Quote Originally Posted by mikeinco View Post
while ted has a point, this is a savage forum and you said 6.5 creed and 270 win for long range.
well first you need to define your version of "long range"
no one shoots 6.5 creed in benchrest, it is shot in some steel matches
270 win is jack o'connors favorite HUNTING round...NOT A LONG RANGE TARGET ROUND.
you can load precision ammo on some progressive presses....lee is not one of them.
the "Lee Classic Cast Single Stage Press" is an excellent press and will build great ammo.
we really need more info to give qualified advice...like
define long distance
type of shooting
what are the rifles
I really am just starting out - less than 50 rounds under my belt so far! I was offered an Axis II in 270 just this week for just $50, and took it. I put a cheap 6-24x50 scope on it and I have begun practising with it initially and I've been hitting 1.25" groups at 200Y already, but the 270 is really only going to be for plinking, I'm not planning to do anything more than that with it.

I'm getting a 12 FV 6.5CM, and that is the rifle I intend to really learn on. I intend to modify it into something that will hopefully stretch out to reliably hit metal at 1,000 yards+. While I might reload some 270's for the Axis, the 6.5CM is the one I really want to concentrate my reloading questions around. Maybe in the future I'll upgrade to a much better competition rifle, but I've got a lot to learn before I want to drop $000's - I'm not even sure how addicted I'll become to this sport yet! As for ranges, I'm just starting out but I want to build up my range as quickly as my skills allow. I have a local 600 yard range, and in the next county over there is a mile+ range available for me to grow into.

I'm planning to practice as much as I can but with the shortage in ammo right now, I'd like a way to reuse my brass. I also understand that sooner or later preparing my own rounds is one of the best ways to improve my accuracy, so that's another reason why I'm interested in learning the reloading skills early in my education.

I figure whatever equipment I buy now for reloading should last me at least a year, during which time I'll try to put a fair number of rounds into steel. I intend to learn a lot about all the different processes. When I'm eventually ready to consider upgrading, I'll have a much better idea of what I actually want from my gear and I'll be willing to spend more at that time. Right now I just want something inexpensive, which will serve me fairly well as a foundation for my learning.

Would the Lee APP do a reasonably good job? I don't need expert level results yet, just something that's good enough to learn my core skills with. I don't want to go spend 2, 3 or 5 times as much until I have sufficient experience under my belt to know what I actually want from my reloading bench. I just need to learn the basics and I need something that will allow me to put a few thousand rounds down the range over the next year. Later, I can upgrade to better gear.

Will this gear list get me going? Am I missing anything obvious?

$75 Lee Deluxe APP press
$30 Lee Bench Plate
$20 Powder Measuring Scale (no-name, Amazon)
$80 LE Wilson Case Trimmer/Mouth Chamfer Tool
$10 Case Lube
$-- Digital Caliper (already got)
$28 LE Wilson Case Gauge
$41 Hornady 546289 Die Set 2 6.5
$28 Hornady 044090 Microjust Seating Stem
+ Bullets, Casings, Primers and H-4350 powder.


And Bill: I'll go hunt up a decent book tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion! Any recommended titles I should look for?

Ross.