Looking for the right presses to consider buying for reloading the 50. Suggestions and reason you like the press you are recommending?

Thanks

I got the LEE because, at the time, it was available and reasonably priced.  The only problem with it, if it is really a problem, is that you have to tilt the case and bullet to get it into the press before seating.  The ram handle is hollow and will bend when trying to resize a stubborn case but a trip to HD or Lowes for solid rod fixes that.  For the price vs. quality, I don't believe there is a better choice.  Several guys here have the LEE press.

I used a Lee 50BMG press. Least expensive and just worked. Didn't need to tilt anything. Unless you need to roll them out in quantities with a progressive, get the Lee and spend the rest on dies and such. Keep an eye on the EE section. One shows up from time to time.

I had the Lee Press & Dies. I had a very hard time (often impossible & I'm a big guy) resizing once fired cases, that were fired from a machine gun. I annealed these cases prior to resizing. I ended up having to go to my buddies place and use his RCBS, which had far more leverage.

I shoot my 50 in FCSA Competition and have a custom chamber with a .554 throat. I had several issues with not being able to get the bottom portion of the case to resize properly. When I contacted Lee, they offered to "shorten" my dies to get better results at the "head" of the cases. I ended up selling my Lee press/dies to someone that had a stock chamber and had zero intention of loading match quality ammo. As just an FYI, I have a total of 5 presses for loading 21 different calibers. 4 of the 5 are all Lee, ranging from their little "C" press through a Loadmaster Progressive. I love them for everything except the 50 BMG.

For my 50 BMG I  waited for a sale and found a Hornady Press and Dies for under $400. This included the priming setup, and shell-holder. I like the fact that the Hornady has much more leverage, and tighter tolerances on the die's. I also like the fact that they use the standard 1 1/2"-12 Dies, as opposed to the Lee 1 1/4"-12 (not compatible with other 50 presses).  The Hornady also came with the "Lock-N-Load" Bushings, which allow setting the dies once, and a quick change ability.

I like the Hornady Dies over the RCBS mainly because of the design of the sizing die. It allows me to raise the expander ball up to a point, where it expands while the case neck is still supported by the die, which appears to help in neck runout. OldmanFCSA also taught me this trick. He added more threads to his RCBS die (resizing ball shaft) and accomplishes the same thing.

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Sorry. but I don't post here often and the site limited me to characters, requiring a split posting.

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Just as a note: I placed my Hornady Press side by side with my buddy's (OldmanFCSA) RCBS Press and they are nearly identical. The only difference I can see is in color, and the Hornady Label. I'm betting the same manufacturer makes both presses.

If you watch the internet, and are patient, you can catch either the Hornady or the RCBS on sale.  

This is just my $.02 YMMV

I'm considering the Lee for myself. I figured I could just replace the handle with something longer if needed. It should work fine for my stock 99.

For Rock Busting ammo, buy the LEE knowing its limitations.

For Target ammo buy the Hornady or RCBS presses, knowing they also have minor limitations. Certain "stock" dies are good, others need "adjustment" to ensure quality ammo can be produced.

I have a LEE 50BMG press mounted in my 50CAL Reloading Trailer along with a RCBS AmmoMaster2 press with my modified dies.

I have 2 RCBS AmmoMaster2 presses mounted on my Reloading Table, in my "garage", with other modifications to ensure accuracy of reloaded rounds.
I also have 2 RCBS RockChucker presses mounted on my Reloading Table, in my "garage", to enable easy priming of 50BMG cases with my modified tools.
These modified tools also allow for Swaging of 50BMG primer pockets, and "Arming" of CCI#35 primers as used for Target shooting.

The LEE press in my Reloading Trailer was an after-thought to provide others the ability to reload at the range.

As stated above, my friend with the Hornady press has allowed me to make an adapter so he can use the LEE Mounting System as installed in my 50CAL Reloading Trailer. He will need to provide pictures of his press.

The lee press works great and its cheap. Plus you can use it for all your other ammo as well

You can with the RCBS AmmoMaster2 press also, but it is such overkill for loading 32Auto - That I don't bother.
Most = MOST = people who start reloading the 50BMG have loaded other ammo for years with other presses.

If cheap is your only deciding factor for loading ammo, I don't need to be there. I want QUALITY in each and every shot = especially ammo that can easily hurt you if loaded incorrectly.

