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Finally purchased my first press. I chose to go simple (and stay within my budget) and got the Lee Deluxe turret kit. I know this isn't top of the line, but I had to start somewhere. I also purchased the speer reloading manual, and a few other items such as a bullet puller, caliper, and scale. As soon as I receive my presents, I start setting up my bench and studying that manual like a good student. I'll probably have a few more reloading books by my bedside before I try and cook up my first live round though. This forum has been a great source of inspiration and knowledge, and while I know it CAN save me money in the long run, I doubt that I will save much with the additional range time. Wish me luck, and hopefully I'll have some sort of report on my first loads within the next month or so.


Edit: And any suggestions would be much appreciated. I can't wait to start, but I'm never too antsy to head good advice.

I'd recommend getting the Lee manual. The Speer book only has loads for Speer bullets, and that's quite limited information in some calibers. Also, the Lee book will give you some background on their philosophy on reloading and why their presses and equipment are built the way they are.

Another good manual is the Lyman. It lists powders and bullets without restricting to vendor, and it a pretty complete guide. Hornady has a good set of loads in their manual as well, though they're going to be specific only to Hornady bullets. Fortunately, they include enough generic (FMJ & lead bullets) bullets in their lineup, that the loads are generally interchangeable with bullets of the same type and weight.

Generally, here's how it works:

Equipment manufacturers (Lyman, Lee, RCBS, etc) will give you *more* complete listings of powders and bullet types in their load data.

Bullet manufacturers (Speer, Sierra, Hornady, etc) will only give you loads for their specific bullets. Some have a broader range of powders (Hornady is a good example in most calibers), but bullets may be very specific (Sierra, for example) and not translatable to other bullets for OAL measurements.

The best advice is to get as many sources for data as you can, and use a conservative starting point. Also, don't forget to check with the powder manufacturers, as their websites often have useful load data. Here are some:

IMR/Winchester/Hodgdon:
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alliant:
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/default.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Accurate:
http://www.accuratepowder.com/reloading.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(this is a PDF, there's not an interactive online guide)

Ramshot:
http://www.ramshot.com/powders/loadguid ... 0V4.3b.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(another PDF, no online guide)

Vihtavuori:
http://www.lapua.com/index.php?id=1180" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are also several online resources for data, if you're having a hard time finding a load for your particular powder/bullet/caliber combination. I have found hanloads.com to be a good resource:

http://handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I appreciate the suggestions. I will be looking for the Lee manual as well as another one or two to start. Thanks for the links NcongruNt. I'm sure I'll need them.