Startup Kit Recommendations

[RiskyBusiness]

You need to stop putting so much detail into your questions until you learn more. Your lack of understanding for reloading is shining through. Progressive presses are machines that are designed to pump out ammo. As a result, they are sloppy. When you have a machine that is doing 5+ things at once, you want everything to line up and work as smooth as possible, so you make dies that are a little wider on the mouth, give a little more wiggle room here and there so that things can move around if they are a little off. As a result, you can have variances in length and crimping etc.

You can trickle in powder whenever you please by not pulling the handle, measuring your charge and adding or subtracting if needed. Folks do it all the time to set up the press.

On a single stage, it is meant for precision ammo, or rather, slower ammo making, there is only 1 thing going on at a time so it best be tight in tolerances. It is very simple in comparison to the Progressive. The progressive is mostly for those that gotta have 4k rounds made in 20 minutes yesterday. They need to go from point A to point B and they do not care to do any sight seeing. The single stage is for those that take extended vacations and want to learn a few things as well as make the best possible round each and every time. (unless you buy a smart reloader branded press anyways)

The turret is the middle of the road. Nobody makes 9mm on a single stage for very long and enjoys it, that is a go fast caliber and is best made on a progressive because who cares if it is made a little sloppy? A .308 or .270 on the other hand, folks want to look nice and be accurate and they want every round the same as the round before it and after it.

It is not always about volume or speed. It is about the right tool for the job. So you can get a toothbrush and brush your teeth and you can get a toothbrush and clean the floor. OR you can get a mop to clean the floor, but you can not clean your teeth with a mop. Not very well anyways. So it is safe to say that the toothbrush can be used in both of those two scenarios, but the mop can only be used in one but the mop will clean the floor much faster than the toothbrush will, but maybe it will miss a speck or two here and there because it does not do so good at scrubbing...

okay last question, in your experience from making rifle loads on a progressive what are your end results in accuracy compared to grouping from a single stage press or your turret?

i honestly feel like i'll be okay with a single stage and like some of you guys have said you eventually upgrade/add another press to their workbench.

stilly come december the ammo/reloading thread is going to be lit with dozens if not a hundred new guys looking to get around the ammo laws of 2018 hopefully by then i'll be able to share some advice

[orangeusa]

Since when are you the voice of reason? Haha Seriously, nice post. OP needs to try a class or a friend who has a press and everything will be much easier to understand.

Selection of powder is the only OTHER problem and that is solved by LACK of powder selection. Buy the powder that you can find a recipe for..

And pistol != rifle. You can load damn near anything that you find a recipe for, since you are shooting 7 meters or so....

And that the Lee Turret is a great invention that totally sucks wrt priming. So, manually preprime.
.

You need to stop putting so much detail into your questions until you learn more. Your lack of understanding for reloading is shining through. Progressive presses are machines that are designed to pump out ammo. As a result, they are sloppy. When you have a machine that is doing 5+ things at once, you want everything to line up and work as smooth as possible, so you make dies that are a little wider on the mouth, give a little more wiggle room here and there so that things can move around if they are a little off. As a result, you can have variances in length and crimping etc.

You can trickle in powder whenever you please by not pulling the handle, measuring your charge and adding or subtracting if needed. Folks do it all the time to set up the press.

On a single stage, it is meant for precision ammo, or rather, slower ammo making, there is only 1 thing going on at a time so it best be tight in tolerances. It is very simple in comparison to the Progressive. The progressive is mostly for those that gotta have 4k rounds made in 20 minutes yesterday. They need to go from point A to point B and they do not care to do any sight seeing. The single stage is for those that take extended vacations and want to learn a few things as well as make the best possible round each and every time. (unless you buy a smart reloader branded press anyways)

The turret is the middle of the road. Nobody makes 9mm on a single stage for very long and enjoys it, that is a go fast caliber and is best made on a progressive because who cares if it is made a little sloppy? A .308 or .270 on the other hand, folks want to look nice and be accurate and they want every round the same as the round before it and after it.

