I agree. I loved reloading and tinkering with loads back 30 years ago and still would today but it looks like I could spend a $1000 easy before buying brass, primers, powder and bullets. I just don't shoot enough for that. i just hunt.

Bryan, like has already been stated, skip the hand press. The mobility factor is the only real draw to a hand press. The RCBS starter kit is a great bargain. If you are looking to beat the quality of factory ammunition, that kit has everything you need except dies to do it. Necking up .308 to .358 is gonna suck bad with a hand press. The issue being leverage. The RCBS kit is gonna have a reloading manual, and calipers, and a magnetic dampened scale, and a powder thrower and I believe a case trimmer. With the gear you get in the RCBS kit you can build custom grade ammunition the rest of your life. Upgrades to that gear will be more about increasing your speed rather than quality. Catch it on sale and snap it up. Back when I started loading I did it thinking I would save money. While I have saved a pile on the price per round, I started shooting so dang much it ended up costing me.

What about one of them Hornady kits, I been seeing them for around $350.

FYI I not only bought a Ruger American Gen II, but Jesse returned my call and I will have me a 16” 1:10 twist 1st gen 358 Winchester in just a month or two. I will probably make a short video comparing the .308 American to the .308 American Gen II before sending it off.

Life is good.

So let’s call my budget about $500 max on reloading tools and equipment. And I still want the hand press kit for prepping brass on the road, can’t take power and primers with me on the road but there is no reason I can’t clean and prep brass for my personal consumption. Neck size it and load it at home.

What would you buy for $500 including a hand press kit?

You get what you pay for, and the RCBS equipment is better than the Hornady equipment.

In fact the Hornady hand held priming tool is unusable.

Hornady dies are good. Hornady head space gauges and bullet comparators are good. That's as far as I'll own for Hornady loading equipment. I like their bullets and brass though.

I consider myself as a minimal reloader, equipment wise. Lee Classic cast press, cheap F-A electronic scale, electric calipers, RCBS powder measure plus needed for cal dies, case gauges, etc. Plus all the stuff for casting. Worked for approx. 15 yrs. 308, 30/30 & BO. And 40, 9mm. Only thing permanent on the workbench is the press. I don't neck size for a reason. Lee hand press is in the tool drawer and doesn't get much use. The RockChucker was the other press I considered. I used to go through a lot of 308W in the AR10. Kid got me an STM tumbler couple years ago, I like. I will NOT size brass until AFTER cleaned!

I have a Lee turret press that I have had for almost 30 years. I know Lee presses get frowned upon as lower quality, but I can still make ammo that is better than factory with it. Make no mistake. I know that it is not as good as the higher end presses. And I know that it is not as accurate and my runout is higher than what I would get with a different press, but I have had no issue loading .5-.75moa ammo with it. You say that you already have a scale, so you just need press, dies, primer, trimmer, and calipers. (along with brass, primers, and powder of course) Not including components, I would imagine that you could get into that for well under $500. Possibly even under $350 if you find a used press. It would also help to have the head space gauges and comparators that JG mentioned above.

For the amount that you are going to be loading, I wouldn't bother with the hand held press. It does not take long to prep 100 pieces of brass at home.

What kind of work bench will i need? Can i get by with one of those good sized collapsible picnic tables?

I started by mounting my press on a metal file cabinet with a piece of plywood screwed to the top for a little bit of stability. That was a terrible decision. You need a good sturdy work bench. I screwed mine to a wall to give it more stability.

If you want a measure pf portability, or just to be able to put everything away out of sight you might want to take a look at this:

portable bench

I bought one to use in my camper and it worked great---good stability, didn't take up a lot of room, etc.

ALL of my equipment is portable. It's all mounted to blocks of 2x8 or 2x10, and I clamp it to me loading bench when I need it. That is a little bit of a PITA, but the tradeoff is that I have a nice, big bench that I can use every square inch of for whatever I might ever need to do. It is built from the furniture typically used in high school chemistry and biology classrooms. Unfortunately, it seems to catch a lot of clutter at times. It looked like this about 15 years ago. It is not presently decent for public viewing.

Husky solid wood top and Steel Case legs. New about 200$. Add overhead shop LED light bar 50$. Mine was 'donated' by my Co. tossing it out.
Something like this
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-6...-G7200S-US/206288247#ratings-and-reviews

A Lee single stage press will make accurate ammo just as well as any other single stage press. I've used 4 different brands of single stage presses over the years. Made bughole ammo with the Lee just like the others. Can't tell you how many thousands of rounds of 45acp I loaded with a Dillon progressive over the years but it's the LEAST amount of enjoyment I've had in reloading. I always keep a couple of single stage presses on my bench for loading rifle and by far enjoy it more than cranking out pistol ammo on a progressive. Put the extra money into other tools such as quality scales, powder measure, priming tool, trimmer, etc. If a Lee is all you can afford go for it. It's probably what most everyone here started with, even though they won't admit it.

Ok so new plan then. I am gonna start off with a lee hand press and a set of dies, and brand new factory made 358 Winchester brass. Might have an issue finding the space to set up a good bench and do it all legit but we plan to move here before too long, probably mid spring or summer.

Anyway the lee hand press is just to get by on load development and building ammo for one rifle. I plan to pinch my pennies and get a RCBS rock chucker in a year or so. And if I have money burning a hole in my pocket and i see a good deal on one new, I will probably snatch it up sooner because that’s just how I am.

This is my experience although I don't use their brass.



I got mine off craigslist. It is well made and 4' X 8' with a lower shelf and 4X4 legs. Came with an overhead light, an outlet, and a cord to plug it in (all hand made). People were moving and couldn't take it with them. I paid $75 (before the lumber hike) and picked it up. Long story short ... don't be afraid to look at FB Marketplace, craigslist, etc. and re-purposing is always a possibility.

Ok, well then I obviously should start reading some hand books. What manuals would you guys recommend to start with,

Bryan, this is neither brain surgery nor rocket science. There ought to be plenty of stuff on YouTube. Don’t over think it but exercise common sense and some diligence.

That said, I have a lot of manuals. When I started , there was no internet. Yep, I’m old. A lot of the major powder/bullet makers publish them.

When I have gotten a gun with a new to me caliber I buy a One Book,One Caliber booklet that lists specs for different weight bullets. To me, it beats leaving my shop and going to the puter.

BTW, never found anything cheap when dealing with guns.

If there are certain things you need post up about it and someone likely has it laying around collecting dust and they would give or sell it to you cheaply. Not components, everyone needs and hoards those, but equipment. Everyone who has been reloading for a while has gone through numerous upgrades and has old still useable stuff laying around.

I treat reloading stuff like I treat golf equipment ... I resell what I don't like or use to justify what replaced it. I rarely have any extra tools.