I have loaded hundreds of rounds with the lee some plinking some precision. Tell me the quality difference in the lee vs the Ammomaster that could "hurt you" when reloading?

Last I checked the only thing you do with either the ammomaster or lee is load the primer which both do very well. The powder is done independent of either press and that is where the biggest problems that can hurt you will come from.

once the powder is in either press will seat the bullet the same so I am not following how the cheap one cannot produce the exact same quality as the higher priced own.

I have used 3 LEE Precision 50BMG presses, only one of which is mine.

(spell-check has changed a word that changed the intent of one sentence herein)

I forget sometimes that most 50BMG shooters have rifles with Mil-Spec chambers, mine do not.  

I did not use the word "cheap" - it was in response to another posting. But LEE has produced some equipment and accessories that may fit that category, and I have some. I have a set of LEE reloading dies that will not size the case enough to allow fitting 50BMG case into chamber. A friend of mine, stated above, has had the same problem. LEE's offer to grind dies shorter is incorrect = it is the body of die that is too big to size case to fit chamber. Same cases sized with either RCBS or hornady dies sized the cases to fit.

"Hurt you" is a standard used to impress upon you the need to produce quality ammo while reloading, whether producing rock busting loads or extreme accuracy ammo as used in target rifles. When seating the solid brass bore-riders that I use, getting the case into die while holding projectile up in die is sometimes difficult . I had to modify both die and shell holder to easily remove a loaded round from press operation. Partially removing the die to remove the loaded round from press is a process that would cause inaccuracy in loaded length. This could be partially rectified by using Hornady-Style locking ring on die that will not change length once set and tightened. Use of two LEE rings jammed against each other would work as long as rings stayed put.

LEE's decision to use a non-standard thread size makes use of other manufacturers products very difficult, if not impossible. I've had one person that requested I modify his press to 1 1/2-12 thread - I declined at that time due to a production job I had running.




(I'm having difficulty putting my thoughts together this morning, so will stop.)

The Black (Hard Anodized) part is what Oldman made for me to adapt my 50 Press to be able to swap out on my bench, using the Lee Mount Brackets/Plate.  He also put these brackets in his reload trailer so we can take my press to matches with us. He can also use the same brackets to adapt any other presses for use.

I use the LEE as well-no problems and works great.

I made a decapper,so I decap mine before resizing-makes it a lot easier.

I went with the RCBS Ammomaster.  I'm pretty sure it's the same press as the Hornady, but the dies are different.  Yes, it cost more but I wanted something with the flexibility to use other tools and also the better leverage as I like to run batches 100 at a time.  I mounted the press, brass trimmer, and the dedicated priming unit (all from RCBS) onto a Harbor Freight grinder stand that I beefed up a bit.  It works great and takes very little effort to keep upright by grasping the die body when I'm resizing.  Also I can take it with me to the range or wherever I go to shoot to make load development far more convenient.

I do really like the Lee factory crimp die, so I bought an adaptor from CH4D so I can use the Lee FCD in the Ammomaster,  I'm really happy with how my set up works and am glad that I spent the extra money over the Lee.  While there's nothing wrong with the Lee press, I just somehow suspected that if I'd went cheap , that I'd have wished that I spent the extra money down the road.  So, I would urge you to think it over well before you part with your cash.  When you have a set up that is easier and more convenient to use, you'll be likely to use it more often and run larger batches of ammo.  Another consideration is that I'm getting old and don't like being sore the next couple of days after doing something that requires a reasonable amount of strength.  The RCBS will be an even better deal for me as I continue to age.

From all the searching I've done it seems the RCBS Ammo Master is King of presses among 50BMG re loaders. The Mighty Armory Depriming and Swaging Die is 1.5 X 12 threads to accommodate the press.

If the RCBS is king, then the Rock Crusher would be the emperor.  It's also not limited to puny .50bmg either.
I load mine on a Lee, but use a slightly modified Walnut Hill for sizing tough M2 brass.

That would make this one the supreme super commander monarch sultan czar: https://www.dillonprecision.com/dillon-bfr-50bmg-reloading-machine_8_1_25686.html

I reload on my old rock crusher.

It handles 50bmg and other big rounds well.

I kind of wish I could load 50 on my 550b but probably for the best cost wise

I broke my bench sizing a stubborn LC case with the Lee and that was with using Imperial sizing wax.

Care to share a couple pics of it?