Reloading Help!

I am brand new to reloading. I have not purchased any equipment. I only have 2 cartridges that I want to load. 444 Marlin and 500 JRH. I have a young family so I cant afford to shoot my guns like I want to to be more confident during hunting season. I think If I start to reload my brass that I have saved up It will help me shoot more for the same amount of money.

Please help me get started. Again... Money is tight so Im not looking for top of the line stuff just enough to (SAFELY) get by on for now until I can afford better equipment.

Thanks, Mitch

Hi Mitch
Welcome to the rabbit hole. I got into reloading for a similar reason. After the initial outlay, I could shoot more for the same cost. Then I got a reloading room and started stocking bullets and brass for a lot more cartridges and then it was no longer cheap.
I would recommend a kit and several reloading MANUALS from a reputable manufacturer (read the manuals!). I see a fair number of them used these days and that could make things cheaper. I would stick with a manual balance scale and manual powder throw or maybe even a scoop set. The cheap electronic scales don't work well. Not sure how precise you will want to be loading but a powder trickler is also useful. What powders you end up loading can also change how you load and what tools work best. Some small flake powders (H110) are so small that they cause problems in some tools.

The RCBS rock chucker is a popular and well respected press. They sell a kit for a little over $300 with everything but the trickler (often have mail in rebates). Lee and others make several kits that I am not as famalariar with and can't comment on. I got a different RCBS kit (special 5) and press with the electronic scale and was not happy with the decision. I should have got the chucker kit.


A manual hand primer is very nice. Lets you prime without the press. Many kits have case mouth tools, but a primer pocket cleaner may be extra and necessary.

You will want some way to clean/prep cases. Typically this is some media and a tumbler. Often best to run outside or in the garage. These are not part of the kit

It is nice to have a dedicated place to reload, but you can pack it up and put it away between uses if necessary, just makes it harder to squeeze in 20 min of reloading here and there among family duties.

A lee anniversay kit will get you going cheap but very basic. Good enough but there are many upgrades. Usually comes with some basic die set but not the cartridges you listed. Lee stuff is very utilitarian but it will do the job especially while you are learning. Then you can start the upgrade process. I still use a lee 3 hole turret press but I use as a single stage. The turret plates are just used to not swap dies in and out. For the money you can't go wrong but just know you will eventually move to more efficient equipment. Enjoy, great hobby and therapeutic also.

I'd go with Lee, also. I use a lot of their equipment. Despite being considered "cheap", I've found everything to be very good quality. Only thing different I'd do is an electronic scale. Faster and easier to use than beam scales.

I concur with wvhitman on the Lee equipment. Lee is not considered premium tier equipment however I have been able to turn out ammunition that is consistent and of much higher quality than what I can buy, even from the boutique vendors. You can often find single stage presses for sale, used, for extremely reasonable prices. Garage sales, yard sales, ebay, and craigslist can be gold for these things.

Being you are not shooting a huge volume I wold think that a single stage press would work fine for you.

An electronic scale is definitely faster, however if you are on a tight budget, get a decent beam scale. It will be much more consistent and accurate than a similarly priced electronic scale. Cheap electronic scales are very prone to drifting and can give charge weights that are quite a bit off. Good electronic scales are another story.

While a brass tumbler or vibratory cleaner is a nice to have, if you are generally processing low quantities of brass you can do it without a tumbler. Check youtube for videos on cleaning brass without a tumbler.

I started out with Lee equipment, it's perfectly serviceable and I've loaded ammunition that is just as safe and accurate as that which I've produced with other the equipment I've upgraded to.

If it weren't for handloading and casting, I wouldn't shoot nearly as much. Especially for the less common cartridges, there is a huge cost savings. I couldn't imagine feeding a 480, 475, or 500 with factory ammo.

I've found lee molds produce bullets just as accurate as those dropped from all the other makers, so would recommend getting one of Lee's 440 gr molds for your 500.

I started reloading for just .454 Casul with a Lee Hand Press. I liked that I could keep everything in a small toolbox and could reload anywhere.

I have since upgraded, but I am keeping the hand press for portable reloading

Agree with Lee press kits. I don't find them "cheap" and they do a great job. My 2 cents. Happy reloading!!

I have been looking into this option. Would I be able to load 500JRH and 444Marlin with it? It would probably be no more than 20 at a time or so.

Thanks everybody for the input the whole process is a little overwhelming with the many different levels of equipment out there. I have some people that I know personally and they "only want the best" Well I dont have deep pockets so that is not an option for me. So thank you for the information on Lee equipment!

I've loaded 1000's of rounds of 38, 357, 44 mag 480, .223, 6.5 gr, .308, 357 Herret, 35 Whelen and 458 Lott on a Lee anniversary kit before upgrading to a Bonanza co-ax press, and recently a Dillon 550b.

I would recommend a bench mounted press over a hand press. The only piece of lee equipment that caused me grief was the "perfect" powder measure using H-110. The fine grains of the powder bind up the action of the powder measure and leak out the side. Aside from that, works fine with flake and stick powder and I've shot 1/2" groups with my contender with charges thrown from the perfect powder measure straight into the cases.

I upgraded over the years primarily to get equipment that would save me time but I've never found ammunition loaded on Lee equipment to be inaccurate or unsafe.

I'd venture to say people that have negative things to say about Lee equipment have never used it.

I have loaded 45-70 on mine. Don?t see why it would not do the 444 and 500

I load on a Lee Hand Press Kit ... serves my needs and gets me quality ammo like I want it.

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I?m going to get a lee hand press to start with and a good scale. We are looking at moving soon so I don?t want to have a whole bench setup to have to move. I guess the 500 JRH will be where I start and then get dies for my 444 later. Thanks again for the input.

l would suggest you buy ''USED''! Virtually all reloading tools,

presses, dies, scales, powder measures have a lifetime warranty.

That guarantee applies to the THIRD owner as well as the first..

My best source for USED reloading items are the lnternet auction sites.