Hi guys, Id like to start to reloading my own ammo for my 30-06,300 win mag and my 243win and im not sure about a few things, so please bare with me, First off im looking at the Lee anniverary reloading kit to start off with because its in my budget right now, but im not sure about all the essentials ill need to get started.I know i need dies and powder and bullet,primers and sofourth but as far as any thing else im not sure, it says the lee kit comes with almost everything you need to get started but do you guys have any reccomendations on bullets, powder or primers. Im looking at shooting bullets in these weights 150's im my 06, 180-200s in my 300 winny and 105's in my 243, keep in mind my main game species will be whitetails varmints and black bear, any advice or replys would greatly appreciated as this will be my first attempt at reloading.

Thanks Bill

Off the top of my head. H4350 or IMR4350 would be a good starting powder it will work in all three cartridges.

Primers, pick one. See what's the most available. Large rifle primers for the 243 and the 30.06 and use LR magnum inthe 300

Bullets, varmint to bears is a big span but any name brand bullet will work.

For varmints in the 243 try the Nosler BT 55 grain or the Hornady Vmax 58 grain you can get them close to 4,000 fps and they are grenades on varmints.

For bears, it's hard to beat the Nosler Partitions or even the Barnes TSX in the 300

Whitetails- I would go with the 150 or 165 grain bullets in any name brand bullet that shoots accurately in either of your 30 caliber guns.

JMHO, your mileage may vary.

bill23:
Before I bought any equipment, I'd get at least 2-3 reloading manuals and read thru them several times. For me, one of them would be the Sierra book since when I'm looking for a starting load, I usually go to their recommended load & powder. Also, when working with a new cartridge, I usually use Sierra bullets for starters if they're available since I've found them to be very accurate. Just a couple of comments to pass along from my experience. Welcome to the world of chasing the accuracy tail. Bear in Fairbanks

I second the IMR 4350 recommendation for powder. I use it in my .300 mag with excellent results. (You may also look into the Sierra 220 grain round nose bullets...I've gotten a 1/2" group with 'em out of my M77 .300 and will do 3/4" all day long)

My personal suggestion on the load manual is to look into the LoadBooks series. They're caliber specific and include data from ALOT of different powder and bullet manufacturers. They run about $7 each, so if you think you may use different powder brands and bullet brands, it would DEFINITELY be a good choice.

As far as the primers, my personal suggestion would be to go with standard LR primers in the .300 as they'll work fine, plus it'll simplify things since you can then use the same primer as your .30/06. That is all personal preference though. You might do a bit of research first if you plan on using Winchester primers as I heard Winchester no longer makes primers either. True or not, I don't know, but I've been having trouble finding very many of them.