Starting from scratch...

[sundog]

All of the above is good advice and recommendation and I can only tell you what I use:

Good reloading manual(I have a few)
single stage press(RCBS)
dies(redding) neck,full length and bullet seater
case trimmer(lee)
case neck deburring tool(RCBS)
0000 wire wool to clean neck and shoulder of case( helps to spot any splits)
primer pocket cleaning tool(lee)
digital micrometer(aldi) check its accuracy by gauging the diameter of a bullet
primer hand press seater(lee)
imperial sizing wax
beam scales(RCBS 505)
powder funnel(RCBS)
powder trickler(redding)
reloading tray( bit of wood with holes drilled to suit cases)

Inspect all your cases before you start for any splits,grit or flaws. I find this is the minimum kit required to produce good,safe, accurate ammo with minimum fuss but of course you can spend what you like on what you want

I weigh every load using the scales,a teaspoon and a small dish but I don't tend to load huge amounts at any one time otherwise a powder thrower would be a good investment.

Be safe and enjoy.

[Randy Bohannon]

Good advice so far, I would only add that your budget is reasonable and so it pays in your case to buy a few quality items to begin with and add to it as experience and time allows.

On that basis I would take as a starting point what actually needs to be done to reload a cartridge.

The stages of reloading a case are the following:

1. deprime case
2. clean case (optional)
3. resize case or case neck
4. trim case
5. reprime case
6. charge case with powder
7. seat bullet
8. crimp bullet (optional)

For example, I started with a Lee hand press and loaded many rounds with it.

I broke it trying to FL size 2006 brass and so got a RCBS rockchucker which will probably be passed onto my grandchildren one day. I did buy another Lee hand press but for different reasons ( loading on the range) but had I bought the RCBS in the first place it would have been a case of buy once cry once.

My advice is therefore to first buy a good single stage, cast press such as the Lee classic cast for around £150 to the RCBS rockchucker supreme at around £200 with the Hornady and Lyman offerings falling in between in terms of cost. I personally prefer RCBS but there is no real difference in quality between these brands, see what your local gun shop has or find the best offer on line. These presses all allow for depriming as well as repriming on the press using little attachments and whilst this method is a little slower than a dedicated hand priming unit works very well and is perfectly adequate for the beginner; With a £15 Lee universal decapping die and £5 calibre specific shell holder bought at the same time the press therefore takes care of 1. (and 5.)

That leaves around £280-330 left of your budget and the empty cartridge case has been deprimed and is ready for sizing.

A word on cleaning, it is not necessary to get the inside and out of your case spotless but for the sake of your reloading dies cleaning the outside of the case will prevent scratches on the precision surface in the die and cleaning the primer pockets will give you consistency in primer seating depth. This can be done without fancy equipment, a bit of 0000 wire wool on the outside of the case and gentle scrape with a small screwdriver in the primer pocket will do the job; save the money here until you have the more important bits in my opinion.

To do this you need a set of dies, at a minimum a Full Length sizing die and a bullet seating die. It is nice to have a neck sizing die and a crimping die also but not to get started and these can be added on later when funds and experience allow.

Dies sets range from £40 for Lee 3 die sets to over £200 for Forster competition sets but luckily the differences are not very relevant for the beginner and the Lee deluxe set is the one to go for in your shoes. You also need some case lube to stop the cases getting stuck in the dies and I would recommend Imperial die case sizing wax as the best of the best at £5 for a small tin which will last for years.

This brings the budget to £235-285 and you have have a deprimed and sized case for your troubles.

You need to trim your cases now, particularity if you have been following everyone's advice and FL sizing. Trimming promotes consistency and not trimming can result in severe overpressure problems.

The cheapest and easiest way to trim cases is with the Lee trimming kits you use an electric screwdriver for being the "Lee Precision Case Trimmer Cutter & Lock Stud" and the calibre specific "Case Length Gauge & Shell Holder" for your .223 at around £15 total.

The good thing about these items are they are cheap, consistent and you don't need to measure the case every time as it trims them all to the same length.

Clean the lube off the case and from he inside of the neck with kitchen towels, cotton buds and meths and reprime using the press.

Your budget is now £220-260 and you have a case that is the equivalent of a new, unfired case ready for charging, seating a bullet on and firing.

As everyone has said, you need good, repeatable scales to charge your cases. I recommend some dampened balance beam scales such as the RCBS 5xx series, with the 505 being about the best for the money. Avoid the Lee scales as being undampened they take ages to settle. These will set you back around £100 and you have a case ready for seating the bullet and a budget of £120-£160 left. Parabueto explained why avoiding cheap electronic scales is a good idea.

The dies and press do the work of seating the bullet but you will need a a decent set of vernier calipers to measure the overall length of the rounds you are producing and to keep that measurement the same between reloading sessions. These are can be had from about £25 quid up and I would get one that reads in Imperial units if dedicated to reloading.

At this stage and with around a hundred quid left of your budget you have produced a round of ammunition that is much more consistent than factory ammunition and done it with quality kit that you will never need to sell to "upgrade", you simply add more kit to it as funds and experience allow.

