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