You make good sense, I started reloading at 15 years old in 1975, after 50 years of it and loading over a dozen different rifle and pistol cartridges as well 12 and 20 gauge shot gun. Sometimes just buying factory ammo is fare less time consuming especially with the quality in the last 15 years or so, it used to be that factory ammo had sub par cup in core bullets, sub par accuracy with poor BC and velocity was ridiculously low. Not the case with today’s ammo.
Been reloading for nearly 30 years now,-the savings come over the long term. The real game changer has been learning to reload primers (not Prime-All). This is something anyone can do if they wish. Combine that with cast and swaged bullets, Im loading .44 Mag currently fir 15-20 cents per round
Excellent video, excellent advice, especially based on what you said - e.g. on how often you hunt, visit the range and types of shooting activities and what you want to do/achieve in said activities.
As we all have experienced, worldwide shortages and logistic jams means you cannot rely on buying the particular ammo that works for your rifle when you need it. Thus, it still pays to reload as an occasional hunter. Even as a reloader, there is a scarcity of any given projectiles, powder, primers at times. Thus I am delving into lead casting to reduce my dependency on the uncertain market.
Good video & I agree. I'm at the stage of where I'm ready to upgrade my equipment. I, like you, want the best possible result that I can get accuracy wise with my reloads. I started with (and I'm currently using) a Lee 4 hole turret press. While I appreciate it, I also realize that it's not what I need for precision rifle or bulk pistol. It was a great press to get my feet wet, but I'm ready to move to a good single stage for my rifle ammo and a progressive for my bulk pistol. I'm also looking at inline seater dies and more brass prep tools that I didn't realize I needed. It's a rabbit hole and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Like you, I caught the bug!! What started with a way for me to shoot more, has turned into an almost obsession with shooting small groups. What most people would not just accept, but be happy with (MOA), is really not enough for me. If I haven’t got a load for my rifle that will shoot 1/2”-3/4” groups every time, I’m not happy. Although brass prep is a huge pain, I do find the reloading process very enjoyable. There is something about starting with a piece of virgin or once fired brass, and ending with a load that shoots one ragged hole consistently.
Wise words. I too started with Lee equipment, which after a while found “kind of works” and wanted more consistent results. Knowing what you want to is paramount. Enjoyed the video
Started with a lee challenger, then bought a classic cast, now i have a rebel, a partner to deprim and a co ax for rifle rounds, might buy a turret someday Reloading is honestly vital if you enjoy shooting, and you never stop learning, been doing it for 1year1/2 and still so much to learn, very enjoyable hobby
I keep a reloading set up with adequate supplies for the SHTF time. At some point ammo will be worth more than gold. I also buy ammo every month. Stock up!
Great video, you are right. I mainly reload pistol ammo (IPSC shooter) and use a Dillon square deal press. Its great when its working but a nightmare when its not !!!!
I started in 1999 with a 550B and still think I made the best decision. Caliber conversions are way less money than on the 650/750, and I want to manually look at each piece of brass and make sure everything is good as I feed the brass into station 1. Manually indexing each round is not a probIem, and I can still load several hundred rounds an hour. I just upgraded my 550B to the 550C lower link grease fitting, which is a nice feature. I don’t use bushing dies; I understand their attraction, but don’t see the value as I use mandrels instead to set inside neck diameter and tension. Some folks use both bushings and mandrels, but I don’t see the advantage to that approach. I full length resize with the sizing button / decapper removed, then run the appropriate sized mandrel through the neck and am good to go. It makes more sense to me to size the neck diameter from the inside rather than squeeze from the outside, but for my next set of rifle dies I’m still thinking about trying a bushing die anyway to see what they can do along with a mandrel. Short Action Customs makes a highly regarded bushing to go with the Redding bushing die. If I had it to do again, I would have learned reloading on a single stage first; I think learning on a 550 progressive had me cutting corners a bit, not understanding all the details. But I use the Dillon only for 4 pistol calibers, and use single stages for my rifle calibers. A Lee Classic Cast was my first single stage, then later I got a co-ax, but use the Dillon for most of my shooting. I still hand weigh my powder, but really like that super trickler, that’s a very nice unit. I’ll have to think about that one! Same with the arbor press, I thought about that level of precision, but am out of bench space so am relying on the Forster to give me almost the same level of concentricity; having an arbor press at the range to test seating depth is a nice advantage though! Thanks for the thoughtful video. 🙏
I see an AMP press, AMP annealer, Giraud trimmer, and an IDOD in your future. Can start thinking on a way to justify the 10K to the wife! The annealer is the easy one, once they see what's involved in flame or salt bath annealing its easy to justify not burning the house down. The rest will be a challenge. Good luck, thanks for the video!
