good money doing so. Some of those things have panned out, some haven't. There have been a few that really stand out as items I should have purchased way before I did. Things that have changed the way I load. Things that either greatly increased the quality of my loads, or the efficiency at which I produce them.

Chargemaster. How did I ever live without this thing? Sure, it took a few tweaks to get it running exactly the way I wanted. Adding the little brass insert into the spout, keeping it wiped down with anti-static dryer sheets, a couple things like that. But now once brass is ready I can just sit down in front of the TV, letting it throw charges while I seat bullets in my Lee hand press. 100-150 rounds an evening, no sweat. Once every 25-50 rounds it will overthrow a charge and I will dump it back in the hopper, but not often. Not like what I hear some folks talk about. Maybe I just got a good one, IDK. But if it crapped out today, I would be buying another one tomorrow,

Annealeez. Setup is quick and easy. 7-8 minutes to run 50 cases through it. Not only that, I can be cleaning the loading bench while it runs. Nice consistent neck tension. Butter smooth sizing, trimming, neck turning. Now cases pretty much last until the primer pockets let go, neck splitting a thing of the past. "Flyers" have gone way down. This is another thing I just pretty much would not do without at this point.

Hornady case and bullet comparator tools. Very high return on investment with these items. Relatively cheap, but I use them all the time. I can't load at all without using them several times during the process. Die setup to PFLR, just bumping the shoulder back .001 to .003 is so much easier with these tools. What used to take pulling the ejector, trying sized cases in the rifle, all kinds of voodoo is now fast and easy. My brass is lasting way longer. I can't even remeber the last time I had a case head separation due to incorrect die setup. Not to mention the ease of finding depth to lands and adjusting seating depth precisely to find the sweet spot.

So just out of curiosity, what are some of the loading items you guys fee you could not do without?

Well, maybe you COULD do without them, but you wouldn't want to!

Frankford Arsenal Trim and Prep Center.This tool has totally changed the way I feel about case prep.Used to be my most dreaded part of reloading,now it's almost fun.It does an excellent job and well worth the investment.

Forster Co-Ax press.

Same here! Love that sucker

My Lee Classic Cast press, Ohaus 10-10 scale, RCBS Uniflow powder measure and Lee Autoprime.

Forgot to add, I love Forster dies. Best deal out there IMO.

RCBS Case Master to measure runout and neck thickness.

I finally became a member of the fire, after reading for a few years, to purchase a used RCBS Case Master that was listed in the classifieds.

It was a good deal in more ways than one.

RCBS power trimmer with 3-way cutters and trim gauges, Chargemaster, and Annealeez annealer. Lee collet dies are great too.

My old RCBS Rock Chucker press 45 years old. Still works great. I had a new Redding turret press, didn't like it.

Forster press and dies.
Sinclair bullet seating depth tool.
Ohaus 10-10 scale.
RCBS auto bench primer.

Keep looking at the RCBS Chargemaster but have not sprung yet.

The purchase of a used Pacific 360 12 gauge automatic shotgun press. It saves so much time over the old MEC for cranking out Trap loads. So mundane, boring. Same load over and over and over by the hundreds.
The saved time is put to good use reloading rifle and pistol ammo!

Stoney Point (now Hornady) bullet comparators and headspace gauges.
Sinclair neck concentricity gauge.
Lee collet neck sizing dies.

The first to let me quantify seating depth and shoulder setback, the latter two to let me load very straight ammo.

Hornady comparator.....made it much easier to run O/all length tests

RCBS case master....made it easier diagnose concentricity problems.

Lyman DPS III powder dispenser...much easier to quickly dispense powder. I really like the "auto dispense" feature that allows a charge to be dispensed while I'm seating the bullet in the previous case.

RCBS case prep center... Makes it easy to take care of any case prep operations you want to make.

Without a doubt, the Giraud trimmer! Took a mundane and laborious task and made it as easy as sharpening a pencil in an electric pencil sharpener.

Yep.....best money I ever spent on reloading gear.

Wilson Arbor Press & dies. No more bullet run out.

I love loading at the range.

My RCBS charge master and RCBS case prep machine are sweet but better yet are the WFT (World Fastest Trimmers) they take case trimming to a higher level! I also added a Hornady Lock and Load bushing kit to my RCBS press, set the dies once then you can hangs dies in 2 seconds!


I keep hearing great reviews of the Foster Press and that is on my future must have list.

Do I need all these items to reload, the answer is no but it makes it fast and fun!

Love my RCBS chargemaster too, as well as Lee collet neck sizing dies.

Ponsness Warren presses, I have both the handgun and the rifle press, Ohaus 10-10 scale and Redding powder measure. All top notch equipment that is a pleasure to use.