I've started shooting some rather expensive rounds (like the .454 Casull) this past year. I've been thinking along the lines of reloading mainly to help offset the cost of some of these rounds. I already have a few hundred casings some of which were given to me that are new/never used and some that I've once fired and saved the brass. I mainly shoot 9mm and normally a box of 50 costs me 10.00 so I'm not really focusing on that however I have saved well over 3000 rounds of once fired 9mm brass so see myself reloading it at some point. Basically I've saved 99% of all the brass I shoot regardless of size and is typically saved back in the retail box and stored away. Anyone looking in the storage room would think I had a ton of ammo lol.
Last year I found a deal on a tumbler so picked that up also received a Lee 4-die set for .454 as well as a Lee 9mm die set. Already had a few sets of cheap calipers which all read the same.
I didn't want to spend a ton of money up front and want to actually learn. Speed isn't an issue right now so I decided to go the following route. Ordered and just received the following from Midway a few days ago:
In one evening I was able to sit back in front of the TV and deprime, resize and inspect over 1500 pieces of used brass. This was a combination of mostly 9mm, 38spl, 357mag, 45acp, 45lc, 454, 223 & 5.56. I also cleaned about 500 pockets and some deburring as well using the Lyman Multi Tool. The Hand Press is amazingly easy to use and can see why so many people say everyone should have one even if they have larger presses. Resizing required no lubrication at all and was very quick and easy. While the Lyman multi tool was inexpensive I really see who people fork out for the stationary units as I could see many large blisters if doing any more by hand with this tool. I doubt I'd ever do 500 in one setting with it again.
Need to continue reading up abit more on powders, primers and bullets. I have looked at the
Lee 4 Hole Turret Press with Auto Index Deluxe Kit and think I'll order one later. I like the fact I can use it as a single station or a 4-station turret within a few seconds each way. Anyone here use this press or have comments on it? This is the more expensive Cast Iron version and there is a cheaper steel version.
I haven't started to reload yet, aside from some case prep, simply because I haven't ordered any consumable supplies. That said the above Cost was about 175.00 delivered. Not bad for a basic reloading setup and think it'll allow me to really learn the basics. Also if I decide it's not for me I haven't invested much so no big deal.
Figured I'd toss this out for opinions and perhaps to others who may be looking for something along the same lines.
