new press time! reverse rotation turret, or lee loadmaster

[rumplestilskinfish]

i am having a dilema. i have loaded about 700 rounds on my single stage press total and i am getting tired. this week it took me over an hour(felt like2) to de-prime 375 9mm cases. and i still need all the rest of the steps. It is eating all my family time. so i was thinking of upgrading to a lee turret but i wanted reverse rotation so i can get a case ejector.
so the next obvious step was a lee loadmaster. It would have the same cost as the lee turret kit(with reverse rotation). but I supposedly can load 1000 rnds an hour. So can i reduce my weekly reloading time to 15 min.
I just don't know if i can save time if i only load 100-200 rounds weekly. Is it 15 min set up time and . 15 minuit tinker time and 15 min press time. i don't know . i need someone with experience with these things

[Whiterabbit]

I chose the loadmaster. I already have two single stage presses that are great. And am borrowing a 7-port turret press.

I'm over the turret. It just saves me the need to screw in dies.

BUT.

The loadmaster is not a 15 minute setup. It took me two hours to set it up when I first got it. They made it so you can mount it and go (practically), but given how many people complain of problems, I went through each system, sequentially, and got it running like a top all the way from case feeder to case ejector.

However, I think it might be worth it for you still. If you bulk buy your brass, rather than loading 100-200 weekly, you could load 1000-2000 in a week or two and sit on them, then spend the 100-200 round loading time weekly working on something else, like a rifle round, another pistol, etc.

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But talk about speed depriming, you keep a spare turret for $10 with a decapper in there, dump your 9mm cases in the collator and bang bang bang bang bang, you have 375 decapped cases.

That's why I'm gonna get a shell holder for everything I load.

[Lead Waster]

There is more to a turret than saving time unscrewing dies (incidentally the Lee or Hornady bushing kits make this SO much easier...twist a quarter turn and the die is out of the bushing, then insert the next one and twist a quarter turn...doesn't change the die settings and is fast).

A turret allows you to insert the brass into the press, pull the handle 4 times (or whatever) and then a finished round pops out. You can load one round, or 10 rounds or 100.

With a single stage, you have to batch process your rounds. Do stage one one a pre-determined number of brass (or heck, size and deprime ALL your brass while you are at the first stage, since it requires no real setup). Then for EACH stage, you have to insert the brass, pull the handle REMOVE the brass. That is manipulating each piece 4 times. And if you get tired after 20 minutes, you have a bunch of half finished rounds and you have to remember what stage you are at before the next session.

So 20 minutes with a turret will get you say 30 FINISHED rounds. 20 minutes with a single stage gets you say 100 pieces of resized and primed brass (I'm exaggerating).

With a working and tuned Loadmaster, you'll end up with 50 finished rounds (or whatever, more than a turrent and 1/4 of the handle pulls, since each handle pull does 4 pieces of brass at their respective stages).

Just something to think about.

Be careful though and look up reviews on both. Only positive reviews come out for the Lee Classic (cast iron) turret. Loadmaster is mixed.

And I hear you about "eating all my family time". I bought a 1050 and bullet feeder to recover some of that time, though generally when I load, it's after the kids are asleep and the wife is off doing wife things.

[romukom]

For me It took me close to 6 or 7 hours setting up my Loadmaster (1 hour or so per day). I was going through every single known issues plus I was making sure that its mounted solidly. If I don't change anything from the previous session, I start to reload withing 10 minutes after verifying the powder charge.
I have seen a guy in youtubeland and had at least 6 loadmaster with each different caliber. I guess that once you got to set correctly its just matter to load the components and go.

[rumplestilskinfish]

since i don't reload 1000+ per week will i really be saving time(turret vs progressive)? and for the volume i do is there going to be a big diff from turret to progressive.
once when i was reloading single stage i caught a double charge, so that makes me think i might be better with an automatic or semiautomatic device.

the family time is not something i factored when i got a single stage press. and the extra 200-300$ will be worth every penny. Im thinking i will save hours per week. and that has value

[milotrain]

Family time is the BIGGEST reason to get a progressive press. If you are loading mostly pistol ammo I HIGHLY suggest a used Dillon 650. I know it's way over what you are thinking money wise but you will end up reloading ammo in the little margins of your time and not cutting into nearly any family time.

I reload now mostly in the soak time of solvents in the barrel (during post range cleaning), or I get up 30min earlier than normal, and go run 200 rounds before starting my normal morning routine.

since i don't reload 1000+ per week will i really be saving time(turret vs progressive)? and for the volume i do is there going to be a big diff from turret to progressive.

