Welcome to this forum. Stick around and you will find great wealth of information here. Certainly not necessarily from me, I have learned more here that I'm willing to admit.

Now, why didn't you ask a simple question, like what truck should you buy, or which woman should you marry?

I assume you are basically going to relaod for hunting and normal practice. If so, a single stage is fine. If you will be burning 2-300 rounds through your AR each weekend, you will want a progressive press.

I'll bet most replies (like mine) will suggest you get an RCBS Rock Chucker. There are others that are probably just as good, but there is a reason that the Chucker is the press that all others are compared to.

There is always a small cadre who like Forster's Co-Ax, touting that it will produce more accurate ammo. I suspect the difference will only be appreciated by a benchrest artist or long range varmint shooter. All of the top notch presses are good.

I, and most people, have had no problem with RCBS dies, but, in recent years its been popular to tout other's as being better. Redding dies are now getting much praise. Again, dies from any major manufacturer are good.

A major decision you should make now is - are you just going to try handloading (and maybe stick with it, or not), or do you think you will really be into it for the long run.

If not sure, RCBS's Ammo Crafter kit is a good buy. It has most of what you will need for a start and if you drop handloading in six months you can sell it for a good price. But, if your are sure you're in it for the long run, buy each component separately. Buy the best your can afford right off the bat. It will save you money in the long run.

Steve

Leadtag,
Before you spend the money on a kit, spend around $20 on a reloading book. For the beginner, I would suggest Lyman's 47th. There is a lot of good information in there for a beginner to study. STUDY IT!

Good shooting.

I use a RCBS rock Chucker and love it. I load for a 300 rum and was told that with Redding dies the die is too long and makes it almost impossiable to load with the chucker. Tha ammo master fixes this problem. So if you are loading long/large calibers that might be a press to look at. I only bought one other press it was a Hornady Lock-n-load auto progressive. I had it for less than 6 months and they returned my money. That says all i need to say about that press. Good luck here are a few link with some good reloading info.
http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/ahunt.htm
http://www.varminthunters.com/

quote:

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Originally posted by Steve in MI:

I use a RCBS rock Chucker and love it. I load for a 300 rum and was told that with Redding dies the die is too long and makes it almost impossiable to load with the chucker. Tha ammo master fixes this problem. So if you are loading long/large calibers that might be a press to look at. I only bought one other press it was a Hornady Lock-n-load auto progressive. I had it for less than 6 months and they returned my money. That says all i need to say about that press.

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I doubt it. I reload .378 WBY on my Rock Chucker. I use Redding dies. Admittedly, things are a bit tight, but near impossible, naaa. I do not know .300 RUM OALs, but my OALs run around the neighborhood of 3.64". The length of the die should not be a factor, as only so much die screws into the press. I am thinking getting the conversion to load the .378 on my Hornady 50BMG press, which is the same as an AMMOMASTER. But, my reservation on having that as my primary press is the very long length of travel, be hell loading smaller pistol calibers.
One of your previous posts did influence my choice of progressive presses, Steve. I opted out on getting the Hornady LNL AP and got a Dillon 650.

[This message has been edited by Steve in MI (edited 12-11-2001).]

Bye
Jack

You should be set

Happy reloading

www.dillonprecision.com