Combat Arms 2869 Grove Way Castro Valley, California 94546-6709 Telephone (415) 538-6544 Recommended Reloading Equipment for Initial Purchase The following RCBS equipment is what is recommended by Combat Arms for your initial purchase. Combat Arms is not suggesting RCBS because the other manufacturers are not good. It is because RCBS has every possible thing you will ever want (including things like custom dies) and they are in Oroville, California. I prefer to do business with a California company because it is better for the State's economic health. Several consultations with manufacturers, dealers and sales personnel have taught me one thing: no one except RCBS seems to be thinking of the reloader and the problems he/she is going to experience or is experiencing. Several people have told me that the list of equipment I have in this document is too complex for the beginning reloader. I disagree. The experienced reloader will tell you that you will NEED these items. They really are "must have" items. Therefore I have listed everything you need. The thing to do is to include these items in your initial purchase and be done with it. Otherwise you will have to keep making return trips to pick up additional items. Your time is important too! 1. Rock Chucker Combo (rifle) 147.00 Includes the press, primer catcher, universal primer arm, shell holder and a set of rifle reloading dies (your choice of caliber). 2. Rifle/Pistol Ammo Crafter 158.00 This package contains the reloading manual, the first case loading block, deburring tool, powder funnel, case lubrication kit, reloading scale and powder measure. 3. Reloader Accessory Kit III 61.00 Contains the powder measure stand, powder trickler, accessory base plate, primer tray, primer pocket brushes, screw set wrench package and the second case loading block. 4. Scale cover 9.00 5. Case neck brush set 12.00 6. Rotary case trimmer with collet and pilot 50.00 7. Spare decapping pins 5.00 8. Kinetic bullet puller 25.00 9. Dial caliber/case length gauge 30.00 10. Stuck case remover 15.00 11. Sidewinder case tumbler for polishing the brass 169.00 12. Automatic priming tool 55.00 13. Set of .308 dies } These die prices are for your info only. 39.00 14. Set of .223 dies } A set of dies is included in the 36.00 } purchase of the Rock Chucker Combo. } Items 13 & 14 not in subtotal. Subtotal 795.00 California sales tax 55.65 Total for the hardware 850.65 Replenishible Items 1. Primers - Small Rifle for .223 (1000 per package) 18.00 2. Primers - Large Rifle for .308 (1000 per package) 18.00 3. Winchester .223 55 grain FMJ bullets (1000 per 53.00 container; price varies according to the manufacturer, caliber and bullet style). 4. Winchester .308 150 grain FMJ bullets (1000 per 115.00 container; price varies according to the manufacturer, caliber and bullet style). 5. DuPont powder-1 lb. (price varies; this is typical) 16.00 6. New empty .223 cases by Winchester; factory primed (priming not required); 1000 per container 200.00 7. New empty .308 cases by Winchester; factory primed (priming not required); 500 per container 135.00 8. Resizing lubricant 4.00 There are 7000 grains to a pound of powder. A 5.56mm/.223 caliber round uses about 25 grains of powder typically and a 7.62mm/.308 round uses about 45 grains. Thus a pound of powder will let you load roughly 280 rounds of the .223 or 155 rounds of the .308. If you have no empty cartridge cases to reload, I suggest that you purchase good quality factory ammunition (Samson, Winchester, Federal, Remington, etc.), go shoot it and save the brass cases. Forget about reloading military brass for awhile. There are complexities to that which you are not ready for yet. An analysis of these figures indicates that it will take you about 4200 rounds of reloading to justify this purchase (based on $0.20 per reloaded round; that's a little high but serves to illustrate the point). After you have reloaded those 4200 rounds, the equipment costs are fully amortized and your only ongoing expenses will be the replenishible items, like the primers, powder and bullets. Savings on this items can be realized through quantity purchasing. Are you going to save a fortune reloading? If you shoot a lot you will. If you shoot less than 1,000 rounds per year, it will take awhile (5 to 7 years) to realize the savings. You will save something immediately because the brass cases account for 60% of a round's cost and you will be able to use that particular case as many as 10 to 15 times. More importantly, the ammunition you shoot will be customized for your particular weapon and as accurate as can be obtained. If you plan to shoot in matches, you must reload. If you are a survivalist, you must become a reloader. If you shoot more than 100-200 rounds a month you should consider reloading. Twenty boxes of regular Remington .308 factory ammunition (400 rounds) sells for about $16.00 per box. If you compare the cost of reloading 20 boxes at about $6.00 per box, you can see that you are saving approximately $10.00 per box by reloading. If you shot three boxes a week that way, at a $10.00 per box savings, it would only take a year and 7 months to pay for the equipment. More importantly, reloading is really just another aspect of the shooting sport. The camaraderie you have experienced as a shooter with your fellow shooters extends even farther as a reloader. Many people seem to think that reloading is magical and mystical. They spell reloader with a capital R. Believe me when I say that reloading is basically very simple and the average teenager would have no problem with it. It is safe and fun, especially when you reap the benefits of customized ammunition. I have VHS video tapes on reloading if you would like to rent them. Good luck.