Can any of you reloaders on the OB give me a list of what accessories are needed to get started reloading once you have a press? I will be getting a Hornady LNL progressive press, but I'm having trouble narrowing down what additional items are required versus just nice to have. I will be reloading mostly .40, .45 and bulk .223 with the occassional hunting rounds in .270, .300 Win Mag, .25-06, etc.

The interweb has some reloading forums, but they are all advanced way beyond the rookie getting started stuff.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Let me know how that LnL treats you - I'll more than likely be ordering one for Father's Day.

So you've got the press nailed down, here is what I would recommend as a somewhat seasoned reloader:

With the LnL you'll need the proper plates and the LnL die adapters (you probably have these on order with your LnL).

Scale - whether it's a run of the mill balance beam or electronic, you'll need a powder scale to weigh or check your charges.

Dies - you've probably got this covered, but I figured I'd add it to the list anyway

Calipers - dial or digital, you'll need them to gauge your brass trim length and cartridge overall length. This is a very, very important tool.

Manuals - Lee, Hornady, Sierra, etc. You'll need manuals to work up your loads for a particular caliber and projectile weight with a specific powder. You can get paper manuals for specific calibers that combine all of the data from a variety of sources for pretty cheap - I use these quite a bit personally.

Case trimmer - If you are reloading rifle rounds, which you are, you'll need a case trimmer to keep your brass from growing beyond specifications. Forstner makes a good one, as does Lee, RCBS and a few others. I use a manual Forstner, one of my best friends is pretty fond of the Lee Zip Trim system. So long as you know how t use it, they all are pretty good.

Case Maintenance Kit - this usually includes a series of brushes, reamers and bushings to make your primer pockets uniform and clean them. It also contains neck brushes and neck deburring tools and chamfer tool to remove the little burrs on the bass neck after you trim it. RCBS makes a kit that you can get that has all of this in one box.

Projectile Pulling Die - I just broke my 2nd impact puller last night, so I'm looking for a die that will pull projectiles (you seat them too deep, or in my case - you discover that your rifle twist won't work with a certain projo weight after you've loaded 100 of them up). Impact pullers work good, but stay away from the plastic ones you get at Cabela's or Sportsmen's - they last about 20 rounds before they break.

Tumbler - you don't necessarily NEED one, but life is much, much easier when you are using cleaned and polished brass. You get what you pay for in these, so stay away from Frankford Arsenal and some of the other cheap brands. I have a Lyman, but RCBS and Dillon also make good ones. When it comes to tumbling media - DO NOT buy that overpriced crap that you get at gun shops. Go to Petsmart and get you a bag of walnut bird bedding. It is exactly the same stuff, but about 1/10 of the price. Then go get you a bottle of NuFinish Car Polish and put a cap ful of that in about every 5th load you tumble. I'm still on the same media that I started about 3 months ago and have polished about 25,000 rounds with this method and still get high luster finish.

Optional Accessories:

Modified Case - if you want to get really serious with your rifles about accuracy, get a modified case for that chamber. It's a regular piece of brass that has been trimmed and drilled and tapped at the primer end to allow it to screw to the modified case gauge.

Modified Case Gauge - this screws into the modified case. You place your projo of choice in the neck, then insert into the chamber. When your projectile won't push any further, it has seated against the lands. You gauge the OAL, then back off about .002" to determine your round overall length for that particular projectile. This increases accuracy significantly. I think my particular gauge is a Hornady brand, but RCBS makes one too that is essentially exactly the same.

Neck trimmer - when brass is formed, there sometimes is a significant difference in the thickness of the brass at the neck. This can cause the projectile to be seated in the chamber crooked, which decreases accuracy. Forstner makes a good hand trimmer than evens out the neck, which increases accuracy. In the case of my .223 bolt, it made a monster difference in accuracy past 200 yards (I was hitting targets at well past 400 the other day that I would not normally have been able to hit).

Concentricity gauge - this measures how round your cases are. I don't have one personally, but I know people that shoot in long range competitions sometimes use these to ensure that their brass is uniform.

