Posted: 2/26/2008 4:43:59 PM EDT
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I am going to dive into reloading. Right now I am looking at reloading 45 acp, 44 mag, .223 and .308. I have not done any reloading at all, usually had my friend do some for me. I am looking at progressive reloaders from Midway but thought I would ask here what would be better to go with. I want something I can mass produce with for plinking and be able to slow down and make some precision loads with in .223 and .308. I would like to find something that is as trouble free as possible and that is easy for a beginner to start off with. I realize that I still need more stuff but checking to see what others here use. Looking at: Hornady Lock-N-Load AP Progressive Press $385.99 Lee Load-Master Progressive Press Kit $215.99 RCBS Pro 2000 Progressive Press $469.99 |
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I'll be the party pooper and say you should start out with a basic single stage to learn on. Progressives are harder to learn because how can you troubleshoot them when you don't know how to do all the individual steps? Once you have the basics mastered with a single stage, you can then move up to a turret or a progressive depending on your needs. Also, what if you don't like reloading? A couple hundred bucks for a single stage kit is a lot less painful than 500+ for a progressive setup. And, my final point: You can always have a use for that single stage on your bench: Universal decapper, primer station, short batch production, precision rifle loads, etc. |
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I have been reloading for many years and I have to agree with ARinKCMo. Start with a single stage (Lee is cheap and works fine. I have loaded a lot of sub MOA ammo on a simple Lee press) Once you understand the processes then move on to something more advanced. I have a Hornady LnL AP and I love it. But for runs of less than 100rds I use my old Lee. Setting up the LnL takes time and quite often a single stage is quicker. BTW, A good powder scale and measure are very important. Feel free to ask any more questions both here and in the reloading forums, There is an amazing amount of knowledge around this place. |
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Shite, looks like I will be the third party pooper. First off, remember KISS and a progressive is not KISS (Keep it simple stupid!). First with a progressive press you have more moving parts and anything out of alignment will screw you up. 2nd if the timing is off, I would think it would be difficult to make precision rounds. 3rd, you have to make sure that your primers are flowing and being installed properly. And if you have powder bridging you are going to go lite on one round and maybe heavy in the next and you might never know it. Because you might be looking at a different stage and the bullet will be set without you looking into the cartridge to check the powder level. 4th a progressive press is not a true automatic from start to finish with bottle neck cartridges. One the brass is deprimed and FL sized, you need to remove the brass and possibly trimmed next. before putting the brass back in to seat a primer and then continue around the press for powder and bullet. Also do not forget that the case needs to be lubed before the FL sizing and I would delube the case before trimming. Now for pistol cartridges a progressive makes sense, other than the make sure the powder level is right, but then too, pistol cartridges usually do not use stick powder. I really recommend that you go single stage till you have a through understanding of each stage of reloading. Buy used or cheap. BTW IM me if you want a cheap but heavy Herters press. No this has nothing to do with all of the above. Beside more than likely you are on the other side of the state. LOL |
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You're going to get all sorts of advice. Here's mine: if you start with a progressive press, I recommend a manual advance version. That means a Dillon 550 or an RCBS Pro 2000. I have a Pro 2000 press. A manual advance press means you advance the shell plate to the next operation with your hand. This makes the process very easy to control, so essentially you can operate the press like a single stage with one case in the press for one operation at a time while you learn the basics, and then switch to progressive operation with all the shell holders filled when you've mastered the basics. If you're reasonably near St. Louis you can get some one on one help from one of us to help you over the beginners hump. The Reloading Forum is under the General heading. |
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My list for 2008: C&R permit (paper work sent off) SBR Concel carry permit Get into Reloading Thanks for the info and help I live in Boonville and my friend who has done a lot of reloading lives on the other side of Columbia. He has several single stages presses that he has aquired over the years so I might hit him up and see if he wants to sell one. I'm selling some paintball gear so I think I will go ahead and get the RCBS Pro 2000 Progressive Press and put it off to the side until I get the hang of things. But like a new toy I know I will have to tinker around with it some...but not looking to blow anything up. I had planned of slowing things down and doing as much by hand for precision loads. So I already have a scale and such on my list of things to get. Looks like I need to take a day...and some beer and head over to my friend's house for some one on one reloading lessons and see what all he has for sale....or loan  Thanks for the advise |
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I'll give a +4 and say start with a single stage. Learn each step well and what to watch for such as primers being seated all the way, but not smashed or sideways & smashed. Semi-auto cases sides all the way to the extractor groove. Proper amount of powder dropped. (Skip the balance beam type scales or the stupid Lee scoops, they're both useless. Electronic scales are affordable enough these days that there is NO reason to not have one.) Mouth belled just enough to start the bullet. Bullet seated to best length for your gun. Proper crimp on bullet. Proper Over All Length. GET A CHRONOGRAPH!!!1! Everything else is just wildass guessing. The cheap Chrony brands start under $75 these days. Unless you're just loading blasting/plinking ammo, you'll spend plenty of time customizing each load for a specific gun. Adjusting the powder charge, OAL, amount of crimp, etc. FWIW, with regards to loading manuals you can easily get by with using just the free manuals that you pick up at your local gun store from Winchester, Hodgdon, Alliant, Hercules, IMR, etc. I never actually bought a "brand name" reloading manual, but did win a few as prizes. NEVER, EVER make up loads from scratch or "extrapolate" loads without accessing a published loading manual. Sometime even just changing the brand of the bullet can dramatically change pressures, let alone accuracy. The caliber/cartridge specific manuals that Midway sells are pretty useless. Sorry. NEVER EXCEED MAXIMUM LISTED LOADS!!!!1! Then, once you've got all that down to a tedious and slow science, and believe me, loading for a semi-auto anything on a single stage is B-O-R-I-N-G!!!, then buy a nice progressive press. I'll recommend Dillon of course. Once you've got your head about you with regards to the entire loading process, go straight to the 650 for loading large volumes of ammo for your auto-loading toys.  However, for my precision/boltgun type ammo, I will still always prefer to load them on a single stage press and hand weigh each powder charge. 
