Reloading kit..which one

[Terlingueno]

Thanks for all the input. The 550 looks nice. what else besides the press do I need at...not extra accessories just what's needed. I know I'll need a scale,tumbler,case trimmer.

Dies, scale, tumbler, calipers, for pistol rounds. A trimmer for rifle cartridges. I would start by loading your most used caliber, then save some dough and start getting set up for the others. A way to save money buying used equipment in this and other forums classified ads. I personally have bought a scale, calipers, dies and a tumbler and saved over 50% off retail doing that.

[joshxdm9]

I was in the same spot you are about 3 years ago. Was going to get a lee turret to save some money. Everyone I talked to said you will find yourself reloading more than you think and may as well save the time and money and go with at least a 550 but 650 would be best. At the time I only loaded 9mm. Now load 9mm and .40 on my 550 and have a 450 setup for .223 only. I now wish I would have just done the 650 but the 550 works fine for how much I shoot right now. As for accessories.

Tumbler, scale, caliper, case trimmer, de burr primer pocket cleaner and swage for military brass ( case prep center I have found best for these steps) you will want separate tool heads and powder throws for each caliper to make switching over much easier.

[Kraj]

Scale and something to measure overall length is all you need to make Safe ammo. More stuff could be helpful, like case gauges and ammo boxes.

I started with a Lee single stage package and I didn't use most of the stuff that came with it and now that I got a progressive press I only use the press for calibers that I don't load enough to justify the shell plate

[Nebwake]

For .223 and 9mm; to just get started you will need at a minimum if you get a 550b;

- Patience, Attention to detail, and maybe someone local to help you out.

- RELOADING MANUALS (at least 2 of the main ones; Hornady and Lyman are my fav, Also know where to look online like Hogdon website)

- Decent Scale (I like digital, but you can get by with a analog beam)

- Calipers (Again, I like digital and admittedly I use a harbor freight one that with coupon was $9 that is as accurate as my analog starrett )

- Dies (carbide for pistol for sure) (don't NEED carbide for rifle but it makes them run a bit smoother)

- Patience, Attention to detail, and maybe someone local to help you out.

- Case lube for rifle rounds

- Powder, primers, bullets, brass

- Conversion kit for what you load (550b comes with one of your choice, you have to buy the rest)

- Case gauge for what you load (This is KINDOF optional, but you will have MUCH better success initially if you have a case gauge)

- Patience, Attention to detail, and maybe someone local to help you out.

*Eventually you will need/want to buy the below items as well but they can wait a bit as long as you have clean brass already

- a way to clean your brass (I use wet SS pin tumbling and sonic cleaners, but a good old media tumblers work as well)

- extra tool heads if you don't want to set up dies every time

- Case trimmer

- Duburring tools

- A sharp piece of piano wire to check your rifle brass

- other stuff I am forgetting

- oh and Patience, Attention to detail, and maybe someone local to help you out.

[johnbu]

You won't be wrong going Dillon, but I've had decent performance from lee progressive loadmaster. But... it's a bit fiddlie at times. Not a big deal, it just takes more love. But the press with one set of die was under $250 from eBay. Then 3 more die sets, primers, powder, tumbler, media, brass, projectiles, scale (etc etc) was around $500. Obviously, just starter quantities of expendables! I've only loaded about 5-6000 rounds over the past 6 -8 months and it matches my use pretty well.

[tcoz]

I bought a Lee Classic Turret a few years ago to get started with pistol reloading and now, many thousand rounds of 9mm, 45acp, .223, 300 BLK AND .30-06 later I'm still using it and would never give it up. I'm not a precision long range shooter, I just punch holes in paper and shoot some steel at 100 yds and for that it's ideal. It's inexpensive, easy to set up and can be used as a single stage or turret, whichever you prefer. Figure out your needs first then buy accordingly.

[dauntedfuture]

Go with a Dillon 550 or 650. the 550 is less to get into and in truth its not that much slower to load on then the 650. I have doth by the way. Its not hard to find a used 550 or 650 out there.

