My wife ordered me one of these in .30-06 for an early Christmas gift:

https://www.brownells.com/reloading/reloading-dies/rifle-dies/loaders-rifle-prod54664.aspx

I really like the idea of something I can bring to deer camp and make rounds on the spot. This looks like a good way to learn reloading, .30-06 is a good round for a kit like this, and no major space or cost commitment. Right now I don’t have the space for a proper press as it is (I did see those Lee portable hand presses but that feels like overkill for me right now). The kits are highly rated online, and I know a few people who have used them and liked them. I also ordered a case prep kit with a chamfer and a few other tools, and already have a smithing hammer and a funnel. I have some ok ones, but I’ll be getting some better calipers in the near future.

I really want to keep the whole package very basic and small, but is there anything else I should consider? Anyone have any experience with these kits? Any other advice would also be appreciated.

I have a few and like them. I load for my bench guns at the range and have tested them back to back against my Wilson Hand Dies using an arbor press and as long as the cases were of proper thickness for the sizing of the Lee Die and I indexed them the same, I got almost identical results from my "precision bushing Wilson hand die"

They only neck size, so the case has to be pre-body sized or been shot from the same gun it is being loaded for to assure it will chamber. Otherwise, good choice, have fun.

 

Using the measuring cups are not accurate enough for my use and limits you with loads. I would at least get a decent beam scale and weight each charge more accurately.

 

Actually, a scoop can work fine for field use. It just has to be the right capacity to get you close to the middle of a wide node.

I do prefer to pre-measure. I use simple 1 dram vials, and drop and trickle the charge. They fit well in a 12ga spent hull for packing.

 

When I started out reloading years ago w/one of these, used it for years until the 1st press(which was a Herter's). Good luck w/it.

 

To each there own, those kits scare the living Jesus out of me. Especially after my boss almost by inches taking off his face loading shotgun shell with one.
For me I would not want to be loading rounds at a deer camp. I would want loaded ammo at home that all were tested to chamber in the gun or case gauged. Maybe to take to the range for texting. And then I would not use one of them. Just more stuff you would need to pack or forget to pack.

 

For me I would not want to be loading rounds at a deer camp. I would want loaded ammo at home that all were tested to chamber in the gun or case gauged.

Where I’m from, we go to Camp (our cabin in da woods) year round. It’s just that a lot of people think we’re camping, like in a tent, when I say I’m going to camp. So I say deer camp, but unfortunately that’s also confusing.
I do most of my Gun stuff at camp, cuz we have a range, gun vise, and work space.

 

Wow. Thirty bucks. I remember when they wer about ten bucks but gas was thirty cents a gallon back then, too.

I've loaded many rounds with lee loaders but consider the lee hand Press to be far superior and the cost for both the hand press and dies is a little more than the $30 lee loader but still well under a hundred bucks.

And yes a scale is preferable to dippers but the scale does not have to be part of your portable "Kit".

The Lee expanded powder dipper set can be used with a scale to figure out your preferred load and the larger dippers can be filed down to fine-tune volume.

https://leeprecision.com/powder-measure-kit.html

Pre-measuring charges and containing them in 1 dram vials actually sounds like it might be a workable solution. The hand press and dies, bullets, Primers, and powder charges could all fit into a small tackle box.

 

Wow. Thirty bucks. I remember when they wer about ten bucks but gas was thirty cents a gallon back then, too.

I've loaded many rounds with lee loaders but consider the lee hand Press to be far superior and the cost for both the hand press and dies is a little more than the $30 lee loader but still well under a hundred bucks.

This Lee hand press has been my only press for 35 years. It has accounted for unknown 1000's of rounds, mostly handgun cartridges but among them 45-70 too. I acknowledge that it won't be fast enough or modern enough for most reloaders.

 

Where you reload was not my point. It’s just more stuff that you possibly could forget.I know people that traveled to a match and forgot either the ammo or even their guns. My Brother-in-law dad forgot to bring the ammo for his rifle on a deer hunt. Luckily all of us were shooting the same caliber rifle.

 

I anticipate I’ll be upgrading the measuring devices at some point, but for now I’ll try it with the single scoop. For now I only intend to make usable practice ammo, but once I get it down I’d like to make hunting rounds. I’ll probably have to get the scale or the measuring scoop kit then.

My concern would be exactly how much of your selected rifle powder (by weight) will one scoop measure. It isn't like measuring one cup of all purpose flour in a cookie recipe. Different powders have vastly different volumetric densities and burn speeds. So a scoop of 4350 will yield different results than one scoop of H335. A fixed volume scoop may be ok, but I would first weigh that scoop of powder on a reputable scale to ensure that one scoop is an appropriate amount of your chosen powder. That is the single most critical part of assembling ammunition.

I'd suggest reading a good loading manual like the Speer #14. The Lee gear will make decent ammo, and there is no problem with the hunting camp idea.

 

As it turns out, Lee offers this information on a powder by powder basis as long as you are using their dippers, or know how many CC's your scoop. In the Lee loading book, each load listed has the CC's next to it, so if you have their dippers or their disks for an Auto Disk drop, they get you pretty close. Most listing are conservative, a few right on W231 comes to mind, a few ridiculously off on the low side, Unique comes to mind.

Like any powder drop, it is subject to the granularity of the powder, for instance IMR 4064 isn't going to be super close scoop to scoop (just like drop to drop from a measure), BLC2, pretty close as long as you are using a nice sharp straight edge to grade the top off, I think most of that is factored in somewhat.

 

Product description: "Requires hammer (not included)"

What's next? "Requires fire (not included)"?