It is not always about volume or speed. It is about the right tool for the job. So you can get a toothbrush and brush your teeth and you can get a toothbrush and clean the floor. OR you can get a mop to clean the floor, but you can not clean your teeth with a mop. Not very well anyways. So it is safe to say that the toothbrush can be used in both of those two scenarios, but the mop can only be used in one but the mop will clean the floor much faster than the toothbrush will, but maybe it will miss a speck or two here and there because it does not do so good at scrubbing...

[jessdigs]

I load my 223 on my Dillon because I am shooting paper or steel at 25-100yds. It doesn't have to be great ammo. Same with my handgun ammo. I just want to shoot volume, have fun, pick up my brass, and load them again. It's close range hole punching, nothing more. I am even now investing in casting equipment so I can shoot even more for even less (Maybe one day I can stand in stilly's shadow). The progressive pumps out ammo fast and is not match grade, but fortunately for me I bought a Dillon. As far as I am concerned it makes ammo that does everything I need it to do and lets me stock up and hoard for when the zombies come.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[dennis9288]

Yup.. me too. The ad says $449 for the press, dispenser and the other pieces.

When folks ask me "what do I need to get started" this is the list I give them. The "minimum" list can be had for under $500 with the Lee Turret press.

Minimum:
Manual
Press with priming system
Die set with shell holder
Scale
Powder measure
Loading tray
Powder dipper (Included with Lee die sets)
Funnel
Case lube
Caliper
Tumbler/media
Bullet puller
Notebook
Components (i.e., powder, primers, bullets and brass)

Good to have in addition:
Chronograph
Case and cartridge gauges
hand primer
Primer pocket tools
More than one manual

Thanks. Just jumping in to this discussion. Thanks for the info.

[RiskyBusiness]

Maybe one day I can stand in stilly's shadow

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

That will take longer than you could ever expect


by the way even at 100 yds do your plinking rounds give you the opportunity to chase sub moa groups? wish i could shoot at steel around here but stuck with paper so i gotta make the best of it. ever upload vids or pics of your shoots/results? I'm always fascinated by what everyone can pull off with their rifles and handloads.

[stilly]

okay last question, in your experience from making rifle loads on a progressive what are your end results in accuracy compared to grouping from a single stage press or your turret?

i honestly feel like i'll be okay with a single stage and like some of you guys have said you eventually upgrade/add another press to their workbench.

stilly come december the ammo/reloading thread is going to be lit with dozens if not a hundred new guys looking to get around the ammo laws of 2018 hopefully by then i'll be able to share some advice

I have not made any precision or even long range (1000 yards+) rounds on any of my presses. I am not a precision shooter and I am not long distance. My only loads that I have made have been for an ARF pistol, and other pistol calibers. I can not get to a rifle range to test much so I make pistol rounds.
I also know that I do not yet have the discipline to make precision or match grade ammo since I am always in a hurry to do things and have to really stop and focus to slow down and check everything. If you want accuracy then you will want your rounds the exact same length each and every time, you will want the weights to be the same each and every time, you will weigh your brass and projectiles and I dare say your primers and make sure they are all consistent and THEN you might have repeatable rounds that hit the same chrono speed every time.

On my Loadmaster there is a bolt that is upside down on the left side. I know that that bolt has raised letters/digits on it and SOMETIMES the little pin that puts in the primer lands on a letter or digit and sometimes it does not. The reason for it doing this sometimes is because it must pivot back and forth and it needs wiggle room to work, that wiggle room allows it to move sideways as well. If I cared enough, I would remove that bolt and sand it flat. THAT would make my rounds more consistent because SOMETIMES if that pin hits on a flat spot or a letter/digit, it ALSO affects how much the shell plate moves and THAT will make my rounds fluctuate in their overall length because if the shell plate does NOT go up the same distance each and every time with a full batch of 5 shells going, you will have varying lengths. Right there is a disqualification for precision ammo. If you pursue Accuracy then you pursue it, not give it a shot and decide oh well, maybe next time. The truth is, when I am making pistol rounds, I do not expect accuracy out to 1000 yards or even out to 300 yards. I am happy with 25 yards or maybe 100 yards so I do not need to be precise. I need ammo that works. Another thing with progressives is they like to brag about speed of changing calibers. Well, what do you think that does? You are removing parts and replacing them with other parts the same size, so you gotta tighten it down a bit. On the Loadmaster, it is flawed in that there is a single knurled knob that will allow you to tighten or loosen the top die plate. That knob comes loose all the time and it could allow your dies to move a bit or even flex if your dies are set too low. Again, MORE SLOP. I have an extra plate on top that tightens it all down to correct that, but a single stage does not have that. It is a single die that does not move until you move it. (usually).

