Low end Lee or mid level RCBS/Hornady

[orangeusa]

You've heard this a hundred times, but I'm planning on just reloading 2
calibers - 45LC (Beretta Stampede) and 44mag (Ruger Super Blackhawk) - both in fairly small quantity. And I'm complete noob wrt reloading, and yes, will do my homework by getting a reloaders bible and reading it cover to cover.... but....

The Stampede is bleeding me dry.. My daughter loves shooting it and so do I.

I thought the Lee kit was under $100, but they are now $150. The RCBS can be gotten at Midway for $319-$50 rebate.

My gut tells me to get the cheaper one, build up from that. And like I said, this is all about $$ and won't be in huge quantities. I mean - who wants to shoot 100 rounds of 44mag?

The 45LC is different - we HAVE shot 100 rounds or more. ($9 for a cylinder of 6) - like throwing dollar bills down the range...

Anyway, what say you olde time reloaders?

And yes, I have a buddy who is going to show me the ropes, but I have to get a kit to get started....

One other question :

Are magnum primers REQUIRED for the 44mag?
Sure would be nice to use the same large pistol primers in both... Obvously, I need to go get a reloaders manual and use the stock 'recipes', but thought I'd ask this basic question.

EDIT: One OTHER Question:
In this market is it safe to say that a low end kit is almost impossible to buy used???

.

[mindwreck]

Since your not going to be making much. I would get the single stage lee classic press. Don't get the challenger press, its weaker smaller and made of aluminum. The lee powder measure is alright. i would pick up a better scale. lee scale is really basic.

no you don't need magnum primers. There are a lot of published recipes online from powder and bullet manufactures.

If your trying to save some money, hit up ebay. theres a lot of stuff on there. I bought 2 rcbs uniflows for the price of a new one.

Oh yeah. I would shoot 100 rounds of 44mag.. I shoot about 50 rounds of 500sw everytime i go. Once i start shooting i get carried away With lead bullets, the cost drops way down.

[speeder]

+1 on what mindwreck said. I'm not an "old time reloader" by any means but I did a ton of research before I dropped the hammer. For the caliburs and round count you mentioned I would go with something like a simple single stage press.

I'm very glad I didn't follow popular advice and forgo a progressive for my first press. But, I'm waiting for a "single stage" type press to load the caliburs that you have mentioned. I can do it on my progressive but I don't see that kind of round, in those small quanities, as a progressive job.

How ever, I would consider a Lee classic "turret" press. Just a little more versitile vs a single stage. It's still able to do just one stage over and over again once you dissable the auto index function.

Once I have my dies set perfectly I don't like to move them. Locking rings properly set should allow you to exchange dies in a single stage only press without changes. But again, I don"t like to move them. I would rather have them kept set in a bushing or tool head.

As a progressive user I like to adjust and set my dies in sequence and adjust the dies so they compliment each other, one stage to the next. ofcourse this can and is done on a single stage press but you are switching dies as you go.

A turet press will easily go from one die to the next without any removal and swaping out of the dies. Once you set all your dies and make the perfect dummy round you can do traditional single stage work.

Like: size & decap and prime 20 cases. Then flair / bell and charge 20 cases. Then seat bullets in 20 cases. Then crimp 20 cases.

Or, you can do every thing in order to a single case and end up with a completed round. With a turret press, the "choise" is yours.

Another way to think about it is, say, when seating a bullet you come to the conclusion that you have flaired to the case mouth just a little too much or to less. At first it seemed right, but naaa, you find out that you can use a little less or more flair. It's too late now! you just did a big set of flaired cased and are kind of stuck with them or will have to re-doing all of them.

When you go from one stage directly to the next, on every round, it is easier (for me) to identify and make wanted percision adjustments. Correcting as you go directly from one stage to another vs correcting a full batch of a single operation.

The above can be done on any single stage press. You are just changing dies a lot if your making a single round at a time. Not sure if anyone is making ammo that way.

Heck, the above is just food for thought. Most, if not all, match grade ammo is made on a single stage press. No turrets allowed, LOL.....

One thing I did find out for sure with my reserch. As a majority, lots of people at the ready to bad mouth a Lee progressive (I still want to try one) but very few ready to bad mouth a Lee "classic" single stage press. Not much going on there. Just a simple design that's hard to screw up as long as it's made stout like the classic seems to be.

If I didn't help, some one with more experiance, like mindwreck, will chime in.

[bigdrunk92037]

Lee Classic Turret. Very versatile and costs in between your two choices.

[koehn,jim]

I enjoy shooting more than a 100 rds thru my 44 for one. I would buy the best press that you can afford. RCBS comes with a lifetime warranty and has great resale value if need be, the Lee not so much. You may only plan to load the 2 calibers today but that may change next month. Get a press that can grow with your needs and can be passed down in the family, you will probably not wear it out. The friend that is going to coach you should have some good ideas, perhaps a press you can buy.

