Please recommend the rest of my kit.

[R H Clark]

I've just started buying my reloading equipment. I want to buy good equipment yet not waste money for what is not needed. Please recommend the Min. amount of pieces I still need but in quality equipment. Rifle only for now.

I have bought a Forster Co-Axe press and picked up some used but in great shape RCBS and Forster dies. I just need recommendations for the rest of my kit.

For instance, I will likely weigh all my loads so do I need a good powder measure thrower and a trickler or would I be just as well off with some Lee dippers and a trickler?

What good weight scale would you recommend?

OAL measuring tool- caliper?

Case prep kit?

Trim tool?

Keep in mind I only want to spend money if it is benefitting the accuracy of my loads. I am not so interested in saving time.

I do have my pastor who will help get me started when I get all my equipment. My pastor reloads and was once a competition shooter. I'm sure he will make recommendations but he is very frugal and I just wanted some other opinions.

 

[Tom1417]

Well it all depends on what kind of volume you are thinking of reloading in the future. If it's going to be a box or two of ammo a month then the rcbs 5-0-5 scale will serve you just fine. I would also go ahead and purchase a quality powder measure as well and a trickler. Now if money is no object or you will be charging a large number of cases for precision loads the rcbs chargemaster will benefit you greatly. But that's your decision to make. In terms of calipers I'm a stickler for quality tools so I'd recommend a set from starret or mititoyo. They are very well made and will last a lifetime. Both rcbs and Redding make very good and accurate case trimmers but they aren't the only options to look at. For cases prep if you mean chamfering and primer pocket tools I just use the hand tools from Lyman. For case cleaning there are multiple ways to do it. I use a combination of of tumbling and ultrasonic cleaning. Just realize that when you are looking at realoading equipment you have to look at what tools will benefit your process and that there is no nessecity to have the best of everything. By the way what a great press to get started with I wish I had one. Good luck

 

[TBH]

Trimmers. I have tried Wilson, Forester, RCBS, Lymon, Redding trimmers. The thing that ticks me off the most is taking the time to trim brass, and find out your OAL varies .008-.010". If I was to buy another trimmer, I think I would try the WFT trimmer. I have gone to using Lapua brass. Less prep time and more shooting time.
When buying reloading equipment, think about the future also. How many calibers are you in the reloading. How many rounds a year where you end up reloading.
For me on calipers I usually go middle of the road. I don't like the cheap junk, in fact I had a Frankford arsenal digital caliper that every time I put it back in the box it turns itself on and kills the battery. You can have that one!
For powder scales, brass cleaning I am a Dillon fan. I am spoiled using an electronic powder measure, but it is hard to beat a good quality balance beam scale.

 

[Potatohead]

I like to have case gauges for rifle. A cheap beam scale will do you fine, I have Lyman five-oh something or another. I wouldnt mess with the dippers, A Lee Auto Disk is like 25$ or something, though you will have to get the double disk set and the rifle charging die. It's very underrated for rifle charging IMO, im having no troubles with any of my powders so far.

I dont like the cheapy calipers either. I bought the 60$ RCBS ones, and yes you will need to have this item. I have the WFT for trimming and it is spot on and easy-if you're only reloading one or two calibers it's the way to go.

 

[rg1]

You can save money not buying things you're not likely to use. If you're going to be loading and weighing every charge then I would recommend a good electronic scale. I have had a Pact Precision, the same one that I bought in 1994'ish, and it has weighed nearly every charge I've loaded, weighed cases, shotgun shot charges, and loaded rounds for around 20 years. It's accurate and fast. RCBS, Lyman, and Dillion make good electronic scales for the money. I also have an RCBS 5-10 balance beam in a drawer should the electric power be unavailable. I have a powder throw and a trickler but they don't get used. You have to have a good caliper and I like the standard dial calipers over the electronic ones but I also have an electronic caliper. Nice thing about it is you can zero it at any position. As far as case trimmers to trim rifle cases I have had a Forster Original case trimmer since the 1980's. You need to buy pilots for the calibers you load plus if you load long magnum style cases you may need the longer base. Mine has trimmed multi thousands of cases but I'm not into fast mass production. I also have a Lyman Universal trimmer and it's just ok and nothing to brag about.
If you reload military cases with primer crimps you'll need a way to remove the primer crimp. I have both the RCBS Combo swager which works in my press and also a bench swager
Case prep tools I recommend are a case mouth deburr tool. I also recommend a VLD case mouth deburr tool. I use a Lyman inside primer pocket flash hole uniformer. I do recommend a primer pocket uniformer which insures pocket depths are more uniform and also it doubles as a primer pocket cleaner.
I have a Co-Ax press also. You may want to order some Forster die lock rings for use on your press. Some die lock rings won't fit the Co-Ax slot. They are often sold in packs of 10. Great press.
You can use your Co-Ax press priming feature but I love my RCBS bench mounted priming tool. It's worth every penny. I prefer priming off press but others are ok using the press primer.
Have fun. Don't break the bank but don't start out without some good tools. Forgot that in the previous post Potatohead recommended case gauges for rifle. I would never start reloading rifle rounds without a gauge to measure shoulder set-back or headspace when adjusting your sizing die. I have Hornady's Headspace gauge set which will measure most all rifle calibers plus I have a couple RCBS Precision Mics. The Hornady gauge works by clamping onto your caliper. I also recommend check weights to verify the accuracy of whatever scale you decide to buy.

