WTB first Reloading Press

[tommycorbin941]

Good Morning all!

I just recently came into a few extra dollars and am looking to buy my first reloading press. I really like the idea of the Dillon Square Deals just because of their no BS warranty, but am honestly open to anything. I'm primarily just going to be reloading my .40SW rounds.

What deals does anyone know of or have that they are trying to get rid of. price range is $400 max.

Thank you for your time.

Thomas.

[DSMeyer]

Welcome to Calguns and the world of reloading. The square deals are great machines, the only draw back is their cartridge limitations.
I know you stated you only going to be loading 40 S&W's but reloading becomes a sickness and you'll find yourself wanting to do another cartridge and then another and before you know it your reloading 25 different cartridges. So you'll want a machine that is capable of all of them with relatively easy and quick change overs.
Now I'm partial to Dillon machines and I would recommend a 550b, you can find a good used one for under $400 with a lot of extras, the conversion kits aren't too bad in price and it has the no BS warranty. Plus the 550 will do a boat load of different cartridges.
I'm sure the others (red and green machine users) will chime in to help your decision.

['ol shooter]

Jump on that Rock Chucker Pinto has for sale, great starter press to learn on, still using mine bought in 1978.

[khw9mm]

I have a RCBS Summit press I'll be posting for sale in the coming days. It comes with the shorter handle too.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/229578/rcbs-summit-single-stage-press

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/537498/rcbs-summit-single-stage-press-short-handle

[rcslotcar]

My Rock Chucker from 1979 is next to my Dillon xl650 and still going strong.

[rfanalyzer]

The Dillon SDB is a great machine. I happen to have two of them with several quick change kits. They serve my pistol caliber needs very well. I wouldn't worry too much about trying to buy the most versatile machine you can get for your first. In my opinion, most of us with the reloading sickness end up with multiple presses anyway.

[MountainFF]

buy a rock chucker it will help you understand every step, then get a dillon
my .02

[Sixshot87]

I have a single stage press by lee. I reload exclusively for 40sw. If I could go back, I'd go straight for a Dillon 550. The single stage presses take way to long. It took me about 2 months to realize I want to upgrade. My advice is buy once cry once.

[JunP]

I have a brand new sealed in box hornady lnl ap that I'm selling for $400 . The box is sealed and I will also include a 40 s&w shell plate and meet you close to where you are

[dad4mnc]

I have a single stage press by lee. I reload exclusively for 40sw. If I could go back, I'd go straight for a Dillon 550. The single stage presses take way to long. It took me about 2 months to realize I want to upgrade. My advice is buy once cry once.

The single stage is useful for bulge busting.


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[XDJYo]

When I first started, I went against a majority of the advice to start off on a single stage and then upgrade to a Dillon later on. I'm glad I started on a 650. I'm mechanically inclined and a pretty detailed oriented guy and OCD as well. So, I think that helped a lot. If I wasn't, I probably wouldn't trust myself to reload at all-no matter which press I bought. The 650 is a great machine. There's a lot of videos out there on it. Some are long-winded and boring. Some are great. Once you're set up, you can crank out a ton of rounds relatively quickly. Biggest downside is the cost of admission can be pretty high. I fortunately came across a guy selling a full package 650 w/case feeder, powder alert, strong mount and a box full of brass for CHEAP!

But, the Dillon warranty and customer service are tops! I've had parts that I had broken, called Dillon and was prepared to pay for it when they said that they're in the mail! How cool is that?

Reloading in CA-It's not just for penny pinchers anymore.

Next year, we'll see a whole slew of craziness and cost to buy ammo. Some gun shops don't even know how they're going to go about it yet. Reloading will be more and more important to keep a healthy stash of ammo at the ready.

Just my 2 cents.

Happy shopping.

[pohorsky]

A couple thoughts. If you go single stage, get the Hornady (or other brand) Quick change bushing. It take a lot of the wasted time out of single stage. Not too long ago a upgraded to the Redding T7 with an inline fabrication setup and I can crank out pistol rounds pretty fast, but I can still use it as a single stage for precision reloading. I love both the depriming and priming mechanisms. One was for sale, not sure if it still is.

How many rounds are you planning to load at a time? Large volume I would suggest a progressive and low volume, either a single stage or turret would do fine.

[Red9]

Can't beat a Dillon 550. Find a nice used one. Or call bobcat armory. They sell used Dillon, die sets and conversions.
You can use the 550 as a single stage or progressive. A case feeder can be added later to speed up things.
Other brands of progressive needs to be tweaked a bit. Imho 550 is the best bang for the buck.

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[RandyD]

There are a number of threads on reloading presses. Take the time to read them. BTW, I am a die hard Dillon fan. I have been using their presses for over 30 years.

[ballballcat]

I have a brand new sealed in box hornady lnl ap that I'm selling for $400 . The box is sealed and I will also include a 40 s&w shell plate and meet you close to where you are

LNL is the best bang for the buck in the progressive press world. Cheap and easy caliber changes. No offense, but the new ones sell at $350-$370 range. Plus 500 free bullets.