New to reloading and looking for some guidance

[bwp]

I’m piecing everything together and am looking for some confirmation. I’m thinking about the brass prep center below from Amazon…then adding a Little Crow trimmer for my 6.5 PRC. Is this a good setup?

What calipers would you recommend?

I’m going with the Hornady Auto Charge Pro. Do I need to add anything with that?

 

[bigunit]

Starret or mitutoyo (sp?) Are good for calipers however ive only ever used cheaper digital ones amd they have always worked well. I like digital due to being easy to zero for comparators or the like. The wft is great but you probably dont need to make a purchase like that or the case prep center until you're a bit more invested into reloading. I like the lee case length gauges that are cartridge specific. If you already have a cordless drill you already have half of your case prep center. I stick the case holder in a drill, insert piece of brass, trim, chamfer and deburr. Quick and easy and inexpensive.

 

[bwp]

Starret or mitutoyo (sp?) Are good for calipers however ive only ever used cheaper digital ones amd they have always worked well. I like digital due to being easy to zero for comparators or the like. The wft is great but you probably dont need to make a purchase like that or the case prep center until you're a bit more invested into reloading. I like the lee case length gauges that are cartridge specific. If you already have a cordless drill you already have half of your case prep center. I stick the case holder in a drill, insert piece of brass, trim, chamfer and deburr. Quick and easy and inexpensive.

I do have a drill already. I wasn’t sure what all I needed for case prep.

So the Lee caliber specific gauge, Lee cutter and lock stud. Does that cover my brass prep?

 

[Castle Rock]

You will probably wear that brass out before it needs trimming

 

[HandgunHTR]

You will probably wear that brass out before it needs trimming

Agreed. The short, fat cases with sharp shoulders don't need much trimming, if any at all. It is one of the advantages of going AI on standard cartridges.

As for your case prep center, I have one. It is good. The only drawback is that it is designed to sit as pictured, so when you are cleaning primer pockets and prepping the case mouth, all the debris falls directly onto your bench. I found a guy online that makes a 3-D printed catch basin to go under it, but if you don't mind having it accumulate on your bench or sweeping/vacuuming it up after a loading session, it won't be a problem for you.

 

[bwp]

You will probably wear that brass out before it needs trimming

Good to know. I was thinking it would be an every time I reload thing. What would you recommend?

 

[Castle Rock]

Good to know. I was thinking it would be an every time I reload thing. What would you recommend?

Just get one of these to chamfer the inside of the neck, and a $30 digital caliper.

 

[Chris in TN]

Modern calibers can easily be fired 5-7 times between trimmings, maybe more. It's not even something I think about anymore. Here's why:

Let's say you buy good brass that costs $1.25/each (or $62.50/50 which is ballpark for Peterson brass now).

If you shoot that case 5 shots and toss it, that's $0.25 per shot. If you shoot that case 8 shots, that's less than $0.16 per shot.

If you buy a $75 trimmer (which in all honesty isn't a bad price, though I get by fine with the cheaper Lee Case Length gauges for when I do trim) you might now get twice the brass life but you're getting it with brass that likely already has the primer pockets loosened up a bit, and likely needs to be annealed (more $$ and time) and at some point you have to ask what your time is worth.

Buy all the annealing and trimming and cleaning tools you can find, and the best you'll do is to make your ammo component costs drop from $0.25 per shot from brass down to, absolute best case, $0.08 to $0.12 per shot. That doesn't even begin to consider that most guys will load hot enough to loosen their primer pockets before they get to 10 firings, or that if you're resizing aggressively between shots so as to maximize clearances and reliability (some people do 0.002" shoulder bump, some people fully resize, some people find some happy medium) you'll likely be working the body of the case enough that head separation becomes a possibility after several shots.

So you'll end up with hundreds of dollars worth of gadgets and hundreds of dollars worth of time, if you value time at all, to make your brass last a little longer but in doing so you end up shooting lesser quality brass as it's just 'more worn out' by the time it gets to the end of tis life. The most you'll ever save in this process is $0.25 per shot and $0.15 per shot is a more realistic estimate.