[amc577]

Pay no attention to the COL figures in the reloading books...make up ypur own dummy rounds using whatever bullets you have and ensure they will chamber in your rifle...I well remember a chap turning up to the range with a £4000 .308 rifle and 100 rounds carefully handloaded...none would chamber....he had simply used the COL shown in his reloading book...an awful lot of knocking out required...incidentally get a decent kinetic hammer.

amc577

[Randy Bohannon]

Pay no attention to the COL figures in the reloading books...make up ypur own dummy rounds using whatever bullets you have and ensure they will chamber in your rifle...I well remember a chap turning up to the range with a £4000 .308 rifle and 100 rounds carefully handloaded...none would chamber....he had simply used the COL shown in his reloading book...an awful lot of knocking out required...incidentally get a decent kinetic hammer.

amc577

That chap was badly advised, if the COAL length was the reason the rounds refused to chamber he could have just put them back in the seating die and seated the bullets a bit deeper without needing to pull the rounds.

[sundog]

Surely COAL is to standard spec and any rifle chambered for that particular cartridge should be able to be loaded with a cartridge to that spec. It sounds like that rifle was custom made and chambered to be shot with a specific bullet in which case the chap should have been given a 'dummy' chamber to check that his coal was ok or indeed checked in the rifles chamber. He could also have reseated the bullets a bit deeper rather than pull them.

My one fingered typing style is so slow Mr Bohannon replied,had dinner,a large cigar and brandy and forty winks before I posted this

[Chris J]

Thanks for all the info guys, very much appreciated.
I've just placed my order with Sportsman guncenter as they had some great deals on.
RCBS Rockchuker supreme master kit, RCBS X - full length dies, and shell holder.
Let's hope it really is "buy once, cry once" eh!

[junkyard dog]

If you're getting on a bit and the old mincers are not what they used to be its a good idea to use some sort of magnifying device for the scales. This can be anything from a shaving mirror on a stand and the scales facing away from you, a camera on a smartphone or a small webcam and a laptop. I use the webcam as is gets rid of any parallax.

[Randy Bohannon]

Thanks for all the info guys, very much appreciated.
I've just placed my order with Sportsman guncenter as they had some great deals on.
RCBS Rockchuker supreme master kit, RCBS X - full length dies, and shell holder.
Let's hope it really is "buy once, cry once" eh!

Good choice, you won't be unhappy.

Don't forget to buy a case trimmer and calipers.

[amc577]

The chap with the unuseable 100 rounds had crimped them....h and n plated lead bullets....further use of the seating die no use...repeat...ALWAYS make up a dummy round and check it will chamber, before you load up a lot of ammo. You should not normally crimp the h and n plated bullets....something else to remember..

amc577

[stillair1]

Thanks for all the info guys, very much appreciated.
I've just placed my order with Sportsman guncenter as they had some great deals on.
RCBS Rockchuker supreme master kit, RCBS X - full length dies, and shell holder.
Let's hope it really is "buy once, cry once" eh!

Add some Redding Imperial sizing case wax lube too.

[223AI]

Add some Redding Imperial sizing case wax lube too.

And this, though the hornady is just as good

[223AI]

Surely COAL is to standard spec and any rifle chambered for that particular cartridge should be able to be loaded with a cartridge to that spec. It sounds like that rifle was custom made and chambered to be shot with a specific bullet in which case the chap should have been given a 'dummy' chamber to check that his coal was ok or indeed checked in the rifles chamber. He could also have reseated the bullets a bit deeper rather than pull them.

My one fingered typing style is so slow Mr Bohannon replied,had dinner,a large cigar and brandy and forty winks before I posted this

No, as said above it will depend on bullet profile, in my creedmoor a 139 gr Lapa scenar can be loaded at saami length and it's 10 thou off the ands, with a 140 gr S&B loaded at 2.825 the bullet jams into the lands and pressure spikes.

Checking before you load up a bunch is a very good idea.....

[Parabuteo]

No, as said above it will depend on bullet profile, in my creedmoor a 139 gr Lapa scenar can be loaded at saami length and it's 10 thou off the ands, with a 140 gr S&B loaded at 2.825 the bullet jams into the lands and pressure spikes.

Checking before you load up a bunch is a very good idea.....

One of the reasons it is worth looking at factory crimping on mag length loads Scott is that it can simulate being in the landes withiout a nasty spike, but a more consistant release pressure...apparently. I know it reduced the group sizes on all of my loads as I only shoot mag length now matey.

[sundog]

No, as said above it will depend on bullet profile, in my creedmoor a 139 gr Lapa scenar can be loaded at saami length and it's 10 thou off the ands, with a 140 gr S&B loaded at 2.825 the bullet jams into the lands and pressure spikes.

Checking before you load up a bunch is a very good idea.....

That’s interesting Boydy and shows the importance of making up a dummy round or at the very least carefully checking the round chambers properly in your rifle.

[Parabuteo]

That’s interesting Boydy and shows the importance of making up a dummy round or at the very least carefully checking the round chambers properly in your rifle.

Generally load to SAAMI spec to start with and get a decent group with load, then play with OAL