Other items that you will eventually want or need, if they are not provided in one of the kits you choose, are:
- A good steel caliper (don't even bother with the plastic ones),cost do vary but do get a good one it will pay dividends in the long run. I recommend a dial caliper that measures to 0.001" .
- A tumbler with cleaning media (and maybe a bottle of polish) for polishing cases clean.
- A case separator for separating the cleaning media (corncob or walnut shells) from your now-clean cases.
If you go with a LEE kit, you'll need the PILOT for
each caliber that goes with the cutter and lock stud
for trimming cases.
LOCKSTUD
CUTTER
SHELL HOLDER
CASELENGTH GAUGE
A powder measure (powder throw), which is MUCH
FASTER than a scale, and, depending on the powder
used, every bit as accurate (if not moreso).
Extruded powder sometimes does not meter as well as
other types of powder (I use the
'rap' method) - although some, like Hodgdon's
"short cut" extruded powder meters very well. Ball,
flattened ball, and flake powders all meter very
well, too. You will still need the powder scale to
set up the powder measure, but after the measure is
set up, it is much faster than
using a scale. You'll also want to check every
charge on the scale / balance - just to make sure
that the measure is throwing the proper powder
charge.
I use the RCBS Uniflow measure, and it works very well for me. I believe that RCBS and Redding both make very good powder measures. If you want to spend the BIG BUCKS ££, check out the Harrell Powder Measures at Sinclair International.
