First press for new reloader

[Trakker]

Redding single stage presses offer the best tolerances. Buy once cry once


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[TripleThreat]

I looked at allot of comments, and "reasons". i started single stage loaded 1k bullets.i felt i wasted so much of my time and my families time so than i got a progressive and i really learned how to mess stuff quick. than i got a turret. so now making all my mistakes its easy to recommend a lee turret press. it can be used single stage until you can wrap your head around all this reloading stuff. than switched up to turret by re installing the rod. than if you cant keep productive enough to meet your needs switch up to progressive. and btw the lee book is best for beginners.

You stole my thunder.

[focus]

Sounds like Animal wants to make blaster ammo...

This is where I would suggest anyone loading 1000 or 2000 223 rounds a month start.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/3069

The case feeder and trimmer really make the job go quick.

Cheers,

[hambam105]

A Gold Star for being a good listener.

Discodogfather:

The LynnJr that I know of is hard on Lee products, and likes to mention reloading & family in the same sentences.
I never knew him to be using his assembled ammunition for shooting distant targets miles away.

I am not even certain my rifles have an maximum range rated in miles.

Thru my own range experience using my 7.62X51mm reloaded ammunition, I do have 'Come-Ups' in 50 yard increments out to 1,000 yards.
In 4 separate temperature conditions of course. Would you care to share notes?

[GW]

Check out a Lee Turret press Inexpensive and you'll produce good ammo. If you want something for greater precision try a Forster CoAx

[hambam105]

The food at Golden Corral may not be the best, but if there is a lot of it isn't so bad.

Lee wouldn't be in business if they didn't have happy customers.

[kcstott]

The food at Golden Corral may not be the best, but if there is a lot of it isn't so bad.

Lee wouldn't be in business if they didn't have happy customers.

An analogy like that shows a willingness to accept crap, it just has to be either cheep crap or a lot of cheep crap. Some of us won't accept crap at any volume or price, some of us have spent more money on custom dies than the whole reloading press..Some of us are a lot further along in the game.

As to your second analogy
Liberal progressive Democrats wouldn't be in office if it wasn't for the idiot sheep.

LEE is for the beginner on a budget that has some mechanical skill that can work through the problems LEE equipment has. Once a person gets the basics down, LEE gear is junk and nothing more.

The person that wants to get into reloading but has little to no mechanical skill needs compensation and that compensation comes from better more reliable gear. which is why I voted Green. RCBS gear is so good that if the guy decides reloading is not for him he can sell it and loose maybe 20% if it's like new and in a caliber that is common. LEE gear is looked at like week old left overs or like your golden feed trough. It will work but it's going to suck the entire time it works.
I gave up on LEE gear over twenty years ago. I only have two sets of dies from them that are still in use, the LEE powder measure that sits on my Auto throw is going away as soon as I have the time to adapt a Uniflo

[kcstott]

So... reading my Lymans manual.. end of next week...
Dillion 550 and bite the "bullet" on cost or get the rock chucker?

Lymans manual is the best book for the new to reloading and will answer 90% of your questions.

If I were to recommend a progressive press It would be the RL550. It's not as fast as a XL650 but speed is not something you need to worry about being a beginner. You need to see every part of the process as it is happening. one step at a time.

Now what no one told you is you can operate the RL550 as a turret one case at a time through all the steps until you get comfortable and wish to load a case and bullet every time you pull the handle.

[mmlook]

So... reading my Lymans manual.. end of next week...
Dillion 550 and bite the "bullet" on cost or get the rock chucker?

for the volume you want to run 1-2k/month

bare minimum would be the 550,
- 650 would be suggested, but not required.
- biggest differences are:
5 station(650) vs 4 station(550)
auto index(650) vs. manual index(550)

you should be able to do about 300-400/hour of pistol cartridges, and prepped rifle cartridges on the 550.

Even an experienced reloader would struggle to do more than 100-150/hour on a turret or single stage.

[focus]

for the volume you want to run 1-2k/month

bare minimum would be the 550,
- 650 would be suggested, but not required.
Even an experienced reloader would struggle to do more than 100-150/hour on a turret or single stage.

This^

Time is the key here. The progressive press will save you the time you need to spend on the other parts of the process. This is the 5.56 blaster-ammo process I used with my XL650 when I shot practical pistol and 3-gun.
1) batches of 100 or 200 pcs brass
2) Bench Source anneal the lot
3) Tumble in crushed walnut with a dryer anti static sheet to catch dust
4) Shake brass in 1gal freezer bag that was coated with Dillon case lube
5) Dump brass into case feeder and pump them through the sizer/trimmer head
6) Tumble in crushed walnut with a dryer anti static sheet to catch dust
7) Dump brass into case feeder and pump them through primer/powder/seater head.

Please be aware the process does not include the most important steps of component selection, measurement, and load development.

Cheers,

[J-cat]

So? What's the point. That thread is about this same issue here, someone making a wild claim that current rock chuckers are made of aluminum in China and then someone comes in and sets the record straight, it's not aluminum and it's not made in China. Some products are made in China and some aren't, obviously the press isn't.

Things can be made in China and also be of quality, it depends. You made the claim it was made in China and therefore was a POS, which is in and of itself a bad argument which is untrue on both levels. How is a RCBS press a POS? It's damn solid and I can't see any design flaws or quality control issues. Not one, other than the fact that you don't want to decap with it. But that is true of almost all presses.

The Redding is awesome, no argument there. It also has a smaller stroke of 3.8" opposed to 4" for the Chucker which allows you to load 338lm comfortably as opposed to crammed. It's also more difficult to do .375 on the Redding.

The presses are virtually identical in terms of design.

[Discogodfather]

Discodogfather:

The LynnJr that I know of is hard on Lee products, and likes to mention reloading & family in the same sentences.
I never knew him to be using his assembled ammunition for shooting distant targets miles away.

I'd be glad to spend a lot more than 1500 hundo on a reloading press if a Press was 'The Answer' to shooting targets miles away.

I am not even certain my rifles have an maximum range rated in miles.
I am a slow learner and I am still trying to shoot-up-to-the-gun...Shooting inside the rifle's effective range that is.

Thru my own range experience using my 7.62X51mm reloaded ammunition, I do have 'Come-Ups' in 50 yard increments out to 1,000 yards.
In 4 separate temperature conditions of course. Would you care to share notes?

LynnJr is the guy to listen to, not the guy to contradict.

Congratulations on shooting 308 to 1000. I have some good notes in 6mm to 1000 but mostly concentrating on .375 in 250 yard increments out to 3000.

[Discogodfather]

Once a person gets the basics down, LEE gear is junk and nothing more.

LEE makes a fantastic $30 press as long as you keep it for decapping only.

[Discogodfather]

Are you Chinese?

No. Are you from New York?

[simonp]

I would like to stay around 500 bucks but am able to spend more but i dont want to drop 1k for my first set up honestly..I know I will enjoy doing it because I like to do things with my hands / build things if you get what I mean. But 1k is alotto invest in something i have never done. I plan at the moment to do 1200-2000 a month of 223