As a preamble You are on the money saying KNOW what you need. I load several obsolete cartridges which are black powder cartridges and a couple smokeless vintage calibers that when and if available are terribly expensive.. By all definitions each one is custom and so truly meets the definition of "hand loaded". Given that I don't need large quantities a single stage Lee press works well and more than meets my requirements. My big investment was in a top line scale and powder dispenser. So after all this maybe I don't have the great equipment that others have but I know what I need and have what I need. Thanks for the video it was a good watch.
Getting an Amp annealer was a big expense I don't regret I stuck to Lee Neck Collet die and redding body dies when shoulder bump (no neck) is required. Reloading is an expensive journey...piece by piece...
@@EricChristopher-mr5ktI have a lot of LE Wilson stuff, case gauges and micrometer, and their trimmer. I know K&M mskes an arbor press, but not sure if Wilson does. Wilson does make some dies for use with an arbor press that are a big step up though. After watching your video and a couple of others, I’m seriously considering getting an arbor press and their seating dies only for the bullet seating stage. I’m getting good concentricity now though with the co-ax so it’s a little hard for me to justify, not that I need much of an excuse though, LOL! Same with the super trickler; right now I have a Redding 3BR measure and a high end scale, and check weigh every 10 rds or so, but that super is a nice unit!
Good advice. There are some tight tolerance factory ammos to be tried for those who don't contract 'the bug', your quote. Reloading is a great hobby that can can make you poor, and quickly.
I started with this exact same kit and regret wasting my money on it. That $40 could have went towards a decent tool as opposed to a cheap tool that I never use anymore. I actually only made a hand full of rounds before I realized that consistency was lacking in the flares and crimps. So now I only buy quality tools. And I still have this cheap Lee Classic Loader kit rusting away in a cabinet to remind me to go with quality or for get about it! Hate to see videos that recommend this cheap tool knowing that more people will waste their money on such. Also the recommendations by many to get the Richard Lee reloading manual is just as much a joke as Lee's presses. As Richard Lee's manual is the last one anybody should ever get. And yes I have it sitting on a shelf too because so many RUclipsrs recommended it. Not to mention I bought the Lee dipper set and found them to be lased with static electricity. Might I add that they now sit in the cabinet as well. All-in-all I bought $80 worth of Lee stuff that was a total waste of money. The only thing Lee makes that is top notch is their Factory (Collet Style) Crimp dies [not to be confused with Lee's Factory (carbide style) crimp dies, as they are a gimmick of sorts. That's right they only iron out the bulges they themselves make in the first place. Yet the Factory (collet style) crimp dies have no need for a carbide ring cause they never ever cause a problem that would need ironing out to start with. Again I recommend the Lee Factory (collet style) crimp dies above all other crimp dies on the market as of today.
I also started with the Lee loader. I have many of them . Even with everything I have today I use them once in a while. Couldnt tell you how many rounds I made on them. Are you having any problems finding components? Good video new subscriber.
Hunters I know yrs ago as a young man .told me that they only have one good hunting rifle with 4 or 5 boxs of ammo that works the best They don't reload.
I reload 5.56 (m193 clones) for less than half of what factory is at right now - with current priced supplies. My 77 grain nosler match loads (mk262 clones) cost about as much as factory m193. 300 blackout is about the same, and 300 hamr is way cheaper to reload. I’ve never even shot factory ammo in some guns. The only thing I don’t find worth it is 9mm, because I get range stuff for like 27 buck per hundred. Cheaper + more accurate than factory = well worth it to me.
