If you started over today...

[P Flados]

Another Lee 20# bottom pour.

Another "kit" PID controller set up for controlling multiple devices.

Lee 6 cavity molds. Probably start with 356-120-TC for sure plus likely TL358-158-SWC, 429-214-SWC & 452-200-SWC.

Some Lee push through bullet sizing dies, 0.309, 0.314 and 0.358 for sure.

Another dirt cheap (last one was $5) used toaster over - controls to be gutted and adapted to control on same PID used for lead pot.

A couple of pounds of powder coat (two colors) some black Airsoft BBs, some good shaking tubs, a teflon cooking sheet and the other misc items for doing ASBB PC.

A bottle of 45-45-10 for tumble lubing (all loads light enough to not require PC).

A Lee turret press and Lee reloading dies are good enough for me (if the reloading stuff is gone).

Now, the above would all be good stuff for a newbie.

For me, I would also be pretty quick at getting some more advanced stuff such as:

Lots of Lee blank molds to make my own custom NLG molds. Converting one of these to a 4 cavity that drops a lightweight (~75 gr) 32 cal in RF would be a priority (Lee has one six cavity offering in 32 cal and I don't want a 93 gr RN). 7mm, 30 cal & 35 cal rifle molds would be next.

Another 7x14 mini-lathe (if needed due to my current one being lost with everything else). Must have accessories include a four jaw independently adjustable chuck and a lever type dial indicator for getting mold blocks chucked up (and re-chucked if needed) perfect.

A selection of W1 drill rod for the new D reamers I would need to make.

A couple of 3' pieces of 7/8x14 all thread to make new custom push through sizing dies etc.

[Stephen Cohen]

If I had been guided by those here in my early days, I would have a Lee 20# bottom pour again and Lee double cavity moulds as I believe if you an learn to look after a cheap mould you are then ready for the expensive ones. I would have Lee push through sizers which in my view are great for what I do since I use Hi-Tek coating, If I was to use those conventional lubes I would go for a Lyman lube sizer first up. I have 4 presses on my bench A Simplex Master press which has a 6 station head, a Redding 6 station press, an RCBS Rock Chucker and an RCBS Junior, all are fine presses and all single stage, my pick for a beginner would be the Rock Chucker as it is strong and will last a life time. I may upset a few here by this, but I would never suggest a Lee Progressive press to a beginner as I have seen two Auto pistols destroyed and two revolvers blown up by inexperienced operation of the Progressive press, by all means get one when you have some knowledge. Loading single stage and checking each case for primer and powder before seating a bullet will keep you and those you shoot with safe. I had a Lee Progressive and it was a dog, I sold it and have never looked back, and no none of the ammo that destroyed those pistols was loaded by me, but one of the autoes was mine. Never ever let anyone else use their loaded ammo in your guns. Regards Stephen

[Conditor22]

4-20 with a PID and a hotplate, lee molds are good to get started on

[Stephen Cohen]

The above shows what an addiction this game can be, fine mess of moulds there. And I agree with you wholeheartedly sir. Regards Stephen

[ioon44]

If I had to start all over I would not buy any Lee or Lyman products.

[dverna]

If I had to start all over I would not buy any Lee or Lyman products.

I am an equipment snob, but I still have some Lee stuff. Some is not very good, but some is good. Like they say, all the girls look pretty at 2:00 in the morning... My point being they all "work"....some better than others, and some you will not want to brag about.

Lots of Lee bashers. I know two guys who got burned with the Lee Pro1000. Just as bad are Lee lovers who have never used much else, and have a limited frame of reference.

[Conditor22]

If I had to start all over I would not buy any Lee or Lyman products.

Interesting, I've found the older Lyman/Ideal stuff to be excellent. the newer stuff is really hit and miss.

Today I'm returning a Lyman case trim Express I bought to try to save my painful right hand when trimming brass to length

[ascast]

as some said, it would be helpful to know what you plan to do, expect to get out of it all. Combat pistol craft is not the same game as BPCS. Depending on how far down the road you want to go, the equipment can get very far different.

[WestKentucky]

as some said, it would be helpful to know what you plan to do, expect to get out of it all. Combat pistol craft is not the same game as BPCS. Depending on how far down the road you want to go, the equipment can get very far different.