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I started with a single stage and still reload accurate rifle rounds with it. I also have 2 Dillon 550's that i reload 9, 40, 45, 308, and 223 with. I would suggest starting with a single stage as well. If you are going to buy a progressive, go with a Dillon. Best warranty on the market and very easy to change between calibers. You can find used ones fairly inexpensive. Opinions on who makes the best reloaders are like who makes the best gun. I have used several types and wont ever use anything not "blue" (dillon) again.
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If you are near STL there is a reloading class at Mo dept of conservation Jay Henges range. reloading class link Singups end Mar. 3 look on the henges page on the calendar near the bottom here Starting on a single is not a bad idea. |
NO! Already off on the wrong foot. No BEER when reloading or shooting. Sheesh..... |
Sheesh.....The beer is for AFTER reloading and/or shooting. 
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Elevated blood lead levels, and eventually lead poisoning, is a VERY real concern while reloading. And the #1 way for the lead to get into you is via your fingers and into your mouth by eating, drinking or smoking while reloading. WASH YOUR HANDS!
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Go with a single stage and learn the basics and you will be miles ahead and can really appreciate the Progressive when you get it because all of your load work up will be done and you then only have to setup the progressive once per load... I use my single stage and my hand press a lot! but I load a lot of pistol ammo on the progressive for speed... The Hand press is for range loading of rounds for my sharps and my 300WM. I also use the single stage to decap and factory crimp my pistol rounds. I use lee presses pretty much exclusively and have no problems with them, I use lee dies exclusively and have no issues with them, On the progressive press I don't even bother with the priming tool on there since I decap and resize then tumble prep and prime the cases in a separate operation... But to each his own. I typically have ammo cans of primed brass sitting around! As to Alcohol and Reloading... good way to die in a lot of different ways. 
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Don't waste your time unless you just want to sit around to BS. There is no hands on work, the rest is so basic you should get it from a manual, and the instructors teach from a rigid syllabus that didn't reflect reality when I went down there. If you go, take your gun and go to the range. |
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Thanks for all the info and recommendations. Did not realize that about lead poisoning and reloading. I've always been a fan of full metal jackets as any soft lead tips don't want to feed very well thru my DE or Glock, especially the DE. I'm sure my friend won't let me stray into the danger area. When ever we have shooting events at his home it is shooting first then food and alcohol. But at my age (50) I rarely drink a lot as I have learned that it takes way to long to recover any more. Plus it is an hour drive to his house and back home,,,not worth the risk of getting a DWI. Will definitely check out the Dillon single stage. |
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Dillon doesn't offer single stage presses, only progressive. The only single-stage press I ever had was a $25 Lee and it loaded all my sub-1/2MOA match ammo. Dillon presses. Request their catalog. Also be aware that there are vendors in the Arfcom EE that will sell them for less than Dillon advertises them, or at least offer free shipping. FWIW, even when I loaded a bunch of rifle rounds on my old Dillon 650, I still hand-primed each case with a RCBS hand priming tool. However, for pistol rounds I just let the fabulous Blue Machine do the work. Go slow, and learn what to watch for. And make sure your loading area is really well lit. A small sewing machine clamp-on light, aimed directly down into the cases is really great to have. |
Definitely get their cataloges! And, even if you don't wind up with a press, order their calendars every year.... 
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| I started out with a progressive press ( LEE Loadmaster). I would only load one at a time until I knew what to feel and look for, I didnt want to start with one and then buy another knowing I would end up with a progressive press. As far as the Loadmaster, Ive loaded thousands of rounds with very little trouble, except for the priming system, it SUCKS. I now load on a Blue press, but still use the old Loadmaster for my .45 |
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Well, for the prices you've got posted, I'd say just buy a Dillon 550B, that way you probably won't have to buy another press later on. I don't agree with the "buy a single stage first" thinking. Just buy the best first, "buy once, cry once." ETA If you decide to buy a Dillon, check out e-guns, they are a site sponsor and have the best deal on Dillon presses. |
I agree about checking with e-guns on here in the EE. I believe their prices are close to what Dillon's online prices are, but with free shipping. And on a 70# box that can be a few bucks saved. As to his other remark, I think I know where he's going with it. If you get a Dillon 550, since it is a "manual advance" model, meaning you must manually advance the shell plate to the next station, you can in effect have a single-stage press if you only use one station at a time. If you go real slow and pay really close attention, this is completely do-able and would negate the need to start with a single stage press. However, singe-stage presses are fairly inexpensive, will last forever, and are generally capable of producing more accurate ammo than are progressive presses. |
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I pretty much agree with what everybody above said. I have a Lee Load Master and it is a really good value. My experiance and a lot of others on SASS site share it is that its priming station gives a lot of people problems. Others report it is wonderful. ??? A lot of us gave up on the priming station and work around it by using a Lee hand primer. Slick! And you can watch TV while you prime hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cases in a couple of hours Don't overlook a turret press. You can run it slow and easy as a single stage or crank it up to progressive speed when you are ready and have made and cured your beginner mistakes. The Redding turret press will handle anything you are willing to shoot from a handgun or shoulder rifle (and bigger.) IMHO the really BIG advantage of a progressive press is being able to have extra turrets completely set up with dies for each caliber you shoot (with no more adjustments) and a case feed system to really keep things zipping along. Biggest risk is not catching a squib load and firing a good shell behind and into it (ouch!) If it didn't sound or feel right - - STOP!! Do it. Ed |