I've been reloading since my mid 20's, so 35+ years. Started with an RCBS Rock Chucker, then a Lee 3 stage pro 1000 and then the Lee Loadmaster. I've loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds in about a dozen calibers. I've never been able to justify the expense of the higher priced presses, I just don't believe that they will solve all of my problems. Ultimately I ended up with a hybrid approach depending on what I'm reloading, some processes are just faster to do in a single stage approach. The biggest lesson I learned about reloading is to have the press SOLIDLY mounted. It seemed that vibration and motion caused 99% of the problems I had with my press. I ended up building a reloading bench that has no flex or motion of any kind. Honestly I can't remember the last time I had any issues. My latest batch has been cutting down .223 cases and making .300 blackout subs... Just cranked out a couple thousand of those... Shooting subs suppressed is so much fun!! I had a friend at work that got out of the reloading business and he sold me all of his stock for pennies on the dollar.. I'm the proud owner of about 10,000 (each) .223, 9mm, 45ACP, 40S&W, and several hundred random rifle cases... I don't think I'll ever have to buy brass again. I think if I ever make a sizeable purchase it will be the dies to swage and manufacture my own 55gr bullets from spent .22 cases.
Cost savings are NOT the only benefit of reloading. Increased accuracy velocity and avialabilty (especially for old, obsolete rounds) are also benefits.
You make good sense, I started reloading at 15 years old in 1975, after 50 years of it and loading over a dozen different rifle and pistol cartridges as well 12 and 20 gauge shot gun.
Sometimes just buying factory ammo is fare less time consuming especially with the quality in the last 15 years or so, it used to be that factory ammo had sub par cup in core bullets, sub par accuracy with poor BC and velocity was ridiculously low.
Not the case with today’s ammo.
Been reloading for nearly 30 years now,-the savings come over the long term. The real game changer has been learning to reload primers (not Prime-All). This is something anyone can do if they wish. Combine that with cast and swaged bullets, Im loading .44 Mag currently fir 15-20 cents per round
I’m looking at this option for pistol rounds
@@EricChristopher-mr5kt Please do a video on this.
Excellent video, excellent advice, especially based on what you said - e.g. on how often you hunt, visit the range and types of shooting activities and what you want to do/achieve in said activities.
Thank you
As we all have experienced, worldwide shortages and logistic jams means you cannot rely on buying the particular ammo that works for your rifle when you need it. Thus, it still pays to reload as an occasional hunter. Even as a reloader, there is a scarcity of any given projectiles, powder, primers at times. Thus I am delving into lead casting to reduce my dependency on the uncertain market.
Good video & I agree. I'm at the stage of where I'm ready to upgrade my equipment. I, like you, want the best possible result that I can get accuracy wise with my reloads. I started with (and I'm currently using) a Lee 4 hole turret press. While I appreciate it, I also realize that it's not what I need for precision rifle or bulk pistol. It was a great press to get my feet wet, but I'm ready to move to a good single stage for my rifle ammo and a progressive for my bulk pistol. I'm also looking at inline seater dies and more brass prep tools that I didn't realize I needed.
It's a rabbit hole and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
Awesome
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Like you, I caught the bug!! What started with a way for me to shoot more, has turned into an almost obsession with shooting small groups. What most people would not just accept, but be happy with (MOA), is really not enough for me. If I haven’t got a load for my rifle that will shoot 1/2”-3/4” groups every time, I’m not happy. Although brass prep is a huge pain, I do find the reloading process very enjoyable. There is something about starting with a piece of virgin or once fired brass, and ending with a load that shoots one ragged hole consistently.
Many forget that it’s not only the round, it’s how you shoot it as well.
Enjoy your journey
Wise words. I too started with Lee equipment, which after a while found “kind of works” and wanted more consistent results. Knowing what you want to is paramount. Enjoyed the video
I’m glad you liked it.
Who knows what we will know tomorrow lol
Have had outstanding accuracy out of Lee dies and presses!
