First time Reloader. What do I need?

[Rim Job]

If you want to take a class, click on the link in my sig line. If you take my class and don't think it was worth it, I'll refund your money on the spot.

I want to take the class, but I'm always too late to sign up

 

[mac1911]

I probably shoot 308 the most, followed by 8mm Mauser and then the 30-06 (which is for the Garand)
Yeah, right around $350-400 is where I want to set my limit for the first setup for now. Mostly said it so that people arn't throwing out these $700-1200 progressive setups at me.
I was looking at the rock chucker, but I see they also make a turret model. Wasn't sure what the real difference was or which one was better to go with

I found the turret press to not be much better for rifle than a single stage.
It will conveniently hold your dies. I just found it to "busy" turning the turret on the rcbs. The lee classic turret I had felt weak on rifle brass.
I load for 30-06,8mm,7.5Swiss,7.7 jap, 303British and others all,on my hornady 007 press.

With the cartridges you plan to load your going to do more brass prep work than pistol.
I will basically do marathon case prep sessions.
Resize 1-3000 cases over a planned few nights. Then it's trim and primer pocket detail if needed.
Then depending on the load and what I know I will shoot I will prime X amount of cases.
The hornady auto prime on the 007 press works fine.
Depending on the load again I might use the lee dipers with a powder through expander die to charge cases. Then I seat bullets. With the hornady or lee quick change bushings die changes are quick.

You do not need a auto prime. Actually I like hand priming , can do it anywhere in the house.

As far as speed....well sit down and really think about your time .
I essential have 10+ hours a week to reload vs the 2-6 hours I,might get to the range every month.
Short on time a progressive will really help.

I recently bought a 38spl lee pro 1000 .....set it up last week cranked out 1500+ rounds over the weekend and sold it sunday evening. The 38 I shoot maybe 2 times a year and maybe 100 rounds...so,essentially I have 15 years of reloads on hand.

I took the cash from the pro1000 and all the other 38spl stuff I sold and bought a pro1000 223 for my plinking 223 loads. Plus conversions for 9mm and 30 carbine plus a few other odds and ends I needed from Lee. For under 250$ shipped.

I have not really timed myself on the press. I work in 25 min to 2 hour sessions. I need to prep some more brass this,weekend maybe I will time myself.

 

[dcmdon]

Mac,

While we disagree on a few things. Your post demonstrates one thing we both must agree on.

If you reload just to save money, it will be a drag. You need to be willing to make it a whole separate hobby. Otherwise its just frustration.

Don

p.s. This weekend de-capped 3000 .223 pieces of range brass, put it in my new FA wet tumbler and cleaned it all. So now I have 3000 pieces of brass, ready to be trimmed.

I'm tired of setting the cutting head on my Giraud back and forth between .30 cal and .22, so I'm waiting on another tool head. Then I'll trim and remove the primer crimps.

Then I'll sort by headstamp and pull 500 aside for precision ammo. The precision stuff will get their primer hole uniformed and be weighed.
The rest will be reloaded as is.

Like I said, a whole separate hobby.

 

[xtry51]

Resizing/deprime, powder drop and bullet seat are the only three things I do sitting at the reloading table. The trimming, crimp removal and priming I do all while on the couch watching TV. Blending it into other down time will lesson the appearance of block time you need to set aside.

It is absolutely a hobby. Do I save money? Yes, a crap ton. BUT, if you're sitting there the whole time not liking what you're doing there's a big chance you're 1) Not going to take the care to learn everything you should to make the best ammo possible and 2) You'll likely sooner or later make a mistake that will put yourself in danger because frustration leads to errors.

 

[mac1911]

Mac,

While we disagree on a few things. Your post demonstrates one thing we both must agree on.

If you reload just to save money, it will be a drag. You need to be willing to make it a whole separate hobby. Otherwise its just frustration.

Don

p.s. This weekend de-capped 3000 .223 pieces of range brass, put it in my new FA wet tumbler and cleaned it all. So now I have 3000 pieces of brass, ready to be trimmed.