[rtp]

Start with the BL-550. It's inexpensive and can be upgraded easily later. Here's the link to Brian's store for the 550...https://benosmozo.800cart.com/?product=15399&id=benosmozo. $259.95. Well within your budget. Dies are separate, but you need them anyway.

Better this way. You can change later. A single stage Lee or Rockchucker is single stage forever.

Add the cost of adding a powder measure and priming to it, and it's > the cost for a LnL AP which can be found on sale for ~$400.

If not for the rifle focus, an SDB might be fine.

If the OP HAS to stay in budget, get the Lee Classic Cast Turret as mentioned. It will likely still get used if/when he ultimately moves to a progressive, which I'm inclined to believe may be the case shooting 800 .223/month + misc pistol calibers.

While I'm still waiting to see what the newest RCBS progressive press brings to the table (5 or 7 station), your choices are IMO:

Rockchucker or other quality single stage - it's going to be slow, how much do you value your time? Will likely still use if/when you upgrade to a progressive, for de-priming, sizing, as a bullet puller, for true precision loads (you can load quite decent 'precision' loads on a 550/650/LnL AP, just down to your own definition of the word) or possibly for working up some test loads.

Lee Classic Cast Turret - Double the single stage output or more, likely still be used in some fashion if/when you later upgrade to full progressive. Really hard to fault for the $.

Dillon RL550: A good press, lots out there, limited to 4 stations (not really an issue for rifle, moreso for pistol), non auto-indexing. No rifle case feeder available last I checked.

Hornady LnL AP: For the $ or less than the Dillon 550, it's a good, 5 stage progressive, auto-indexing press. I have one and like it quite a bit. Case and bullet feeders available. Less $ when gearing up for many calibers vs Dillon toolheads, but not too significant IMO when loading 3-4 calibers. I like the quick-change bushings vs, e.g. a pair of dedicated toolheads for rifle processing vs loading, but ether setup is fine from a convenience/usability standpoint...just a bit more $ for a second toolhead on Dillon to match the same convenience factor, for rifle.

I have a case feeder on mine and like it, but would probably give the nod to the Dillon on the case feeder 'out of the box.' I needed to do small amounts of tweaking w/the feeder. The rest of the press = set it up right, once, off and running and loading thousands of rounds. I added a second powder measure (one dedicated to rifle, one for pistol), and micrometer inserts for the pair of powder measures - you don't 'have' to, like you don't 'need' extra Dillon toolheads, but it makes sense to do so and works well for me. Runs well with or without case feeder.

DIllon XL650 - Also a nice press, just more $$ than the other options. 5 stage, auto-indexing, intended to be run w/case feeder. A bit odd running it w/out one, but runs well *with* the case feeder..for a bit more $. While the Dillon and Hornady can use the same case feeder plates (e.g. get the Hornady case feeder plate for small rifle, cheaper and works fine in the Dillon, or vice versa if you get a deal), Dillon's caliber specific case feeding bits are a bit better than the more generic 'adjust per caliber, no new pieces' Hornady feeder.

It's really a tough call, and any of the above will make decent ammo. Just be aware you're not 'done' after buying the press itself - scale, calipers, case gages, shell plates or holders, dies, trimmer and other case prep tools (primarily for rifle calibers) all add up, as well as components.

Figure for typical practice or USPSA, 3 gun, etc. type of 'match' ammo, your component cost for loaded rounds is ~ 1/2 vs e.g. WWB ammo. I load .308 175 or 178gr HPBT ammo for ~ 1/3rd of what I'd pay for it factory. If you look at how much you shoot per year, and use an average factory ammo cost for each caliber, you might be surprised at how soon 'break even' can occur, although most of us DO like to keep a fair stock of components on hand - you may well break even on the press + reloading equipment in the first year, then allow the second year to cover building up your 'components stash.'

Good luck in your decision!

[tnorman]

I'm probably leaning toward the 550 more that I think about it. I buy Federal bulk 223 from Wal-Mart for 39.00.per 100 rounds and that adds up quick. I already have calipers from when I built RC helicopters. I'm sure with a little searching I could find the other stuff cheap when the tim comes.