[Bill Steele]

Lee Classic Turret. Very versatile and costs in between your two choices.

I agree with this advice. For what you are planning (and perhaps not planning...) the Lee Classic Turret (not the deluxe turret) is perfect. Caliber change overs will take about 10 seconds, you can run it like a single stage, batch process and get 50 rounds an hour out of it, stick the indexing rod in and volume goes up to a comfortable 120-150 rounds per hour, some claim as much as 200/hr.

Get the Lee 4 die sets, but I would recommend a different crimp die (Redding or Dillon) or use the seater die to crimp if you are loading lead. The Le Factory Crimp Die is not ideal when loading lead in the larger calibers.

I think this is what you want to start out with: http://www.fmreloading.com/Merchant2...essive+Presses

Good luck, have fun.

[Hallx7]

I started on a lee classic turret and would highly recommend it for your goals.
I've always found good prices at titanreloading.com

[damndave]

I agree with the Lee Classic Turret as well. Such a good press for the money. But for rifle reloading, I much prefer a single stage though. The LCT can be used as a single stage though too.

[kostner]

[QUOTE=bigdrunk92037;10692057]Lee Classic Turret. Very versatile and costs in between your two choices.[/QUOTE@

+1 on the Lee Classic you will be happy with your choice years from now.
Wife and I started with two Lee turret press side by side in the garage 25 yrs. ago. Go for it and discover another hobby.

[Colt562]

I would agree with the Lee single stage or turret. They make good presses for 1/3 the price of others.

[Divernhunter]

I am a loooong time reloader. I now have 4 single stage presses and 2 Dillon 650 XL machines. Expierence which is taking the test then getting the lesson later has taught me a number of things.
Get the RCBS Partner press kit(my cost is $150) or get a used RCBS Jr press off ebay and get the other stuff new/used. If all you are doing is pistol rounds those will actually be better than the Rockchucker.
The turret is a waste and less strong. It takes 30 seconds to change dies......big deal. I batch process all my brass(except for the Dillon 650 and changing the dies is no big deal. Lee warr is not as good as RCBS/Hornady or any other reloading manufacture. But I do use their hand primers.
If you load mag loads or use ball powder then use mag primers. I use mag primers for all my loads. Never had a problem and been reloading for many years. I use to use both when I started but learned to just use them all the time in all ammo. H-110 is excellent for mag loads and requires a mag primer. I use Hi-Skor 700-X for light loads as I have a bunch of it left over from shotshell reloading. Unique is another I use for light loads and to make things easy I use mag primers. There was a test and with pistol rounds the mag primers gave better accuracy.
Get and use a hand primer. The accuracy will be better and you can hand prime while watching TV. Again batch process your brass.
IF you get lee dies toss the non-locking lock rings and buy real ones so you do not have adjustment troubles. Or just buy RCBS/Hornady/Redding/Lyman dies that have the real lock rings and adjust them properly and avoid the 4th die and another step. Oh The 4th lee die will swage down a lead bullet in the reloaded round and can/will effect leading/accuracy.

Also now is a poor time to start reloading due to shortages and over priced so be careful and do not panic buy overpriced items.

[xrMike]

Can't go wrong with Lee Classic Turret. Buy a turret for every caliber you shoot and you'll never have to remove/insert/adjust any of your dies again (well, not very often anyway).

[Dark Mod]

I dig the lee single stage, i have a lee classic turret but am not a big fan of turret presses, so it sits unused under my bench.

In fact i could sell it to you for a nice price, ill throw in the lee scale too. I think ive got the autodisk powdermeasure with disks and a bunch of extra turrets you can have too.

Only thing is i took the priming arms for my single stage, so you would have to buy a large and a small one:

http://leeprecision.com/large-primer-arm.html

$7 each plus however much shipping is

[BLR81]

I'm a old timer just not in reloading. But, for my money I'd look at the Hornady LNL Classic kit. I only comes with a rifle disc for the powder measure, so you'll have to order that separately. But, I has everything you need to load except the components and the dies.

It's around $319 at MidwayUSA and under $300 on ebay. Plus they come with a rebate for 500 bullets. (180gr 44's and 185 45's) And if you buy the Hornady dies, they come with 100 bullets each, also.

I really like the locking collars and quick change LNL adapters. When you have a load you like you lock the collar, and a quick 1/8th turn on the adapters and you can switch out the dies. Put them back in the box and it only takes a quick 1/8 turn to reinstall with no adjusting needed.

Plus the powder measure and dies with adapters will work in the LNL AP press if you ever decide to upgrade.

[orangeusa]

Thanks guys I bought the Lee book today and realize how little I know.
Dark Mod - ill be contacting you after I do my homework.
Damn I had no idea how much brass was worth. Ill never drop a round of these big caliber rounds...