Posted: 7/30/2011 9:00:37 PM EDT
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I while back there was a thread here bout reloading. I'm getting the bug again to try it out. Anyone here have advise about how to get started or what type of press to look for? At one point there was talk of a htf reloading clinic. That ever happen?
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| get a solid reloading book and work your way up from there as far as powder charges go. a lot depends on what kind of shooting you want to do. for a lot of plinking a progressive press is the way to go. for accuracy i would say a single stage is fine. my forster press is solid and gives me great results. with accuracy its all about consistency. sometime the fastest load is not the most accurate. so keep good data on your loads and results. remember that the same load can have different even destructive results in different guns. hope this helps. |
| Get a good book and start there. I started out with the ABC's of reloading, Its a really good book with everything from basic to advanced info. Thats where I started. Then do allot of research. Continue to look through reloading forums and talk to people cause chances are someone has tried everything and can tell you what to start with to not break the bank and go from there. |
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I started on a single stage and I see no reason to for me to load rifle on anything else. Maybe get a turret to lessen the setup time for the dies. Just started pistol a couple months ago and I will be getting a progressive for pistol. Most of the time needed for rifle is in brass prep done off of the press between sizing and seating bullets. I can run plenty of volume with more QC than needed for rifle on my single stage.
Brass prep for pistol is minimal and with 3 or 4 dies and the volume of pistol I shoot, progressive would be best. Buy more than one book. Many will vary and there are many manufacturers with data online as well. |
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Drink the blue koolaide: Get a Dillon.
Learn the ropes from a competent friend if possible; if not, you can learn from books and internet loading sites. Worried about kB's? Be sure to set up your gear in an environment without distraction. That's the most important advice I can give you: DONT GET DISTRACTED. If you pay attention, you won't have kB's. You will make ammunition as good as, or better than, anything you can buy off the shelf, and you can tailor it to your needs. P.S. Get a Dillon. |
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I recommend to start with a single stage press. it will teach you all of the details needed to load safe ammo. get a progressive is you see the need after.....i also found the ABC of Reloading a good resource manual. I picked mine up for $3 on a discount rack many years after i started reloading. I taught myself with the Speer and Hornady reloading manuals. they have a tutorial section that starts out the manuals.
advntrjnky |
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Something new and helpful: |
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Need to know more about what you're reloading for. If you need a huge quantity of ammo then a progressive press is a must. The down side is that they're relatively complicated pieces of machinery that aren't the best platform to learn on. That being said, if you're relatively mechanically inclined, it shouldn't be much of a problem. You've got plenty of help here so don't ever hesitate to ask. I bet any number of folks would be more than happy to come over and help you get set up. As has been stated, go blue. Dillon's quality and customer service can't be beat by any company in any industry. Yeah, you'll pay more out of pocket at first but, you'll be glad you did in the long run.
If you're looking for match grade accuracy then a single stage is your best bet. True, you can get very good accuracy out of a progressive but, if you want single hole groups, you need a high end single stage press. |
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I want to do a few things (increase my ammo supply in case the world goes to hell, and load up some hunting ammo). So a progressive is what I was thinking. Figure it could do both. Both presses can do both. The key is to set up to do a single operation and do a run say a hundred at a time. for rifle. so overnigt i will put the brass in a tumbler. let it run. the next day set up for removing primers and resize case on single pull of the handle does both. inspect cases primer pocket prep if wanted. seat primers inspect. then throw powder from scale verify charges. then seat the bullet. verify measurements and basics are done. document the load on container its really not that time consuming or hard this is just a basic and very fundamental example. the speed you can make rounds is all up to you and if you really want accuracy you will be rechecking the during the entire process. either on is a good choice but a nice blue progressive will set you back a bit i chose to use the money saved from my press to buy primers, powder, and bullets. Just remember safelty is paramount. wear safety glasses. and please dont smoke when reloading  get a few trays to hold the cases. get a good book, calipers, case holders, bullet puller because u will make mistakes the key is just to catch them.
btw dillon makes an awesome progressive (if i was a rich mofo thats one I would add but not replace to my reloading bench. Also make sure your bench is solid.) |
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I'm going against the grain here a bit, and suggesting you start with a simple and inexpensive single stage press. I personally prefer Lee for their single stage presses, because they are inexpensive and relatively well built. The reason I recommend a single stage press for a beginner, is because it is extremely important that you pay particular attention to every detail when you are first starting out. Progressive presses can be finicky, and I don't believe they are appropriate for beginners. While they allow you to make a lot of good rounds quickly, they also allow you to make a lot of bad rounds quickly. Unless you're very familiar with the reloading process, you can easily miss the warning signs when something has gone wrong.
