Bells Whistles and Reloading.

[BigBronco]

I firmly and always have believed in learning to reload on a single station press. This is the way learned over 30 years ago. I do understand that if you shoot a lot just want to store up a bunch of ammo like a Chipmunk storing nuts, a progressive is a must. So to get to the point. I just had one of those mornings at the loading bench that got the normally mild mannered BigBronco to blow a head gasket. I have loaded thousands and thousands of rounds on my trusty LnL so a while back I added the case feeder. Is does not work as well as I like but hey it helps. So when I got lucky at my local shop (Field Time Sports) and they had the bullet feeding dies in stock I scooped them up. So I re set up the press to add the bullet feeding. So I get started and set the die up with just a few bullets in the die. I get it going fairly well after changing and resetting the PTX to flare the case enough. I was flaring separately but now I needed the die slot. So I get it up and running fairly smoothly with just 5 bullets in the die. Now time to add the tube. As soon as I get a stack of bullets in the die they all drop out through the die on to the floor. I put in a call to Hornady tech and they tell me how to adjust the die to prevent this well after about 5 bullet spills all over the floor I am starting to get steam building up. Then as it would typically happen some how I mixed a bunch of military crimped brass in to the tumbled mix of 45acp. Next the case feeder starts acting up. and another bullet spill on to the floor. Well I lost it Time to walk away and come back another time when I am thinking straight.

Sorry I just needed a place to vent. Please keep this post from becoming a Coolaid thread. we all buy the loaders we plae the best value in and IMP. the best loader, "Is the one that gets used."

So the moral of the story All the bells and whistles add to the complexity of reloading. Things can go wrong and some mistakes can be dangerous. only load when clear in the head and please if you are a beginner take it slow and do not try and master loading over night. When something goes wrong back up cull the rounds and walk away for a while when you loose your cool. Too early for the scotch so I made a cup of Joe and wrote this post. Have a nice day and load safe.

[Whiterabbit]

Wish I was in OC. I'd love to come over and help (or just come over and see) for no reason other than for fun and my own education, being a tinkerer. I'd bring the scotch.

[rumblebee]

I am very glad I bought a single stage to learn on. I was originally eye balling a progessive....then reality kicked in with "I don't know what the hell I am doing, why buy a progressive?"

Simple works for me and I like it

[popeye4]

Unless you are only loading mass quantities of one or two pistol rounds, you will need a single stage press at some point. Might as well get it up front and learn each step. They are all important.

[damndave]

There are so many things that can go wrong with a progressive. I just got mine so still tinkering with it to get it running perfectly smooth. Haven't got the case feeder or bullet feeder yet, so I'm not familiar with them.

My 1st press was a single stage and I still use it to load my 308 and resize my 223.

[Fishslayer]

I firmly and always have believed in learning to reload on a single station press. This is the way learned over 30 years ago. I do understand that if you shoot a lot just want to store up a bunch of ammo like a Chipmunk storing nuts, a progressive is a must.

Why is it always "single stage or progressive?"

I would think somebody who's been loading for 30 years would have heard of a turret by now...

I learned on a turret. I can tell you that it is quite possible to store ammo like a chipmunk with a simple turret press. And this chipmunk needs a bigger tree.

But a cool story anyway, bro...

[noylj]

Well, after a little over 30 years of loading on various progressives, I do have an old Forster Co-Ax (from before the first progressive) that I use to remove primers from my fired cases and the small Lee Reloading Press that I use with the Lee FCD and bulge buster kit. So, yeah, I guess you "need" a single stage press. I would certainly hate to be without, but it has been three decades since I have fired a single round of pistol or rifle ammunition that didn't come off a progressive.
I found it VERY easy to teach my son to reload (he finally got interested when he is 35 years old) on a Hornady L-N-L AP by simply loading one case at a time and slowly increasing.
A pregressive is only as complicated as you make it. I consider the basic L-N-L AP to come with all the bells-and-whistles any one needs for several years. Case and bullet feeding means you really ought to simply move up to the Dillon 1050 for real production.

[MAC USMC]

MY RELOADING STORY

A few years ago I was home sick with the flu, had a headache, bleary eyes and could not sleep. Got up about 4:30am made a bathroom run, was wide awake and made a dumb decision. I decided to reload some .45 ammo (nothing else to do, felt like crap, etc., etc.). I had a batch of tumbled, deprimed brass in one batch on my bench and another batch of PRIMED brass nearby. Got my bench organized and ready to load - then had to make a very quick RUN for the toilet. Then I knew it was wise to stay up to avoid serious home contamination issues!

Eventually I went back to my reloading bench, set up scales, ran samples, good to go. Started putting the Bullseye in each shell, but my stomach was making very weird sounds so I stopped. While feeling my rumbling stomach I discovered stuff all over my pajama pants. WTF! YEP! You guessed pukey boy was losing powder out of each round because there was NO PRIMER in any of them.

MORAL: Reloading requires a good degree of FOCUS,an ATTENTION SPAN and absolutely NO DISTRACTIONS.

I failed to qualify on all counts and went back to bed with a small bathroom trash can on my chest. Do not repeat this story to my wife!