I'm tired of setting the cutting head on my Giraud back and forth between .30 cal and .22, so I'm waiting on another tool head. Then I'll trim and remove the primer crimps.

Then I'll sort by headstamp and pull 500 aside for precision ammo. The precision stuff will get their primer hole uniformed and be weighed.
The rest will be reloaded as is.

Like I said, a whole separate hobby.

Absolutely! I basically have my daily "must do" activities done by 8pm. I generally don't do much after that than waste time anyway. If I did not have kids I probably would have a 2nd job or over time.

I do not "enjoy" cleaning or trimming brass but it is a nice down time for the brain.
I do like loading and finding different loads that shoot better than the "conventional " loads.

I'm currently working on some 223 reloads with H4895. I'm looking for the best accuracy with the least amount of powder and still function 100%

Currently did this with the M1 garand with cast loads. Found H4895 will cycle 200 grain cast loads at 36.5 grains. Now I,need to find that accuracy point some where between 36.5 and 40 grains.
Next is a 160 gn flat nose if it feeds in the M1 I will use it also.

 

[dcmdon]

I've been doing similar speed vs bullet weight vs powder vs functional reliability playing .

I've got a 8.5" .300 blackout AR I built. I'm trying to get it to cycle with subsonic 175 gr bullets. I could go to a 230 gr and have it easy. But those things are expensive. I've been playing with pistol powder since the bbl is so short. AA5 works great, nice and clean and quiet. But not quite functioning the action.

I'm only at 7.5 gr of AA5. (my light .44 mag loads use 10 gr). I'll go up .5 gr on my next batch of 5. Fingers crossed I can get the gun to cycle before they go supersonic.

Fun fun fun. I only wish I had a place to function test my guns. Back in CT, I had a bucket filled with sand in my barn. I'd close the doors and blast away.

I'm guessing that if I did that in Arlington, I'd get a full "welcome" from my friendly neighborhood SWAT team. Although maybe not with the silencer. Ha.

Don

 

[maxreloader]

I find Lee equipment to be marginal... most of the guys that use it have never tried anything better so they don't realize what they are missing.

Rockchucker would be the best way to go, try and find one used, they are bulletproof and will outlast you.

An old Lyman All-American if you are lucky you can find one for $75-$125 depending on how patient you are. Great press and its a 4-staion turret.

I am surprised nobody mentioned Imperial Sizing Wax or Imperial dry neck lube... two of the best investments you can make when doing larger bottleneck cartridges.

calipers/digital calipers are always needed to check OAL etc.

make/use a dipper for each cartridge/powder that is slightly lower then use a trickler to get to your final charge weight.

Wilson/Dillon case gauges.

Since time = $$$, you will have to sacrifice time to meet your budget demands.

YYMV!

 

[dcmdon]

I have 2 dillon 650s, and I love my Lee classic cast turret press.

If you accept that you won't be priming on the press (it is absolutely terrible), then you will find this to be a very versatile press. Faster than a single stage and a fair amount faster.

It doesn't look as sturdy as a Rockchucker, but in use it is strong and smooth. The beauty of the lee turret classic cast (which is steel, the others are aluminum) is you can load batches like a single stage, which is what I use for rifle.

Or you can run a shell around all the stations using the auto index rod and end up with a production rate of 100 to 120 rounds per hour. Which I use for very low volume pistol calibers. (.44 mag, .357 mag, .460 S&W mag) The lee disk powder drop works fine. Especially the upgraded one for about $10 more, which has teflon coated internals.

I am a Dillon Blue person through and through, but the classic cast turret has a place on my bench.

Also, recently someone did a test of the Redding, Lyman, and Lee Turrets. They made ammo using each (with the same dies) and found that the lee made identical quality ammo to the much more expensive Redding.

Don

 

[xtry51]

As a clarification, I would never buy a Lee single stage press. I have one I was given and it's horrible. The only thing I've ever used it for is crimping, but I don't do that anymore.

If you want a single stage, get a rockchucker.