Reddit mentions of Frankford Arsenal Electronic Caliper with LCD Display and Case for Reloading

> https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Precision-Breech-Lock-Challenger/dp/B003ISVWC6

yes. i also got mine from amazon.

the parts that need improvement are discussed in the customer reviews near the bottom of the page. powder dispenser and scale are the items i remember getting lukewarm reviews. those parts are cheap to upgrade. so no worry.


you need dies for the caliber that you are reloading.

for some reason i have 2 sets of .223 dies. i know i purchased one, i'm not sure if the other came with the kit.

i purchased a 2" bench top cut off saw [$32]

a jig to cut my cases [$13] 300blk

a case length guage [$10] 300blk

ammo loading tray [$7]

dies [$39] for each caliber

digital caliper [$16]

frankford scale [$32]

frankford bullet puller [$16]

tumber kit [$75]

i spent a good month or so on /r/reloading before i actually purchased anything.

i asked questions and made a shopping list.

those guys are very helpful

research what you actually need for the caliber / bullet grain you want to reload before you buy anything.

double and triple check what powder you need as well. it could save your life.


i kinda over did it with supplies

haven't opened half the boxes yet.

You could get a caliper and digital scale. The total would put you $0.90 over $50 tho.

I do have and use these. They are not top of the line but are still not bad.

Frankford Arsenal Calipers

Mine have worked great for years and the batteries last forever.

Buy a skinfold caliper. Here

That kit plus this die set, a caliper and some googling for load data would be enough for a basic loading set-up.

Hard to tell, but it seems like it could be right. Bear in mind of course that you're measuring the diameter of the hole itself and not the entire barrel. The "crown" of the muzzle could possibly be flared out a little bit, distorting its visible diameter and producing a result slightly larger than the actual diameter of the rifling.

Besides, cartridge dimensions are never an exact science. For instance, 8mm Mauser (7.92x57mm in its German designation) is actually closer to 8.10 mm! And 7.5x55mm Swiss is actually more like 7.80 mm. The idea is just to eyeball it. If it looks like it's below 12-13mm, but larger than 8mm, then it's probably 10.4x38R. I can't find too much authoritative data on cartridge specifications for the 10.4x38 over the internet, but some people suggest that they've seen the diameter of barrels vary between 0.41-0.44" (10.41-11.17mm) - I don't know if that's true; it's pretty significant. Some variation is always to be expected.

The only way to be sure for certain, again, is to either buy a cheap set of calipers (I own these, they're decent. You can find some even cheaper on Amazon and they come in handy around the house). Or go to your local superstore and pick up some lead fishing weights/sinkers from the sporting section and slug the barrel. Although, a set of calipers would be most effective at measuring the resultant slug, so really you're better off just getting them either way! If you ever intend to try and fire it, you'll need to do both.

Strictly speaking it's not usually dangerous to fire an undersized bullet in a gun; it can just damage the barrel by causing excessive wear from the bullet "bouncing around". An oversized bullet can lead to catastrophic weapon failure that could result in injury for the user. But I don't suspect you're going to be firing this anytime soon, partly out of safety concerns, and a lack of availability of ammo. My opinion is that it's most likely still chambered in the original cartridge.

This page offers some instructions and a couple of links on how to convert such a rifle into centerfire. I haven't checked any of it for dead links. You'd still have to hand-load to shoot it, but it would at least expand the potential for you to actually create bullets. Rimfire cartridges are both extremely difficult to make, and difficult to find in that diameter. It probably isn't really worth that much trouble, though, and might just make a nice wall-hangar.

The expander sizing die has a primer punch pin that punches the spent primer out of the primer pocket.

I'm not sure how accurate those powder scoops are (I've never used one), but I do use this electronic scale and it works fine. You should probably get some calipers to measure case length and overall length.

Edit: sizing die not expander die has the primer punch.