Considering Reloading, opinons

[Bill Steele]

Well you must be doing something wrong then Bill, because everyone knows that BD is no good for 9mm

As usual I agree with everything you posted.
Have you tried Trail Boss? It's one of my favorite powders. Pretty fast and very bulky.

It won't be the first time I was doing something wrong, if you doubt that, just ask my wife..

I have tried TB and personally I don't favor it much, but I am in the vast minority in that respect. I think for the light and fluffy loads in handgun, I prefer your suggestion of WST over all others, wonderful stuff and in stock at PV as of yesterday!

I ran into a buddy at the range this weekend who is loading TB in his magnum rifle using lead bullets. I think I may give that a try soon.

[XDRoX]

Quoting "what it will cost" or "how many rounds a press will produce per hour" is almost always an apples to oranges comparison, post to post.

This.

Yes it always irritates me slightly when one claims 600 rounds per hour on a 550B. You must include the time to fill the primer tubes.

Unless you have a primer tube filler

I think it's appropriate when comparing rounds per hour to count the time actually sitting at the machine pulling the handle.
That way we have a more fair comparison. Once everything else comes into play there are just too many variables. Like primer tube load time, tumble time, sorting brass time, hell I once had a guy tell me my time per hour was bunk because I didn't include the time I spent picking up my brass from the range

You can see in my video above above that I was not rushing at all and loaded at a 100 round per 9 minute rate. If I was a newb I'd appreciate seeing the speed of the machine compared to others. That's why I made the video. Not to brag or show off my speed. If I wanted speed I'd buy a faster machine.

[rm1911]

I do see your point. I was thinking more along the lines of appropriate powder for shooting, and light loads of a slow powder can be dangerous as well. it is a problem in reloading, especially for newer reloaders, that there are probably a dozen powders that would work pretty much equally well for each application and it's confusing as hell. then of course you load the same round with one powder for light, one for full power, one for one weight, one for another, etc.

some powders do multiple rounds well, some do not. or other combinations, of a powder workign for multiple calibers in certain loads. and so I'd argue that powder selection ought to be based first on what exactly you're going to use it for. then, IF a double charge is possible, take extra care. thus the warning about speed.

I have a dillon SDB, and it's very hard to double charge an auto indexing progressive. it would be much easier for sure if you're loading single stage. which is also why when I did load single stage, I actually threw a charge and seated the bullet as one step. I kept the powder measure mounted next to the press and threw the charge, checked it, then put it in the seat and sat the bullet. then crimped separately. I think most double charges come from throwing the charge in multiple rounds (like in a loading block) then seating the bullets separately. and oddly enough, doing multiple charges in a block is also a good way to miss one completely. that's a problem as well.

again, that's a process related issue which is distinct from which powder. but you do have a good point. if a double charge is a possibility, then you'd better make sure you don't !!

[XDRoX]

I do see your point. I was thinking more along the lines of appropriate powder for shooting, and light loads of a slow powder can be dangerous as well. it is a problem in reloading, especially for newer reloaders, that there are probably a dozen powders that would work pretty much equally well for each application and it's confusing as hell. then of course you load the same round with one powder for light, one for full power, one for one weight, one for another, etc.

some powders do multiple rounds well, some do not. or other combinations, of a powder workign for multiple calibers in certain loads. and so I'd argue that powder selection ought to be based first on what exactly you're going to use it for. then, IF a double charge is possible, take extra care. thus the warning about speed.

I have a dillon SDB, and it's very hard to double charge an auto indexing progressive. it would be much easier for sure if you're loading single stage. which is also why when I did load single stage, I actually threw a charge and seated the bullet as one step. I kept the powder measure mounted next to the press and threw the charge, checked it, then put it in the seat and sat the bullet. then crimped separately. I think most double charges come from throwing the charge in multiple rounds (like in a loading block) then seating the bullets separately. and oddly enough, doing multiple charges in a block is also a good way to miss one completely. that's a problem as well.

again, that's a process related issue which is distinct from which powder. but you do have a good point. if a double charge is a possibility, then you'd better make sure you don't !!

I remember those single stage tray reloading days well
It was amazing how easy it was to miss a case.

[Dark Mod]

I have a dillon SDB, and it's very hard to double charge an auto indexing progressive. it would be much easier for sure if you're loading single stage. which is also why when I did load single stage, I actually threw a charge and seated the bullet as one step. I kept the powder measure mounted next to the press and threw the charge, checked it, then put it in the seat and sat the bullet. then crimped separately. I think most double charges come from throwing the charge in multiple rounds (like in a loading block) then seating the bullets separately. and oddly enough, doing multiple charges in a block is also a good way to miss one completely. that's a problem as well.

!!

I actually prefer doing it this way, one sweeping glance is all it takes to verify all cases are appropriatly charged before moving on to the seating step.

I prefer a powder that will fill the case, but even with lower volume powders a double charge would be very obvious. I made more mistakes on a turret press doing 4 steps in a row than i did doing it one step at a time.

In fact, i removed my indexing pole from my Lee turret and used it as a single stage. When i realized i liked my actual single stage better, my LCT was unmounted and relegated to a dark corner of my garage where it sits to this day.

I stopped making mistakes altogether when i went back to doing it this way. In all reality its more about paying attention than it is about the process, i just find it less labor intensive to pay attention to one step at a time than 4 at a time.

[gregshin]

You should get a 550B...learn how it operates. you can make it a single stage operation or progressive by manually indexing the shell plate.

Also if you find that reloading isn't for you can resell it for about 80-90% of what it cost you.

pistol is easy to load up and process...rifle is another story.

Later on when components are easier to find...its best to buy in bulk and in group buys to get under 10 cents a round for 9mm. When its back to normal to levels i would stack em deep like 10k of primers, two 8lbs jugs of pistol powder.

[pbgrasso81]

xd your video makes me glad I have a 650xl with auto indexing. How stated before the dillons are nice and hold there price. Lee is an ok press for the price. Its all on how much money you are willing to spend on a press. I started with a lee turret press when I was younger and didnt have a good job but now that I have a dillon 650xl I wont go back to the turret press it just sits taking up space.

Since your turret just sits taking up space, would you be interested in selling it to a beginner looking into reloading on a budget?

[Sofatactical]

thanks for all the input. Really helped me get a better picture of how to approach this.
Hopefully components will become available and affordable soon.
The Dillon 550 is what I've decided on, now have to figure out where to set it up.