before i bought bullets in bulk.. i'd go get a couple small boxes and shoot them thru your gun after making several small run batches.. see what works the best.. then onthe next order get thos bullets and those powders.
if you already have a large amount of sored, reloadable fsctory cartridges for your guns, then you already have a good source of reloadable brass.
when i go to the range to shoot, I usually take some of my reloads and some of my stored factory loads and shoot both, and then reclaim my brass..e tc.
as the others said.. do read up about reloading .. many times.
I often suggest getting every reload manual you can find. not uncommon to see 7-8 manuals on someones desk.. at least one for each brand of projectile you are using.. ie.. sierra, speer, hornady, nosler, etc.. etc
after that , if you don't already have a press, you will need to get one.. ( maybee in a starter kit ).. you will also need dies, and some other gear that may or may not come in your reload kit.
some items to think about:
for instance. many kits come with some basic case prep tools like a ID/OD case reamer, hand prime tool, and usually some sort of scale.. some have a ballance beam.. some a digital.
you will also need a set of calipers to measure case dimensions. will be used more on the bottlenecked cartridges. you will also want a case trimmer, as they will grow in length ( again.. moreso on the bottlenecked cartridges ). Calipers go from about 8$ to 40$ for commonly available tool store and / or relaod branded digital or dial calipers. and from 80+ for units with more percieved quality and or popularity , etc. Case trimmers can go from about 40$ on up into the 200-300$ range depending on manual or powered, and a few different options. for calipers I have an industrial dial set I use to rebuild engines, and have also picked up the 10$ or so sets at harbor freight.. they compair well for reliability with my better manual dial caliper. I check calibration on them every month or so.. but otherwise use the cheap set almost exclusively. I personally went for a rcbs manual trimmer , and then later addes a 1/2" drill to it to make it a semi powered setup.. and still later I upgraded to the real powered setup for it. for processing lots of bottleneck brass.. it's nice to have a powered trimmer. there are several brands , options and setups. rcbs is not on the low price end, though not the most expensive either.
case gauges can be had from 20$ and up.. there are cheaper universal gague sets and more spendy cartridge specific sets. your call. I reload umpteen dozen different sizes so i went for a set that covers many sizes.. vs a set for each cartridge. if I only reloaded 3 calibers.. might have chosen differently.
I'd also suggest getting a set of case gauges as well as some sort of case cleaner. whether a standard tumbler, or vibro tumbler. prices go from about 30-100$ depending on style and name brand.
Case prep tools. while many kits give you the basic mouth reamer.. most don't ginge you many / any other tools. things like primer pocket cleaners, reamers for removing (military) crimps on primers, pocket uniformers, swagers, and flash hole uniformers/cleaning tools. severl manufactures sell these singally or in kit form, both as manual hand held devices, and as a powered unit. I myself have mostly lyman case tools.. both a full manual set and their powered station.
here's where it gets a lil dicey.. press type/brand, and dies.
first.. a quick mention about brand and prices and quality.
This usually starts a holy ware.. but among reloaders and their equipment.. thereis a decent range of prces, from 'economy to expensive' and as weall as percieved 'cheap to quality'.
Here's the dirty lowdown skinny... Lee is almost always gonna be the least expensive. anything.. you name it. cehapest scale, press, powder thrower, dies.. etc. On the flip side.. Dillion may be some of the more expensive equipment.. though for certain.. rcbs redding and hornady all make some stuff with good price tags too..
now.. that said. you've got to look at your situation and decide your intentions and long term and short term plans. yeah.. you CAN get a lee classic C style press for a lowball price of 20$.. that's some sort of softer ( aluminum zinc? ) alloy frame press . it's economical.. and yeah.. it's cheap. You simply can't compair it, quality wise, to say.. a 150$ rcbs rock chucker for instance. A very sturdy press. etc.
Both will make acceptable shootable loads. in the short term.. you probably couldn't tell the difference even on match ammo .. etc. 20 ys from now will the 20$ lee press be in the same condition as one that costs 6.5 times as much? probably not.
it's complicated... relaoding can go so many ways long term. some guys get 1 press and stick with it for life. some get a starter press.. see if they like the hobby, then 'graduate' to other equipment, and sell or give the starter equipment away, or relegate it to other tasks. I myself have one of theose 20$ lee presses, and have relegated it to being a dedicated decap station.. and my rcbs press is the actual loader. you can argue it both ways. start 'good and expensive' or start cheaper and move up. in the end.. I don't think anybody is wrong. this is one of those 'journey' things.. not so much a destination. I do know that with a couple-3 presses.. if I should ever have the msfortune of one breaking.. I can still make ammo on the others..
