Reloading Setup

[dromia]

I would hold off on the tumbler choice 'till you've had experience, wet tumbling is real pain to me and I only do it for BP cartridges. It may be a fiddle too far for you too so a dry tumbler might be better suited to you, I never wet tumble my smokeless brass just walnut in an old dry Thumler that I bought second hand decades ago

To start with you can clean your brass one by one at the bench. I still do this, especially if I'm full length resizing, wipe case down with a clean rag, case lube with Hornady Unique, size and deprime, wipe of lube with another rag and clean out the primer pocket with a screwdriver.

If I'm prepping brass then the primer pocket gets cleaned on my Lyman express case prep centre.

All this case handling is good as it gives you time to give the cases a good check over.

If you are finding the budget get too big then for good ammunition I would certainly get the Target Master before a wet tumbler.

[HALODIN]

Thanks. What's the pain with wet tumbling, is it checking for steel pins in the cases? I can see the more hands on the better and I know I need to read up on what to look for with case fatigue.

I added everything up last night and my shopping list is approaching £900, £700-£800 feels pricey but about right for quality kit, but I'm struggling to justify much more. I fully appreciate a starter kit can be bought for much less...

I'd be happy to buy second hand, I just can't find it for sale. Is there any particular site that has a reasonable selection?

I would hold off on the tumbler choice 'till you've had experience, wet tumbling is real pain to me and I only do it for BP cartridges. It may be a fiddle too far for you too so a dry tumbler might be better suited to you, I never wet tumble my smokeless brass just walnut in an old dry Thumler that I bought second hand decades ago

To start with you can clean your brass one by one at the bench. I still do this, especially if I'm full length resizing, wipe case down with a clean rag, case lube with Hornady Unique, size and deprime, wipe of lube with another rag and clean out the primer pocket with a screwdriver.

If I'm prepping brass then the primer pocket gets cleaned on my Lyman express case prep centre.

All this case handling is good as it gives you time to give the cases a good check over.

If you are finding the budget get too big then for good ammunition I would certainly get the Target Master before a wet tumbler.

[rox]

I added everything up last night and my shopping list is approaching £900, £700-£800 feels pricey but about right for quality kit, but I'm struggling to justify much more. I fully appreciate a starter kit can be bought for much less...

You could:

• Skip the tumbler.
• Replace the TargetMaster with a manual trickler.
• Skip the powder measure stand.
• Replace the Wilson trimmer with the Lee thingy for about a tenner.

You've saved several hundred quid. Your ammo will be just as good, and you will be taking a little more time over making it (that's a good thing, especially at this stage).

Thanks. What's the pain with wet tumbling, is it checking for steel pins in the cases?

Rinsing, spearating and drying.

Overall I find it takes me about 10 minuts of actual involvement in the process of cleaning up to 100 .308 cases. Actual cleaning time is around 3 hours. I usually dry them overnight, but they are unlikely to be needed again for weeks or months, so I'm in no hurry there.

..

[Dombo63]

.... you can disassemble a know accurate round and copy most of it...

Or just phone them up and ask for the recipe

[HALODIN]

I'm starting to think the wet tumbler is possibly a gadget too far and at least for the moment, I could hand trickle. I do want the stand and I'm inclined to stay with the wilson case trimmer. I appreciate the savings but I quite fancy the convenience of a micrometer on the trimmer, so I don't mind paying a bit extra. As long as I can justify it and still feel like I'm getting value then the price is secondary IMO.

Do you have any opinion on the seating depth of primers? The K&M hand priming tool, looks awesome but I suspect as long as the primer isn't proud, then the depth has very marginal/no impact on accuracy. Is this correct?

Thanks for your input.

You could:

• Skip the tumbler.
• Replace the TargetMaster with a manual trickler.
• Skip the powder measure stand.
• Replace the Wilson trimmer with the Lee thingy for about a tenner.

You've saved several hundred quid. Your ammo will be just as good, and you will be taking a little more time over making it (that's a good thing, especially at this stage).

Rinsing, spearating and drying.

Overall I find it takes me about 10 minuts of actual involvement in the process of cleaning up to 100 .308 cases. Actual cleaning time is around 3 hours. I usually dry them overnight, but they are unlikely to be needed again for weeks or months, so I'm in no hurry there.

..

[HALODIN]

I didn't think for a second they would tell you. I guess as long as you use their components, they're still in a win-win situation. Will they tell you which powders they use or are they `home brew` powders?

.... you can disassemble a know accurate round and copy most of it...

Or just phone them up and ask for the recipe

[HALODIN]

I just stumbled across the Lee Deluxe Quick Trim Case Trimmer and it looks quite good and pretty reasonably priced at £36 inc die. Are they any good?

• Replace the Wilson trimmer with the Lee thingy for about a tenner.

[Dombo63]

I didn't think for a second they would tell you. I guess as long as you use their components, they're still in a win-win situation. Will they tell you which powders they use or are they `home brew` powders?

.... you can disassemble a know accurate round and copy most of it...

Or just phone them up and ask for the recipe

Au contraire...I ordered 100 rounds over the phone - they often come down to Bisley so dropped them off at the Lord Roberts for me to collect - and i asked what the recipe was so they told me, SMKs and standard readily available powder. They aren't worried as the skill is in the preparation and process of assembly.
Much like trying to recreate a Gordon Ramsay recipe at home: he will make it perfectly whereas my first effort will resemble roadkill finished off with a flamethrower.

[dromia]

If you get one that will work then they are fine, but Lee lack of quality control is their big weakness.

For starters the Lee case length gauge is very good, consistent and is one of their tools that there is little to go wrong with, add a drill chuck fitting and away you go. Its only limitation is you can only trim to the fixed calibre length however for the vast majority of situations it is absolutely fine. Cheaper that the above unit and less likely to have something wrong with it.

I use a Forster or Lyman trimmers, the Forster is when absolute accuracy is need and the motorised Lyman is for volume. I used the Lee case length gauge before I got the Lyman but I go motorised when I can now because of arthritic hands.

If you have a good set of calipers then the micormeter adjust isn't needed

[HALODIN]

That's good to know. Do you think Hornady and the others would spill the beans as well?

Au contraire...I ordered 100 rounds over the phone - they often come down to Bisley so dropped them off at the Lord Roberts for me to collect - and i asked what the recipe was so they told me, SMKs and standard readily available powder. They aren't worried as the skill is in the preparation and process of assembly.
Much like trying to recreate a Gordon Ramsay recipe at home: he will make it perfectly whereas my first effort will resemble roadkill finished off with a flamethrower.