Posted: 2/5/2007 6:09:32 PM EDT
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How many of us are taking up reloading and whose equipment are you buying? I was looking at the Dillon catalog today and thinking about getting into it again. |
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Started reloading almost 20yrs ago on a cute little Lee Challenger kit. Cranked out a bunch of 45LC and 9mm stuff on it before I decided to buy some time. Picked up a Dillon 550B and could reload 4x the ammo in the same amount of time. Have conservatively loaded 1/2 million rounds on it and Dillon's always been good about taking care of me. |
500,000 rounds? Impressive. That has to be more than I have ever shot. |
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I started loading early last summer. Bought a Rockchucker as part of an RCBS kit that had most of the basic equipment, got some .308 dies and a few other tools. Now I'm also loading .223 and just picked up some .45acp dies. I started mostly because I figured I could get better ammo by loading my own. I figure the equipment will eventually pay for itself but I didn't really start reloading to save money. |
| I've bee reloading about 19 years. Started with a Lyman turret press. It was fairley quick.. I purchased a Dillon 55B, Excellent equipment, Super-excellent customer service, My advice is to get any of the Dillon re-loaders.. I got the 550 because of the numerouse calibers thart can be loaded. Also the automatic primer filler is outstanding..can't say enough about the Dillon Co.....Good luck |
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Been reloading (though not much in the last few years) since I was probably about 23. Had a buddy's 550 for a while cranking out .45ACP, but he decided to sell it. I use a 3/4 position turret press now for rifle rounds. I even got a Sharps replica, and started loading for it - black powder pushing a cast lead bullet (that I cast), lubed with a concoction I mixed up. Very rewarding when I put that big chunk of lead right where I want it, 1870's style. I need to get some dies for 7.5 Swiss soon. A little more brass in my cache, and I'll be good to load some stuff. |
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been doing it for about 12 years. when i got started a wise man told me to suck it up and just pay the price for the dillion. that i'd own one eventually anyway. i went cheap and bought a lee single stage. it worked, but it sucked. he was right. ended up with a dillon and never looked back. |
thats the attitude to have. initally it will cost you more. after a few thousand rounds the investment is paid for. you won't save money, you will be able to shoot 2-3 times more for the same money. |
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Been at it since 2000 with a RCBS Rock Chucker. I've done over 30,000rds in 14 different calibers from 25acp to 45-70. The bulk of that is .223. The only centerfire caliber I do not reload is 8mm Mauser....yet. If you are a shooter, reloading has become a requirement. |
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the 1/2 million came about because I used to shoot a LOT of competitions and lived close to an indoor shooting range that opened at 8am and closed at 9PM. For awhile I'd buy a 25K pack of 38 DEWC's a year and go through them all between practice and PPC match's, I did that for 4 years running. Some of my friends and I would meet fridays and shoot practice match's after our regular practice sessions, plus I was practicing Mon/Wed/Fri's. Shot 9mm's and 45's as well at the same time for IPSC and Bowling Pin match's. At one point I was shooting in at least one match every weekend somewhere and one notable day I actually shot in THREE matchs, one at 8am another that started at 11:00 and a third that fired up at 6pm...and in different towns. I got to where I'd buy my bullets direct from the local caster and he'd give me the bulk discount, was buying my primers in multiple sleeve batch's (at 5K primers/sleeve) and powder wasn't worth fooling with if it came in less than 4lb increments. There for awhile I was doing nothing outside of work except sleep, shoot and reload. Got burned out after while. My 550B has been a good one. Broke off the crank assembly once and Dillon just sent me the whole lower assembly. |
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As most everyone else said Dillon! There no bullshit warranty is tops. I have had parts and even my Square Deal B machine break. Call them up and they replace it for free! Buy Dillon dies and those are covered as well. I have a Square Deal B, 550B, Mec Grabber, and a cheap Lee single stage to reload 5.7x28 because Dillon isn't making a shell plate for my 550. I have been reloading for 20+ years now. In fact I just ordered 8,500 bullets! Right now I am reloading the following calibers: Rifle .17 Rem .223 .22-250 5.7x28 .220 Swift 6.5x57 Mauser .25-06 .308 .30-06 .300 Win mag .45-70 Pistol .30 Luger .32 S&W 38 Special .38 Super .357 Mag .357 Sig 8mm Nambu 9mm 10mm .40 S&W 44 Mag 45 ACP |
