The tools and toys:
The required equipment for reloading and saving you money is as follows.
First you will need brass, this can normally be picked up after you shoot, and there always seems to be some free at the local range to pick up.
Now that you have brass you will need a way to clean it. I use a vibratory cleaner with crushed walnut Medea.
So let’s start crunching the numbers.
This vibratory tumbler I found online is $55.
Then $6-8 dollars at the local pet store for a bag of lizard bedding(crushed walnut shells).
Next you will need a press, this is the tool that allows you to get the leverage to properly resize the brass, and remove the primer.
I found this single stage press online for $33
Next you will need a basic die set.
Let’s use 5.56/.223 for this example. Most come in a three die set which includes the resizing die, the bullet seating die and normally a crimping die.
I found this set for $27.
Next you will need a scale. Make sure it reads in grains, I prefer digital now to the old balance beam. You will also need a non static container to place the powder in for measuring.
This scale is $18, with the non static container included.
The last piece of required equipment is a set of calipers, again I prefer digital.
This is a basic set of digital calipers, no frills. You can find them for $15 online.
So for a grand total of $154 you can get a basic reloading setup.
As for an example of savings I will use .223, it costs $8.99 per box of twenty 55gr from at the local sporting good store. I reload the same bullet for around $4.25 a box of 20. That is a $4.74 per box savings. At that rate it would take 33 boxes of 20 or 660 round to break even. Then every thing past that is pure savings.