 

[z7]

To help with case prep, chamfer, debur, remove primer crimps, clean primer pockets etc, Lyman power tool kit. $40 or so from amazon, everything hooks right into a cordless drill and speeds things up.
Depending on how many calibers and volume, for a trimmer I use the l.e. Wilson. It is fairly quick 100,trimmed in about 45 mins , so not fast but it is very consistent.
Calipers, I went to northern tool and got a a digital set for $45.
Case gauges are good to have.
To clean brass you can easily use a milk jug, hot soapy water and either lemishine or citric acid and a good soak and a good shake gets it clean enough to get through your dies.

 

[RugerBob]

I would get middle of the road calipers. Stay with dial and not battery. Nothing like having the batteries crap out when you need to do a reading.
Cheap tumbler. Depending on your powder choice. The powder I use leaves my brass very dirty. So a tumbler is what I need to use to get nice clean brass.
Lee makes good products that won't break the bank.

 

[R H Clark]

Thanks guys!
I'll be looking at every product mentioned.
rg1-I bought a dozen of the die lock rings when I bought my press.

Pototatohead- Is the case gauge you mentioned something that measures your rifle so that you can transfer that measurement to your cartridge? I think I have seen something like that when searching equipment.

 

[witchhunter]

Case prep is important to accuracy, so you will need a trimmer. Most of them work fine. You can use a hand tool for chamfering and deburring. You will also need a good pair of calipers. Your sizing die adjustment is critical to both accuracy and longevity of brass. A powder measure and trickler are the standards for single stage loading still. Most of the beam scales are accurate enough. you will need a loading block and a funnel as well as a lube pad and some lube. A tumbler to remove the lube and make em shiny again. I still use a Lee hand primer, but there are other brands, they all work. I like to feel the primers seat. Oh, a caliber specific funnel from Satern is a nice touch, but an RCBS or Lee funnel will work.

 

[Potatohead]

The case gauge will help you adjust your sizing die by telling you if you are pushing your shoulders back to far, or not enough.. If your sized case fits in the gauge, you're GTG, if not you must screw your sizing die either in or out a bit. The instructions with the gauge will give you the details. They mimic the chamber of the caliber you are loading. Some also tell you if you need to trim further.

^This is regarding bottleneck cartridges, I just use my barrel and do the plunk test with pistol.

 

[WestKentucky]

Big money and big savings are possible with tumblers. Just buy one from harbor freight for 1/6 the cost of a reloading brand name brand one. Their walnut media is good too. For priming you have a few good cheap options but I suggest the rcbs hand primer.

For case lube you need to build a wiping station like I did.too much lube and you get lube dents on the cases. Too little and you stick brass. Mine is made with a retired whisker biscuit arrow rest clamped to a 2x2 about 6" long that is screwed to a little block of plywood. The whisker biscuit is expensive, but 2 cheap paintbrushes would do the same. Caut the handles off and have the tips of the bristles touching each other when you screw it down. Would post a pic but can't get to my bench due to remodeling the manroom.

 

[Potatohead]

Speaking of tumblers, I was thinking today I might buy that one that has the little handle and you spin it, and it separates all the media from the brass, then you can just pour your brass out.

i cant recall if that's exactly how it works, I havent seen it in a while, but it's a little annoying picking the whole tumbler up, pouring the media through the vent holes in the top screen into a bucket, shaking and turning it until all of the media is out, then taking the top off, dumping the brass, then having to fill pour the media back in to go again.

 

[Tom1417]

What you are thinking of is a media seperator. Both dillion and cabelas sell them as well as others I'm sure. They definitely do come in handy

 

[Potatohead]

Yea, Ive got to get one of those. I often get more media on the garage floor than I do the tumbler.

 

[swampcrawler]

And there's that sudden realization that I need 2 paychecks more worth or reloading gizmos. Thanks guys.

I'm still using a lot of cheap basic stuff myself. Some kind of digital powder thrower and a power case prep station would really be nice.

 

[z7]

I had to choose the rout of what is necessary to be safe and make ammo. There are so many "nice to have" items. I am slowly accumulating them

 

[Potatohead]

Yea, you can get by with a little less, but you can also spend as much as you want to, there's a lot of little gizmos in this hobby.

 

[witchhunter]

It's crazy what is available today, the hobby (lifestyle) is exploding. I see new loaders on the internet asking about bushing dies and comparators, micrometer seating dies etc, I have been reloading since Moses was in the fourth grade and I have a bunch of reloading equipment. I only stepped up to a micrometer seating die about ten years ago. It doesn't make my ammo any better, it just makes it easier to work up loads with. It is repeatable. Bushing dies, wow, better do your homework or you will be better off with a standard FL RCBS die. Oh, but they are smooth. Neck turning, yeah ruined the whole first bag of new brass I tried. My advice would be to get a kit and read every manual you can get your mitts on. The kit will have everything that you need to load and you can load tonight. Add things as they become necessary, or you want to step up in volume or precision.