In my last post, I came to realize that the Rock Chucker is the press that will best suite my needs. Now I need to know is if the Master Supreme kit will be the way to go or if I need to get just the press and then a different scale and other things? That looks like a drug dealer's scale. Do you guys really measure out each and every shell's powder??? What about digital??? I think to save some time, is there a book or website I can goto to get all the basics of reloading. It seems that I will have 123,123,322 questions about this and I want to make it as easy as possible for everyone. For now, would this kit be a good start?? You can get the master supreme for around $250.....sounds good to me. Thanks!

You'll save a bit of $$ buying the kit. Midsouth has that on sale now for $229.

quote:

Originally posted by dubs22-250:
In my last post, I came to realize that the Rock Chucker is the press that will best suite my needs. Now I need to know is if the Master Supreme kit will be the way to go or if I need to get just the press and then a different scale and other things? That looks like a drug dealer's scale. Do you guys really measure out each and every shell's powder??? What about digital??? I think to save some time, is there a book or website I can goto to get all the basics of reloading. It seems that I will have 123,123,322 questions about this and I want to make it as easy as possible for everyone. For now, would this kit be a good start?? You can get the master supreme for around $250.....sounds good to me. Thanks!

Cant go wrong with the RCBS kit!!

The kit is not a bad way to start. Some people stay with the kits forever, others upgrade the individual devices to other brands or step up in functionality (e.g. to an automated powder thrower/scale combination).

The kit is not a bad place to start, though.

Depending on the type of powder you load, your powder measure may throw pretty accurate loads or not (extruded powders). If you use spheric powders, you can probably get away with thrown powder loads, and verify the loads thrown on your scale every 5-10 loads, say. If you load slow (extruded) powders, it is probably worth weighing every load thrown.

Make sure your kit includes a powder trickler, or add it to your initial set-up. That can save you quite a bit of time by throwing extruded powder loads just below the target weight and then trickle each load up. This is a reasonably fast way of measuring powder accurately.

Make sure you also get a set of calipers - most reloading kits don't include those. A pair of cheapo Chinese calipers (marked RCBS or whatever) for $20 will do fine to start with.

You also need 2-3 good reloading manuals, they will not only explain reloading in more detail, but will also provide a wealth of load data (you need to compare data, as not all manuals specify the same numbers). I personally use the Nosler, Hornady and Sierra manuals a lot. And don't believe you'll stick with loading just one caliber, that is just the beginning ....

- mike

+1 with MHO!

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Both sets would make for a good start, but for a little extra money Redding's kit comes with a better powder measure and a case trimmer. Heck, looking things over I think I'd choose the Redding kit over the RCBS kit. Just be sure to compare apples to apples before plunking down hard cash.

I would also advise you not to buy too much equipment in the beginning as, sooner or later, you'll develop preferences. For example, I have three case trimmers, but I still use my old hand cranked Wilson as it's smooth as silk.

What you don't need right away is a case tumbler as that can be done by hand and I'd avoid buying used equipment unless your bud's dad is there to help. Used stuff is great if you have the experience and knowhow to discriminate between used and worn out.

I like the above mentioned caliper idea, and would add a VLD chamfer tool to that list as some day I know you'll want to try Berger's excellent VLD bullets. I've thrown in some other ideas too... (see links)

To begin with, you should weigh every charge. Don't try to go too fast to soon. Dumping a correct charge directly into the case requires a smooth, repeatable motion with your powder measure that only comes from practice. Regardless of whether you're using stick or ball powder.
Items to add as funds become available:
calibers
case trimmer
case tumbler
CHRONY One of the best $100 you will spend.

quote:

Do you guys really measure out each and every shell's powder???

I don't weigh each and every charge unless I'm going for extreme accuracy. For plinking loads I stay below the maximum charge so even if my powder measure varies the charge by half a grain its not going to make much of a difference. I do check about every tenth charge from my measure to make sure its still throwing the same weight. Ball powders are the most forgiving and seem to measure the most accurately. Extruded powders can be a pain in the ass, they don't meter as smoothly or measure as accurately.

quote:

I think to save some time, is there a book or website I can goto to get all the basics of reloading.

Check out the Lyman's 48th edition reloading manual. It costs around $20, covers all the basics and is well written and illustrated. Its the book I used to learn reloading and also a valuable source of load info.

I weigh every charge when I am doing load work, and I use an IBalance scale. They are about $140 and have a LIFETIME Warranty.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

Somewhere along the line, you'll need a powder trickler. The best one to get is a Redding, cause it's heavier than the others and doesn't move around when you use it.

After 30plus years of loading I have learned a valuable lesson if you dont trickle every load up to 0 you are wasting your time reloading. I set my powder measure to less than the load I want and trickle every load up to 0. If I didn't want accuracy I would buy factory ammo and not fool with reloading. I want every shot to be as close to perfect as possible. My reloads will usually be within 10 ft per second in a 10 shot string I have checked factory loads and found them to be 320 fps difference in a 10 shot string. You cant expect accuracy with that much difference between the speeds.

See if the RCBS kit is available with the 'Chargemaster' scale combo. It is digital, which I love, and defacto weights every charge for you, but it is fast, automated, and trickles for you--you can also do so manually....

I think this makes the kit a great place to start, and maybe stay, but MHO makes a great point, you have to have calipers, and then the various accessories will be up to you....it can get addicting!