Started with a lee challenger, then bought a classic cast, now i have a rebel, a partner to deprim and a co ax for rifle rounds, might buy a turret someday
Reloading is honestly vital if you enjoy shooting, and you never stop learning, been doing it for 1year1/2 and still so much to learn, very enjoyable hobby
The learning curve is definitely addictive
I keep a reloading set up with adequate supplies for the SHTF time. At some point ammo will be worth more than gold. I also buy ammo every month. Stock up!
Great video, you are right. I mainly reload pistol ammo (IPSC shooter) and use a Dillon square deal press. Its great when its working but a nightmare when its not !!!!
I'll be reloadong 38s and 357 on the 550c in the up upcoming weeks, I'm looking forward on how it will perform.
I started in 1999 with a 550B and still think I made the best decision. Caliber conversions are way less money than on the 650/750, and I want to manually look at each piece of brass and make sure everything is good as I feed the brass into station 1. Manually indexing each round is not a probIem, and I can still load several hundred rounds an hour. I just upgraded my 550B to the 550C lower link grease fitting, which is a nice feature.
I don’t use bushing dies; I understand their attraction, but don’t see the value as I use mandrels instead to set inside neck diameter and tension. Some folks use both bushings and mandrels, but I don’t see the advantage to that approach. I full length resize with the sizing button / decapper removed, then run the appropriate sized mandrel through the neck and am good to go. It makes more sense to me to size the neck diameter from the inside rather than squeeze from the outside, but for my next set of rifle dies I’m still thinking about trying a bushing die anyway to see what they can do along with a mandrel. Short Action Customs makes a highly regarded bushing to go with the Redding bushing die.
If I had it to do again, I would have learned reloading on a single stage first; I think learning on a 550 progressive had me cutting corners a bit, not understanding all the details. But I use the Dillon only for 4 pistol calibers, and use single stages for my rifle calibers. A Lee Classic Cast was my first single stage, then later I got a co-ax, but use the Dillon for most of my shooting. I still hand weigh my powder, but really like that super trickler, that’s a very nice unit. I’ll have to think about that one!
Same with the arbor press, I thought about that level of precision, but am out of bench space so am relying on the Forster to give me almost the same level of concentricity; having an arbor press at the range to test seating depth is a nice advantage though!
Thanks for the thoughtful video. 🙏
I have grest succes with the Dillon on rifle, I felt the same about bushing dies till I tried and yes still mandrel out of habit 😆
I see an AMP press, AMP annealer, Giraud trimmer, and an IDOD in your future. Can start thinking on a way to justify the 10K to the wife!
The annealer is the easy one, once they see what's involved in flame or salt bath annealing its easy to justify not burning the house down. The rest will be a challenge.
Good luck, thanks for the video!
It’s never ending lol
As a preamble You are on the money saying KNOW what you need. I load several obsolete cartridges which are black powder cartridges and a couple smokeless vintage calibers that when and if available are terribly expensive.. By all definitions each one is custom and so truly meets the definition of "hand loaded". Given that I don't need large quantities a single stage Lee press works well and more than meets my requirements. My big investment was in a top line scale and powder dispenser. So after all this maybe I don't have the great equipment that others have but I know what I need and have what I need. Thanks for the video it was a good watch.
Thank you for your kind words.
Getting an Amp annealer was a big expense I don't regret
I stuck to Lee Neck Collet die and redding body dies when shoulder bump (no neck) is required.
Reloading is an expensive journey...piece by piece...
I went with the LE Wilson full length bushing dies.
@@EricChristopher-mr5ktI have a lot of LE Wilson stuff, case gauges and micrometer, and their trimmer. I know K&M mskes an arbor press, but not sure if Wilson does. Wilson does make some dies for use with an arbor press that are a big step up though.
After watching your video and a couple of others, I’m seriously considering getting an arbor press and their seating dies only for the bullet seating stage. I’m getting good concentricity now though with the co-ax so it’s a little hard for me to justify, not that I need much of an excuse though, LOL!
Same with the super trickler; right now I have a Redding 3BR measure and a high end scale, and check weigh every 10 rds or so, but that super is a nice unit!
Good advice. There are some tight tolerance factory ammos to be tried for those who don't contract 'the bug', your quote. Reloading is a great hobby that can can make you poor, and quickly.