 

[danhuntingmi]

If I were new to reloading, I'd focus on learning to reload before I focused on which brass prep centers, automatic trimmers, and auto charges.

 

[rayporter]

If I were new to reloading, I'd focus on learning to reload before I focused on which brass prep centers, automatic trimmers, and auto charges.

this in spades.

we gather a lot of crap or junk over the years we only use once. you will gather plenty.

get the basics down first. then buy things that suit your system.

 

[wind gypsy]

Doesn't that frankford case prep deally trim as well? If so i'm not seeing a reason to get a little crow trimmer.

 

[Gstallings]

I was in the same spot and decided to get the annealer with a case prep included on top of the annealer. It was only $260 on Amazon . So for the price of a case prep I got two pieces of equipment. Lookup the burstfire annealer. They sell it on Amazon and run sales.

 

[Grillnugz]

Buy mitutoyo 6” digital calipers. You’ll use these for essentially everything. They are the gold standard. Amazon usually has these for around $120 from reputable sellers. There are fakes so be careful who you buy from.

Skip the case prep center, buy hand tools for chamfer and deburr like rcbs vld deburring tool. I can deburr and chamfer 100 pieces of brass in 20-30 minutes. For trimming I use the Lyman electric trimmer, works just fine.

 

[alexnelon]

As a normal human who shoots 3-5 competitions a year, and maybe ~1000 rifle rounds a year total, I don't mess with trimming and all that. I use a hand tool to chamfer and debur new brass and then load it and shoot it 5 times and get new brass for Christmas.

For what a burstfire annealer and frankford case prep center costs, I can buy ~800 pieces of new Starline brass that'll last me half a decade.

Don't fall into aspirational purchases.

 

[bwp]

is imperial wax the lube that is recommended?

 

[Chris in TN]

is imperial wax the lube that is recommended?

It's good stuff, for sure.

I use lanolin (Medela brand, nipple cream, from Amazon) mixed in a bottle of isoHEET. Never had a moment's trouble with it. Shake, spray, let dry, process, wipe, shoot. A bottle of HEET and an ounce or so of lanolin, in a generic spray bottle, will last an incredibly long time, as long as you keep the spray tip closed so it doesn't evaporate.

 

[bwp]

Where’s the best place to buy powder/primers?

 

[Bluefish]

I do have a drill already. I wasn’t sure what all I needed for case prep.

So the Lee caliber specific gauge, Lee cutter and lock stud. Does that cover my brass prep?

I use the Lee cutters and lock stud for my low volume rifle stuff. Cheap and easy. They are also mild steel so they can be modified for wildcats. I have made several trimmers for various wildcats. 25 prc is one.

You will also need a chamfer tool. Even the Lee one is serviceable. There are nicer ones, but cost a little more.

The shoulder datum trim tools are great for high volume. I mount them in a lathe or drill press, no need for a dedicated powered trimmer.

 

[WhoGarrDen]

Doesn't that frankford case prep deally trim as well? If so i'm not seeing a reason to get a little crow trimmer.

Does not trim.

is imperial wax the lube that is recommended?

I like Hornady's spray case lube. Probably not much different than the IsoHEET/lanolin homebrew. When changing between lubes and with any new factory dies, clean your dies fully to avoid sticking cases.

Where’s the best place to buy powder/primers?

Locally is best to avoid shipping, even if you're paying $8/more per jug/brick you'll come out ahead. Ammoseek.com will give you online options, but be sure to factor in shipping +hazmat shipping. Some places let you skip hazmat OR shipping (never both) >$$$ specials (example: Natchez).

 

[mtnbound]

is imperial wax the lube that is recommended?

I like to use Hornady One shot.

Don’t worry about trimming, if a piece of brass gets so long it won’t chamber throw it away as your primer pocket is likely getting bad as well.

Reloading is not complicated most make it complicated. Some spend hours and hours reloading to make everything perfect but don’t have the shooting ability to realize any on target benefits. Do a search for Painless Load Development on here and keep things simple especially just starting out.

Ordering in powder and primers you will get a hazardous materials charge added to your order. I would look at your local stores first and see what they have in stock for load development. Once you have your load worked out then maybe look and see if ordering it online will save any money.