Start reloading: Which reloading kit?

Reloading is an essential step for precision shooters looking to improve their performance. Choosing the right reloading equipment is crucial to obtaining high-performance ammunition suited to your weapon and discipline. Here's a guide to help you select the ideal equipment.

Getting properly equipped can quickly become expensive and complex. At Bullet Addict, we offer personalized chat sessions in addition to this article to answer your questions and help you purchase your equipment.

Link: Jeremy's Hardware Advice

What are the ready-to-use reloading kits worth?

Many brands now offer their own reloading kits, LEE, RCBS, Redding, etc. These kits allow you to start reloading almost instantly after purchase; you generally only have to buy the right caliber tool sets in addition to the kit. These kits are good options for beginners on a tight budget, however, if your budget allows you more latitude, these kits are clearly to be avoided.

Example: Most kits offer a volumetric dosing machine, a destemmer, a beam scale. But you will quickly see that using this equipment is very laborious and that you will quickly want to move on to the automatic electronic scale... But then, reselling the newly purchased equipment risks being complex and you will lose money... You might as well buy straight away according to your needs and expectations.

In this guide we will give you our opinion on recharging equipment so that you can choose it with confidence depending on your use.

1. The reloading press

The press is the central element of your reloading workshop. There are three main types of press available:

When making your purchase, remember that you can change the caliber, change your practice, but generally a good press is for life! So if you're looking to save money, do it elsewhere :)

- Single-station press : The benchmark for reloading, easy to use, adjust, precise, durable... Its only drawback? A limited rate for small production runs of ammunition (Max 200/300 pieces per week at a rate of 4/5 hours of reloading per week). One lever action = 1 step, you must unscrew your set of tools when changing steps or calibers.

Range level by brand for single-station press:

- Low end: LEE (100-150€)
- Mid-range: Frankford Arsenal, Hornady (€200/250)
- High-end: RCBS, Redding (€250/600)
- Very high-end: Co-Ax, Turban, LE Wilson, etc. (€600/€1500)

- Turret press : A press that allows you to keep a large number of tools in reserve, allowing you to switch from one tool to another or from one caliber to another by rotating the turret. This saves time between reloading steps. On the other hand, you always have a single case in the press and you always do only one step at a time.

Range level by brand for turret press:

- Low end: LEE (€350)
- Mid-range: Lyman (€450)
- High-end: RCBS, Redding (€500/600)
- Very high-end: AREA 419 (€1,500)

- Progressive press : Designed for experienced reloaders, each lever movement raises 3, 4 or even 5 rounds of ammunition in a set of tools, allowing successive loading steps and saving a lot of time. These presses can produce large quantities of ammunition, but are more geared towards handgun ammunition or small shoulder calibers (5.56, etc.). More and more long-range shooting competitors in the USA are reloading on these types of presses, which have been heavily modified to improve repeatability. It is even possible to automate these presses so that they reload on their own!

- Low end: LEE (€450)
- High-end: Dillon (€750/€2000) depending on the model

2. Reloading tool sets (dies)

Each caliber requires a specific set of tools, generally consisting of:

- A recalibrator/defuser
- A ball positioner

When reloading ammunition for handguns or semi-automatic weapons, a crimping step will be necessary to ensure that the projectile is properly held in the collar. This tool is not necessary for reloading ammunition to be fired in a bolt-action weapon.

Depending on the desired level of quality and performance, you have at your disposal toolsets with varying qualities and varying functionalities. To learn more about recalibration, we have a dedicated article on this topic here: LINK

- Low end: LEE
- Mid-range: RCBS/ Hornady
- High-end: Redding
- Very high-end: Wilson

For shooters aiming for competition, it is very common to have a full length bushing recalibrator, accompanied by a Wilson seat on a column press, this gives the best possible results!

3. Powder dosage

There are two technologies available to you regarding powder dosing:

- Volumetric dosers + Grinder + Scale An “affordable” method for dosing powder, volumetric dosers start at €40 (LEE) accompanied by a grinder (€30) and a beam scale (€80). This allows you to start reloading without breaking the bank, the problem with this system is the time required to dose a dose of powder, and especially while you do this, you can’t do anything else! In short, it’s long and not necessarily very pleasant to do

- Electronic automatic dosing machine : Allows automatic dosing of a powder charge, you have nothing to do except put the empty cup and remove it when the dose is ready. This allows you to work in parallel on other munitions (seating of projectiles, priming, etc.)

- Low end: Frankford Arsenal intel dropper: €300
- Mid-range: Lyman Gen 6 €400
- High-end: RCBS Chargemaster €450
- Very high-end: RCBS Matchmaster €1,400 / Auto Trickler €1,500

4. Priming the case

You have two options:

- Press priming : economical because it is already present on your reloading press, a little slow. You lack sensation when inserting the primer, this element is important because if the insertion is very soft it is likely that your primer housings are expanded and your cases are at the end of their life.

- Hand priming : A small hand tool that allows you to prime the cases in series, you can do this quietly in front of the TV! The pace is quite high.

- Low-end: LEE auto prime €40
- Mid-range: Hornady / Frankford arsenal
- High-end: RCBS

5. The trimmer, cutting the length of the case

When you reload you know that this tool is by far the most painful to use!

And yet there is no choice, during the firing and reloading cycles your case will lengthen and you absolutely must control its length to avoid potentially catastrophic problems!

Manual case trimmers: These models are generally more affordable and more compact. They are ideal for beginners or occasional reloaders who don't need to process large quantities of cases. Manual case trimmers require a little more physical effort, but they offer precise control over the cutting length.

If you are reloading multiple calibers, consider purchasing a Case trimmer with a micrometer so you can easily switch between calibers.

Electric trimmers case: These models are faster and more efficient than manual ones. They are recommended for experienced reloaders who process large volumes of cases. Electric case trimmers reduce fatigue and save time, but they are generally more expensive.

6. the case neck chamferer

In order to ensure good seating, it is important that the case is chamfered internally at a minimum. This chamfer allows the projectile to be better centered and prevents the projectile jacket from being damaged during seating.

There are three options for chamfering:

Hand tool: There are very inexpensive hand tools for chamfering the inside and outside of the case, however this quickly becomes tedious on long series of cases, the repeatability is not good, and it is difficult to stay on axis...

Power tool: Allows considerable time savings, some have stops allowing very good consistency from one case to another.

Case trimmer: Some case trimmers can do chamfering: Wilson offers a chamfering cutter, some case trimmers are even equipped with cutters that do the cutting and chamfering!