I also have an RCBS Chargemaster for my single stage rifle reloading. With the LnL, it isn't necessary, but even when I get my LnL, i plan to reload for my rifle with my single stage, and this machine has made life significantly easier in that aspect.

Cartridge holding tray - again, with the LnL this is not necessary, but with single stage you need something to hold your brass as it goes through the various stages of loading.

There are a bunch of other doo-dads out there, but many of them are uneccessary or just novelty type items.

The above is a pretty good list of the basics, plus a few extras. As you develop your system, you'll figure out what you need to augment your existing inventory. As you decide how much into accuracy you want to get, you can look around and get some other items that can help you load ammo that is match grade or better.

[This message has been edited by schmellba99 (edited 5/2/2009 6:28p).]

All I can add is if you have the opportunity, take a look at everything that is included in the RCBS Rock Chuckar kit. Since you already have the press, I would buy everything else in that kit.

The only thing after 25+ years of reloading, I have purchased extra is a bullet puller, neck turning tool (that's really only needed if you are dealing with match chambers), additional electronic powder measure.

Unless you plan on getting into match shooting or have the ability to consistently hold or want sub 1/2 MOA, there is no need to purchase a lot of equipment to measure the roundness of your rounds. I've tried it and you don't see the difference with hunting rounds or pistol rounds.

It does, however, sound like schmellba99 knows what he's talking about and is rather experienced also.

Regarding bullet pullers(this isn't a dig at you schmellba, just my experience), I have both kinetic and the locking collet die. The problem with the die is it often leaves indentions on the the bullet. Not a good thing to me. I have a plastic kinetic RCBS puller I have used for 30 years. As long as you don't slam it on concrete(use a 2x4) or swing for a home run, it should last a long time. The die puller is much quicker though.
As far as manuals, they are full of useful information. You can get most of the loading data from the internet via their websites, though. I have used Hodgdon's website more times than I can count to work up new loadings.
I also agree with Doc, what's included in a reloading kit is about all you need unless you're into precision or match shooting.

[This message has been edited by str8shot1000 (edited 5/2/2009 7:31p).]

schmellba has given a good list. I think the only thing I saw missing was some sort of case lube for your rifle cartridges. You won't need any for your pistol cartridges if you get carbide dies.

Regarding the manuals, I agree that they are an important part of the puzzle. I think you could pick up any one of those schmellba listed and get started. Over time, you will probably add 2 or 3 more, but you don't need all of them before reloading your first case.

As for case trimming, you will have to trim your rifle cartridges before the first loading. If you have a small drill press in your garage, or even just a good variable speed drill, I have found that the Lee cutter and lock stud assemblies are very easy to use and are relatively inexpensive.

I have had a lot of success using RCBS X-Dies to increase the number of reloads on a case before having to trim it again.

str8shot -

I would prefer the impact puller over the collet puller, but since I've gone through 2 of them in the last 6 months (with about 20 pulls on each), I'm becoming less of a fan.

The collet pullers can put the grip marks on the projectile, but it really shouldn't make a difference in accuracy. The base of the projectile carries about 95% of the importance for accuracy over the rest of the projo. The indentions from the puller should be up on the ogive, which doesn't make contact with the lands. Other than the fact that it just doesn't look right, it should have negligible effect on your accuracy, barring extreme circumstances anyway.

If I could find a kinetic puller that will last as long as yours, I'd be all over it. I just haven't had good luck with them at all.

To the OP:

One thing I forgot to add is this:

Get a system that you are comfortable with and that works for you, and stick to it regardless of the caliber or whether it's pistol or rifle. Don't cut any corners at all and double check your loads. I've been known to go back over data 4 or 5 times before loading up just to make sure that I have everythign correct.

You can have a lot of fun and success with reloading, but it's not something you can make a mistake with either. Take your time, develop your own personal system that works, and double check all of your work before firing that first round.

And if you can find small rifle primers, let me know where.

Construction depending on whose dies and case trimmer you buy you may need to buy shell holders. at one time a shell holder came with each set of dies. not anymore so check when you order your dies. some case trimmers like the RCBS case trimmer require a shell holder, but not the same style as used on your press. your 45, 270, and 25-06 use the same shell holder. your 300winmag, 40 S&W, and 223 use different ones.