I started with this exact same kit and regret wasting my money on it. That $40 could have went towards a decent tool as opposed to a cheap tool that I never use anymore. I actually only made a hand full of rounds before I realized that consistency was lacking in the flares and crimps. So now I only buy quality tools. And I still have this cheap Lee Classic Loader kit rusting away in a cabinet to remind me to go with quality or for get about it! Hate to see videos that recommend this cheap tool knowing that more people will waste their money on such. Also the recommendations by many to get the Richard Lee reloading manual is just as much a joke as Lee's presses. As Richard Lee's manual is the last one anybody should ever get. And yes I have it sitting on a shelf too because so many RUclipsrs recommended it. Not to mention I bought the Lee dipper set and found them to be lased with static electricity. Might I add that they now sit in the cabinet as well. All-in-all I bought $80 worth of Lee stuff that was a total waste of money.
The only thing Lee makes that is top notch is their Factory (Collet Style) Crimp dies [not to be confused with Lee's Factory (carbide style) crimp dies, as they are a gimmick of sorts. That's right they only iron out the bulges they themselves make in the first place. Yet the Factory (collet style) crimp dies have no need for a carbide ring cause they never ever cause a problem that would need ironing out to start with. Again I recommend the Lee Factory (collet style) crimp dies above all other crimp dies on the market as of today.
I also started with the Lee loader. I have many of them . Even with everything I have today I use them once in a while. Couldnt tell you how many rounds I made on them. Are you having any problems finding components? Good video new subscriber.
I won’t sell mine, converting one to a case trimmed
Good advice.
Thank you
Hunters I know yrs ago as a young man .told me that they only have one good hunting rifle with 4 or 5 boxs of ammo that works the best They don't reload.
A lot of hunters around like that, some don’t even sign in their rifle, mind blowing
If you haven't hoarded reloading supplies from before the Obama administration, it's not really cost effective.
It is in Australia, a packet of 20 168g will set you back $85.
I reload 5.56 (m193 clones) for less than half of what factory is at right now - with current priced supplies. My 77 grain nosler match loads (mk262 clones) cost about as much as factory m193. 300 blackout is about the same, and 300 hamr is way cheaper to reload. I’ve never even shot factory ammo in some guns. The only thing I don’t find worth it is 9mm, because I get range stuff for like 27 buck per hundred. Cheaper + more accurate than factory = well worth it to me.
Sorry, I will reload till I am 6 feet under. Bad title.
@@3dtexan890 😜
So will I , can’t be that bad a title, made you watch haha.
Enjoy your day
I've been reloading since my mid 20's, so 35+ years. Started with an RCBS Rock Chucker, then a Lee 3 stage pro 1000 and then the Lee Loadmaster. I've loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds in about a dozen calibers. I've never been able to justify the expense of the higher priced presses, I just don't believe that they will solve all of my problems. Ultimately I ended up with a hybrid approach depending on what I'm reloading, some processes are just faster to do in a single stage approach. The biggest lesson I learned about reloading is to have the press SOLIDLY mounted. It seemed that vibration and motion caused 99% of the problems I had with my press. I ended up building a reloading bench that has no flex or motion of any kind. Honestly I can't remember the last time I had any issues. My latest batch has been cutting down .223 cases and making .300 blackout subs... Just cranked out a couple thousand of those... Shooting subs suppressed is so much fun!! I had a friend at work that got out of the reloading business and he sold me all of his stock for pennies on the dollar.. I'm the proud owner of about 10,000 (each) .223, 9mm, 45ACP, 40S&W, and several hundred random rifle cases... I don't think I'll ever have to buy brass again. I think if I ever make a sizeable purchase it will be the dies to swage and manufacture my own 55gr bullets from spent .22 cases.
Great advice, but I must say, my favourite purchase has been the Dillon 550c and SuperTrickler
Those two changed everything
@@EricChristopher-mr5kt I did pick up a manual trickle charger and I absolutely love it. crazy accurate and repeatable.
Cost savings are NOT the only benefit of reloading. Increased accuracy velocity and avialabilty (especially for old, obsolete rounds) are also benefits.
I'm confident I've covered this topic throughout my videos :-)