And THAT is why I only load pistol rounds right now. But I have read enough, fought with enough, and talked to enough reloaders that DO know more about accuracy in rifle loads than me and that is where my experience comes from, all of the knowledge that they have shared. And I know enough to know that currently, I aint one of them.

By all means, pick up a single stage. You gotta learn somewhere. I made all of my ammo on my LCT during the first three years. But I am glad I had the Loadmaster to pump out 10k+ of 9mm in the short time that it did. It cranked out about 850 rounds per hour, prolly closer to 800 per hour sustainable for 1-2 hour spurts. My LCT cranks out about 250+ per hour depending on the brass I am using and whether or not it is already primed.

Yeah I made some ammo on my friend's RCS. I made about 100 rds of .38 and it was not too bad but batch loading sucks... I prefer a batch of 1 with the LCT... Start and stop when I feel like it.

[Calguns77]

Yeah I made some ammo on my friend's RCS. I made about 100 rds of .38 and it was not too bad but batch loading sucks... I prefer a batch of 1 with the LCT... Start and stop when I feel like it.

Seriously, batch loading SUCKS. Basically you have to handle each piece of brass sevetal times to make a loaded round vs. once with a turret or progressive. Its probably 4x faster to load 9mm with a turret vs a SS. And you won't have to worry about handling cases filled with powder.

I wouldn't be worried about the quality of your rounds suffering on a turret vs a SS. Consider that most competition shooters roll their own ammo and they all use progressives. If your powder measure throws accurate charges it won't suddenly become inaccurate just because its mounted on a turret.

Imho opting for a SS over a Turret is a mistake, especially when they cost the same(or in the case of the LCC it's cheaper than most SS presses).

[wbunning]

Yeah and it includes 500 bullets of my choice as well so I believe that's like an extra $30-40 in savings. But like you said it'll be slow. Would it be like 100 rds/hr? How are you liking the lee turret and doesn't it satisfy all your needs?

I have several presses, including a Hornady progressive. You can do 100 rnds per hour on a single stage, but not by weighing each charge on the Auto measure. You need a mechanical powder measure like the RCBS Uni-flo to speed up the powder dropping.
U

The progressive is capable of a considerably higher production rate, but not worth setting up unless planning on doing several hundred rounds at once. I often use it to just size, prime and expand a whole buncha cases at once. I also use a cheapie Lee single stage as a dedicated depriming station with their universal decapping die installed. BUT.. you can do all that with the turret, and add or replace later as you gain experience without much loss.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Risky: I read this entire thread and the one thing nobody has asked is if you have any experience Reloading?

I assume you don't

You need to start out with a single stage press and dies and a few other things.

Loading Rifle Rounds is a different process than loading Pistol Rounds and you need to learn what the idiosyncrasies are for both types since you want to load both types of ammo.

All this talk about Turret Presses is fine except you are always going to need a Single Stage Press to do various single operations to brass. The Single Stage Press is a basic Reloading Tool, and you and everyone else needs one.

It is best to start out simple and that tool is the way to do it.

After you understand how to set up dies and have made a few hundred rounds of each caliber you want to load then you can buy a Turret or more properly a Progressive Loader. Then you can really pump out ammo.

Hot Tip: There has been a lot of talk about Lee Equipment here. "Some" Lee Tools are good. Other products not so much. You really need to research and Ferret out what is good and what's not.. Lee Dies are excellent IMHO. Some of their Presses are really good too, but others not so much.

I bought my RCBS Rockchucker Single Stage Press in 1976 and I use it everytime I load to process brass. It still looks like new because I take care of stuff. Other brands that are higher grade are Hornady, Redding, Forrester, and others in the Cabela's Catalog. You can't go wrong with these tools and they will last a lifetime easily. Some of the Lee stuff will to, but most of their Presses will wear out relatively quick. Then you get to replace them and you are out the same or more than if you bought the better stuff in the first place.

