Reloading Equipment - Good ones you own, and the Not so good...

[goon]

I have had the same problem with the Lyman powder measure and inconsistent charges.
The way to get around it is to screw around with the charging bars until you make most of the binding go away.
Also, your choice of powder helps.
Ball powders work best, flake powders are mostly acceptable, stick powders like IMR 4320 range from mediocre to a nightmare. It was so bad that I just used the rest of my 4320 to celebrate the fourth of july.

Lyman scales and dies work great though.
I have found that with RCBS rifle dies that there seems to be a problem with the decapping stems. As they come from the factory, the stem and expander are now a complete assembly. When they put the expander on they seem to make them too tight and that strips the end of the threads on the stem out. It irritates me greatly but isn't a HUGE deal.
Their handgun dies are great.
I have had some issues with mixing Lyman shellholders and RCBS dies. Sometimes things have to be adjusted a little tighter than you would think they should be to size correctly. I have had to adjust my carbide dies until the shellholder hits to size .357 casings. I haven't had any trouble wth the dies because of this but it is not really what the manuals suggest because the shellholder hitting could potentially damage the carbide.

And when resizing military brass, all the leverage you can get is a good thing and more wood screws and lag bolts holding your bench together is always better.

[crazyyankee]

As far as rifle/pistol, I've been using an old RCBS for 20+ years with dies from Lyman, RCBS, Redding, Herters etc... For shotgun I've been using MEC 650 & 600 Jr. for 12 ga and a 600 Jr. for 20 ga and 410. I don't have any complaints about any of it, if it doesn't work properly, I just get another piece. Most of my equipment has come from auctions over the years, except some of the dies.
Can't wait till I can afford a Dillon progressive press.

[Agent Ronin]

I was re-reading this thread and realized i forgot to mention primer pocket swaging!

I use a Dillon SuperSwage 600, (~90$) Expensive, takes up a little bench space, but it is by far the best solution in existence for those who reload military brass. Just a little rough math, i figure the mechanical advantage is approx 70:1 which is insane compared to press mounted solutions. (About 12-14" of handle movement for 1/4" of swage rod movement). Yea i know the numbers are not exact, i did them in my head

[RandomTask]

Yea i think i can give you a quick rundown of what to do Heck, i can lend you my Lyman Reloading guide as that was the book i read to get started. Now i just need to get my basement somewhat organized lol

Great; PM me and we can exchange contact info. My schedule can be pretty flexible, so whenever you're loading up a bunch of ammo and feel like doing a tutorial, please let me know.