New reloading setup suggestions/critique/recommendations

[satchamo]

For a press I’d really consider the Forster coax. You don’t have to fumble with shell holders and the die change system is fast and repeatable. I switched to it a few months ago from an old Lee and I love it.

For powder throwing, I’d recommend manual dropping on a good scale then pick up a dandy trickler to trickle up to your weight. This is going to be slower than a charge master but more accurate overall all the auto throwers can be very hit and miss unless you spend the money on an autotrickler or similar (which I’d argue was the best money I’ve spent on reloading).

 

[Harvey_NW]

My advice from experience - I use Hornady Custom Grade FL die sets because they're cheap and effective, homemade lanolin/alcohol lube, bump shoulders .002-3" for a bolt gun, tumble in white rice just long enough to get lube off, roll in a cheap media separator. Case prep station is nice for chamfer/deburr/brush, or if you get something like the Hornady 3-way trimmer. Universal hand primer, auto charger with a good beam scale to double check and trickle up for precision loads unless you invest in something like an FX-120i and autotrickler setup. Pretty much covers what I consider important.

 

[DeepMauka]

Press: Cant beat a rockchucker supreme.

Dies: Love my forester ultra micrometer, just get an rcbs universal decap and use that to decap. The foresters can be a bit tricky to set up but once the'yre set they're awesome.

Priming: Derraco Engineering - My most favorite tool to be honest. So slick super clean super accurate feeds amazing.

Case Trimmer: L.E. Wilson with micrometer: slow but rock solid and crazy accurate. Beats the hell out of anything with a collet.

Tumbler: I use a dillion 750, works great no complaints.

Scales: I have a cchargemaster supreme with the tube adder, works amazing. I also have a sweet RCBS 10-10 beam scale from like the 70s which rocks and is super handy to have around to check charges from time to time when reloading just using the mircrometer adjustment screws from a UPM on more bulk ammo.

My main advice would be dont be loyal to a color, different brands make certain things really well. Just focus on one piece at a time and have fun!

The derraco primer…does it allow you to set a specific priming depth?

 

[Castle Rock]

There are two versions, the cheaper one doesnt

 

[DeepMauka]

You didn't mention what kind of shooting you do regularly that you'll be reloading for, it can make a big difference in what brands/components are best for your scenario. A Rockchucker Supreme is a great all around press, especially if you'll reload large cartridges as you'll need the extra oomph on the resizing stroke. I don't really notice a big difference in dies for hunting and general target shooting but the RCBS X dies make it nice to not have to trim brass each time. Those that are more into competitive shooting like the Redding dies with the micrometer adjustment. An electronic powder dispenser is really nice to speed things up a bit but is not necessary to start as well. Like one of the other posts said, look for quality items that are used or wait for sales. Best of luck with your reloading journey.

Deer and sheep hunting. Want to extend my range and find best bullet for what my my guns like best to shoot most accurately/consistently

Others have already covered a lot of your questions, but one thing I didn't see on your list that is an absolute must is a good scale.

Either get a calibrated beam scale, or buy the best electronic scale you can afford. Consistency is key when reloading and I don't know how many times I have seen guys with great case prep, dies, comparators, etc. and then have a scale that is +/- 0.2 to 0.3 grains. That means you could have a 0.4 to 0.6 grain swing between individual loads. If you plan to be a volume reloader, then I suggest a Lee Perfect powder measure (less $) or Harrells (more $) combined with a trickler and a good scale. If you don't plan to do a lot of volume, then any powder measure along with a trickler and good scale will work. If money isn't an object and you want the most precision and least amount of time, then the Autotricker V4 or Supertrickler should be considered.

One other comment, I would recommend the SAC comparator over the Hornady mainly because the SAC inserts are SS rather than cheap aluminum, which means they will stay consistent and not wear unevenly.

I was given an old ohaus 5-0-5 scale and a powder thrower. I’ll use that and a trickler for now

 

[DeepMauka]

Thanks for all the advice, I’m piecing things together now.

I was able to get an older Bonanza press for a decent price. I’ve heard they may not fit some of the newer micrometer dies, but we will see

 

[powpowpowers]

There are two versions, the cheaper one doesn't

Correct, and you also get anodized color parts etc.

 

[Notorious BEN]

I have a dry tumbler and I might have to give white rice a try!

My advice from experience - I use Hornady Custom Grade FL die sets because they're cheap and effective, homemade lanolin/alcohol lube, bump shoulders .002-3" for a bolt gun, tumble in white rice just long enough to get lube off, roll in a cheap media separator. Case prep station is nice for chamfer/deburr/brush, or if you get something like the Hornady 3-way trimmer. Universal hand primer, auto charger with a good beam scale to double check and trickle up for precision loads unless you invest in something like an FX-120i and autotrickler setup. Pretty much covers what I consider important.

 

[Castle Rock]

I have a dry tumbler and I might have to give white rice a try!

I tried it once and it got stuck in the flash holes and was a royal pain in the ass

 

[Harvey_NW]

I tried it once and it got stuck in the flash holes and was a royal pain in the ass

You can smash/grind/blend it first and then it won't. I've been using the same batch for quite a while so it's broken down pretty small. I have to poke a few grains out of pockets but seems to produce the least carbon dust and remove lube the fastest, so it is what it is.

 

[9.3koolaid]

I tried it once and it got stuck in the flash holes and was a royal pain in the ass

Same, never again. Get's stuck in flash holes and also bridges up down in cases. If you try it, i'd recommend blowing compressed air through a few to see if anything comes out.

 

[9.3koolaid]

You can smash/grind/blend it first and then it won't. I've been using the same batch for quite a while so it's broken down pretty small. I have to poke a few grains out of pockets but seems to produce the least carbon dust and remove lube the fastest, so it is what it is.

