Undertow
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- Messages
- 3,126
- Location
- Des Moines, IA, US
shortbow said:Undertow, if you're talking about the old hammer and bang thing that neck sizes only etc., I'd strongly advise you to hold off and buy a press. You'll save yourself a lot of time, effort and frustration. There are some really inexpensive ones out there from Lee and RCBS, and you can get a dipper set from Lee that means you can do nicely without a measure or scale, and that will allow you to make excellent hunting-quality ammunition.
Thank you for the advice! After some research, I have to agree with you on this one. I see that a Classic Lee Loader would be much more appropriate for a bolt action rifle; especially one in which I planned to carefully watch every little aspect of reloading. The neck sizing die, by itself, is NOT appropriate for the semi-auto rounds I'll be making, and moreover, I've decided I want the ability to create quantity for practice and plinking.
I'm currently researching the Lee Master Press for an inexpensive but high quality progressive reloader. I've seen some complaints about the primer feed but I'm not concerned about that right now (I will research fixes and extra parts later). I also like the Hornady Lock-N-Load presses, although I'm leaning to the Lee.
One thing I'd like to share: through my research I've learned that prior to WWII, ammunition was inexpensive enough and smokeless powder scary enough, most shooters chose to purchase their ammo. However, after the war, and after some innovations in reloading coupled with the increased cost of factory ammunition, reloading became popular again. I had figured reloading was ALWAYS popular, but evidently not.
When I have the time, I will upload some images of my new M4, as well as my reloading bench (being built) and my press.