Like running through molasses, first time using a single stage

[chickenfried]

Holy crud that was almost painful, 1.5 hours to reload 50 rounds of .44 magnum! At least I got to watch tv while priming. Not only was it slow but I felt there was a much greater chance to make an error. No more .44 until I can afford the conversion for the 650.

[CSDGuy]

Single stage presses can be pretty slow. They do, however, teach you how to do all the things needed so that when you go to a progressive, you can set things up right and start cranking along.

I did 100 .45 ACP rounds the other day in about 5 minutes or so using a hand-held primer press. The rest of it took about 30 min or so for each other stage of the process.

[chickenfried]

That's the conventional wisdom to start on a single stage. But I learned to reload on a progressive, a RCBS Pro 2000. Don't see what I would've gained from learning on a single stage . But I did use the pro like a turret press when I first started, taking just one case through the process.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

Almost every reloading mistake I have ever seen came from people trying to go too fast.

There is an added safety and accuracy factor when you slow things down and take your time.

[Cowboy T]

Well, it probably took me close to 3 hours to do my first 50 rounds of .357M. But I learned my fundamentals very well, and I did get better and faster at it with time, always being careful. The result is that, in the (fortunately seldom) case that something goes wrong on my progressives or turret, I see it and can fix things in pretty darn short order.

Slow and steady not only wins the race...it also keeps you from crashing and burning along the way.

Oh, and all my load development is still done on the single-stage with weighing charges the ol' fashioned way. I just find development easier this way.

[Fjold]

Do more rounds at a time. The slow part is switching dies. If you size and prime 300-400 cases, then switch dies and bell and charge the cases, switch dies and then seat the bullets, the time per case goes down.

Saying that, I like using turrets or progressive presses because there's less chance of making an error in die adjustments. If you leave the dies set in the turrets all the time you get more consistent loads due to the having the same die settings all the time.

[Pre 64 Joe]

Reloading

Confucius say man who load progressive ok, man who think progressive is a fool, coudn't resist.

[RaymondMillbrae]

Keep it for your precision RIFLE reloading.

In Christ: Raymond

[gunboat]

Well, we do live in times of instant gratification ----

[Linkpimp]

The most important thing about doing this (reloading) is producing quality ammo not quantity ..

As a newbie that’s GREAT.. What’s the rush here.. All's it takes is one wrong round to ruin your whole day..

You need / should have 100 % confidence every time you pull the trigger that the round is going to perform as expected..

You need to trust your life, the life of your kids (if they shoot it) and the firearm to that round…

I’m sorry but that's GREAT.. the slower you go (at this point) the better off your going to be in the long run..

Reloading is a lot of fun and is extremely gratifying, your able now tailor your rounds to your gun, you can control the kick, the accuracy, etc, etc, etc.

I wish you the greatest success in your new hobby sir, I really do..

But I also leave you with a word of caution to. Sorry... But it only takes one bad round!..

Best of luck and what ever you don't get rid of the press you being using it for your long range rifle in a few years and just loving it..

[J-cat]

Making ammo on a progressive is like drivig under the influence of crack. Yeah, you'll get there faster, but both you and your car's gonna look like crap.

[anothergunnut]

I have a progressive and a single stage. The single stage is for my rifle ammo but I also load 44 mag with it. I use the Hornady lock n load bushings so dies can be quickly changed without having to adjust them. It's still slow, about 150 rounds per hour starting with primed brass.

[chickenfried]

Sure taking your time is a good thing that's why it took me 1.5 hours. But IMHO reloading on the progressive is safer than the single stage and it's faster. I knew there would be a difference in speed but it was still kinda surprising how slow a process it was.

No plans to sell it even though I've owned the rock chucker for ~three years and this is the first time I've used it. I'll start shooting rifles again sooner or later.

If handgun ammo loaded on a progressive does not meet your standards, my hat's off to your shooting skill.

[sargenv]

I felt pretty good back in the day.. loading 200 rounds of 45 acp in about 2 hours... I did it this way for a LOT of years.. I learned all about case prep.. I'd prep and prep by the large batch so all I had to do when loading for the next day is drop the powder, seat the bullet and crimp.. Now a days I set up the 650 and crank em out.. 800-900 rounds per hour.. 8 pistol and three rifle cartridges...

[gose]

I've never loaded on a single-stage press. My first press was a 650 and I'm not really sure what would be better if I had started on a single... I'm at least at a couple hundred k rounds loaded, not a single squib, not a single double-charge.
My match .223 loads are 0.5"@100 and my 9mm and .38s PPC/Bullseye loads are 1"@50.
Maybe I could squeeze a little more out of the rifle ammo, but I'd be wasting time I could be practicing instead.

So no, I dont really see any point in using a single stage press, unless you're shooting benchrest, F-Class, or similar..