Just out of curiosity what cartridge and kind of brass do you tumble with it? I did ~200 pieces of Lapua 7-08 and had ~100 pieces with grains stuck in the flash hole so bad I couldn't poke or knock them out, but had to use tiny forceps to pull them out.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Just out of curiosity what cartridge and kind of brass do you tumble with it? I did ~200 pieces of Lapua 7-08 and had ~100 pieces with grains stuck in the flash hole so bad I couldn't poke or knock them out, but had to use tiny forceps to pull them out.

Mostly 6.5 PRC Peterson first and then my recent lot of ADG, but some 6 Creed all the way up to 300 PRC, 100pcs at a time. I only use LRP. Rolling for a minute or two in the media separator usually gets all of it out of the cases, I have a drill bit the size of flash holes at my prep station and grab a handful of brass at a time, quickly inspect pockets and poke through if needed.

Might be an unnecessary step to some, but for me the smoothness and consistency of sizing with lanolin lube and how quickly the rice removes it is worth the tradeoff to take a second to poke a few pockets.

 

[9.3koolaid]

Maybe need a medium grain rice or something. The costco special wasn't cutting it.

 

[ThorM465]

I put together this spread sheet a few years ago for another Jarhead trying to get into reloading. This should help.

 

[CCoble]

If budget is not a factor the below is about as good as it gets. But most of these guys have listed plenty of products that will do the job just fine.

Press - Area419 zero press
Case trimmer - Henderson
Case comparators - short action customs or area 419
Calipers - Mitutoyo
Powder scale - RCBS match master or C&E autotrickler
- K&M arbor press for bullet seating
Dies - SAC or Micron
Primer Seater - any hand primer with an adjustment dial for depth

 

[wind gypsy]

Maybe need a medium grain rice or something. The costco special wasn't cutting it.

That definitely is key. This stuff was recommended in the old primal rights article that suggested cleaning with rice and its all ive ever used. https://www.amazon.com/Nishiki-Medi...0DER&gPromoCode=sns_us_en_5_2025Q1&gQT=1&th=1

You do get some in flash holes still, maybe 3-5 cases per 100 after tumbling in a media separator. I just look at them all prior to priming and poke em out with a decapper die by hand if needed. On the progressive i set up a decapping die in station 1.

 

[WhoGarrDen]

If budget is not a factor the below is about as good as it gets. But most of these guys have listed plenty of products that will do the job just fine.

Press - Area419 zero press
Case trimmer - Henderson
Case comparators - short action customs or area 419
Calipers - Mitutoyo
Powder scale - RCBS match master or C&E autotrickler
- K&M arbor press for bullet seating
Dies - SAC or Micron
Primer Seater - any hand primer with an adjustment dial for depth

I've heard a lot of people prefer the Nexus Press to Area 419. If having all of your dies stay in the press and just rotating it, I could see the Area 419 benefit - but it costs $400 more.

After reloading 1,000+ rounds on my budget setup, I haven't had any desire for anything more than my single stage Rockchucker - results are spot on if you run it the same way each time. However, I do wish I would have gotten the following:
- Micrometer seating die (quality of life mostly)
- 3-way Trimmer (Hornady)

I keep telling myself that an autotrickler + FX120i will reduce my ES by getting to-the-grain accurate over my RCBS Chargemaster Lite...but then I'm honest with myself and my current 30-40 FPS ES is completely reasonable reusing Hornady and PPU brass.

 

[CCoble]

I've heard a lot of people prefer the Nexus Press to Area 419. If having all of your dies stay in the press and just rotating it, I could see the Area 419 benefit - but it costs $400 more.

After reloading 1,000+ rounds on my budget setup, I haven't had any desire for anything more than my single stage Rockchucker - results are spot on if you run it the same way each time. However, I do wish I would have gotten the following:
- Micrometer seating die (quality of life mostly)
- 3-way Trimmer (Hornady)

I keep telling myself that an autotrickler + FX120i will reduce my ES by getting to-the-grain accurate over my RCBS Chargemaster Lite...but then I'm honest with myself and my current 30-40 FPS ES is completely reasonable reusing Hornady and PPU brass.

Having used both I personally prefer the 419. But again that’s in a no budget concern scenario. It is perfectly consistent every time with no need to pay attention to cam over and things like that like with a rock chucker. I also started out with a rock chucker and did not have bad luck by any means. Always a good option. But when I started loading 2-5k rounds a year it was time to move up!

I would absolutely switch to a micrometer seating die. Even further I would highly recommend seating on an arbor press.

The 3 way trimmer is worth every penny. The Henderson I mentioned above is what Hornady modeled theirs after.

As for the scale you will most definitely see your ES/SD fall if you switch to that scale setup. But at then end of the day it all depends on what you are after and expect from you rifle and loads. For me personally I usually don’t shoot a load unless it’s under a 6SD & 15ES. So the scale is a huge factor to making that possible.

 

[Sasquatch7]

You didn't mention what kind of shooting you do regularly that you'll be reloading for, it can make a big difference in what brands/components are best for your scenario. A Rockchucker Supreme is a great all around press, especially if you'll reload large cartridges as you'll need the extra oomph on the resizing stroke. I don't really notice a big difference in dies for hunting and general target shooting but the RCBS X dies make it nice to not have to trim brass each time. Those that are more into competitive shooting like the Redding dies with the micrometer adjustment. An electronic powder dispenser is really nice to speed things up a bit but is not necessary to start as well. Like one of the other posts said, look for quality items that are used or wait for sales. Best of luck with your reloading journey.

Why don’t you have to trim the brass each time with RCBS X dies?