:exercise:

 

It is easy to make a scoop from a case cut down to the correct level of powder. Ball powder works best in a scoop, of course.

 

This is true, but the OP is intending to make a go of it without a scale, and a scale is a prerequisite to determining the correct level of powder that you mention.

 

For now I’m feeling good with just the scoop. However, I have a feeling that a scale and few other items are in the future.

 

a little trick I came up with when using the Lee scoops many years ago.

after acquiring a blue bazillon scoops with the Lee dies I bought, I took the biggest scoop I had and found a stainless steel flat head screw that the O.D. of fit snuggly inside the scoop, drilled and tapped the bottom of the scoop so when the screw was installed with the head inside the scoop, it could be screwed in or out and....ta-da...adjustable powder scoop. once I got it dialed in, I used a SS nylon lock nut to lock it in place, pretty accurate with ball powder.

but you gotta remember, this was several millennia ago when I was reloading with a single stage press clamped to the kitchen table and weighting every charge.....then I found the Uniflo.....with the micrometer stem.....and life got much better!

 

a little trick I came up with when using the Lee scoops many years ago.

after acquiring a blue bazillon scoops with the Lee dies I bought, I took the biggest scoop I had and found a stainless steel flat head screw that the O.D. of fit snuggly inside the scoop, drilled and tapped the bottom of the scoop so when the screw was installed with the head inside the scoop, it could be screwed in or out and....ta-da...adjustable powder scoop. once I got it dialed in, I used a SS nylon lock nut to lock it in place, pretty accurate with ball powder.

MAN why didn’t you patent that scoop back then and start producing them! You’d be Gaston rich by now! Well, maybe not Gaston rich, lol.

 

For now I’m feeling good with just the scoop. However, I have a feeling that a scale and few other items are in the future.

The great thing about getting a quality scale is, as others have noted, it immediately gives you the ability to "work up" your loads, make a custom scoop and than have a traveling kit that allows you to make a perfect round for your gun with that particular powder and bullet.

The cool thing about the Lee Loader is you can premeasure your ladders, put them in some cheap vials you can buy on eBay, take everything to the range and "dial in" your best charge weight for the powder you want to try. Load five each of each rung on the ladder and find the best node for that bullet and powder. Once that is done, you make a custom dipper and you are done for that rifle, powder and bullet.

Lots of fun.

 

Willy, this is a good post. It more elegantly explains the point I was stumbling to make earlier.

 

Got this in the mail today:

And now I’m really eager.

 

Willy, this is a good post. It more elegantly explains the point I was stumbling to make earlier.

Thanks for the kind words, I didn’t say anything that wasn't said regarding the virtues of a powder scale. We are all here to help, you always do your part aptly as well.

 

I’ve noticed Willy is a good communicator.

Too bad my wife doesn't read GT, on second thought...

 

i started with the lee classic this summer for 9mm. using the scoop with AA#5 was pretty inconsistent, so i ended up weighing each one, tap-trickling it in.

my problem with the lee classic was seating the bullet: often it wouldn't seat quite straight, even after chamfering or a little flange.

 

I’ve heard some of the semi-auto caliber kits don’t work out as well, including the 9mm.

 

Started my reloading with one in 1963. Exactly the same as today except the powder scoop had an aluminum bucket and a wooden handle. Turned out first class ammo then and still does today on the odd occasion when I break it out.

 

I started out with a Lee Loader for the 44 Magnum in 1972. I advise you to get a different primer tool right away. Or wear welder gloves while priming. I had probably loaded a couple of thousand rounds using the hammer prime method. Then I hit a sensitive one and it went off. It hurts. Bottle neck cases will eventually need to be full length sized. If you are going to take these rounds into the field, best to try each one in the chamber. In a safe manner and in a safe place.

For new guys today, I recommend starting with the Lee Turret Press. Easy to use and if you do not like reloading, easy to sell. You can start out using it as a single stage to learn.

Powder scoops are just fine. But slow. I would not use them for MAX loads.

I have a Lee Hand Press for portable use. The whole setup will fit in a shoe box.

 

for now I’ll try it with the single scoop.

In my normal reloading, I use a Lee scoop to pour into a scale and then weigh, adding more or taking away as needed.

In my opinion, there is a lot of "play" in how much a scoop weighs, unless you develop a very good technique. One suggestion is to heap the cup, then scrape off perfectly level with a credit card.

But you'd want to first establish how many grains in weight that method gives you with your particular powder, and whether that is within safe levels according to a couple reloading manuals

 

I’ve been looking into a small digital scale. Any suggestions? I’d like something small and portable, and I don’t want to spend much money. Trying to keep things as basic and small as I can.

 

I wish I could help you. I have bought an embarrassingly high number of so-called "great" cheap digital scales and they all sleep with the fishes (most within a few weeks).

You too will be lured by that sirens call. Just make sure you buy that cheap little RCBS check weight set. Then you will know when she quits telling you the truth.

I think you can probably find a balance beam scale in the $75 range that will work for the next 100 years. Maybe look at RCBS' least expensive offering or the Dillon balance beam.

 

But you still need check weights. Not the weights that come with some scales. Those are calibration weights.

 

I was looking at the beam scales too. I’ll make a choice soon. The loader kit came in today btw. Cool little kit. I’m doing my reading now.

 

Here’s the load chart from the kit. All loads listed are based on the 3.7 ml dipper. Anyone have some preferences for powder in the 150-180 grain bullet range? I’m thinking H380 to start with. Maybe H4350. Also depends on what my LGS has.

 

I have used a lot of H4350 and IMR 4350 (not on your list) with heavier bullets in .30-06, both always worked pretty well.