Took the first step

[08duramax]

well I have been wanting to start reloading for a while now but have been a little apprehensive. I took the first step yesterday while i was at bass pro shop. I bought the reloading manual to start reading and learning what I need.

I bought the lymans 49th edition reloading manual. Im going to start reading it tonight.

I will be reloading 45acp 90% of the time. I might reload 9mm and other pistols down the road but for now it is only 45. I might occasionally reload 5.56 but where I live there isnt a close range to shoot the AR. again down the road I might reload more rifle but for now just 45

I was looking into the dillon 650, but if you guys have a better suggestion, throw it out there

I am also waiting until I have a decent size stockpile of brass before I start. I want at least a 5 gal bucket full of brass before I make the jump.

thanks

[XDRoX]

The Dillon 650 is an excellent choice. One of the best presses out there.

[Zartan]

I'll be watching this thread. May get inspiration

[XDRoX]

I'll be watching this thread. May get inspiration

Here's a little

[epcii]

I would say to start out on a single-stage press or maybe even a Lee Turret until you get a good idea of the dangers of reloading. Beginners are likely to make mistakes on progressive presses. Not to say it will happen to you, but just a friendly reminder. To each their own.

[08duramax]

i thought about the lee turret. the only issue i have is i am loading cheap plinking ammo and if it takes me too long to make it, i probably will not do it. my time is valuable. i am looking for fast production speeds

[stand125]

i thought about the lee turret. the only issue i have is i am loading cheap plinking ammo and if it takes me too long to make it, i probably will not do it. my time is valuable. i am looking for fast production speeds

50 rounds takes 13 minutes and swapping calibers takes about 15 seconds.

[short circuit]

I reload 9mm Luger using the Lee turret and usually do about 150 rounds an hour (weighing once every 8-10 cycles) using the Lee deluxe auto disk powder dispenser.

i thought about the lee turret. the only issue i have is i am loading cheap plinking ammo and if it takes me too long to make it, i probably will not do it. my time is valuable. i am looking for fast production speeds

[Lead Waster]

A progressive is fine even for a beginner. Remember that you don't HAVE TO load more than one cartridge at a time, you can use your progressive like a turret press. Put the case in stage one, pull the handle, advance (or watch the auto-indexer advance) the case to stage two, pull handle, repeat. No one said you have to keep feeding cases into the progressive. Just watch that one round go round. Take it out and measure the powder drop to convince yourself

[gadjeep]

@OP: if you haven't already, read this. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=229221

Some good advice and thorough lists.

Not that I would ever tell anyone to not reload but you say that your time is very valuable, the $1000 initial investment (before you buy any supplies ) will buy you nearly 3k rounds of 45acp in bulk if you shop around. Be sure your shooting habit justifies the expense of the equipment you buy.

[Revoman]

A further word of caution, although I really like the Dillon stuff....

You will need to develop your load carefully, not just start to go at it and load a few thousand rounds. If there is any mistake in making them, you will have to either dump them of tear them all apart to salvage the components. Neither is a good option.

So simply take your time in the beginning, learn about the press and it's inner-workings and the loading process. Once you're comfortable with all of it, then perhaps make a few hundred rounds at most until you're a pro, then do what you want.

You cannot read too much to get edjumacted either!

[DoubleB]

It sounds like I am only a couple of steps ahead of you. I bought my books; Lyman's, Lee, and ABC's of Reloading a little over a month ago and have read each of them multiple times. I have been saving up my brass and now have a little more than 1K of 45 and 1K of 9mm. They are tumbled and ready to load. I have bought an RCBS scale, 500 Montana Gold 45 bullets and 500 Montana Gold 9MM bullets. I am going to start with 45 and then move on to 9mm after I get the 45 loads dialed in.

Right now I am trying to make a final decision as to which press I am going to go with. My top two are the Dillon 550b and the Lee Classic turret. I am leaning more toward the Dillon due to speed and quality of the powder drop and priming system. If I get the Dillon, I will likely load it as a single stage or 1 round at a time until I get a load that works well and I get comfortable with the loader.

As soon as I get paid on the first, I will be order a press and some dies and picking up some powder, primers, and a few other small items locally. Hopefully I will be loading a shooting by the end of September.

Good luck with your endeavor. Read/learn as much as you can and have fun with it. I know I am learning a ton!

[Bill Steele]

I persoanlly don't think you can go wrong with a Dillon XL650 for what you want to do.

The 150 rounds an hours estimate is pretty close to the mark for a Lee turret. The actual loading on the Lee turret is a little more than 50 in 15 minutes, but you have powder drop setup, weight checks, die adjustments if you load different bullets, OAL checks, brass tumbling and media seperation, etc., so you won't be doing 200 an hours with a Lee turret.

All the stuff in the Lee list above still has to be done with the Dillon and will take time up, but when you are rolling, you are really rolling with the XL650.

If you load a few hundred rounds and decide you hate reloading, you will lose almost nothing reselling the whole kit.

[bruceflinch]

Do not wait till you got a bucket of brass. Those 45 cases will be used over & over & over. You don't need more than a thousand to get started. I started w/ a 650, then another & then a Rockchucker. Good luck!

[sequoia_nomad]

Yeah, a 5 gallon bucket of brass isn't necessary, you'll probably wind up loading the same top 6 inches for the next few years. Once you become an established loader, the brass hoarding will naturally occur without you even realizing it.