Originally Posted By: WhoCaresI personally don't think u really save much money going with a kit vs picking your parts.
I also agree with getting or contacting friends that also load and each of you get a different book, and share the data. They are not all the same and some say that certain loads are safe, and others will say it's outside of safe. Despite the temptation to load a 22-250 for speed, I would suggest working within safe limits, and load within those ranges to find the load (primer, bullet, powder and seating depth) that is the most accurate load you can make. Dropping that first coyote/Prairie Dog at 500+ with your loaded ammo is very satisfying.
I bought a Honady single stage press with the quick change collars. What ever you get, since you are going to load more than one caliber, get the quick change, so you can set them and be done with that.
My best advice is to find someone that lives around you that you know and feel confident in and watch them, ask, and ask again.. There is a lot of things here, and it's easy to do, but worse is that it's easy to mess up and this is a a mess up that has your face right next to it.
I have a friend that isn't as careful as he should be and ended up with a round little powder and a bullet stuck in the barrel.. A series of bad choices later he ended up getting a new barrel. At least it was a stuck round vs. the opposite.
I suggest saving brass, and getting a tumbler, and i prefer the one shot spray over a lube pad.. get or print a loading log.(one page per gun)
If your on a budget I would buy a used tumbler in good shape, as well as a trimmer to start.. Check yard sales and other places for a primer, and case prep tools and a bullet puller and as bad as is sounds just get a stuck case puller now too. Trust me, you will use it at some point. used for some this stuff should be fine becuase after you get everything else you need and get going, in a few years, you will want to upgrade or change out some of it and you won't feel bad about getting rid of a used tumbler to get a stainless steel one.
The other thing to think about is how much shooting you are going to do? I enjoy my loading bench time, and don't worry about speed and take personal satisfaction in loading my own and the quality of those. If you are someone that is going to go to the range and burn through a pile of brass, then a progressive dillion is the best, but you may want a progressive press or a self indexing press to handle lots of loading. (there are 3 mayjor types)
I didn't like the kits because i don't feel like i save money buying things that i won't use. Most people that load for more than a few years and do it more than they buy ammunition, don't use most of the things that come in the kit.
for example, I went online and bought a digital scale that measures to the .02 most loading digital scales go to the .1 for half the price. There is a difference in loads between 42.42gr and 42.48 for my gun 22-250. (it was .2moa) doesn't seem like much but I am trying to make the best product i can, within reason. Not to mention there is a difference of Standard Deviation (SD) between a load measured to 42.42gr vs 42.4
One of the best things is that you are here. There are some people here that are very helpful, some may give you a hard time, but almost everyone is very knowledgable and willing to share.