[James]

I had my reloading press set up in the garage, but it gets pretty cool out there in winter, so I recently moved things down the basement. Nothing fancy about this setup, but it gets the job done.

If you are thinking about getting into reloading, this is about what you will need for starters.
A press, dies and shell holder for the desired caliber, powder scales, powder measure, primer seating tool, reloading handbook, and a de-burring tool. Calipers are great too, but not necessary. Bullets, brass, powder and primers. Then if you want shiny brass you may want a tumbler. Again not necessary.

This takes up a little over 4 feet of the bench. The file boxes are for storage of tools and components.

 

[Treehugnhuntr]

Is that a Millermatic welder to the right of your reloading stuff? YIKES!! :lol:

 

[truemule]

I'm just about to get started. I ordered the press today actually. I'm going to start with some .223 and if that works out I'll expand to my .270 and then .357 and .40. I can barely wait to start. One more bad habit as my wife would call it.

 

[James]

Is that a Millermatic welder to the right of your reloading stuff? YIKES!! :lol:

Grin. Nope, that is an oscilloscope from the days when electronic gadgets had vacuum tubes in them. 8)

I'm just about to get started. I ordered the press today actually. I'm going to start with some .223

I think you will enjoy loading for the .223. One of the first calibers I ever loaded was the 222 Rem. Very similar to .223. It is a pleasure to load this small cartridge. A pleasure to shoot too. Enjoy!

 

[reb8600]

Actually calipers are necessary to get the right OAL of your reloads. They are also needed to trim them to the right length. After a couple of firings brass may need to be trimmed to lenth so a case trimmer will be needed.

 

[sagebrush]

actually a person can start reloading without the calipers, when I started i would stand a factory round next to my reload and check it this way, or you can load the round in the rifle and check to see if it chambers smoothly. Also one can take a marker and color the bullet then chamber it and see if it is hitting the lands in the chamber this way. Or one can take the bullets and load them in the clip for fit. The factory round check worked for me for years.

My first rifle shells were never trimmed for say 15 years and they still shot fine. when I did trim them they were not much over the recommended length.

Down the road a set of calipers would be necessary to trim the cases down. Most hunters that reload are not going to get target shooters performance when they reload.

It's just like saying a electronic scale is a necessary, when a beam scale will do for the hunter.

I'm sure James could have stated this in his first post but probably forgot.