Reloading?

[the86d]

Progressive if you want to crank out rounds in the hundreds per hour (300 going pretty slow, for me).

Single Stage for a hundred to 150/hour, from what I have read.

[Colt562]

Progressive if you want to crank out rounds in the hundreds per hour (300 going pretty slow, for me).

Single Stage for a hundred to 150/hour, from what I have read.

150 rounds an hour on a single stage?! where did you read that?

[zfields]

150 rounds an hour on a single stage?! where did you read that?

I was thinking the same thing

I get about 30-50 rounds an hour reloading on single stage for my 45/70 if I'm lucky. Honestly the more rounds you do per stage, the more you get done. I usually do it instages

1. fullsize / decap
2. prime by hand while watching TV
3. bell cases, measure charges and charge cases
4. seat bullet
5. crimp

No way you are getting 150 an hour doing that.

[Bill Steele]

Hourly rates become less and less meaningful as you move away from a fully automated loading process.

For instance, when I am loading handgun on my progressive, if I am loading a caliber where I might have some crimped primer pockets, I look at the head of each case before slapping it into the shellplate, eliminating crunched primers but slowing the "rate". On the other hand when I am loading new starline brass or a caliber where crimped primer pockets are more rare, rates go up as I can just load away without checking for crimps.

When I am loading for rifle on my single stage, how many I can do an hour depends on what I am trying to achieve. If I am developing a new load I might be weighing as much as three times for each charge to assure my ES for weight in a rung is less than .1gr. If I am loading new brass and need to do all the little things like primer flash hole deburr, sorting cases by volume, etc., again production slows to a crawl (far less than 50 an hour). On the other hand, when I am loading 2x fired (in my bolt gun chamber) brass where I am neck sizing with my collet sizer, I can easily do 50 an hour, even with multiple weighings of each charge.

It all depends on what you are doing with the loads.

[BgDmSWEDE]

Question... Lee factory crimp dies.

Why does Lee offer so many factory crimp dies for nearly every caliber? I should think the same factory crimp die would work for 30 06, 30 30 and .308 if it is properly set-up in the press for each cartridge. Is this just a marketing ploy by Lee to sell more dies? Anyone?

[zfields]

Why does Lee offer so many factory crimp dies for nearly every caliber? I should think the same factory crimp die would work for 30 06, 30 30 and .308 if it is properly set-up in the press for each cartridge. Is this just a marketing ploy by Lee to sell more dies? Anyone?

They market several as mutli caliber.

Sent from my fingers, to your face.

[Colt562]

I was thinking the same thing

I get about 30-50 rounds an hour reloading on single stage for my 45/70 if I'm lucky. Honestly the more rounds you do per stage, the more you get done. I usually do it instages

1. fullsize / decap
2. prime by hand while watching TV
3. bell cases, measure charges and charge cases
4. seat bullet
5. crimp

No way you are getting 150 an hour doing that.

same here, I do about 100 cases in stages and that alone takes multiple hours over the course of a couple days

[troysland]

Cost of components is roughly half of what you would pay for factory ammo. This doesn't include any equipment, just components for target rounds to use at your local indoor range.

Example: 9mm 115gr copper plated w/ 4.0 gr tightgroup, Magtech SPP, free range brass.

Total cost for 337 rounds was roughly $38.69

HOWEVER

Those who don't have a passion for firearms or just plain lazy, need not apply.

I kept a log of start and stop times for this particular batch as It was a favor for a friend.

The total time spent on a Lee Single Stage, resizing, decapping, cleaning primer pockets, swagging primer crimps, measuring Cartridge length, trimming if necessary, Priming, measuring powder on a Lee scale, occasionally verifying on a digital scale, Bullet seating, and final Cartridge overall length measuring. This did Not include two tumbling sessions. Initial Brass polishing/cleaning and a second to remove lube from resizing even though I use carbide dies. Total time was 11 hrs 40 min. for 337 rounds.

Lots of work and very gratifying, But not for everyone. An average box of factory 9mm goes for about $12/50. Roughly $82 for the amount of loads I rolled. Cost of Factory loads minus cost of components for reloads is roughly $43.31. Divided by 11.66 hrs for labor, would save you $3.71 for every hour on the workbench. The Cost to load the 337 rounds was $38.69. Over 11.66 hours that comes to $3.32/hour of labor. These are just examples of the cost of components compared to the time to load on a single stage press.

So, Unless there a progressive on your mind with plenty of experience under your belt, Starting on a single stage will not show cost savings for a while. Consider the savings of $3.71/hour your wage for a part time job. Much better than some 3rd world countries, But you have to ask......So, how much is your time worth?

[Bill Steele]

Why does Lee offer so many factory crimp dies for nearly every caliber? I should think the same factory crimp die would work for 30 06, 30 30 and .308 if it is properly set-up in the press for each cartridge. Is this just a marketing ploy by Lee to sell more dies? Anyone?

The collets that perform the crimp in each LFCD for rifle calibers are made up to the length of the case. You might be able to use a 308 FCD to crimp a 30-30 because the case lengths are so close (but not the other way around as the 30-30 collet would likely be too small in diameter to get the 308 case inside). A 30-06 is like a 1/2 inch longer than either the 30-30/308. You would need some kind of spacer collar that would sit over the 30-06 case and on the shellholder to actuate the collet crimp when the ram came up. Without a spacer collar you would just push the case up into the collet and then put a crimp ABOUT 1/2" down the neck (you also might crush the case a little, not sure).

At least that is the way I see it sitting here in front of my computer using my mind's eye to visualize it and not in front of my press with three different crimp dies laying there.

[bandook]

150 rounds an hour on a single stage?! where did you read that?

[bandook]

The total time spent on a Lee Single Stage, resizing, decapping, cleaning primer pockets, swagging primer crimps, measuring Cartridge length, trimming if necessary, Priming, measuring powder on a Lee scale, occasionally verifying on a digital scale, Bullet seating, and final Cartridge overall length measuring. This did Not include two tumbling sessions. Initial Brass polishing/cleaning and a second to remove lube from resizing even though I use carbide dies. Total time was 11 hrs 40 min. for 337 rounds.

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

[troysland]

Crazy huh? But yes, I wasn't racing. Rather, being careful and diligent. I wouldn't want to hear my loads blew up my friends Glock or worse. I would be compelled to replace it.

[Seesm]

I can load .223 at around 500-700 per hour so if you buy the components right you can save some time and money... The equipment costs a fair bit but you can rent time to your buddies and make that back?? lol
My machine I guess can do 1200 per hour but I take more time to ensure they are consistant...

[Lead Waster]

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.

[Dutch3]

Hourly rates become less and less meaningful as you move away from a fully automated loading process.

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.