Everything I need to start reloading

[alostfrontier]

Hey all,

Well, I told myself it'd probably be a year before I started reloading, but why not start now?

After doing some reading, it seems the cost might be slightly higher up front, but it'll be cheaper in the long run, right?.... right?

The RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master reloading kit seems like it has just about everything I'd need, BUT there is a new press that RCBS came out with last year, the Rebel press. They have a Rebel Master reloading kit which again seems like it has almost everything I need. Does anyone know anything about this new press? From the little reading I did, it seems like it's an improvement, but I'm wondering if I should go with something more time-tested.

What else do I need? Where can I find a good list of all the essentials and some recommended brands to look at? I know I need dies... digital calipers, digital scale... there is just a lot to read about and it's a bit overwhelming.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

P.S.
Do these things typically go on sale in the fall? I.E. would it be worth waiting until November/Black Friday to try and snag one of these kits?

[Rooster41]

YEs, you can save some money by reloading your own. For some calibers, even in these crazy component prices, it still cost less per round. Although component prices are starting to come down, at least in my area. My local retailers has powder and primers on the shelf daily.

I started with a Lee Turret press kit. Came with everything I needed. So a kit is the way to go. I have no experience with RCBS presses. All of my dies are Lee or Hornady. Lee dies include the shell holder. I do have two sets of RCBS dies that did not come with shell holders. You will definitely need manuals. I buy both the bullet manufactures manual and I will get the powders manufactures manual if they have one in print such as Western Powders. There are online loading data from both bullets and powder. I do pay for the Hornady Subscription on their load data app.  The first  part of all of the manuals is the instructions on how to load. I would read that a couple of times. If your going to get a digital scale I would spend the money and get a good one. I had the Hornady scale at one time and it wasnt that great. Too inconsistent. If you are going to hand weigh all of your charges, I would get a beam scale. I have heard the RCBS scale is great. My Lee kit came with a beam scale from Lee and it worked well. I have upgraded to an automatic powder measure by Lyman. If you are going to do rifle calibers you will need some sort of case trimmer. I have a lyman lathe. Ive used that since I started loading about 10 years ago. I hate trimming cases. It is the most time consuming part. So this spring I bought the Lyman electric case trimmer. Much better.

Components might be the hardest to find. Although I see lots of Hornady and Berry's bullets on the shelf locally and they are about normal prices. Powders and primers are still up there price wise but coming down. Places I use on line for components is:

Shooters Pro Shop (Nosler Outlet)
MidSouth Shooters Supply
Grafs and Sons
Midway USA
Powder Valley
Look at places you wouldn't think of as reloading site. I found Speer Deep Curl bullets for my 41 Mag at Palmetto State Armory.

I hope this helps a little bit.

[oldman10mm]

-Reloading press
-shellholders
-Dies
-case lube for tapered rifle cases
-case length trimmer
-chamfering tools for removing the 'burr' from case length trimming
-measuring tool for case length
-case cleaning, dry media or wet SS pins
-priming tool
-powder thrower and powder measuring device

[sqlbullet]

I have not used a Rebel press.  I started with an the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme kit just like the one you linked.

I did some basic reading on the Rebel press, and it seems to correct most of the shortcomings of the Rock Chucker, the big one being spent primer management.  I deprime almost exclusively on my Lee breechlock as it bas a better spent primer system than the Chucker, but the Revel looks better still.

That is not to say that comparing these two kits I think there is a clear winner.  In fact, though I think I would prefer the Rebel press over the traditional Chucker press, I would probably choose the chucker kit over the Rebel kit, even though it costs more.  Here is the breakdown by item in kit for which I would prefer (Rebel = Rebel Master kit, Chucker = Rock Chucker Supreme kit)

Press:  Rebel, mainly for primer management, though the larger window and base are big wins as well
Priming:  Rebel, the universal priming tool looks like an improvement, and the square primer tray definitely is better
Powder Measure:  Chucker, I think the increased flexibility of very large charges with the original Uniflow makes it the winner
Scales:  Chucker, A balance beats a load cell for ultimate precision every time
Case Prep tools:  Rebel, barely cause I have to acknowledge the presence of primer pocket tools, though I doubt their real utility for the beginner
Case Lube:  Chucker, barely,  you will want spray lube, but sometimes a pad is a good thing and the rebel doesn't have it
Powder Trickle:  Rebel, easy win since the chucker doesn't have one...But I have been reloading for decades and I don't have one either, so not critical
Manual and tools:  Tie cause same/same

That puts it a Rebel(4), Chucker(3).

Except...

One of the three the Chucker win's is HUGE to me.  Balance ($100) vs digital scale load cell ($35).  A balance feels foreign to a bunch of folks, and if you do good load development small variances in powder charge don't matter.  But in a purely theoretical sense a balance will always provide feedback a digital cell can't.

Another is not huge, but significant, and that is the Uniflow vs Uniflow III.  The III is mostly about being cheaper to make without sacrificing quality.  They did this by sacrificing the ability to throw very large charges.

Those two items, to me, would sway me back to the Chucker over the Rebel.

[Kenk]

Love my Chucker press

[gnappi]

I've been through too many presses, so I make this informed comment not meaning to fan fires of zealots.

Dillon 550, hunt for components, done.

[Graybeard]

I've been through too many presses, so I make this informed comment not meaning to fan fires of zealots.

Dillon 550, hunt for components, done.

Totally agree.