self loading

[Moran 10]

What equipment do I need to self load what's the best make and how much would it all cost me for 243 win

[dave1372 83]

My recommendation with approx prices would be: -

 

Lee 3 hole turret press £85.00

Lee Collet Dies £29.00

Lyman Scale £43.00

Lee Auto-prime £18.00

Lee case trim pilot £6.00

Lee case trim cutter £6.00

Lee auto-prime shell holder £5.00

2 x 50 ammo boxes £9.00

Powder measure RCBS Uni £84.00

Powder Measure stand £31.00

Lee primer pocket cleaner £3.00

Powder funnel £5.75

Powder Trickler Hornady £14.00

Digital Calliper (Trojan) £28.25

Case loading block £8.00 (at least one to start – see if you need two later)

 

 

That seems to be all. You can go for neck reamers, and primer reamers, and lathe type trim tools etc, but as a basic kit this is fine. To be honest the powder trickler and funnel will only be used in set-up and load development, you can skip the use of this in normal loading, as most good quality powder dispensers throw to 1/10 grain accuracy with normal powders.

 

Vihtavouri powder is more economical than many American products. Vihtavouri N140 works well across a range of loads and costs about 5p per round less.

 

Have a look at these to get some info and loads.

 

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.243+Winchester.html

http://www.accurateshooter.com/

www.reloadersnest.com

 

[Skull Hooker 185]

Hi Moran

I started loading .243 and .204 about 5 months ago, for hunting. I went for the RCBS Master Supreme kit, which retails in the Bushwear catalogue at £449.99p + postage. I went to Optics Warehouse and got the whole lot for about £100 less than that. They were good as the Speer manual that comes with itdoes not carry data for .204, so they immediately swapped it for a Hornady manual, which does. Its a great starter pack which will get you going immediately

Over and above that you have to buy your dies. I don't know what your into, paper punching or hunting, but Redding competition dies are at the fine end, at about £200/set, and Lee are at the other end at £30/set.

I load .204 on RCBS dies and .243 on Lee dies. Dies are generally compatible with different makes of press, so you can mix and match.

There are bits of kit out there which can enhance your reloading, but this lot will give you useable accurate rounds. The press is well recommended and I have found it very easy to use

I would suggest you buy a book on it,as it gives you an understanding of the dangers you face from your chosen pastime. Whilst reloading is a great hobby, if you get it wrong, you could lose your hands, eyesight or face, or more seriously, your life.

I spent a month reading and watching youtube demos before I felt confident, but im up and running now, and there are some good forums out there for excellent advice, but be careful about taking data from unknown sources, stick to manufacturers data.

Good luck

Skully

[Hawkeye. 26]

My set up was about £500 3 yrs ago and only have the minimum I needed

[charlie caller 3,654]

 

My setup was 120 quid 4 years back and I have everything I need, well almost.

[Moran 10]

Wow thanks lads that's great info I am just starting with my 243 so need to play with it a lot more before I start loading I use it for hunting fox mainly only time I waste money in punching holes is when setting up its all about the hunt for me thanks again lads

[SNAP SHOT 194]

Stay away from the lee turret press, they are piss, i had one and invested in a redding big boss about a year later,

there is a bit of vertical play in the aluminium head of the turret press, and this leads to inconsistancy when relaoding,

 

invest in a quality die set too, like redding, it WILL save you money, Lee are alright to cut your teeth on, but if you want to make

accurate ammo, then You have to spend that bit extra,

 

 

Snap.

[charlie caller 3,654]

Stay away from the lee turret press, they are piss, i had one and invested in a redding big boss about a year later,

there is a bit of vertical play in the aluminium head of the turret press, and this leads to inconsistancy when relaoding,

 

invest in a quality die set too, like redding, it WILL save you money, Lee are alright to cut your teeth on, but if you want to make

accurate ammo, then You have to spend that bit extra,

 

 

Snap.

I am afraid that is rubbish, nothing at all wrong with Lee stuff, after all would a company advertise a money back guarantee on their collet dies,if you dont load your most accurate ammo? millions of rounds loaded with lee stuff all over the world without problems, I love reloading snobs, extoling the virtues of their hundreds of poundsworth of equipment they have, just to load hunting ammo, I use a Lee hand press and in my .243 and .22 hornet I can load ammo that will shoot sub half inch groups @100yds all day long, what more could you ask for, oh and in the nineties the world 1000yd benchrest record was won with guess what Lee dies.

[Moran 10]

Half inch groups is all you need for hunting I ain't loaded so would only be looking at the lower end really thanks for the info

[SNAP SHOT 194]

Stay away from the lee turret press, they are piss, i had one and invested in a redding big boss about a year later,

there is a bit of vertical play in the aluminium head of the turret press, and this leads to inconsistancy when relaoding,

 

invest in a quality die set too, like redding, it WILL save you money, Lee are alright to cut your teeth on, but if you want to make

accurate ammo, then You have to spend that bit extra,

 

 

Snap.

I am afraid that is rubbish, nothing at all wrong with Lee stuff, after all would a company advertise a money back guarantee on their collet dies,if you dont load your most accurate ammo? millions of rounds loaded with lee stuff all over the world without problems, I love reloading snobs, extoling the virtues of their hundreds of poundsworth of equipment they have, just to load hunting ammo, I use a Lee hand press and in my .243 and .22 hornet I can load ammo that will shoot sub half inch groups @100yds all day long, what more could you ask for, oh and in the nineties the world 1000yd benchrest record was won with guess what Lee dies.

 

 

i have no trouble saying what i have saying about their turret press as i owned one, and am only stating what i myself have noticed, and i'm far from a reloading snob,

the dies are fine, but consistancy is the key to good accuracy,

And i'm sure that the fella that won the record had other things in his favour too,

 

i'm speaking from my own experiences with the equipment i have used personally, and when i had the money to upgrade i did,

And i noticed my groups get tighter as a result, !!!

 

yours in shooting

 

Snap.

[charlie caller 3,654]

Half inch groups is all you need for hunting I ain't loaded so would only be looking at the lower end really thanks for the info

TBH an inch group is fine for hunting, as a general rule a group will open up by an inch per hundred yards over zero range, so if shooting at a fox for instance, your kill zone is roughly 4-5 inches so out to 300 yds you should be fine with a rifle that consistently shoots inch groups,(providing all the other factors are working together).

[jamie g 17]

ie had lee stuf and well you do get good ammo from it. i think its worth spending that bit extra on the redding