New to reloding need some advice

[jlitt619]

i dont shoot a whole lot. maybe 1 a month i go out with my dad. i do shoot a black rifle but 100-150 a month is plenty as long as i have the .40. Thank for all the advice.

[Army GI]

Take care, let us know how you like the press.

It's always heartwarming to see father and son go and spend time with each other.

[vwynn]

Im thinking about getting the Hornady LNL AP press.. u get 1000 free bullets too.. retail up to $300 ish dependong on which bullet your getting.

Something to think about =p

[calidefector]

I bought the LEE 50th Anniversary Kit as my first reloading purchase. I haven't regretted it in the least bit. I now have Lee and RCBS equip in duplicate roles, and I generally use the Lee more often.

I too also like the hand primer that came with it. It really allows you to feel when the primer is seated. It's not that I don't have other options either. I have an old-school Lachmiller (sp?) bench mounted primer seater.

The kit I bought came with the Lee manual. I read through the relevant sections multiple times before even trying reloading. But, one thing I must mention, it's "reloading according to Lee". It's got a lot of opinion and horn-tooting in it. I have multiple manuals now (including a Hornady) and use them to verify what I read in the Lee one, but it's my "go-to" one, as it was my first.

Another thing I might suggest too, is to get a Lee Hand Press and the associated goodies like the scale, hand primer, funnel, manual, etc. I got the kit, and then the hand-press and I use the hand-press more than the bench presses I have. Between the hand press, the powder measure kit I got, the hand-primer, and so on, I have a real portable kit that I plan on taking on camping trips, business trips, etc. for portable loading.

Now recently I've made a couple RCBS purchases. I'm not really religious about it yet, as I think Lee is a real bargain and I've had good luck with it. But, I live in Huntington's/RCBS-ville, and if I have an issue with something, I know where to go for warranty and they are friendly and helpful. Does this mean I'll dump my Lee... nope. But, if it's something that could have issues (tumbler, lead pot, automatic dispenser, or just about anything that plugs in,) I'm buying it RCBS. If I lived in Wisconsin in the town where Lee is made, I'd probably buy the stuff from Lee if they offered it.

People knock Lee, and maybe it is the Kia of the reloading industry, but it's affordable, and it works.

[bohoki]

trimming is the most important thing when reloading 223 they all need to be trimmed because there is a certain size in which will cause you to blow your gun to pieces and it varies per gun

too long it wont go into battery and will jam up your bolt pretty good a tad shorter than the "superjam" coul result in the bolt locking with the lugs slightly not locked and upon firing will tear the lugs and cause scary damage

if that scares you it should just like "blood on the highway" to new drivers

but if you do it right you will be fine

yes the lee trimmer aka drill chucked shell shaver does kind of suck ive used one to trim 1k or so and i get constant pullouts of the holder and is slow as molasses best i coudl do is about 10 seconds per locking it in the holder, trim,debur outside,debur inside,remove from holder

a giraud trimmer would be awesome but using lee means that i too am an incredible cheapskate