Before you go out and buy a bunch of equipment that you don't understand, I highly recommend that you find someone close to you that loads ammo and get them to show you the ropes.

Any time a newbie posts a thread like this he will get everyone's opinion on what he should buy and what brands are best. People naturally want to help and they offer up what they think is best for you and this is fine, except you need to choose,,, and in order to choose right for you,,, you need to be informed in a "hands on" kind of way. Otherwise you are relying on others to make a decision for you.

That's what Liberals do! They don't make decisions based on facts,,, just emotions. Go and touch the stuff and learn how to use it,,, then make the decision to buy.

I usually recommend that a guy new to the Hobby buy a Lee Classic Loader and a Plastic Hammer and learn how to reload using that simple tool. It will teach you the basics, and get you interested in the hobby. I still have mine purchased in 1971. Then when your ammo requirements exceed your ability to load with a Lee Loader you can buy more tools to help you go faster.

You still need to learn how to walk,,,, before you can run.

Randy

[Calguns77]

Risky: I read this entire thread and the one thing nobody has asked is if you have any experience Reloading?

I assume you don't

You need to start out with a single stage press and dies and a few other things.

Loading Rifle Rounds is a different process than loading Pistol Rounds and you need to learn what the idiosyncrasies are for both types since you want to load both types of ammo.

All this talk about Turret Presses is fine except you are always going to need a Single Stage Press to do various single operations to brass. The Single Stage Press is a basic Reloading Tool, and you and everyone else needs one.

It is best to start out simple and that tool is the way to do it.

After you understand how to set up dies and have made a few hundred rounds of each caliber you want to load then you can buy a Turret or more properly a Progressive Loader. Then you can really pump out ammo.

Hot Tip: There has been a lot of talk about Lee Equipment here. "Some" Lee Tools are good. Other products not so much. You really need to research and Ferret out what is good and what's not.. Lee Dies are excellent IMHO. Some of their Presses are really good too, but others not so much.

I bought my RCBS Rockchucker Single Stage Press in 1976 and I use it everytime I load to process brass. It still looks like new because I take care of stuff. Other brands that are higher grade are Hornady, Redding, Forrester, and others in the Cabela's Catalog. You can't go wrong with these tools and they will last a lifetime easily. Some of the Lee stuff will to, but most of their Presses will wear out relatively quick. Then you get to replace them and you are out the same or more than if you bought the better stuff in the first place.

Before you go out and buy a bunch of equipment that you don't understand, I highly recommend that you find someone close to you that loads ammo and get them to show you the ropes.

Any time a newbie posts a thread like this he will get everyone's opinion on what he should buy and what brands are best. People naturally want to help and they offer up what they think is best for you and this is fine, except you need to choose,,, and in order to choose right for you,,, you need to be informed in a "hands on" kind of way. Otherwise you are relying on others to make a decision for you.

That's what Liberals do! They don't make decisions based on facts,,, just emotions. Go and touch the stuff and learn how to use it,,, then make the decision to buy.

I usually recommend that a guy new to the Hobby buy a Lee Classic Loader and a Plastic Hammer and learn how to reload using that simple tool. It will teach you the basics, and get you interested in the hobby. I still have mine purchased in 1971. Then when your ammo requirements exceed your ability to load with a Lee Loader you can buy more tools to help you go faster.

You still need to learn how to walk,,,, before you can run.

Randy

listen to this man OP he knows what hes talking about. Don't be a sissy liberal, hammer out your 9mm like a real man.

[DueceMcGurk]

Lee Classic Turret. You won't regret it.

[RiskyBusiness]

Risky: I read this entire thread and the one thing nobody has asked is if you have any experience Reloading?

I assume you don't

You need to start out with a single stage press and dies and a few other things.

Loading Rifle Rounds is a different process than loading Pistol Rounds and you need to learn what the idiosyncrasies are for both types since you want to load both types of ammo.

