Reloading?

[Bill Steele]

I consider time doing case prep and loading as an asset rather than "billable time". Every hour I enjoy at the bench is an hour I am not spending at work or doing other stressful things.

That time is paying me rather than the other way around.

The rate I was getting at was the number of rounds produced an hour, not billable rates, which for me has been zero for a good long time. I totally agree with your sentiment though, it's just a hobby, I don't rush my hobbies...

[J-cat]

Reloading is a labor of love.

[Lead Waster]

Well, reloading 9mm and .38 Special is close enough that perhaps you can use my figures for .38 Spl to give you an idea.

The powder: Bullseye
The bullet: 105gr LSWC home-cast, assuming lead id $1.10/lb
The primer: Any brand, assume $35/1000
The case: call it $40 per 1,000 if you buy cases. Assume 8 uses, which is less than what I actually get on average.
The reloading manuals: Lyman's Reloading Manual, 49th Edition and Richard Lee's Modern Reloading

According to my calculations, each box of 50 rounds costs me $3.25 to make.

Also, understand that you don't need to drop a bunch of cash on some elaborate setup. For the new reloader, "progressive" = "elaborate" as far as I'm concerned. An inexpensive $100 single-stage kit has done a whole lot of people very well, indeed. Should you decide that you want to upgrade down the road, then you'll know what you want/need, based on experience.

Now, that said, I have to say that the $200-or-so Lee Classic Turret Press Kit is lookin' pretty good. If they'd had that kit when I first started reloading, that's probably what I would've bought, in addition to their handy little $30 single-stage.

Just so you know Cowboy, you cost me several hundred dollars by pointing out the bullet cost. My Lee 4-20 is being shipped to me now, along with some molds ....

My thinking is obviously defective since I was thinking "Yeah, you can save money by casting!" then I spend a crapload of money on casting equipment! I barely have time to reload, let alone cast! Just don't tell my wife!

[NorCal Einstein]

You did all this for.... 9mm?

Eh, sometimes it's fun to be meticulous. I definitely do not go through that many steps to load 9mm on a LCT, but to each their own! If I had a bunch of free time with nothing else to do then I could see it as a decent way to pass the time.

[bandook]

A turret press is, in my humble opinion, heads and shoulders about a single stage in terms of efficiency. Why?

You touch the brass only once, pull the handle 4 or 5 times and a single finished round is the result. Make 1, make 10, make 50. With single stage, you have to make things in batches, PLUS for every round you make, you must HANDLE the brass 4 or 5 times each. I mean you have to physically insert the brass, pull the handle, remove the brass for every single stage. Might not seem like a lot, but it is.

I have a rock chucker for rifle rounds, but the second I bought a handgun, I bought a Dillon 550b (12-13 years ago). The sooner you buy the progressive, the sooner you start saving time.

And remember, you can run a single case around a progressive by itself without inserting a new case into stage 1! That means for newbies, you can slowly make a single round and see what is going on at every stage without getting confused.

Just my opinion that for pistols, get at LEAST a turret press.

I wasn't contesting the utility of a turret, only that some people call a turret a single stage because you are only doing one thing at a time. (and hence the possible source of the comment of loading 150 rph on a single stage)

BTW, for single stage loading AND if you have an electronic powder dispenser, it faster to NOT run in batches. You can Seat/Crimp round and prime the next case while the Powder dispenser measures out the charge.
You drop the charge into the case, set the dispenser to measure out the next charge, seat/crimp the bullet and by the time the next case is primed, the charge is just about finished being dispensed...