Thread: Reloading: What to buy?

I have an RCBS on T/M at the moment it has a bid of $102.00 if it goes for that it is a good buy, used it lightly for 30yrs bomb proof press in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

What sort of grouping are you getting with the factory ammo and what is it ?

i used Remington core lokt 100gr, shot MOA with it when i first bought the rifle new about 8 years ago, hadn't shot it in a while missed a few shots so i checked to see where it was shooting and turned out it was spraying allover the place like a mad womans piss, would start throwing after the second shot out to about 3 inches, being a newer box of Rem i thought they may of changed something in it at some stage. the hornady ammo seems to of helped alot but still not shooting great partly down to my shit shooting i figure.

Id go redding or rcbs. they are both nice. I have a redding big boss 2 and i love it. the rock chucker it also a great press. go green i think.

I load about 4000 rounds per year of 308 for competition.

I started with a Lee kit, still use the press..
Bought a second hand Chargemaster and new Redding dies.

Bought quality cases.

I full size after every use and clean with an ultrasonic cleaner.

Talk to an experienced shooter who you know and trust. They should put you right.

I learnt to reload with a good mate of mine using his gear. Once I knew how it all worked and what was what etc I bought my own. I bought everything individually as opposed to a pre set kit. Main reason being there was a lot of stuff in the kits that I would have just upgraded or not used at all. By the time you buy a kit and then change or add things to complete everything you need, you could well have just got it all individually in the first place buying individual brands for each component etc. There was plenty of time spent studying and pondering options on my behalf but I'm bloody happy with the setup I have now.

I would buy ether the hornady or rcbs kit both are going to be muchness and muchness
Id just grab the cheapest one of the 2
Some of the lee stuff isn’t too bad but the kits are shit and you will end up replacing most of it
I still have and use the lee primeing tool that came with my lee kit when I started loading 15 years ago
Apart from that all of it was replaced very quickly
So its a case of buy once cry once when it comes to gear

Remember you won’t save money reloading but you will get far better quality ammunition custom made for your rifle at arround the same price as a reasonable quality factory ammunition the gains in accuracy and ballisticis what you’re looking for
If you want to save money you are better off buying cheap factory ammunition unless you shoot 1000’s of rounds

Out of the 2 I'd go hornady kit purely for the press, I found the rcbs partner press a little small and finicky. That being said I bought everything individually and ended up with a redding big boss press. Go on serious shooters and they have some very good deals on presses. As said above If you go digital scales keep a close eye on them and also try get gear that is compatible with one brand of shell holder.
Regardless Make sure you take your time and enjoy it, it can be quite therapeutic

In all of this @kayneb, you also need to establish exactly why the rifle is grouping badly.

I suggest asking somebody who you know to be a good shot to shoot your rifle and ammo and see what that does to the grouping.

I have done this, and the result hurt my pride, but I then realised that I was the problem, and ever since have come to suspect that I am most likely the weak link in my gear.

Originally Posted by kayneb

i used Remington core lokt 100gr, shot MOA with it when i first bought the rifle new about 8 years ago, hadn't shot it in a while missed a few shots so i checked to see where it was shooting and turned out it was spraying allover the place like a mad womans piss, would start throwing after the second shot out to about 3 inches, being a newer box of Rem i thought they may of changed something in it at some stage. the hornady ammo seems to of helped alot but still not shooting great partly down to my shit shooting i figure.

@kayneb gidday. As Max has said have you established why your rifle is shooting poorly? Do you have a moderator and have stored the rifle with this still fixed?
As for what to by. The first thing I’d by is Nathan Fosters reloading book. It gives a good run through of all the brands and a pretty good idea of what to get, what to look out for! See Danny doesn’t get on with his lee reloader but I like mine, could not stand the lee balance beam scales so brought Hornady ones which are much better.
Anyway good luck

not exactly sure why the rifle is shooting off, more than possible that is me although changing to premium ammo has certainly helped.
i did look at changing the scope from a vx-1 but thought it was unlikely and the barrel is practically new condition no mods or anything either.
after moving around the countryside a fair bit with farming i havnt been able to meet anyone who reloads or is a crack shot in my area yet so if i figure if i watch enough YouTube vids and ill figure it out one way or another.

Check all your screws are tight. Action, stock, bases, scope.

@kayneb run through the 1 o’clock test on your rifle.
To do this. Stand your rifle up, buttpad on table so your looking through the trigger guard. Then tilt it towards 1 o’clock push with your left hand if right handed and vis versa if left handed. Take a screw driver and slowly unscrew the top action screw and watch your barrel at the same time. If the barrel rises up out of the stock. Then it’s not sitting in the action. This could be the course of why your shots have started to go amiss.
You can go for a bedding job that will solve this problem. Look at Nathan Fosters Ballistic Studies website on how to full length bed a rifle. He also has some good utube stuff on how too.
What @stagstalker said is very true wish I’d done that

Starting out I would just stick to a good quality 2 die set for around the $80 to $120 mark, have had good results with the Redding ones, but most other decent brands should be good. I use a Lee press and it works fine.

It sounds to me more like the rifle could just be fouled up and need a really good clean with some copper remover.

What I found with reloading is that as I went through the process over time I upgraded my tools and moved more and more to powered or automated equipment. If you are only loading a couple hundred rounds a year, then that isn't as important. If you do 6000-12000 a year like I do, equipment gradually gets upgraded to turn out the ammo.

If I was to do it again I'd probably go with Redding. The rest of the brands though will mostly get it done.

+1 for Nathan Foster's book on Reloading - it the best $60 investment you'll make if you decide to go into Reloading.
And as others have stated above I'd be checking out the rifle/scope set up carefully & thoroughly to eliminate any issues before concluding its all down to the ammo. Copper &/or carbon fouling of the bore can also lead to accuracy problems