Want to start reloading what do I get? Please help

[jdub1836]

My brother and I want to start reloading. I want to reload 10mm and I guess 308 and he wants to reload 300 win mag, he isnt old enough yet to get a 10.
What is a good cheap single stage press kit that we can get. I'm not looking to crank out a bunch of rounds I just want to free my self from buying loads off the Internet and hounding a guy I know. I'm new to the 10mm world and will never leave it. I use my 10 for hunting and freakin love it( long slide glock)

[DM1906]

There's only one answer to that.  Lee Challenger KIT.  It will come with everything you need to get started (minus cartridge components).  Buy dies (and additional Breech Lock bushings) as necessary.  Keep in mind, it is BASIC, but you can't get close to the function for nearly 5X the price with anything else.  Midway has them in stock, HERE.

[The_Shadow]

jdub1836, Welcome to the forum!  Do yourself a favor, get the RCBS Rockchucker starter KIT, it is a strong cast iron press and will serve you beyond your days...Most of the time there is a rebate of $50 bucks or 500 bullets if you research this.

The kit is packed with many great things to get you up and going with the best features being the press which is strong enough to do the sizing of rifle cartridges you speak of.  When you are resizing rifle brass you need brute strength and force that a quality compound leverage press.  In the KIT you get lots of things, the powder hopper is very good quality, the balance beam scale 5-0-5 has some dampening for quicker steady level and the Speer Reloading manual is a great book to cover all of your needs.
I just talked my Brother-in-law into this setup and he is glad he went this route, he's waiting on his free bullets.

You will need to order each set of dies to load the cartridges you wish to load for.  These can be any manufactures' die set but RCBS does make great quality dies.

Look at MidwayUSA  http://www.midwayusa.com/product/937051/rcbs-rock-chucker-supreme-master-single-stage-press-kit

[DM1906]

I don't disagree with anything posted above by Shadow, except perhaps underestimating the Lee press.  While the Rock Chucker is one of the best single stage presses available, it is no more capable of doing what you ask.  I have a Challenger, bought new in about 1980.  I've used it to load more rounds than I can count, but it finally broke about a month ago.  A $5 part, and it's back to like new.  I've loaded thousands of the big rifle cartridges with it since new.  The .300WM and .308 are quite small, by comparison.  I have 2 RCBS Rock Chuckers, and normally use one for loading large rifle cartridges.  Not because it's really any better, but due to the way my bench is set up.  You can't go wrong with either, considering what you intend, and more.  You used the word "cheap", and nothing RCBS matches that description.  There are other brands to consider, and they're all good.  Each has it's unique quality, mostly seen by individual users.  No more, really, than Ford vs. Chevy.

[Patriot]

Kind of crazy, but I have been reloading for years and still use a Lee hand press. I even measure every powder charge by hand with a scoop and balance scale.

[The_Shadow]

DM1906, Don't get me wrong, Lee and others make good products...I guess I'm partial to RCBS because of what I have gotten from mine since 1978.  I have a 5-10 scale and it is way faster to stabilize than the 5-0-5 model but I also have a Lee balance scale that takes for ever to balance out, so hand weighing charges makes this scale worth its weight! 

I use a RCBS Big Max for extra heavy duty things and the leverage that thing produces makes resizing rifle brass a dream...

I always looked at these presses as an investment for precision and strength.

[gandog56]

Kind of crazy, but I have been reloading for years and still use a Lee hand press. I even measure every powder charge by hand with a scoop and balance scale.

I have a Lee Challenger press, but sometimes watch TV and use the hand press to size and prime brass while watching.

[DM1906]

DM1906, Don't get me wrong, Lee and others make good products...I guess I'm partial to RCBS because of what I have gotten from mine since 1978.  I have a 5-10 scale and it is way faster to stabilize than the 5-0-5 model but I also have a Lee balance scale that takes for ever to balance out, so hand weighing charges makes this scale worth its weight! 

I use a RCBS Big Max for extra heavy duty things and the leverage that thing produces makes resizing rifle brass a dream...

I always looked at these presses as an investment for precision and strength.

I'm not disagreeing with you, as said before.  About 1/2 of my handloading collection is RCBS.  I like it, and use it, as much or more as any.  You're right about the scale and such, I use the same.  I like the 505, as mine is more accurate (consistent) and stabilizes faster than the 510, or 1010 I had.  Maybe what you have is really good, or mine was not.  The Lee scale is accurate and it works, but as you said, is a little rough around the edges.  I gave it away, along with the powder measure (I bought them at a yard sale for cheap).  For powder measure, I use the Lee disk (many different configurations and options, depending on the type of loading, progressive, single, powder, charge), and RCBS in 2 flavors.  I had the Lee powder measure (cylinder), but gave it away, too.  It worked fine, just didn't like it as much as the others.  I've donated a lot of equipment to beginners over the years, and wouldn't pass on anything that wasn't minimally safe.  Very often, you get what you pay for.  Other times, cheaper is better.  The RCBS presses I have now are no less than 40 years old, and I have a Piggy-Back setup on one of them.  I have a lot of tools in the shed, and I use all of them, at one time or another.  What I don't use, I pass on.  I still have original Lee Loaders that I'll probably never use again, but those I'll keep.  You never know what will happen, and I can always fall back on them if it gets really bad.

[sqlbullet]

I bought the RCBS kit because my LGS was out fo the Lee kit the day the money was in my pocket.  I have a good friend with the Lee kit.

My most used press is my Lee Reloader press which I got new for $20.00.  I bought it just to size bullets, but have ended up loading all my pistol rounds on it and do most of my rifle rounds, except full-length sizing on it. 

Reason being it is just so darn handy.  I mounted it to a 3' section of 1X4 and clamp it down to whatever is nearby where I want to work.

I would start with the Lee kit, and then replace anything that I didn't like.

[gandog56]

There's only one answer to that.  Lee Challenger KIT.  It will come with everything you need to get started (minus cartridge components).  Buy dies (and additional Breech Lock bushings) as necessary.  Keep in mind, it is BASIC, but you can't get close to the function for nearly 5X the price with anything else.  Midway has them in stock, HERE.

Not everything, just 98% of it. He would still need a set of calipers. And I prefer a digital scale as they are MUCH faster and just as accurate.

[REDLINE]

LOL.  And I'm partial to Hornady, especially because of the quick change die system.  You get 500 FREE bullets after the purchase of this kit too.  Notice with this particular kit you get a digital scale (I own the same scale and like it) and dial caliper.


($445.99)

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/23675

BTW, I do own some of what you see in the pic, and love the press (smooth, strong, solid, good feel of the primers seating if using the press to seat primers,...).