Thread: Cheapest reloading gear

I have a few hundred 6.5x55 shells at home, most still loaded but a couple box's are empty, any way I have been thinking about reloading all the ones I manage to keep but it seems expensive. Whats the gear I will need to do it. nothing fancy just the important things.

what results do you need? if you're a really good shot AND you want your groups really tiny you need the better gear like Redding. If you want lead downrange at ferral animals then go cheaper i reckon. Keep your eyes on TM for somebody looking to get out of reloading who uses your cal. I've just started myself and am relying heavily on my good mate for most of the gear. I do own all my own dies and shell holder but the press, trickler / powder measure, funnel, reamer, scale etc will all need to be bought at a later stage.

that stuff is worth quite a lot. If you only shoot like 60 rounds a year then good quality factory ammo (lapua) + reselling your spent brass on TM might be the way to go.

For me though i want absolute consistancy between rounds - just because im fussy. We're only talking 10mm reduction in group size at 100m though. I might actually get sick of this too if i get into short range hunting in any sort of big way.

Anyway there are ooodles of shops to hunt through. Lots of good guys to help you out at the counter as well. We're kinda spoilt like that in Auckland - I go see the guys Serious Shooters or Reloaders personally. Never been talked down to at either of those stores even though im a total reloading noob.

Atm it shoots easily within a inch. I dont mind if it opens out to an inch though, I normally dont shoot over 100m my longest to date is 120m. so as long as I can reload ammo that will stay around 1inch at 100m im happy with. would be nice if it shot to 200m though just so if I see something that far and dont have time to stalk or cant stalk.

Just get the lee anniversary kit

Lee 50th Anniversary Kit

You only need about to get dies, trimmer and you're away. People slag Lee gear them off but I reload my target ammo with it and it shoots as well as anyone else's. Just can't beat it for value. It's the holes in the paper that show how good reloading gear is. If it's just hunting ammo then you can't go wrong.

I was looking at that but heard you dont need all that stuff or something.

Do they still sell the Lee loader kits? They were fun, I used one as a student to reload 6.5x55.

Originally Posted by Toby

I was looking at that but heard you dont need all that stuff or something.

Nah Toby, you need most of it, the scales are a pain in the arse, but they do work if you are patient, only thing I have upgraded is the scales to a digital one, the only other thing you need is the case trimmer for your calibre and I bought the lee autoprime because I prefer to do my priming separately.

So get that and get digital scales and a trimmer is the best thing? and is their a manual for it all and load data for what ever im going to use or do i just use internet for that stuff

The load data will come with the dies, suggest you get a loading manual too though, study it thoroughly before you start, it will make you feel more confident and you will know better what little things to look out for, then decide what powder and projectiles you will use and get specific data for those.

ok sweet, probably wont get it for a while as the ammo will last my a while and I have a Howa .233 to buy first

Originally Posted by Dead is better

if you're a really good shot AND you want your groups really tiny you need the better gear like Redding..

No mate, don't know where you hear this, but definitely not the case...

Reloading is about consistency. If you slow down, and make sure your dies etc are clean etc, no reason on earth that even a Lee press can't produce competition grade ammo. Get a decent electronic vernier and you're sorted.

Toby, spudattack is spot on, scale is only part of lee kit that is a bit suspect. I shot national level ipsc for several years, and reloaded around 30-40 000 pistol rounds a year on a lee pro1000, and several thousand rifle rounds on a basic lee press. Try to get electronic scale (don't skimp, it's prob the most important part of the whole setup), or second hand RCBS or similar if manual. Go slow, measure and check !

Fair enough, love my howa .223, been playing with it all day!

I just got a trickler and that made the scales much easier to use, but they are the weakest part of the kit.

Thanks for the info, seems like a whole new part of shooting to me.

Be warned .... reloading is addictive