Good start?

[SmurfHunter]

I'm just going to turn this into a mini build thread from my start to finish. Please feel free to chime in with any other suggestions for hardware or tips pleaae. So the press arrived today.

The list
1. Lee progressive 1000 reloader-Arrived
2. Lee reloading second edition and Lyman 49th edition reloading book-ordered
3. Frankford digital caliper-arrived
4. Lyman magnum kinetic hammer bullet puller-arrived
5. 100 round bullet cases-ordered

[noylj]

No idea WHAT package you are looking at.
In particular, if you buy a Lee kit, be sure to read and heed EVERY instruction and suggestion.
ABCs of Reloading
Lyman #49
Richard Lee's #2 manual
Lyman #48
Hornady, Speer, and Sierra manuals
More or less in that order
I tossed out my beam back in the late '70s when I got my Ainsworth digital. Still have it. Some would "die" before giving up their beams. Some have used their beams for decades and never tested against a set of check weights--logic being that they don't care what the weight is EXACTLY as long as they use the same balance to weigh it every time.
If you are going to buy a balance, digital or beam, be prepared to pay about $80 for one that is easy to use. The Lee Safety Scale is perfectly adequate, but very light and hard for many to read. Wish all beams weighed about 3 lbs so they wouldn't be moved easily.

[SmurfHunter]

Whoops. This one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEE-45-ACP-P...ht_2256wt_1270

[dickttx]

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSe...y=lee+pro+1000

Try the above link and compare. Looks like yours may be about $65 higher.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by dickttx

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSe...y=lee+pro+1000

Try the above link and compare. Looks like yours may be about $65 higher.

Wow thanks a lot. Appreciate that. I figured for the price point im looking for this kit does a lot. What else would I need hardware wise? Not talking brass powder and such.

[thisusernamevalid]

A scale, without a doubt. You really need to check the load after setting up the powder measure. I use Hornady's digital.

A bullet puller, because you will make mistakes.

I would get the adjustable charge bar. Makes it easy to adjust the charge without having to swap discs.

A case collater. For $12 or so, makes it a lot easier to load the case tubes.

A good reloaders guide, or two, or three.

[rfd]

yer gonna get a myriad of opinions and here's mine -

1. learn the reloading process - i mean do yer homework and study it 'til you really understand each step of the process and what it means. know how to read and interpret load recipes.

2. assess how many rounds per week you'll need, how much time to devote to loading and then check yer budget.

3. doesn't matter what press type you start with - single stage, turret or progressive - but as a newbie, you have SO many things to keep track of that you wanna run a turret or progressive as single stage, and weigh every powder charge.

4. the real critical areas are powder charge, round oal and primers - do the dummy round plunk test and scale check every single powder throw.

5. powder scales - get yerself a really good analog beam scale, for starters.

6. get a mentor, a reloading guru/expert who really know's what he's doing to help you one-on-one.

7. keep focused, keep safe.

good luck.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by rfd

yer gonna get a myriad of opinions and here's mine -

1. learn the reloading process - i mean do yer homework and study it 'til you really understand each step of the process and what it means. know how to read and interpret load recipes.

2. assess how many rounds per week you'll need, how much time to devote to loading and then check yer budget.

3. doesn't matter what press type you start with - single stage, turret or progressive - but as a newbie, you have SO many things to keep track of that you wanna run a turret or progressive as single stage, and weigh every powder charge.

4. the real critical areas are powder charge, round oal and primers - do the dummy round plunk test and scale check every single powder throw.

5. powder scales - get yerself a really good analog beam scale, for starters.

6. get a mentor, a reloading guru/expert who really know's what he's doing to help you one-on-one.

7. keep focused, keep safe.

good luck.

1.That's basically what I'm doing now. I'm reading articles non stop online and trying to figure out a few good books to buy now. There's a lot out there and I don't know what's good and what's crap. I'm collecting all my equipment now so I figure while I'm doing that I research the process non stop. Then once I have everything I should hVe a decent understanding of the whole process. Don't expect to be perfect

2. I only expect to need around 250-300 rounds a week for matches. But I have plenty of time each day to dedicate to pressing I want to have rounds handy anyways

3.if I'm not mistaking the lee 1000 allows me to run each press as a single or multi so I can grow within the platform?

4.so hand weight each round charge with the powder scale.

5. Is the lee not a quality beam scale? I also planned on buying the horndy dig 1500 scale to weigh the bullet post finishing.

6.unfortunalty I don't know anyone at this time who reloads local

7. Without question.

[SmurfHunter]

Ok so I'm for sure going with the lee 1000 pro.

Now what other hardware is recommended. Are the hammer style bullet pullers good?

[SmurfHunter]

Ok the press is ordered. I'm going to start a list on the op of items I got. Hopfully you guys can help me fill th list. A tumbler and cleaning system wouldn't be needed first correct? That wouldn't be till I am cleaning my shot brass?

[Gahunter12]

Get a good beam scale. I have only been reloading for 10 months or so now. I went with the beam scale and proud I did. Dillon has a Eliminator Beam scale that's the same as the RCBS, but cheaper. I have a hammer Style bullet puller. It works well for me.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by Gahunter12

Get a good beam scale. I have only been reloading for 10 months or so now. I went with the beam scale and proud I did. Dillon has a Eliminator Beam scale that's the same as the RCBS, but cheaper. I have a hammer Style bullet puller. It works well for me.