All this talk about Turret Presses is fine except you are always going to need a Single Stage Press to do various single operations to brass. The Single Stage Press is a basic Reloading Tool, and you and everyone else needs one.

It is best to start out simple and that tool is the way to do it.

After you understand how to set up dies and have made a few hundred rounds of each caliber you want to load then you can buy a Turret or more properly a Progressive Loader. Then you can really pump out ammo.

Hot Tip: There has been a lot of talk about Lee Equipment here. "Some" Lee Tools are good. Other products not so much. You really need to research and Ferret out what is good and what's not.. Lee Dies are excellent IMHO. Some of their Presses are really good too, but others not so much.

I bought my RCBS Rockchucker Single Stage Press in 1976 and I use it everytime I load to process brass. It still looks like new because I take care of stuff. Other brands that are higher grade are Hornady, Redding, Forrester, and others in the Cabela's Catalog. You can't go wrong with these tools and they will last a lifetime easily. Some of the Lee stuff will to, but most of their Presses will wear out relatively quick. Then you get to replace them and you are out the same or more than if you bought the better stuff in the first place.

Before you go out and buy a bunch of equipment that you don't understand, I highly recommend that you find someone close to you that loads ammo and get them to show you the ropes.

Any time a newbie posts a thread like this he will get everyone's opinion on what he should buy and what brands are best. People naturally want to help and they offer up what they think is best for you and this is fine, except you need to choose,,, and in order to choose right for you,,, you need to be informed in a "hands on" kind of way. Otherwise you are relying on others to make a decision for you.

That's what Liberals do! They don't make decisions based on facts,,, just emotions. Go and touch the stuff and learn how to use it,,, then make the decision to buy.

I usually recommend that a guy new to the Hobby buy a Lee Classic Loader and a Plastic Hammer and learn how to reload using that simple tool. It will teach you the basics, and get you interested in the hobby. I still have mine purchased in 1971. Then when your ammo requirements exceed your ability to load with a Lee Loader you can buy more tools to help you go faster.

You still need to learn how to walk,,,, before you can run.

Randy

You sir have put it in the nicest way so far and I appreciate the advice. I won't be rushing to buy any equipment until I understand each step of the process in my head and feel confident in what I'll be doing. From what most here have shared, a single stage is an essential tool for every reloader and it's not even that expensive so I will be researching these quite a bit more.

[RiskyBusiness]

Lee Classic Turret. You won't regret it.

Yes sir that's looking like the top dog

[RiskyBusiness]

listen to this man OP he knows what hes talking about. Don't be a sissy liberal, hammer out your 9mm like a real man.

Haha

[mtenenhaus]

My neighbor just lent me this book and its really easy to read and has a ton of great information...highly recommended. The author is a highly skilled shooter and reloader. Most notable is his judiciously candid product assessments and recommendations based with his extensive experience.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=top+grade+ammo+by+glen+zediker&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I'm learning and reading a lot and feel fortunate to have several close friends who have taken time to teach me and lend me a variety of tools to see how they work and what i prefer.

In my limited but very positive experience i'm pleased that i have both a single stage (Forster Co-Ax) as well as a Dillon Progressive press. I thought long and hard about getting a turret press as the cost wasn't all that different than the single stage i purchased. The reviews were so good with the Forster that i opted for that platform figuring it would yield the most accurate loads when the time came.

The single stage press afforded me a great opportunity to learn how to set up the dies and learn the process. its not hard, you learn a lot quickly. The Forster single stage press is very forgiving and makes excellent ammo. Likely other single stage presses are similarly excellent.

The progressive platform does volume very nicely. It is a lot of money and a lot of parts, a bit more finicky but you figure it out. I'm glad i got it as well. Makes pistol loading a pleasure.

I'll predominantly use the Forster for the accuracy/precision rifle loads. Interestingly i seem to gravitate to the single stage press to decap (remove the old primers) from cases prior to reloading. It gives me a chance to review the cases (they do age/crack etc). I make sure they're in good shape and clean them in advance of running the cases in my more expensive dies or on the progressive.

It's been a fun exercise/hobby.

One caveat, Its easy to buy stuff you don't need...so a resource like the book i mentioned helps.