                                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.
