SmallCaliberCentral

All the reloads I have done already have been loaded up at friends houses(who are experienced). I have been thinking about getting into it myself and was just wondering about opinions on which brands are good and what is not. Being I mainly shoot Hornady Factory loads I would stick with Hornady bullets(I already own the Hornady reloading book). My friends both had RCBS equipment and I was pondering buying the same unless you suggest otherwise?

Thanks in advance

in my opinion rcbs is the finest for your money

If you like made in America you might want to skip RCBS.

Redding and Forster are the two companies that make the best quality equipment. Both companies are made in America and their products will easily last you a lifetime. In the long run you are money ahead to buy the best products you can afford, the investment will be well worth it. Let me know if you need any pricing, we carry both Redding and Forster.

Brad
Custom Reloading Tools LLC

buy Redding.....I tried cheaper and wasn't happy so I ended up with Redding anyway and had to buy twice. Bite the bullet and do it.

It took me about 25 years to figure out that Redding/Forester are by far the best basic tools available. For bench goodies though, look also to Sinclair, K&M, and our buddy Brad at CRT. (In fairness, I've also used RCBS presses and dies for 40+ years, just think Redding is superior.)

For 7/8"-14 dies though, Redding gets my vote, specifically their excellent Competition Seating Die.....expensive, yes, best mic seating die? Yes.

I've used virtually every brand on the market, and feel that Redding is the most consistenty precise, best finished, best featured dies available. But that's just me.

I recently decided to replace my Lee Classic cast press, with a Redding Boss press. After going thru the hassel of re-drilling my bench to mount the press, buying new bolts, and re-adjusting my dies, I was ready for a loading session. While checking the seating depth of the bullets, I kept getting different seating depths. I am using Redding type "S" match dies, which I think are the best, but I did re-check my die adjustments, and make sure the die was screwed in tight enough so not to move. What I found was that the brand new press was the problem. This press had so much slop and movement when I pulled the handle down, I was getting sometimes more than .012 difference in seating depth. That really pi$$ed me off. Needless to say I returned that POS to the retailer for a refund. I was not in the mood to call Redding and get the run around from them that I got in a previous call to them. I put my Lee press back on my bench. I did check for any kind off slop in it, and found none. The quality in the Lee press, to me, is far superior to that Redding press. I am very happy with all of my Redding dies, but if I decide to buy a new press, you can bet your butt it will not be a Redding press. I do realize there are a lot of Redding press users out there, and I am not posting this to upset anyone, but this was my experience. Just my 0.02

Kevin - Interesting you should have that experience.....I wore out my Rockchucker in 38 years of use, finally giving me TIR in the realm of .006" most of the time. When I traced the problem to excessive ram runout in the press, I replaced it with a Redding Magnum (or whatever they call they beefy unit), and my TIR using their comp dies now runs from zilch to about .0015" in most cases. It completely cured the problem, but illustrates two radically different experiences with one brand of press.

It shows that virtually every manufacturer produces a dog now and then. JME

(I think you should use the Redding press, make crappy rat ammo and miss most of your squirrels, thereby leaving ME more targets..... )

Hey, rat season is almost here.....remember this HOT day from two years ago? Look how purty you are with a rifle.....



The view of "Firebase Alpha" on Hill 1363:



Squirrels flew for four days, and I think I lost 10 lbs from sweating my butt off! Gads, that was a scorcher...97* in the shade, and very hard to keep barrels cool. The wet towel method sure does work, but like Captqc sez, he'd rather have cabanna girls fanning the barrels under his canopy. Okay, sorry for straying OT, but this is a nail-biting time of year....tick-tock.......

If I were starting from scratch I would go the same route all over again....RCBS

Here is the kit I started with

http://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Chucker-Supr ... B001MKBV50

Everything you need and a few things you don't.