Die's fall into the same boat. lee are almost always cheapest.. and it goes up a few bucks per brand from there.. with many lee sets comeing in on the mid to high 20$ range.. and stuff like rcbs hitting low 30$ to low 40$ ranges for commmon stuff. I have seen some dillon dies go as high as mid 60$.s but i'm not all that familiar with dillon equipment..so i don't knw if those were specialty dies or not.. You can always find an expensive specialty die set for an odd caliber or to do some specific task.. and it's gonna cost you mre than the run of the mill basic sets. One thing that many people will note though.. even though lee equipment is looked down on by many.. they have a factory drimp die that many like.. not uncommon to see lyman and rcbs and dillon and hornady dies and presses.. and a LFC die for each caliber ..
now.. with brand out of the way.. the next big issue... style.
single stage, turret or progressive.
single stage is cheapest / slowest. each pull of the arm performs 1 function to 1 cartridge. and the press holds 1 die. i tend to favor single stage as it's very clear to see what is going on, especially when learning, about what actully happens on each pull of the arm.
turret.. a variation on a single stage. turret uses a plate system that holds multiple dies.. you perform single step operations, but then just rotate to a new die set for a new operation. once your dies are setup, you go. it's like a bunch of single stage presses setup in a carousel. you only do 1 function at a time based on what die is selected.. then rotate it to a new selection when ready. gives you hte single stage operation to figure out what is going on.. but changes over faster tot he next step each time. costs more than single stage, has more setup time initially.
progressive.. this one gets a lil hairy. multi stage, all at once, if you so desire with indexing, etc. can basically , with optinal equipments and such have a powder feeder, primer, case feeder and bullet feeder all setup so that weach time you pull the arm,, lots of magic happens and a completed cartridge falls into the 'done' bin with each pull.
lots more cost and setup.. if it auto indexes.. lots more to pay attention to.. probbaly not the easiest to learn on unless you just basicaaly run it with no auto indexing.
what are your goals? do you want to set down and make 2000 rounds in a run each setting, all forthe same caliber? or do you want to make 4 different calibers in runs of 500 each. or are you gonna load up 20-50 cartridges, but for many different calibers.
I collect old guns, and load for many cartridges. I don't make sunds of more than a few boxes at a time. for instance. i may only load up 50 rifle cartridges at a pop.. but I may do so for 4 different calibers. I go single stage. I don't load up 2000 cartridges in a setting. if I loaded for only a few calibers and wanted bulk ammo.. I would 'graduate' from single stage to something better. I chose an RCBS single stage press partially because it can be upgradded with add on's to go up a level in capability.. , if I wanted to. Again.. not many right / wrongs here. some suggest starting out with a single stage to learn on, then move up.. some say don't wast the money buying a press just to move up.. just start with the one you want. that's a different ballgame for each user IMHO. Reloading doesn't save you money really..
but it lets you shoot more for the same price.. that's the way I see it. ( actually.. it will save you money.. it jst takes longer to realize the savings depending on what you reload. if you load for a rifle that has cartridges that cost 4$ a pop.. then yeah.. after you relaod that a few times you are 'making money'.. etc. ) With that said.. this is one of those hobbies that the more $ you sink int it, the more production you get out.. or the 'wider' it gets. for instance. a 'working mid level kit ( i'll use my rcbs SS rock chucker as an example for $$ ) to get you started into metalic reloading with all basic needed gear and your first set of dies might run you. 600$ from open box to making projectiles ( stater kit with manual, press, powder thrower, scale, relaod block and starter case lube and pad, powder funnle and remaer hand tool , hand primer tool), 1 set dies, case tools, manual, 1 # powder, 1 bad win brass, manual trimmer, 1 pack of 1k primers, cheap digital caliper, basic tumbler plus media, 1 box projectiles )
that's 600$ before you can pull the handle to make your first cartridge. now.. add 30$ to that and you can now reload for 2 calibers. IE.. first 570$ gets you the tools to relaod.. and then every 30$ you pump into it you add a new caliber. that's what i mena when I said going wider.
now.. that 600$ would be less if you did not do bottlenecks..( less need for triimmer etc ) it would also be cheaper if you went with say.. lee for instance. as a comparison, using a lee starter kit and lee gear instead of rcbs, that above list would drop to: 375$ since the lee kit is near 200$ chepaer than the rcbs, the dies are a lil cheaper.. and the case trimmer is too.
it's a high initial investment.. but then once you start reloading components your cost average goes down. IE.. brass cost keeps going down on each reload.
A few sugestions, for now.. stick with a commonly available primer.. like a winchester. usually can get em enywhere.. about 30$ a pack per 1000. Some like CC, etc.
later on, you can do your own expirementing.. some of us are now liiking at cheaper wolf/tula/S&B primers in t he 20-25$ per box range ).. etc. but I would not suggest that starting out.. stay with proven industry standard while learning.
also... get a kinetic bullet puller ( hammer style ). usually 20-35$ .. great for reclaiming 'oops!' components, or for reclaming a batch of ammo that wasn't shooting well.. or getting 'free' components from milsurp. IE.. pull projectiles, toss powder, if cases are reloadable, keep... etc. Also, most of us make up dummy rounds when starting a new cartridge, and we make sure it chambers and test different COAL.. once done, you can reclaim those components, or keep the dummies as 'gauges to measuer off of, .. just mark them as suck and set aside. I keep a box with unprimed, trimmed brass to measure off of, plus unprimed, non charged assembled brass and bullets as a go/no go gauge for chambering and checking magazine spacings with respect to COAL.
soundguy