Hi, Anyway I am a dyed in camo bow hunter that wants to start shooting my rifle a lot more and become good enuff to hunt with it. My son (14) has a 30 06 and I have Remington 7mm I have never reloaded any rifle rounds So I am a virgin if you will on how to get started. I thought about just buying a bunch of rounds but that added up to a ton of money. Is it a lot cheeper to reload? also what kind of gear do you all recommend for these two rounds? I hunt in eastern oregon where 300 yard shots are commen. I don't know much about what bullits to buy or powder ect? Help

SH,
The very first thing is to grab a reloading book or two. My suggestion is to start with Lyman. Excellent for understanding what and why. Also they use bullets and powder from multiple manufacturers.
From there, if you have the money, search some of the reloading websites for equipment. If you are trying to be froogle ebay and gunbroker.com are a couple places to take a look at. Classifieds, garage sales and gun shows can be gold mines in disguise too.
Of course this is another great source for help.

Smedley

PS When you ask which is best for equipment, you may as well ask Blonde, Brunette or Redhead.

I would recommend an RCBS Rockchucker kit to get you started. Good equipment and cheaper than buying the items separately. If you shoot much it will pay for itself. Nosler, Hornady, Speer, Lyman and others produce excellent loading manuels. Good luck!

Good advice so far, most of the reloading tools on the market are good, you get bad stuff with every brand sometimes.
Get a couple of Manuals, I like the Sierra Rifle/Handgun Reloading Manual and the Lyman 48th Edition Reloading Manual.
I like most of Rcbs products as well as a lot of Hornady stuff.
As far as reloading data got from the net, make sure you check it out in a Manual or 2 before using it in your guns, if ever in any kind of doubt you can call most powder Company's or bullet Company's as most of them have a Dept that can furnish data.
Lee has about the cheapest/least expensive(take your pick) products and a lot of it is very good stuff some not, although I would like to check out their new large press.
Rcbs and Hornady make a great starter kit. It's a continuing learning experience, you'll at sometime say 'what the h#@l did I by that for.' Welcome aboard, and good luck with your reloading.

Steve E.......

As I recommended to another fellow, do yourself a favor and inquire around town of anyone else who reloads. Ask them if you can come to a session or two to watch and ask questions. I am not saying that you can't learn it from reading manuals, but there are enough nuances in reloading that can be picked up rather quickly from watching an experienced guy do it. Reloading is very safe if you know what you are doing, but it is nothing to fool around with. Seeing it done is probably the best way to learn it.

I would suggest a starter kit from either RCBS or Redding. Nothing wrong with saving a buck on used equipment, but if all is not right, how will you know without help from a reloading buddy, so buy the kit to start with and avoid any potential headaches. I think Lyman has the most comprehensive, easily understood manual for beginning reloaders; buy it.
You can have all of this for less than the price of a good used gun, and like archery, you will have the satisfaction of "doing it all" yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by Stump humper:
Hi, Anyway I am a dyed in camo bow hunter that wants to start shooting my rifle a lot more and become good enuff to hunt with it. My son (14) has a 30 06 and I have Remington 7mm I have never reloaded any rifle rounds So I am a virgin if you will on how to get started. I thought about just buying a bunch of rounds but that added up to a ton of money. Is it a lot cheeper to reload? also what kind of gear do you all recommend for these two rounds? I hunt in eastern oregon where 300 yard shots are commen. I don't know much about what bullits to buy or powder ect? Help

First off, welcome to the wonderful world of reloading! You might start off just to save money, but before long you will become fascinated with the possibilities and want to do more & more experimenting. But stick to published loading data for the first couple of years at least, to learn what its' all about!

If you shoot a lot, it will be cheaper to shoot if you load your own ammo, after you amortize the cost of your reloading equipment. (The brass case is by far the most expensive part of a cartridge, and most people throw it away!! Dumb!!)

In addition, it is NOT NECESSARY to spend a lot of money on equipment just to get started. All you need equipment-wise is a set of dies for the cartridge(s) you will be loading, a loading press, (preferably a single-stage press), a powder scale, a case trimmer, and a chamfering reamer for chambering/deburring your case mouths after trimming them.

Buy at least one good reloading manual beforehand, and study it until you can perform the reloading steps from memory. The Lyman is a very good one for the beginner, as well as the expert.

Check e-bay for tools. I bought an RCBS Rockchucker off e-bay last spring for $50.00, and loading dies for common calibers like yours are usually about half what you'd pay retail, (or less!!).

Two weeks ago, I bought a Lyman-Ohaus powder scale in good condition for $20.00. As far as dies are concerned, I -prefer Redding, RCBS, or Forster, not necessarily in that order. Lyman, Hornady, and Lee dies are also serviceable, as are the preses they make.

Don't buy any bullets, primers, or powder until you have decided what loads you want to start out with by studying the data in the reloading books to select what would work best for you in your part of the country.

Good luck!

If your on a budget think about lee. Not the best stuff around but it will get you started. I started with lee a million years ago and now all that l;ee stuff has been sold to some other new guy. I think the best starter kit is the RCBS. Just like the other fellas said, get books.

Is it cheaper? Maybe...just like fishing and hunting, if you just go for the meat you can save a few bucks, but for most of us it is cheaper to go to the market and buy it!

I calculated once that 1000 rounds for my 300WSM would end up costing me somewhere between 40-60 cents each when adding in the basic tools. The range comes with what bullets you want to use...cheap or premium. Still, factory ammo runs $15-$30 per box of 20, so there is a real savings, per round fired.

You will probably lose the savings by shooting more, a good thing, and buying more tools than you really need, also a good thing.

If you like tinkering and working with your hands, you will probably like reloading. Welcome to the insanity!

Oh, I like my Lee Classic cast press, RCBS dies, Nosler bullets, and (generally) Hodgdon powders. YMMV!

Agree with El Deguello

You can get presses and dies cheap off ebay. You can also get some good buys on brass.
When trying to buy bullets off ebay, however, I have frequently seen bids go higher than what you can just buy the product -- new -- from Midway.

Barstooler

Reloading is addictive and the benefit of the addiction is that you become a better shooter with more trigger time. I also highly recommend that you find someone to give you a couple of lessons. RCBS will last you a lifetime. My stuff is 23 yrs old now and works perfect. After you get your equipment ask for some loads for each caliber in another post. This will help you decide which powders to try first. My preference is Hodgdon powders.

hey think about this , lee dies are cost effective , and very good , 12 bucks for a rgb set , as for a press , figure out how much it will cost to ship and ill send you a rcbs junior for 20 bucks more than the shipping , dies id buy are the lees , the rest is a try and see , just be sure to as about specific equipmen and it pros and cons here as these guys are very open , and honest , and maybe a bit opinionated , but rightly so ! lee powder measures only make good targets to me , but heck i still like my belding and mull , saeco , and pacific / bear . scales , well steer clear of the lee as the bb isnt too precise with my ageing eyes and i chucked to keep anyone from getting it !