The lee comes with a bar scale. Figured that would good to start with. Also getting the hornady 1500 grain dig scale for after weight.

[SmurfHunter]

Looking at both of these. Quality?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/604...tainless-steel

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/417...tainless-steel

Or better recommendation? Not trying to break the bank off the bat but don't mind spending a little extra to get a quality piece.

[SmurfHunter]

Was looking at this scale to go with the lee scale that comes with the kit.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/438...grain-capacity

Would use this for final weigh when bullet is done

[SmurfHunter]

This bullet puller.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/667...-bullet-puller

[SmurfHunter]

Besides what I posted. What other hardware items would you recommend. I'm also picking up trays , ammo boxes, books.

[scubadad]

rfd's advice was spot on. you definately want to go single stage at first so you know each step . this way when you are in progressive mode you will be able to spot problems and know how to fix them. i was in the same boat with not having anyone to give me hands on help but i got alot of help on the forums plus lee has people available by phone. they were very helpful and did not make me feel like an idiot for asking basic questions.

when you ask questions about reloading you will get 20 different opinions from 10 different people. listen to what they have to say and then see what works for you.

[dickttx]

Originally Posted by SmurfHunter

Was looking at this scale to go with the lee scale that comes with the kit.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/438...grain-capacity

Would use this for final weigh when bullet is done

There is too much variance in brass and bullet weight to make the weighing of completed rounds meaningful.
You could probably use the electronic scale to check the Lee scale.
The only thing I use my scale for is to check that the drop from the powder measure levels the scale. I check about the first half dozen, then about every 10/20. The Pro Auto Disk is amazingly consistent. Of course, this is after I weigh several actual charges to find out what a particular disk hole is dropping. They will always drop less than the Lee chart, which is only a guide.

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by scubadad

rfd's advice was spot on. you definately want to go single stage at first so you know each step . this way when you are in progressive mode you will be able to spot problems and know how to fix them. i was in the same boat with not having anyone to give me hands on help but i got alot of help on the forums plus lee has people available by phone. they were very helpful and did not make me feel like an idiot for asking basic questions.

when you ask questions about reloading you will get 20 different opinions from 10 different people. listen to what they have to say and then see what works for you.

That's the plan. Again that's why I chose the pro 1000. I could start over using single stage then when i get comfortable with it I can move up to progressive.

Originally Posted by dickttx

There is too much variance in brass and bullet weight to make the weighing of completed rounds meaningful.
You could probably use the electronic scale to check the Lee scale.
The only thing I use my scale for is to check that the drop from the powder measure levels the scale. I check about the first half dozen, then about every 10/20. The Pro Auto Disk is amazingly consistent. Of course, this is after I weigh several actual charges to find out what a particular disk hole is dropping. They will always drop less than the Lee chart, which is only a guide.

Good to know. I was told weighing the bullets after would help improve weight accuracy?

[scubadad]

the best advice i got when i started reloading was go slow take your time . double check everything and if something doesnt look right stop because its probably not right.

and by the way enjoy your new addiction.

[SmurfHunter]

Any opinions on the dig calipers I'm looking at listed above

[rfd]

dunno about those digital calipers, i use a stew-mac, but i'd suspect the 22 buck frankford would do you just fine.

as to digital scales, i highly recommend the jennings mack 20 (with the power supply), it resolves down to .01 grain, is less finicky than rcbs and hornady scales i've used, is worlds better than any of those cheapo digi scales like frankford, mtm, etc.

be careful setting up and using scales. zero out and retest any time they're moved or the environment changes - this is EXTREMELY important for digital scales. pistol loaders have much much more narrow margins of powder charge weights than rifle loaders - heck, our loads are typically just 10% of a rifle load.

DON'T FORGET to get scale test weight kit!

[SmurfHunter]

Originally Posted by rfd

dunno about those digital calipers, i use a stew-mac, but i'd suspect the 22 buck frankford would do you just fine.

as to digital scales, i highly recommend the jennings mack 20 (with the power supply), it resolves down to .01 grain, is less finicky than rcbs and hornady scales i've used, is worlds better than any of those cheapo digi scales like frankford, mtm, etc.

be careful setting up and using scales. zero out and retest any time they're moved or the environment changes - this is EXTREMELY important for digital scales. pistol loaders have much much more narrow margins of powder charge weights than rifle loaders - heck, our loads are typically just 10% of a rifle load.

DON'T FORGET to get scale test weight kit!

The press is going to mounted to my heavy duty work bench in the garage so it's not being moved anywhere. Thanks for the tip on the weights kit. I forgot that.

[SmurfHunter]

Is the lee second edition reloading book good?

[scubadad]

have not read the 2nd but if you are using lee equip there is alot of more detailed info in the book than with the directions.

for a micrometer i have a harbor frt $12.00 works great i checked it against my machinist grade starret and it was good to go. the digital mics have a zero button that you should use after you fully close it. just to be safe.