Starter kit for .223

[Rcjackrabbit]

[NapalmCheese]

This depends on a lot of things.

If you think you're going to get into reloading as a hobby you may as well head over to a store that stocks reloading stuff, play with all the presses, and find the one that you like best. From Lee to Dillon they all work and are all serviceable, but some are built nicer than others.

If you really just want to put together like 30 rounds a year for hunting and hunting load development; Lee makes a hand press that uses their quick change die adapters. It is cheap, compact, and will be useful even if you decide to get deeper into reloading.

With the hand press, a Lee ram prime, dies,primers, brass, bullets, powder, calipers, and a case trimmer (add a primer pocket swager if you're reloading mil-surp) and you're all set.

Personally I'm basically a cheap skate and use Lee stuff for pretty much everything. It doesn't win me any cool kid points, but it gets the job done and I can make accurate enough ammo. I'm currently reloading on the Lee Classic Turret which I bought after reloading a few hundred rounds with the Lee hand press. Lots of people start out with a used RCBS Rockchucker, with which you can't go wrong.

[edgerly779]

Single stage with rcbs hand primer. Watch nosler for seconds or overruns for bullets. Watch for deals on here or craigslist or ebay. I have 3 presses myself. like my rcbs rockchucker the best Nosler has bullets on sale now non lead 40 gr for 24 bucks per hundred.

[bohoki]

i ran into a rcbs jr-2 for free then got some

lee rgb dies the press has the little primer arm so i prime one by one
i ran into a shellholder in a gunshow bin i think its a rcbs#10
for case prep i got the possum hollow trimmer
the possum hollow power adapter
and a lyman debur tool it fits in the power adapter also bought a

hornady small pocket reamer but it is not good enough for crimped pockets most of the time so use the debur tool also to take the edge off

bought a lee perfect powder measure and a
jewelry scale on ebay
a digital caliper from harbor freight tools

i lube the cases with vaseline

i have the harbor freight tumbler and walnut media and use a plastic strainer

i think thats about all i use for 223

[Divernhunter]

Get an RCBS KIT and dies/shellholder. Then work from there. If you were near me I would help you get started.

[edgerly779]

Lots of stuff on ebay

[golfish]

Get an RCBS KIT and dies/shellholder. Then work from there. If you were near me I would help you get started.

I purchased one of these kits after Christmas, $324.00 from Amazon, they had a $100.00 rebate to boot. I'm hooked

[17+1]

[Sub95]

Check CL In sporting goods, I found a old rock chucker for $50, and came with a few dies and ect. I have loaded close to 20k rounds on It with No Problems, from 300 rum to 9mm.

Dies, I like Dillon, and use them for my hunting rounds. but $$.

Older Rcbs dies are good, so are the lee dies.

You can piece a kit together for your needs, or just buy a kit.

[17+1]

Check CL In sporting goods, I found a old rock chucker for $50, and came with a few dies and ect. I have loaded close to 20k rounds on It with No Problems, from 300 rum to 9mm.

Dies, I like Dillon, and use them for my hunting rounds. but $$.

Older Rcbs dies are good, so are the lee dies.

You can piece a kit together for your needs, or just buy a kit.

+1 on piecing a kit together and an old Rock Chucker, my gear is LEE from the kit I bought, Forster, and Lyman.

LEE dies are nice because they have the collet lock that allows the decapper to push up, RCBS don’t have that. For RCBS dies, I leave the decapper loose and put an o ring under the knurled knob so it allows it to float and find center so it doesn’t break the decapping pin.

[bohoki]

here are the things from lee that i hate

the lee safety scale (i just dont trust it)
lee debur tool (only 2 cutting edges dulls very quick)
lee trimer (every case spins out of the shell holder poor design although the precision is exact due to the gage)

classic lee loader (if you are going to use that to load less than 50 rounds a year sure they are handy dandy)


things i love from lee

bullet molds (heat up quick and i'm making usable bullets in often only 2 fills)
carbide dies (they work love the o rubber ring nuts they stay put love the bullet seat adjustments too)
rgb dies (they resize as good as a "small base" die only wish they came with shellholder)
bullet sizing dies (awesome just squish the bullet through and its true no more messy lube if powder coating)
perfect powder measure (works great easy to adjust)

[robodeer]

Would running a Lee Breech Lock Pro as a turret be viable option for a beginner?

Any thoughts on the new(ish) Lyman Ideal C-frame press?

[sigstroker]

For a bench mounted press, a press is a press. Get something cheap. On sale or in a package. The best chance of finding a bargain is in gun stores or big box stores that have reloading stuff. This crap weighs a ton, so buying online means shipping. Stores will have stuff that's old and unpopular, with a layer of dust on top. Given a choice between turret and non-turret, get the non-turret. Most turrets "spring" a little under full length resizing.

I wouldn't recco a hand press. Full length resizing of rifle cases is a b***h.

[Divernhunter]

no need for a turret press. Batch process your brass and hand prime it. It take 30 seconds to change dies once every 100 to 5000 cases. Not a big deal.

[hermosabeach]

Lot of similar threads- buy used.

Nice single stage press
RCBS carbide Die Set
Basic tumbler or spend more for a stainless pin set up