Does anyone have expereince with the Lee Challenger reloading kit? The price is right for me but if it's not as high quality as the RCBS or other kits I think I'll wait and save some money up. Any other suggestions would be great. Just getting into this and the bug is biting hard. I have used the RCBS equipment in the past and thought that was pretty nice and well built. Thanks in advance for the help.

The Lee kit is a great way to get into reloading for low $$$.
The Lee o-frame press is alloy so it is probably not going to be as durable as a cast iron press, but for a fraction of the cost who cares, it will still make great ammo anyway.

I reload 222rem, 357 mag, 9mm, 6.5X55 and 45/70 on mine with no trouble including full length sizing.

I say go for it.

Well I'm convinced. Now I just need next pay day to come. Argh...

Another option is the RCBS Partner kit... it's also alloy, and I used to have a Rockchucker - for loading anything uo to 270, I can't tell the difference. IMNSHO, there's a lot of crap written about the 'need' for a cast iron press !!

I do a LOT of shooting, and load for 6 rifles.

If I was doing it all over again, I'd buy the Partner press, a GOOD set of scales (RCBS 5.0.2) a powder thrower, Lee dies, a good case length trimmer (Lee are fine if you're not doing a lot), a case deburrer and chamfererandgo for it....

That's for hunting - if you're after benchrest accuracy, it may be a different ball game, but I get sub MOA out of all my rifles using the above gear...

Thats what I was looking for rugeruser. I'll get into the "nitty gritty" after I actually get a good handle on what I'm doing.

Right now money is tight and shooting is important.

rain, I have a RockChucker, Lyman turret and two of Lee's small presses on my bench. Each has a specific type of work and they do well but - and my point - is that I could just as well with the small Lee's for everything except maybe case forming 22-250, 243, etc, from 30-06 brass!

If you aren't a total mechanical klutz, the Lee Challenger press will do you well. The rest of that kit will get you into ammo making very well. Read and follow the directions and have fun!

quote:

Originally posted by rainman1882:
Thats what I was looking for rugeruser. I'll get into the "nitty gritty" after I actually get a good handle on what I'm doing.

Right now money is tight and shooting is important.

OK.. know the feeling!

I don't have the space, money, time or resources to set up a whole menagerie of things to do what I need... kitchen table is my loading bench! In the bush, it's a plank clamped to the back of my 4x4...

Here's what I currently have (with opinions on all) :

Partner press... compact, light, does the job, and easily clamped to whatever reasonably rigid platform you have on hand. Won't resize 375 H&H down to Hornet, but then.... ;-)

Dies - preference is Lee - they seem to be much kinder to cases, easy to use. Maybe a bit 'rough' but at a third of the price of Hornady/RCBS (here in Oz) they do the job, and do it well... might get me a 'collet die' set on the recommendation of friends.

I used to own RCBS dies, and 'sort of' prefer them - all adjustments are done by screwing things in and out - Hornady's 'clamp' arrangement on the primer pin/neck expander is a PITA!!! Lee is similar, but seems to be better when pulling the expander back thru the neck. Personally, I wouldn't buy Hornady again. Their bullet seating arrangement is no more accurate than Lee's.

Scales - I have the RCBS 5.0.2, and they've served me very well - easy to set up and consistent.

If you load large batches of ammo, a powder thrower is real handy!! Because I sometimes load a big batch, I bought myself a Redding Model 3 - it's great!! A bit fiddly to set up, but once that's done, remarkebly consistent - I stll check with the scales every 5-10 loads, and I'm real happy with it. It beats the hell out of trickling up a load into a powder pan, and I still get great results!! BIG time saver!!

Case trimmers - as I mentioned before, the Lee trimmers are great if you're not doing a lot of cases - to my mind, that's less than 50. I also have a Hornady CamLock trimmer, which I will get around to using when I need to reload more than 50 cases - it's fairly easy to set up, and a bloody sight easier on the fingers than the Lee trimmer!!

A digital vernier caliper - really useful for checking lengths etc.

Case tumbler - don't have one - lived without it for years, until a friend bought one, and I threw some loaded (really grungy) ammo into it - it sure looked 'purty' the next morning, and it was easier to find fired cases in the grass... but not an essential item...

Can't think of anything else, feel free to pm if you want clarification..

btw, I load for 218Bee, 223, 22-250, 243, 270 and 30-06. I FLS each and every cartridge I use...

Mate, despite what the magazines say, you don't need to spend a million bucks, nor do you need the latest and greatest, nor do you need to be able to churn out 500 rounds per minute....

The gear above will do th ejob, and if you're an ordinary bloke like me (I'm a single Dad) it can be therapeautic just taking your time to go thru the steps...

(edited to add...) Handloading isn't always a 'Magic Fix' - you may need to epxeriment with powders, bullet weights, shape, style and so on to get good results in your rifle... AND you need to make sure that your 'test' set up is being used to its best advantage... firing a rifle off a bench is an 'art' in itself.

As it happens, my boy has a 243 which shoots the cheapest, crappiest, ugliest Yugo ammo almost as well as the best handloads I can make... it's cheaper and quicker to buy that stuff than to make my own for hunting...

It comes down to practicalities.

As I said before, fel free to pm me.

Cheers

Wow...

Great post rugeruser. Well I can't wait to open my christmas present now. Ordered the Lee kit and it should be here in a little while. Got the bench rigged up from some good lumber and crap wood. Should work good. As soon as all is set up I'll post a pic of my lab.

I second the recommendation that you get a caliper -- get whatever kind you like. I use a dial one; you can get those sometimes for under $20. In addition to being almost absolutely necessary for measuring overall cartridge length, they are useful for measuring groups from target shooting.

I recommend Lee dies. They are less expensive and they work as well and possibly better than the more expensive RCBS ones. Right now you aren't a benchrest shooter, so there's no need to invest in much more expensive dies.

Invest in a good loading scale. I use a RCBS 5-0-5 that I got for under $38 about 20 years ago. My daughter also used it for her science projects in high school. I don't know what they cost how, but it's probably double what I paid for mine.

You will pick up other useful tools as you go along. One thing you probably need is a funnel for pouring powder into cases, and a second larger one for pouring powder from a measure or other container back into its original can or bottle.