| Istarted in 1980 with a used single stage Lyman press. I used that press for another 19 yrs, then upgraded to a Dillon 550. Worth every dime. I'm loading 12 calibers on it I figure loading my own has saved me thousands of dollars in ammo cost over the years, rarely do I buy ammo from the store, the exception being .22 rimfire ammo. |
 Stop putting ideas into my head!Geez I started just to make sure I could feed my 6.8. Now I'm looking at a 2nd press just for my Hornady Cam Bullet Puller, and a Progressive for the .223. I'm buying dies for calibers I rarely shoot, and even for a caliber I don't own. This madness just won't stop! It's just as contageous as BRD!!! |
WOW that is more than 68 rounds a day; every day for 20 years. I have been loading for 10+ years and I doubt I have crossed the 50k mark. |
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I still haven't taken the plunge. When I was in college, it was always an issue of start-up costs. I figured it was going to take at least $800 to get a good progressive setup with most of the bells and wheels to maximize production (thinking in terms of quantity for IDPA/USPSA shooting, not match accuracy). Now that I'm working full time, it's more an issue of time and space. It makes more sense to use the factory ammo I have then spend my evenings/weekends learning the mechanics of it and messing with load development.... not to mention there's hardly room in a 1 room apartment for the ammo & firearm stockpile as it stands. |
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Have two lee turrent presses, one set up with autoindex for pistol ammo, and one with manual index for rifle ammo. All the rest of my equipement is lee except for my powder scale, the lee scale sucks. I wont question anyone getting the 550b dillion, it is sweet, but the turrents and powder measures for the lee turrent presses are a lot cheaper to buy for each caliber. I can buy everything I need to switch calibers in less than 30 seconds on my presses for less than 50 bucks, the same stuff for the dillion when I priced it a few years ago is about twice that. If you reload a bunch of different calibers it does add up. |
if you don't reload, you need to shoot ammo you can buy cheap. if you start shooting anything else the cost of the ammo can be incredible. i started reloading after I bought $40 worth of 357 ammo and shot it up in 1 hour. i said to hell with that noise and I got a lyman "stater kit" for $100 and proceeded to load whole coffee cans full of 357. you don't have to buy a lot of equipment to reload. just a single stage press, a set of dies and some powder dippers. load development is not big deal. 99% of the loads you find in the reloading manuals will shoot the same as factory ammo or better. just pick one. load development only really comes into play when you are trying to fine tune the ammo to the gun and you are going for peak accuracy. remember - 99.9999% of guns that kaboom have a reload in them. reloading is about the same as using a table saw. a non-fuckhead can use one for 25 years without a single problem but when trouble comes it's bad bad news. i personally am reluctant to reload for an autoloader because they are much more sensitive to ammo dimensions. a bolt action rifle can actually crush an oversize load into the chamber but an autoloader can slamfire on a bad round. it happens once in a while. |
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I have an old Lyman single stage and just bought a new Dillon 550B. The Dillon is the shit. I should have gotten the Dillon years ago. A huge plus for me is that I can get all the once fired brass I can handle, being the only LEO instructor in my agency that reloads. |
Desire is 1/4, money is 1/4, and know how 1/4, and supllies & equipment 1/4. I would suggest reading reloading manuals. I believe there videos produced by the NRA, Hornady, RCBS, & Dillon that I know off. Dillon, Hornady, RCBS, Sierra Bullets has 800 number technical help desks if you need help. Do you know any fellow shooters that is reloading? I would ask them to teach you. I find that many reloaders are more than ready to teach other fellow shooters reloading. My personal recommendation is learn to reload on straight walled pistol cases because they require the least number of steps. Bottle-neck rifle casings have to endure higher pressures and so they must be treated differently than straight-walled pistol cases, ie you need to trim when the max OAL is met. |
| I'm an "old" reloader. Was pumping out a lot (relatively speaking) on an old RCBS single pumper. Just got a RCBS 2000. I like the priming and de-priming over the 550 and don't need the cost of the 650. I can turn it fine my self. Plus I don't need to take the powder measure off to change calibers. and caliber change is easier. |