If you had your time again

[AusTac]

So a bunch of you guys on the forum and some who i now know in real life, know due to my own curiosity and desire to break stuff i've chosen a hard to get caliber for my next rifle purchase being .500 S&M Mag ( i'll never get tired of saying that ) anyway i need to reload it because its crazy expensive, I thought i'd ask you learned fellas if you had to start again from scratch what would you get? Kit? Piece by piece?

[pomemax]

Remain a bachelor no worries then get what you like

[Supaduke]

Buy Bitcoin at 7 cents.....

[slickncghia]

piece by piece I reckon.

Got all these things in my kit like hand primers, powder dispensers ect that I don't use.
Also ended up getting better brass prep tools cause I'm an idiot and reload 17 cal and the kit stuff was all too large.

If I had my time again:
Single stage press. prime on press. Been happy enough with the lee - $140
funnel rcbs 17-45 cal- $14
semi decent digital scale with good sized powder pan ebay $50-60 (I use a crappy small one for 17h and lee balance for large atm)
lyman brass prep tool thing (primer clean, ream, debur, chamfer ect) - $45
cheapest tricker you can find - $27
sizing lube whichever - $7
cheap little lyman tumbler and media - $70


I think that's about it. I use lee dies atm good value as they come with the shell holder and a dipper.

I mostly do small volumes at a time so I find it faster to just run the dipper and tricker than setting up the powder thrower each time. but the lee powder thrower is cheap
and good enough if you want to do larger batches.

[pomemax]

Buy Bitcoin at 7 cents.....

if you had spent 70.00 and keep hold of them now you would have
1 Bitcoin equals
14085.26 Australian Dollar
$14,085,260 if only we knew

[juststarting]

AusTek, cheapest trickler you can find is one of your 303 cases. But if you want an actual trickler, you can have mine, I used it ones and went back to 308 case as a trickler. Just spin it in your fingers.


I'd get piece by piece. Mostly from eBay.
I'd spend money on good digital scales though.
I wouldn't buy manuals. All data is online.
I would buy a a universal case trimmer from the start, rather than investing into Lee Quick Trim dies.
I would buy a wet tumbler from the start, rather than vibratory.
I would buy digital calipers, not analogue.
I have RCBS single stage partner press - it works well, but doesn't have a removable bushing to fit larger dies. I would have purchased one that has, knowing now that Martini Henry was on the shopping list lol
Auto brass prepping tool, like deburr/chmafer - individual tools is what I use, but your hands start to hurt when you are prepping 50+ cases.
I'd buy bottom pour lead furnace, not the one where you need a ladle.
I'd buy a bottom pour ladel.
(I bought all casting stuff cheap second hand, so that's what I'm stuck with).
I wouldn't buy a trickler.
I would buy a powder thrower from the start.
I'd build a big solid workbench from the start.

[juststarting]

In your case, (non beveled/non boat tale bullets), I'd also buy universal expander die, rather than relying on one that may or may not come in the actuall die set. It's much easier to work with.

[Oldbloke]

What promax & superduke said.

I have a simplex single stage press with priming tool
Old Lee hand primer, use both.
Simplex general purpose trimmer
Reading scales. (second hand)
I made my own trickler.
Made my blocks.

Might get.
A set of Lee scoops.
Lee powder thrower.

Depends how often u pull the trigger.

[juststarting]

Ooooo also I wouldn't get a priming tool. I'd just use the press, because now, I just use the press.

[juststarting]

What's a primer?

[juststarting]

Tbh I think S&B 308 brass ruined it for me. Tight primer pocket meant I couldn't do it using the tool, because I don't have gorilla hands and needed a press lever to shove it in there. So I just moved to press entirely.

[Oldbloke]

Fair enough.
Also I agree on getting a press with removable bushing, the redding single stage I have is good, takes the cowboy 12ga dies, as it would the M H ones or 416 or BMG!

Is that some sort of dick Brag?

[juststarting]

OB, so I found that video...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=btk1sOBvY5c

[sungazer]

Its hard to say how much you would save not buying the kit. In the Lee Kit there are several things that are worth having so you would need to price them individually. The breech lock press. The powder thrower, the funnel is not much but an essential and I like the hand autoprime. I like the Redding powder trickler too it is heavy you wont knock it over one less source of spilling powder everywhere. I would get a set of digital scales. I like the lee quick trim dies. and the dies themselves for general use. The wet tumbler from used guns/ebay you may need to upgrade the pins at some stage. I have used the lee chamfer tool up until recently and have now purchased a much nicer one will have to look at recipts to see what i bought but a sturdy good solid metal one, works well for the inside chamfer the outside chamfer is so so. They need to make one with a centre mandrel the size of your case to keep it all perpendicular.
As for lube I am a convert to the Hornady One shot.

[in2anity]

I would have bought a target rifle for target shooting first. I would have bought my electronic powder dispenser a long time ago.