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New to reloading so bear with me

DarthRevan

DarthRevan

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I found a used Lee Load Master in 9mm with .45acp dyes included for $300 without bins and the bullet feeder is for a .40
Is that a fair price without lowballing further?
And if I were to buy it how would I set it up to use?
 
What would you recommend for a progressive set up? the main round I'll be shooting is .45 and 9mm
I dont want to break the bank but I'm willing to spend a little more for the quality.
 
DarthRevan said:
What would you recommend for a progressive set up? the main round I'll be shooting is .45 and 9mm
I dont want to break the bank but I'm willing to spend a little more for the quality.
Click to expand...


Progressive, Dillon Square-Deal or Hornady Lock-N-Load.
The Square Deal us too short for rifle calibers, and IIRC (somebody correct me please) requires proprietary dies. It'll be complete when you buy it for one caliber, and then can buy caliber conversions.
Hornady uses standard dies, but is a little more fiddly to get running like clockwork.

Up the cost ladder is the Dillon 650.


Oh, and "Blue versus Red" is jihad material around here, or on any gun forum.
 
I have a Load master that I got for free and it is the only press I have ever used. It is constant maintenance trying to keep it running right. Very poorly designed indexing mechanism. This is where most of my issues have been.
I don't do a lot yet but I will be ramping it up soon to include more calibers. from what I hear, Dillon is the Cadillac but they also come at a Cadillac price.
 
Buy a nice blue Cadillac and drive it worry free for a couple of lifetimes. [grin]

There are other good presses out there but none better for the home reloader. IMHO. I have 2 Dillon Square Deal presses. One is setup in .45ACP all of the time and the other one gets changed around between nine different calibers. JTNF is correct, the Square Deal press uses smaller die sets than standard. Get together with a buddy or fellow club member who has been doing it for a while or take a class such as Eddiecoyle runs.

Good luck.
 
Get a Dillon and you'll never need to upgrade. They are more money, but they also hold their value. Used examples on ebay usually go for more than 90% of the "new" price.
 
I started with a Loadmaster, and run it now, as I got a smoking deal on it. Do I wish I had spent the money and gone Blue? Yuppers. Do I make quality pistol plinking ammo with it? yes. It's a tinker-fest to make it run well, but once it's cooking, it tends to be pretty easy to run 300 rounds per hour.

All of that being said, my situation should allow upgrading next summer, and if/when I do, it will be blue.
 
jibbr71 said:
It's a tinker-fest to make it run well
Click to expand...

My first progressive was a Lee. It was a gift so, I can't complain about the choice or the price. It would run great for several hundred rounds and then - wham! It would go all to hell. I'd spend the next hour getting it tweaked properly. I learned a lot about troubleshooting mechanical devices in this way.

I switched to a Hornady Lock-N-Load on the advice of a good friend and have been very happy.

But I've never heard anyone complain about their Dillon, except maybe the square deal because of the special dies.
 
That's retail prices on the very high end.
Also strange assortment of parts. Load master press 9mm and 45 dies set (assume lee) and a case feeder for. .40 I assume 40 Cal and not 40$.
Lee used is a huge crap shoot and not for those with out tinkering skills. I have lee products I see their limitations. dollar to dollar they are had to beat but as mentioned they need some attention to often.
I do not recommend lee to anyone. I will how ever buy your used stuff when you had enough of it...deeply discounted that is.
 
A loadmaster set up in one caliber is around $230-$250. If you have any mechanical understanding at all you can run a loadmaster flawlessly for many hundreds of thousands of rounds with few headaches and have lots of money for gas to chase down components. You don't have to call Lee for replacement parts all the time like you do for Dillons. [smile]
 
DarthRevan said:
What would you recommend for a progressive set up? the main round I'll be shooting is .45 and 9mm
I dont want to break the bank but I'm willing to spend a little more for the quality.
Click to expand...

An RL550B is the manually indexed progressive, it can do pistol and rifle and uses standard dies. Cost new is $440, but you want to get the strong mount and bullet tray roller handle etc so add $200 or so, plus the dies and other stuff you need to load - scale, caliper, case gauge, etc. People love them, but I would go 650XL if you are going that far already. Auto-Indexing is a great.


The Square Deal B is probably the best choice if you only want to reload pistol ammo, costs $380 and I think comes with one set of dies but you would also want a strong mount and a bullet tray so would be more like $500. It uses custom dies from Dillon, but that isn't a problem if you only ever want to reload straight walled pistol ammo. It is also auto-indexing, which I think is a great safety feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNC7hE_KuHI&feature=youtu.be
 
jaypap said:
You'll never hear a Dillon owner say I wished I saved a few bucks and bought a Lee.
Click to expand...

That's funny, and 100% true.

I've always been a fan of LEE, for SOME of their gear. I started out on a single station, then went to the auto-indexing turret press, both great pieces of gear, and then went to the Dillon. I still use my Turret press for the calibers that I don't load 100's of, and I take out the auto-indexing rod for single stage use. I gave my single stage away to a beginning reloader.

I know everyone has a budget, but save up for the Dillon and you'll be glad you did. If that's not an option, the Lee classic cast turret press is a great press that can easily yield 200-250 an hour. It is a solidly built unit.

But yea, I wouldn't take a Lee progressive loader if you gave it to me.
 
I have a square deal for 9mm because it's the only pistol cartridge I plane on reloading. I love it and will never buy another Lee again. If you want to do multiple calibers get a 550 or 650. Buy once, cry once.

Ill be getting a 650 for .223 shortly.

I have a Lee Turret and it's good for what it is, a stepping stone to Blue addiction [laugh]
 
Last edited:
I'll throw this out here, since I just got the eMail:


http://www.massreloading.com/docs/BasicFlyer_12-6.pdf

Jim EddieCoyle Finnertys' email said:
Hello Fellow Shooters,
e5ag1ZzeenZZ7YPp5k2lxBDjxnTmNb6POgmelpY2N_y410dhWL02twJUaAe5tqoIT-ehLi-csxft1Lx3voyzli5m4k4FIJBk27_mczMq7e7WF1FFOti91LZoXwb0vfLv=s0-d-e1-ft

​


I've scheduled an NRA Basic Metallic Reloading class at Blue Northern Trading in Ayer, MA on Saturday December 6th, from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. The tuition for the class is $100.

This will be the last class of 2014. Don't miss out - Sign up today!

If you've been thinking about getting into reloading and aren't sure where to start, then this is the class for you. You'll learn all about the important tools and techniques, and make your first rounds under the watchful eyes of an experienced instructor (me). In a single day, you'll gain a new skill that can save you thousands of dollars.

To register, call Blue Northern at 978-772-6779

Please tell your friends and mention it at your next club meeting. Download a flyer here.


Best Regards,

Jim Finnerty
Click to expand...
 
I've been using the Dillon 550B for more than 30 years. Needed some primer feed parts once and Dillon sent them. No other issues. I can't guess how many rounds of .45 I have loaded on it for the subguns. Jack.
 
Once upon a time, I reloaded a couple of thousand rounds a week. Of course I went with a Dillon 550. When business dropped off, I went back to a single stage and gave the 550 away.

Single stage press time only? 125 rounds per hour rifle, 100 rounds per hour, carbide, handgun. That's a reasonable pace, in shape and organized.
 

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