I purposefully stayed a bit vague for a few reasons. Primary reason is that I’m new to this and I don’t want to pigeonhole myself by buying gear tailored to one particular type of operation. The thread has ran its course for a couple days, I have gotten wonderful feedback and now I feel a bit more comfortable in making decisions based on some of the replies here. I will flesh out my wants, needs, and general preferences below. I tend to think of calibers as families.

32sw can be loaded with a simple and cheap Lee 311 round nose. 32 long however needs a different bullet because the round nose just doesn’t do squat well. Full wadcutter in the 100gr range. 32 acp probably could use the 32sw mold, so I won’t chase that rabbit just yet, but I eventually want truncated cones for 32acp.

38-357 I have a bunch of factory “stuff” already, Only mold I will buy in the near future for 357 diameter is a wadcutter. 38sw however is an entirely different animal. I’m leaning towards something in the line of the old 38-200 setup used for Victory revolvers but my guns go back to the 1880s with a BabyRussian and I have a few more topbreak S&W guns that I have salvaged. It’s my passion to revive the tired old topbreak guns and I’m building up a collection containing one of every major frame variation and caliber of the pre-hand ejector S&W guns. Currently chasing a Russian that a guy at work has. Rough as a cob but that’s how I like em, shows their story and they weren’t some safe queen. Of these old school guns the 38sw is by far my favorite caliber. Enough juice to be a serious defensive weapon, but not so much to sting you when you pull the trigger. For 38sw I’m wish washy, one day I want to do the 38-200 bullet and load light, and the next day I just want to load a really light wadcutter and call it a day. One of the old guns is 132 years young so I’m not hotrodding it by any stretch of the imagination.

9mm I have out of necessity. Similarly .380 because the wife likes it. I have a few thousand projectiles already that safely bridge the .380-9mm gap and eventually when I buy a 9mm mold it will probably be some sort of mold in the 110 gr range.

Moving on to rifles I’m a bit more “normal” as most of what I have is common. .223, .270, 30-30, but then there are the Marlins and the contender. I will buy a 30 caliber mold early on as 30-30 and 30 carbine need to eat. The 30 carbine is NOT an auto loader though, it’s one of the marlin 62s that need fed. I would like a heavy for caliber carbine bullet or a light for caliber 30-30 bullet that would work in both guns but being realistic I know that it’s not likely. I want gas checks, and I will use both rifles for hunting. On the topic of the marlin 62, there the other one... in .256 winmag.

The bullets intended for the .256 rifle are long gone. Even factory 75gr flat nose is pushing the limits of the gun both in chamber and in magazine. I’m not sure what I can do there but I want a very light for caliber .257 gas check bullet. Factory WW loads were a 60gr hollow point that penetrates a deers hide and blows up almost instantly. The deer I have killed with factory loads out of the .256 have been messy to say the least. I want to replicate that the best I can.

16ga is fun. Hard to find 2-5/8 stuff though, especially slugs. I will buy shot, it’s not worth the trouble to fool with making shot. I want a slug for it though. A 12 ha slug would also be nice so I can keep feeding my xtr12.

Last but not least is the contender. I want to tackle some 7mm for my 7-30 waters. It really likes 120gr jacketed bullets and I think I can hit nearly the same velocity with a as check out of my 10” pistol barrel.

Now, for a little insight into me. I’m an industrial safety professional because that’s how my brain works. I’m a bit of a clutz and if there’s a way to get hurt I find it, or I see how I would do something and end up hurt, so it bothers me until I get it fixed. My reloading regimen is similar. I have tried progressives and I nearly have anxiety attacks by not being able to visually check everything to see that it’s right. I need that quick glance in the cases to make sure they are all charged but not double charged. I suspect that my quirks will carry over to casting and that I will be a quadruple checker. I like to load in batches and from what I’m seeing I have a nice warm and fuzzy feeling about tumble lubed bullets but pan lubed maybe isn’t so bad. I doubt I will chase a lubrisizer.

I also occasionally dabble in machining (making parts for the old guns) and leather (I’m not paying $$$ for a simple holster) for the guns that are hard to find a holster for, and I’m not paying for a custom holster for something like my Colt New Line 22.

[Land Owner]

My reloading regimen is similar. I have tried progressives and I nearly have anxiety attacks by not being able to visually check everything to see that it’s right. I need that quick glance in the cases to make sure they are all charged but not double charged. I suspect that my quirks will carry over to casting and that I will be a quadruple checker.

