I'm brand new to reloading. I helped a buddy do it decades ago, and always thought about doing it myself, so now I'm looking to take the plunge. I've read a million things and I'm starting to get "paralysis by analysis." My goal is primarily to have a fun hobby for rainy days while making some quality and accurate rifle ammo for hunting.

The Lyman Ultimate Reloading Kits are on sale at MidwayUSA for $559.99. Click HERE to see the kit. It seems like a pretty good starting point.

Thoughts on this kit versus others, or buying everything separately? Cost isn't the deciding factor necessarily, but value for the dollar is always a good thing!

I have more faith in RCBS. I use a Rock Chucker press as well as a Forester Co-Ax. The Rock Chucker pulls bullet more than anything, now days. It will also make exceptional ammo. I used one exclusively for years. The Rock Chucker presses will out live us all!

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1023389781?pid=345426

If you are loading 308W only, get the rockchucker (or lee single stage), dies and a little crow trimmer (old WFT) RCBS non-electric powder dropper. Don't need the tumbler and half the stuff in the 'kit'.

Thanks, guys. I'm mainly planning to load .308 Win., .243 Win., and .223 Rem. That's probably about it, unless I end up buying another caliber rifle down the line. I doubt I'll ever get into handgun ammo.

As far as the dies, it's a bit overwhelming trying to figure out what I need and what's overkill/unnecessary. Any thoughts there? I've watched so many videos and read so many things...it seems to get overcomplicated.

You do need a vibratory tumbler with Walnut shell media. Clean the brass after firing, and before sizing.

RCBS standard dies are more that sufficient. A full length sizing die and a seating die is all you need.

I would add Hornady lock rings to all dies. Both RCBS and Redding lock rings are inferior.

Get you some Hornady head space gauge tubes. As well as bullet comparators for each caliber you plan to load for. O.A.L. is grade school. And setting sizing dies, per the manuals, is grade school. Grad school is not a big leap in technique.

I wouldn’t hesitate to buy that kit at entry level. I can say that trimmer is an excellent tool if your hands are up to par. Arthritis or carpal tunnel and it will kill your happiness.

There is a better product for everything in that kit but most of those gains are seen in the precision shooting world. Also precision ammo can be made on low cost Lee equipment, as long as you are not in a hurry.

For me a good entry level die is Lee and skip RCBS all together. I think most people say the opposite though.

Years ago I walked away with money in my pocket with Lee presses and dies and a lyman digital scale. It can be done.

Lee is garbage. I've broken many of their tooling from light, normal use.

Christensen, Lee, Vortex, a match made in Hell.

Dies? Or other tooling? Serious question, I’ve had much better luck with them than RCBS.

The only other Lee part I really liked was a primer tray, so they promptly discontinued it for an inferior product.

Dies, and their bench mounted priming tool. That thing didn't last past 100 pieces of brass.

I started off with a RCBS rockchucker kit and still use it almost 30 years later. I have upgraded some stuff added some stuff, but bottom line you can produce some really good shooting ammo with pretty simple kits.

As stated above setting up a press and dies is pretty straight forward, the equipment will come with step by step directions. Take the dive, I’ve never once regretted it.

My upgrades were only to maintain the quality, but also do it faster.

Cheap, right, fast. You can have two.

I wouldn't touch that kit. I would buy a minimal RCBS Rockchucker kit and then add to it slowly as you learn the ropes.

The best value right now is the Rockchucker Supreme Master Reloading kit for someone just getting started. About the same money as the Lyman and higher Quality. That would be a good place to start and not break the bank. As already recommended, RCBS makes good dies. I own some and like them. I own more Hornady dies and prefer them over RCBS, and they come with locking rings that don’t need to be replaced. FWIW, there is probably no difference in the quality of ammunition loaded with either die set.

Without having a look at what all is in the Lyman and RCBS reloading kits (I’ll assume the kits have the same basic bits and pieces), if the price isn’t out of line, I’d go with RCBS. That said, you’d be well served by Lyman also. My pistol reloading has a high percentage of Lee stuff. It works fine.

I got a laugh from something JG said, that these days he upgrades reloading gear to make things faster. That’s exactly what I do too, but hadn’t actually thought about it like that.

Yesterday evening I was having to manually trim, chamfer, debur some brass. Because I don't have the die for that cartridge, for the Giraud power trimmer. It reminded me how much it sucked and how many countless hours I spent manually trimming brass.

The trimmed brass end result is the same. The power trimmer is ten times faster. The power trimmer is Right and Fast.

RCBS was bought out not too long ago, hopefully they get their quality improved. The presses were being made in China, and supposedly they moved the casting to Mexico and machining to the US. My friend bought a RCBS Summit press a few years ago and it was machined crooked, he call customer service and they sent him a new one right away with no questions. The customer service agent told him about the China and Mexico issue.

I would buy the Redding Big Boss kit, it is made in USA and priced the same as the orange kit.

All great advice, and I definitely appreciate it!

I found the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Kit for $476.08. Plus, RCBS has a $100 rebate going on right now if you buy $400+ worth of RCBS items, so that makes it even better.

I have very minimal experience with Lyman products, and only a slight bit more with RCBS. But, from a cursory look at reviews, it looks like that Lyman turret press and their electric powder dispenser are probably both good products.

You absolutely will need a dial caliper from the get-go, and a case trimmer pretty soon thereafter (neither come with the RCBS package). The tumbler and bullet puller are also bonuses.

If I were you, I'd be very tempted to go with the Lyman Ultimate Reloading Kit, and that Midway price is a bargain!

I use the Hornady 308 die set for jacketed stuff - like it better than the RCBS. Cheap F-A battery scale, Hornady hand primer, RCBS powder dropper, Lyman trimmer - I convert 223 to BO. Lasted 15 years for me. Not an accuracy fanatic or long range shooter so all that I need. I did get the Lee ss press, probably should have gotten the RCBS.

My lean towards the Lyman was directly tied to the turret press and the dispenser. I’ll never deal with the headache of a balance beam scale again, and will never recommend one unless you only shoot 10 rounds a year.

With the RCBS kit you get a beam and a single stage. Possibly the best affordable single stage made for sure.

I don’t load high volume, but we’ll over 10 rounds a year. Still use my beam scale ocasionally.

I’ve never been a fan of turret presses more chance to mess up, especially starting out. I’m sure I will always be a single stage loader for my rifle ammo.

Magnetically dampened beam scales are not bothersome and give an accuracy level good enough to easily weigh to the individual kernel of extruded powder. Beam scales without magnetic dampening are to be avoided.

^^This has been my experience. With the trained eye, looking at the needles, you can see the powder charge to the kernel. Beam scales can make exceptional ammunition. The only reason I don't use one regularly is I made the investment to maintain that high consistency, but make powder charges much faster.

Still using a beam scale and convinced I’m loading as accurate as anyone. With H4350 I keep a small pile under my scale and often sort through it to find “partials” to finish off the weight.