Thinking of the Reloading Hobby....

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I sent my C&R to Midway & Brownells. Should I expect a reply from them? How do I get an order discount?
Plan to get the Lyman 48th Handbook, maybe others...

OK, back to reloading. I'm on a tight budget, so I want to limit equipment to less than $150 (not including the dies). I already own digital calipers, shell holders. From what I've been reading, the Lee Anniversary kit may not be the way to go. It is very tempting at $65.
Any opinions on the RCBS Partner Kit, $140?
The Lyman Orange Crusher Pro Kit, $124?
Would either of these be better than the Lee kit?

Initially, I'm looking at 30-40 Krag, 30 Carbine, with pistol cartridges later, 45ACP, 357 mag. (Already have loads of M2 ball, 8mm Mauser)

I've sifted through some of the threads here, and it seems the RCBS Rock Chucker is considered very good, but it's out of my budget...
 
I hate to say this, but! You can snag some good deals on Ebay! Yeah I know they are anti gun, but there are some deals. Another idea is look around your local club for people upgrading their equipment. And, most of all congrats on your attitude that reloading is a hobby! And, it does cost money! I can respect your budget limitations, but sometimes you have buy once and cry once!
 
I sent my C&R to Midway & Brownells. Should I expect a reply from them? How do I get an order discount?
Click to expand...

If you faxed a copy of your C&R to Midway along with your customer number, they will make the change to your account to give it dealer status. I believe they will send you confirmation, but you'll be able to tell when you login that the change took place because you'll then see the dealer prices along with the regular price (and retail price).

Plan to get the Lyman 48th Handbook, maybe others...
Click to expand...

I have the Lyman 48th. It's a good book. If you load Hodgdon powders, definitely get the Hodgdon Annual. It's in a magazine format, so it's cheap, but it's a must for Hodgdon users. I have the Speer #13 as well. Hornady and Sierra manuals are also good.

OK, back to reloading. I'm on a tight budget, so I want to limit equipment to less than $150 (not including the dies). I already own digital calipers, shell holders. From what I've been reading, the Lee Anniversary kit may not be the way to go. It is very tempting at $65.
Any opinions on the RCBS Partner Kit, $140?
The Lyman Orange Crusher Pro Kit, $124?
Would either of these be better than the Lee kit?

Initially, I'm looking at 30-40 Krag, 30 Carbine, with pistol cartridges later, 45ACP, 357 mag. (Already have loads of M2 ball, 8mm Mauser)
Click to expand...

Reloading does require some funds to get started. As far as the lower cost kits go you will probably want to go with the Lee kit. Personally, I went with an RCBS Rockchucker kit several years ago, but the cost is significantly more than the Lee. The Lee will give you everything you need short of a trimmer, calipers, manuals, and dies/shellholders. As far as I know, all the presses in the kits above are made of aluminum, not cast steel, so there is a chance of breaking the press. The most inexpensive cast press out there is the Lee Classic cast press, but I don't think it's available in a 'kit' form.

I've sifted through some of the threads here, and it seems the RCBS Rock Chucker is considered very good, but it's out of my budget...
Click to expand...

Yes, the Rockchucker is the standard that all single stage presses are compared to.
 
ocabj, Thanks.
I logged onto Midway, and yes, I can now see Dealer pricing!
I've read good and bad on the Lee press. Many say it works fine and lasts, but then quite a few say, they had handles come off, linkages break, and the main structure fail. Also, the scale is said to be a big weak point.
Brings me back to these (Midway pricing):
RCBS Partner kit, $122
RCBS Reloader Special 5, $194
Rock Chucker Supreme, $236

Haven't done the math, but maybe I can get to a lower cost by getting a Rock Chucker press only, plus some other brand equipment?

Saw two of the older Rock Chuckers (just the press) go for $71 & $92 on ebay tonight. Seems high considering the newer R.C. Supreme press goes for $104 new.
 
One thing you might try to get into it cheap is to see if there's a local high volume reloader nearby. 2 of the guys around here always seem to have used equipment that they're willing to part with reasonably. From what I understand quite a few people buy the stuff, load maybe 200-300 rounds and then decide that it's too much work for them and trade off their equipment in exchange for ammo. He had a Hornady LNL progressive that looked brand new for $200 last fall when I bought a used single stage off of him. (FWIW).

I picked up a RCBS JR 3 for $15 and all it needed was a coat of paint and that was optional. :)

Have a good one,
Dave
 
Given your price range, I would go with the Lyman Crusher 2 kit for $114.85 after dealer discount. It appears to come with everything needed to start loading except for the dies. One other thing you'll probably want right off the bat is a powder trickler. They go for about $ 10.00 - 15.00 at Midway. Since you are on a budget, I would say skip buying a powder measure right now. Get one in the future if you are still interested in loading and do not go the progessive route.
 
I hate to say this, but! You can snag some good deals on Ebay!
Click to expand...

Yes, but the usual cautions apply. Know the value of what you're bidding on, and be mindful of shipping costs.
 
i too am on a tight budget for reloading. i use lee, its not great but it'll make better ammo than i can probably take full advantage of, so for now its okay.
i have the lee and speer#13 books, i recomend them both.

also the lee auto prime II. its very reasonably priced at 13 or so bucks from midway without a dealer discount, and it does make priming much faster then a lot of other methods.

just a thought
 
I bought my brother in law a Lyman Orange Crusher Expert Kit, it was a good deal. Everything works well. The only thing it didn't come with that I would expect from a reloading kit is a reloading block. You'll also needs dies, shell holder, and calipers.
 
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