I am considering getting a reloader and I am trying to get opinions on the better brands. I have been looking at Hornady, Dillon and RCBS. Any suggestions?

Reloading kit?

The RCBS RockChucker setup is good IMHO.

+1

I bought the RC Supreme Kit and I like it a lot.

if you're going to reload in volume, you'll not regret investing in dillon equipment...

as mentioned above, the rockchucker set-up is a heck of a deal...

i picked up my stuff a piece at a time and have stuff from most of the manufacturers... i'm jonesing for a forster co-ax press

I always shudder when a Dillon, or any progresive, is suggested to a beginner. My buddy went that way, and I think it kind of soured him on reloading, since all he loaded was .30-06 with stick powders. There's too many new things to learn without trying to learn them all at the same time.

I agree KDK. Too much of a learning curve. Buy a single stage first. It may be all he needs. If not get the progressive later and use the single stage for low volume work or as a deprime station.

+1
Ingwe

Make me agree #3 - for the majority of work, a single stage is best and RCBS makes excellent presses.. My Jr3 is still going strong after nearly 40 years of work..

For a beginner, stick to a single stage.. Once that's mastered you can go on to a progressive, but those work best for a caliber (or calibers) you're really going to reload in bulk.. Like 9mm, .45ACP or similar..

I have a Dillon 550 that I use for those reasons.. But to date, all my rifle reloading is done on the Jr3..

Shop around on Ebay. Some scoff at the Lee products, but I bought one of their presses for 40 bucks on Ebay. The way I see it a press puts the bullet in the brass. You can do it for 40 bucks, or a whole lot more. I'll get flamed for this, but Lee also offers a reloader for 21 bucks. Called the Lee loader. There's been many rounds done with this. I found out just doing a couple of boxes a month, it's usually all I need.

If you want just a press and decide on a single stage you can't beat a Forster Co-Ax. RCBS makes good stuff and the kit is nice...but pull on a Co-Ax for a while and it's like a night and day.

What do plan to load, rifle, pistol or both?
The single stage is the best way IMO to learn, but if you plan on loading pistol only, they are very slow at loading large amounts of ammo. The Dillons also don`t all work for large rifle cartridges, or so I`ve been told.
You will want to get a loading manual from one of the major component manufactures. The book will explain the process and what you need to do it. Lymans is a good one to start with.

Hey Hunt,
For pistol, esp. large volume for IPSC, etc., the Dillon would be my suggestion. For any kind of low volume, you only need a single stage press. Volume is really the only criteria leading to progressive reloading and the setup for a progressive press can be confusing and daunting to a beginner (serious volume pistol loading will quickly lead there, however).

I like Redding equipment and they offer several single stage presses according to your needs. Their turret press works like a single stage but allows you to have multiple dies mounted simultaneously so you're not always changing and adjusting them.

Lyman makes good stuff although I prefer the RCBS powder measure over the Lyman. I'm still using the first Lyman press I bought in 1979.

I'm not knocking RCBS here but green paint must be expensive. Same as John Deere.

Dale

Thanks for the advice guys!

+1 on the single stage.

My Jr is also forty years old, still use it for depriming, priming etc. Graduated to a Rockchucker about fifteen years ago, but I can't quite give up my Jr.

+1 for Forster (mine is from the Bonanza days) CoAx.

I use my dads old Herter single stage press, if I didn't have that I'd probably have a Lee.

Even if you end up with a progressive, a RockChucker(or similar single) is almost mandatory to have on your bench. It will get used.