Holy crap yes. Especially if you are fairly focused on a single cartridge. You leave the 650 setup, there is brass in the stations, powder in the hopper. You have 15 min? There is 100 rounds. Come home from work, park in the garage, run 50 rounds and it cost you 10 minutes of decompressing your day so you walk in the door chilled out.

[Divernhunter]

Reloading is a hobby also. Sounds like you do not enjoy it and/or do not have the time for it.
If you are in a hurry to load some ammo just get a Dillon 650 with case feeder......especially for pistol rounds.

By your post I would be inclined to say reloading is not for you at all. Something to consider. If your time is that important then it is cheaper to just buy ammo. Also maybe shoot less so you have more time for the family. I did less shooting until my daughter started going with me to the range myself.

[Lead Waster]

since i don't reload 1000+ per week will i really be saving time(turret vs progressive)? and for the volume i do is there going to be a big diff from turret to progressive.
once when i was reloading single stage i caught a double charge, so that makes me think i might be better with an automatic or semiautomatic device.

the family time is not something i factored when i got a single stage press. and the extra 200-300$ will be worth every penny. Im thinking i will save hours per week. and that has value

Well, so say you reload 100 rounds/week or 200. Instead, with a more capable machine, in that same time you reload 1000 rounds. That means that in the next several weeks ... you don't do ANY reloading.

So yes, every minute saved is a minute saved. I actually enjoy reloading, but I don't do it instead of something else other than time I might have been watching TV or whatever.

[rumplestilskinfish]

yup . just load 1000 and only do it once a month. ill get the progressive. same price . just more time invested in initial setup. and when i reload large rifle i will prime on the single stage and than load on the progressive from their.

i don't watch tv so i cant replace tv time.

[milotrain]

Divernhunter brings up a good point. What do you want reloading to get you? Why are you doing it?

yup . just load 1000 and only do it once a month. ill get the progressive. same price . just more time invested in initial setup. and when i reload large rifle i will prime on the single stage and than load on the progressive from their.

i don't watch tv so i cant replace tv time.

Then you really want a Dillon 550 or 650. The Hornady is also nice. Just get a good machine that doesn't require a lot of tinkering with to get running smoothly, all progressives require work, but from what I hear the Lee presses require a lot of work.

[Michael in California]

Agreed, I use the Hornady LNL, but red or blue gets you done. I only reload about every 3 months. Since the dies are set, I only have check the powder throw. Seems powder throw is sensitive to temperature, humidity, and phase of the moon. It generally takes me 5 to 10 minutes to set the throw.

Then, load a thousand rounds in a couple of hours.

Case prep is done as brass is consumed and only takes a little active time. The machine does the work.

Necked rifle takes a bunch more time, but I shoot a lot less too.

[Lead Waster]

OK, but are the Lee tweaks a one time setup deal? Or do you need to tweak for every caliber change?

I will say the 550b is a great machine (I have two of them!).

A single stage press for utility work can be pretty inexpensive. I have one from Lee that came as a bonus with a load book. It's not sturdy like a RockChucker, but it will happily deprime case or do everything you need (mine s a dedicated de-primer with a lee universal decapping die) alone it costs like $20.

[rumplestilskinfish]

i started back into firearms in the middle of the "drought" and i could not get any ammo . so to prevent that i am learning to reload. I also want to have the ability to reload at least 1 years worth of ammo and thats allot easier reloading. also i want to accurize my ar platform and i can do that with my single stage. i also have a 22-250 planned for my future (nxt year) and with reloads i can do all that and more. but for now me and my wife want to get our ccw(wife 1st) and more range time means more ammo. if my wife thinks ammo is cheep/free she has no problem blowing through a box of ammo with me . also i am a mechanic and i love all things mechanical. i am very interested in the workings of a progressive.

reloading (to me) is like building tiny rocket ships and testing how well those ships fly(or don't!)

[rumplestilskinfish]

Its fun. Currently its tedious with a single stage. and i would like to keep it fun.

[milotrain]

OK, but are the Lee tweaks a one time setup deal? Or do you need to tweak for every caliber change?

I will say the 550b is a great machine (I have two of them!).

From what I hear the Lee is a tweak every run type of machine. I find reloading sort of fun with a progressive, but not actually fun. I do enjoy not being bent by the droughts and panics.

Rump, I think you want a LnL, a 550 or a 650.