Search these forums for upgrades to multi-station and the Progressive Press that includes the inexpensive but very workable and user friendly bore scope camera and lighting focused on the post-charge case that displays on your phone or laptop. Perhaps another forum member can help in finding a link to this. Those photos and write up are an ingenuous use and a simple "fix". It is a Mind Farm with what is shared on this site.

[Petander]

All has been said.

I would get some easy casting quality molds right away. Whenever I get a new NOE or MP mold I sort of regret some wasted years when I started with cheap ones 20+ years ago.

I can handle / tolerate / repair mediocre molds much better now that I know better.

[tew45]

I would have the same problem that I had 60 years ago. Not much expendable cash! But if I could I would get a Lee 10 pound pot and build a PID controller, and molds for .45ACP and .38 revolver.

[Springfield]

Some things I wouldn't have done knowing what i do now.
1. Don't sell the RCBS Pro pot someone gave me in order to buy 2 LEE pots. Dumb move.
2. Get a Turkey fryer to smelt with, don't bother with the Coleman stove. It just ruins the stove and is horribly slow comparatively speaking.
3. Flux with wood shavings and wax, not Marvelux. Works better and doesn't rust everything. And is cheaper.
4. Don't go for speed and cast with 2-6 cavity LEE molds. It is more difficult to do quality work, plus it tends to damage the molds as you can't/don't stop if there is a little problem, as you don't notice it soon enough.
5. Use 2-stroke oil for mould lubing. No grease, no anti-seize, nothing else.
6. Break in the molds better, not go for a large casing session with a brand new mould. At lease with LEE molds it tends to loosen up the pivot screws, and they NEVER want to stay tight again.

[GregLaROCHE]

I wouldn’t buy a Lee hardness tester. I would spend more for something that has a dial to read.

[Mk42gunner]

Old thread, but why not.

As Greg said, I'd skip the Lee hardness tester for something else; not the SEACO, got rid of it the Lee is better, for me.

I like ladle casting, so I would skip over the bottom pour pots and go for a Waage if I was flush with cash, the Lee Magnum Melter if not. I would buy the RCBS lead ladle again. Yes you can utilize a six cavity mold with a dipper.

I'd get a Star instead of the in and out lubrisizers from Lyman and RCBS that I have now. And a full set of push through sizing dies for those times I just want to tumble lube.

Quality molds. Non-abused H&G, RCBS (never tried Seaco molds)and or custom followed by Ideal/Lyman then finally Lee.

And really stock up on affordable components.

Robert

[jim147]

I would have got a lot more sooner if I could start over today at what I was making then.

I started reloading about 13 or 14 for trap. Carried that over to pistol later. I didn't start casting until my mid 20's. By 30 I could have bought anything I wanted but ammo was cheap.

I have everything I need but it's not all the best. You don't need to buy the best to do everything you need to do.

[markmars]

Personally, if I was starting over today. I would not get wheel weights for lead. 10-15 years ago, yes, 6 months ago I paid $10 for two 5-gallon buckets of wheel weights. Today I have 5 pounds of lead out of all those wheel weights and spent about 8 weekends separating out the steel and the zinc from the lead. Not worth it for an unknown amount of lead.
As others have said you can’t go wrong with a Lee pot. I like Lee molds and reloading equipment. For the price of a Dillon with out dies you can buy 3 Lee Pro 1000s with dies. The biggest complaint people have with Lee is you have to tinker with it to get it to work right. I have friends with Dillon press, Lyman press, Redding press, you have to tinker with all of them. They all work find the one you like.

[1hole]

...but we all know the drill of this "shoot more to save $$" habit.

I'm doing something wrong! I've been doing this looong enough and saved so much money I should be rich by now.

[rustyshooter]

Steel moulds. Hot plate. 20# pot. To learn casting. Aluminum and brass moulds are a little tricky to get the hang of in the beginning. Pan lube or alox in the beginning.

Reinforced turkey fryer. Cut propane tank. 3 or 4 ingot moulds. Ladle. Candle wax. Sawdust. To learn smelting.

[Land Owner]

I'm doing something wrong! I've been doing this looong enough and saved so much money I should be rich by now.

Joe asks the Material Supplier his price for bricks. The Supplier says, "They're cheaper the more you buy." Joe responds, "Then keep loading 'em until they're FREE!"

I think a lot about that in this hobby...it IS cheaper the more you shoot so just keep shooting until it's FREE!