First timer

[J-cat]

Get Lee collet neck dies and Redding body dies. Separating the neck from body sizing will make them easier to accomplish on that hand press.

[TMB 1]

Hand tools work fine. I have a Lee Hand press and a few Lyman 310 tools and dies I use sometimes.

You should also get a neck sizer die, a Lee Auto prime, set of auto prime shell holders, powder measurer, powder trickler and some case prep tools if you don't have them.

[pacrat]

Get Lee collet neck dies and Redding body dies. Separating the neck from body sizing will make them easier to accomplish on that hand press.

OP just buy the Lee Deluxe Die set. If you feel you may need to FL size at some point. You will get both a FL sizer and a collet Neck sizer in the same set. There is no upside to spending 3 times the price to get the Redding name on a box.

Neck sizing does give the advantage of leaving the case body fitting the chamber. And also makes your cases last 3 times longer than FL sizing.

You are making ammo for a 65 yr old mil-surp 98 Mauser, that had a cavernous chamber and generous throat leade from the factory. My 7x57 is an 1893 Mauser that was made in 1896. Still going strong.

JM2c

[J-cat]

That's false.

FL sized cases last just as long as neck sized cases. And it's not to get Redding into ones box. It's to overcome some of the limitations of the tools.

[Jjwisled]

[Jjwisled]

I got my the hand press last week and it works great. If you're space limited its the way to go. Anyway I loaded up some 120 gr ttsx Barnes I started with 42 grains of reloader 15 and worked my way up to 46.5 with 46 being the recommended load on the alliant site. I had no leverage issues with the press and started developing a rhythm fairly quickly and I'm really enjoying the process. Can't wait to get out to the range this weekend.

[stilly]

Well glad it worked out for you. It is always nice to see that someone made it work. If you are that excited over the hand press, wait till you get a single stage or turret...

[Socalman]

1. Glad to see Stilly. Always a great source of information and often good for a laugh or three.

2. As you work your loads, keep accurate and detailed notes about primer, what powder, how many grains. You will eventually find a load that YOUR rifle likes best and then you can reproduce that loading.

[Jjwisled]

Well I didn't blow my face off. Went to the range this morning and shot my first reloads. All if rhem shot just fine and even at my highest load I saw no pressure indicators other than what my shoulder. Thanks for all the advice from you all its much appreciated. I'm sure as I start other calibers I'll need some more.

[CSACANNONEER]

Just remember that hotter loads are not always better loads. In fact, I've found my best shooting loads are typically somewhere between half and 3/4s of the difference between starting loads and recommended stopping loads found in manuals.

[Jjwisled]

Easier on the shoulder too. I'm going to load up a box at there recommended load and see how it groups. But everything I shot today was in the black at a hundred yards on a basic nra target.

[pacrat]

Easier on the shoulder too. I'm going to load up a box at there recommended load and see how it groups. But everything I shot today was in the black at a hundred yards on a basic nra target.

A good start for sure.