I would love to start reloading my own 45acp and 44mag rounds. I have never reloaded before and am looking to buy one press with everything I need to get started.
I buy bulk 45 rounds with brass cases for $160 per 1,000 rounds, is it worth even doing my own reloads??? I want to for stress relief for the most part I think.
Any links to a complete setup would be nice. I dont think I need a progressive setup unless I can find one for a good price. C'mon guys, send me some links with prices and let me know your opinions!

 

While I don't have any links to share with you, I can speak from experience. Before we sold our house and moved into a fifth-wheel, I reloaded .45 and .308 religiously. You are correct......it is a GREAT stress reliever. My wife and I (she shoots a .45 also, nothing wimpy for her) would go out almost every weekend. It was not uncommon for us to go through 1500 rounds or more when we went out. We made a whole day of it. The nice thing was, I could load half of them a little light for her, and full charge for me. We started with the pistols to let off the initial head of steam, then settled in with the rifle for some 300+ yard shooting. When I settled behind the .308 everything else disappeared for awhile. I totally forgot about work, bills, etc.

The best piece of equipment I can recommend would be at least 3 good reloading manuals to compare max loads. Another thing that is nice, but not necessary is a good tumbler to clean the shells before you reload them. Also, don't go cheap on the powder scale. I had 2 presses set up on my bench. I would use a single stage to work up my loads. It was real easy to vary the powder, seating depths, etc. I would work up 50 or 60 rounds with varying combinations to see what worked good in the pistols and rifle. Once I got the loads dialed in to our liking, I would switch over to a progressive loader and go to town. Keep good records or your experimental loads. Several times I found the "perfect" loads, but had forgotten to write down what I used. When you go to the range with 5 or 6 loads to try out, keep a slip of paper in each box or baggie telling you what you did with that particular load. It will be much easier to duplicate it later when you find what works for you!

To me, reloading was almost as relaxing as actually shooting. I would go to the garage after work for an hour or two every night and crank out several hundred rounds.

Just remember to take your time and pay attention to what you are doing so you don't miss a step, or double up on a charge. I would check my powder weight every 10 or 20 rounds. Yes, it slowed me down some, but I caught myself a few times too. To me that was worth it.

One word of caution: It can be almost as addictive as BOMBing our trucks! It can get expensive real fast, but it is a wonderful hobby. I still have all my equipment in storage, and when we get back into a house, you can bet it will be one of the first things that get set up.

Enjoy....
Steve

 

This is what I started with. I would recommend you stay away from Lee products, I made the mistake of buying some of their products before. They are cheap for a reason.

 

Hey, I wouldn't knock Lee too much. Especially the dies. And the warranty is the best also. I have much of their stuff. For a guy just starting out that's what I'd reccomend, cuase if he finds out it's not for him, or looses interest, he's not out a whole lot of $$$. Dillon by far is the best. IN fact I know of a few small comercial reloaders who use Dillon presses and Lee dies. Dmax, I swear you wouldn't go wrong with the Lee progressive 1000.

 

Help me understand how Lee's 2 YEAR warranty is better than the RCBS LIFETIME warranty?

I had purchased a lee challenger press brand new just to use for de-capping,after about a month the toggle clamp broke. I sent it back to lee and they sent me another press that looked like it had been dragged behind a truck for a few miles, obviously not my press. I promptly sold it and bought a well used rcbs rock chucker from the mid 60's and am still using it for de-capping duties.

I also had a chunk of carbide break out of one of their carbide pistol dies once too. They did replace the die, but it took about 3 weeks...
You only have to kick me in the head twice to wake me up...

 

Well it sounds like you had a bad deal with them. From what I've seen heard and read, that is the exception and not the rule.

 

I shoot too much to be bothered with reloading 45 ACP. Just buy, shoot, and sweep up the brass.

 

i have a dillon 550 press that i have loaded so many rounds off of that i have no idea what the real # is. but it got me to master class in the uspsa in less than a year. i need to send the 550 back to get rebuilt, the center shaft is wore and getting a bit sloppy. the 650 press is just a little faster to load with. i will keep the 550 set up in the large primer configuration and the 650 in the small primer set up so i can load anything pretty fast. i do not suggest a single stage pess at all, i think it would bore you yo death, i have had a couple. i like kicking off 500 or more rounds a hour.

 

For lots of pistol or just plinking rifle ammo DILLON progressive is the only way to go. For tuning in really precision hand loads for target RCBS Rockchucker. These are just 2 really great company's about backing their product. Get yourself a copy of Dillon's Blue Press mini-magazine and you will be sold.

 

The RCBS Rockchucker with a piggyback for progressive reloading is a cost effective way to do both precision rifle loads and mass produce pistol loads. RCBS makes good stuff and is hard to go wrong with. I buy most of my reloading supplies and equipment from Midway USA and from Midsouth Shooter Supply. Spend money on a scale. The cheaper saddle back scales give you a good idea but are not great. Get a solid back like the RCBS 10-10 or a good digital. If you want to go crazy, get one of the newer power charger/scale combinations. They are awsome! You can go with a volumetric powder charger, but you will need a trickler for rifle loading. Buy a good re-loading book (Speer, Sierra, Hornady,..) and read the chapters on reloading before you buy any equipment.

 

Thanks for all the usefull and great information. I am looking to get into this thing at the rock bottom price for everything I need to do it with. I just dont have a clue as to what all I need I guess? I have been reading sites with instructions on reloading and have figured the steps are, correct me if im wrong, knock the primer out, clean the case, reshape the case, measure the case, prime the case, fill with powder and seat the bullet? Do I have the rough idea down?? I want to get in to this at the absolute lowest cost possible and maybe that will hold me over for a year or so then move up. I see a lot of presses that are upgradable to progressive units later on. What is the scoop on these?

 

Like I said, Lee Loader 1000, and order it with your choice of any one of 12 diff pistol dies, and you got everything you need minus components for under $200. 2 books to get are Lees realoading manual and Hodgen's.

 

On second thought, for 1st time reloading go with this one:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=220870

 

I have this kit myself to load 7mm Rem Mag. My only real complaint with the Lee Press is that it takes a solid well mounted bench to operate it. I haven't used one, but I hear the RCBS presses operate much easier and smoother.

While your buying, you need to get the case trimming gauge, calipers, and some boxes.
A case tumbler is only needed if your worried about the looks of your cases. After a few shots, they dont shine anymore.

Personally, if you can afford it, go with the RCBS kit linked above. Throw in a pair of $25 Frankford Aresonal digital calipers from midway.

edit:
Sorry, I didn't look at the lee kit closer before I posted, Here is the one I have.

 

I have had good luck with all RCBS equipment. The Rockchucker press is a classic and is suitable for almost any future loading you may do. MidwayUSA.com is a good place to shop.

If you are new to reloading I think a single stage press is safer and a better way to learn because you can inspect each step. Progressive presses are much faster but allow mistakes such as a double charge to slip through. To me the extra time of a single stage is worth it.