You're also not going to "out grow" your single stage press. You may reach the point where you will want to add a progressive to your reloading setup, but you're still going to find yourself going back to your single stage when you are working up a new load, experimenting, or going for high accuracy. |
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Quoted:
I'm going against the grain here a bit, and suggesting you start with a simple and inexpensive single stage press. I personally prefer Lee for their single stage presses, because they are inexpensive and relatively well built. The reason I recommend a single stage press for a beginner, is because it is extremely important that you pay particular attention to every detail when you are first starting out. Progressive presses can be finicky, and I don't believe they are appropriate for beginners. While they allow you to make a lot of good rounds quickly, they also allow you to make a lot of bad rounds quickly. Unless you're very familiar with the reloading process, you can easily miss the warning signs when something has gone wrong. You're also not going to "out grow" your single stage press. You may reach the point where you will want to add a progressive to your reloading setup, but you're still going to find yourself going back to your single stage when you are working up a new load, experimenting, or going for high accuracy. Agreed. BUT I'd still start with a RCBS rockchucker press that is all steel and will last a life time as opposed to a Lee that is aluminium/pot metal that will wear out eventually and can/will cause run out in your rifle bullets which causes problems with accuracy.. (yes, I wore mine out) |
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I'm going against the grain here a bit, and suggesting you start with a simple and inexpensive single stage press. I personally prefer Lee for their single stage presses, because they are inexpensive and relatively well built. The reason I recommend a single stage press for a beginner, is because it is extremely important that you pay particular attention to every detail when you are first starting out. Progressive presses can be finicky, and I don't believe they are appropriate for beginners. While they allow you to make a lot of good rounds quickly, they also allow you to make a lot of bad rounds quickly. Unless you're very familiar with the reloading process, you can easily miss the warning signs when something has gone wrong. You're also not going to "out grow" your single stage press. You may reach the point where you will want to add a progressive to your reloading setup, but you're still going to find yourself going back to your single stage when you are working up a new load, experimenting, or going for high accuracy. Agreed. BUT I'd still start with a RCBS rockchucker press that is all steel and will last a life time as opposed to a Lee that is aluminium/pot metal that will wear out eventually and can/will cause run out in your rifle bullets which causes problems with accuracy.. (yes, I wore mine out) And I've had mine for around 20 years and haven't worn it out. The Rock Chucker is triple the cost of the Lee Classic. The Lee/RCBS/DIllon debate is a religious issue. :) |
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I've been reloading 11 calibers on a Dillon 650 for 17 years. Two malfs, which were handled free and quickly by Dillon. I have never had a KB or anything near it, at least with ammo I made. That says something about the Dillon system, cuz, anybody who knows me, knows I'm not that smart. Pretty, yes, but not that smart. |
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Quoted:
I'm going against the grain here a bit, and suggesting you start with a simple and inexpensive single stage press. I personally prefer Lee for their single stage presses, because they are inexpensive and relatively well built. The reason I recommend a single stage press for a beginner, is because it is extremely important that you pay particular attention to every detail when you are first starting out. Progressive presses can be finicky, and I don't believe they are appropriate for beginners. While they allow you to make a lot of good rounds quickly, they also allow you to make a lot of bad rounds quickly. Unless you're very familiar with the reloading process, you can easily miss the warning signs when something has gone wrong. You're also not going to "out grow" your single stage press. You may reach the point where you will want to add a progressive to your reloading setup, but you're still going to find yourself going back to your single stage when you are working up a new load, experimenting, or going for high accuracy. I've still got the Lee Turret press I started with 25 years ago. (I've always used it as a single stage press.) What you say about learning on a single stage is absolutely true. You're also right on target about using a single stage when working up loads. I've got mine mounted to a 2 X 6 that I C-clamp to a portable table out on the range so I can build great ammo and test it right there on the spot. |
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Start with a single stage press. There's a lot to understand about loading and how each step comes into play. For single stage I've got a RCBS Rock Chucker (recently upgraded from the Lee Challenger) as well as a Dillon 650 for .45 and .223. The Dillon is great for cranking out volumes, but before settling on a load for the 650, I work up my experimental loads on the single stage. It's a lot easier to do small batches on the single stage than on a progressive. Besides, it's much cheaper to load multiple calibers on a single stage than on a progressive.
A single stage can do a decent volume if you plan out your loading and have some handy things like loading blocks and decent lock rings for your dies like those for Forster. With a decent powder thrower like that from RCBS or Redding the slowest process simply becomes brass preparation. With pistol brass and carbide dies there isn't much that needs to be done other than cleaning the brass so as to keep debris out of the dies. Rifle brass requires lubrication even with carbide dies. Then after sizing you need to trim and debur as cases typically will stretch during the resizing process. For loading 223 with my 650 I have two tool heads setup for what is a two step process. One has only a sizing die on it where after sizing all the cases they are checked for length and trimmed if necessary. Then I swap tool heads to one that has all but the sizing die and can proceed to load in a typical progressive fashion. There are sizing dies out there that supposedly perform full length sizing but do not stretch the case (eg, X-dies), but I have no experience with them. There's no guarantee that factory ammo is perfect ammo. There's been more than a few recalls of factory ammo due to the wrong propellants being used. I've personally had factory rounds with crushed cases and backwards primers. Compartively, however, I can guarantee that your handloads are exactly what you make of them. |
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A Dillon progressive reloader with a strong mount and improved handle, Rock chucker single stage press, lee dippers, a good caliper and scale - preferable one that has 3 digits to the right of the zero. Vibrating tumbler for brass and for rifle dies go with RCBS, pistol go with the 4 stage lee dies.
You can make a lot of good ammo. And it will over time pay for itself. |
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Thanks for all the input. It sounds like a ford vs Chevrolet debate as both sides make some good points. I havent made a decision yet. But you ve all given me some points to consider. Thanks When comparing single vs. progressive It's not so much as Ford vs. Chevy as it is sedan vs pickup. Like most things in the shooting world with presses you get what you pay for. The Lee Challenger I had loaded good ammo, but it has nowhere near the long term durability and build quality as the RCBS RC has. And the price tag reflects that. |
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Ya I could see that analogy being a lil more spot on. I've been reading the reloading forum. Sounds like everyone gets a kaboom, an almost boom or a problem along the way. Sounds like reloading is pretty nerve racking to hear some of these guys talk about it. It shouldn't be, if you are mindful of what you are doing. You only have problems when you start becoming complacent or you start needlessly pushing the envelope. Follow the reloading manuals, and understand that maximum means maximum. If there was a way to safely get more velocity from a given powder and bullet combination, rest assured it would be listed in the manual. Often adding more powder than the maximum, even by a little, will give you a massive and dangerous increase in pressure with little or no increase in velocity. Also keep in mind that going under the starting loads often results in unreliable and inconsistent ammunition. |