Suggestion for a starter reloading kit

OhHeyThereBen said:
Would a person really save money buying things separately new? I guess I haven't priced things out too much, but if I were to buy all of the Lee stuff that came in my kit separately I think it would have been much more expensive. Getting used stuff would definitely help though.
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My goal was not lowest cost, it was value (a balance between cost and quality). Also, I am a gadget nerd and I liked picking out each item with a decent understanding of what it was, how I was going to use it and what the alternatives were. It took me an extra few hours to make my choices and probably cost me a little more, but that was because I chose a few nicer items - if I remember correctly the starter kits weren’t much more inexpensive than getting items separately on Amazon. The, “save 40%” type marketing is usually misleading as it it 40% off full MSRP that no one actually has to pay in reality. But again, I am not advocating one approach over the other, just offering one option.
 
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I ended up buying a kit to get started. Everything in the kit has treated me right except the scale. It came with an electronic/battery powered scale, and while it was never really 'off' it was a pain in the ass to get it to read sometimes. I've since bought a balance beam scale and its 100x faster.
 
I've loaded about 100 rifle rounds (7mm-HT and .308) with my Lee Challenger kit I got a couple months ago. Most everything it came with is useful, but much of it I'm looking to upgrade very soon. The press works great and I seem t9 be coming out with a good end result.
 
Bought a Lee hand press and discovered for the extras (grain scale and calipers) Harbor Freight is your friend. BTW the 4 shot one hole .223 I posted about was loaded using the Lee hand press.
 
I have owned the Lee kit for awhile now and only thing I have replaced is the scale. I bought a hornaday auto charge. Does everything the high priced kits do.
 
Lee isn't bad on most stuff I have. The dies are the thing I don't like the most though. The priming tools are great for the $$
 
schmalts said:
Lee isn't bad on most stuff I have. The dies are the thing I don't like the most though. The priming tools are great for the $$
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Curious, what don't you like about the Lee dies? I am a beginner and have the Lee dies and they seem to work great - but I am new enough that I don't know what I don't know.
 
At least the ones I have seem to have a little harder time getting bullets seated without as much runout, and IMO the internal finish is not as smooth as a RCBS leading to more chance of sticking a case. Most guys probably don't check runout so it may not bother them.
 
schmalts said:
At least the ones I have seem to have a little harder time getting bullets seated without as much runout, and IMO the internal finish is not as smooth as a RCBS leading to more chance of sticking a case. Most guys probably don't check runout so it may not bother them.
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Thanks - I had not measured that yet, but have recently added a hornady gauge for later as I drill down on precision. An interesting further discussion on the topic - http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.rifle-reloading-bullet-run-out.html
 
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