Which kit for beginner!

[MartinS]

Hi all

After shooting for a couple of years and gathering some good brass I think the time has come to start reloading!

I will want to reload 7.62x51 and 7.92x57 at the moment and have been looking at starter kits from RCBS available. I don't want to overspend on stuff that is not really needed. I'm looking for a real basic kit which will do the job.

What are the basics needed?

What would you go for if money was a little tight and is it worth holding of for a deal at the Shooting Show in Feb?

[Tower75]

I know you've mentioned RCBS, but have you thought about LEE? LEE do an 50th Anniversary kit for £150.00, and it comes with O-press, powder thrower, scales, case trimmer (you'll need to buy the separate LEE gauges, though) and Schafer, lube, primer cleaner and other bits and bobs to get you started.

It's a good newbie kit. It's the one I got when I started out.

Also, don't listen to people who tell you LEE are crap. They're not. Nought wrong with 'em at all.

[MartinS]

I know you've mentioned RCBS, but have you thought about LEE? LEE do an 50th Anniversary kit for £150.00, and it comes with O-press, powder thrower, scales, case trimmer (you'll need to buy the separate LEE gauges, though) and Schafer, lube, primer cleaner and other bits and bobs to get you started.

It's a good newbie kit. It's the one I got when I started out.

Also, don't listen to people who tell you LEE are crap. They're not. Nought wrong with 'em at all.

I haven't looked at Lee until now!

They don't look bad at all for the money! It's called the 50th anniversary kit?

[Primer]

is it worth holding of for a deal at the Shooting Show in Feb?

Highly unlikely, i went this year and didnt buy much as most of the stuff i was after was available cheaper online or in my local gun shops.

I've been looking at the Lee stuff too as a starter as i dont want to shell out loads, i have some of their stuff already and i have no problems with it.

[MartinS]

is it worth holding of for a deal at the Shooting Show in Feb?

Highly unlikely, i went this year and didnt buy much as most of the stuff i was after was available cheaper online or in my local gun shops.

I've been looking at the Lee stuff too as a starter as i dont want to shell out loads, i have some of their stuff already and i have no problems with it.

Oh! No one seems to do deals much these days!

Good to know that you have no problems with Lee stuff too.

Good places to buy Lee gear??

[dromia]

Have you read the sticky at the top of this forum?

[Primer]

I've had my Lee stuff from various places such as ebay and Amazon (not much available on those now though due to restrictive selling policies), MidwayUK (but not many people seem to like that company), theres a few guys on here that sell the stuff too i think, then you have the likes of Hannam reloading, Kranks, there are alot of shops that sell their stuff.

[Tower75]

I know you've mentioned RCBS, but have you thought about LEE? LEE do an 50th Anniversary kit for £150.00, and it comes with O-press, powder thrower, scales, case trimmer (you'll need to buy the separate LEE gauges, though) and Schafer, lube, primer cleaner and other bits and bobs to get you started.

It's a good newbie kit. It's the one I got when I started out.

Also, don't listen to people who tell you LEE are crap. They're not. Nought wrong with 'em at all.

I haven't looked at Lee until now!

They don't look bad at all for the money! It's called the 50th anniversary kit?

Yup. It's just called the LEE 50th Anniversary Reloading kit. I bought mine from MidWay UK. It was £150.00, but that was about 2 years ago, but I doubt it's changed much in cost.

[MartinS]

Thanks fellas!

Note to myself! Always look at the top of the page for a sticky!! Sorry Dromia!

Lee it is me thinks!!

[Meaty]

Martin,
Just a couple of observations from a fairly new reloader (about 4 ish years now) who started with a Anniversary kit and is also on a budget.
Some Lee stuff is good and some not so good! I would advise you to get some RCBS 502 or 505 scales as the Lee ones aren't up to much (I can give you some Lee scales foc if you want to try them out)
Cheap electronic scales, and some more expensive ones, can fluctuate and can be susceptible to draughts, interference etc so are probably not a good idea for beginners.
The cast aluminium press in the kit has done me proud since I have had it but I have recently brought the cast iron one and it is so much better (I had to upgrade because the dies for my Martini-Henry are a 1 1/4" and wouldnt fit in the ally press)
Lee Deluxe dies seem really good for the money and I have never had any issues with them although I now use a Forster seating die for my proven loads. Some testing I did with precision ground vee blocks and good quality dti's found very little bullet runout, as low as 1.5 thou on the 308's which is good enough for me and better than the RCBS that I tried for a while.
I did break the handle on the hand primer, as have a few other people on here, but both Lee and Midway UK sent foc replacements within a couple of days so I cant complain. I think that was more down to the PPU primers being slightly oversize and a change to Federal 210M's put an end to that gripe.
Over time I have replaced various bits that were in the kit ie the chamfer tool and the primer pocket cleaner but the ones supplied are adequate for the job.
ps The 8mm Mauser brass that I sent you is Berdan primed so unless you have a special tool for removing the primers/crimp and chamfering the pocket it wont be a lot of cop for reloading-sorry if this has burst your bubble a bit but I thought that you were going to use it to make dummy rounds or such like. It might be worth buying some off the shelf PPU ammunition as once it has gone bang you will have a stock of half decent brass that is easily resized and reloadable.
pps. There are a lot of reloading snobs out there who wont have Lee gear in the house/cave so I am just off to ready myself for the ensuing onslaught of grief that no-doubt will head my way