After much comparision between the Lee kit and the Hornady I'm leaning toward the Hornady. It costs more than the Lee kit but with their rebate I can get 500 bullets back for free (with shipping of course). Couple of things I'm not sure about though. first of is their digital scale. Checking the price for the scale by itself it appears to be pretty inexpensive (cheap?). Replacing that scale tacks a big chunk of change onto the cost. Also, since there is no stand included with the powder measure, is there a way of mounting it without the stand. One final question that applies to all single stage presses. I shoot about 400 rounds of 9mm a month at least and would like to get into reloading to allow me to shoot more (and branch out into more expensive to shoot calibers). Is reloading 600 rounds a month going to take up every one of my free moments loading with this type of press. Would a turret style press really save much time?

Yes, a turret kit would speed things up considerably over a single stage press. I recommend the Lee Classic Turret press.

A quality balance beam scale is far better than a cheap digital.A single stage will take 6-12 hours to load 600 rounds,depending on the operator.

A good quality beam scale will be light years ahead of the digital scale in the kit.
One thing that bothers me is that new reloaders always seem to be worried about speed.

FOCUS ON QUALITY/SAFETY BEFORE SPEED.

Get the Hornady lock n load AP press. I love mine. It's very fast

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Go turret. $500 for a single stage, no thanks. If I went single stage it would be the lee challenger $57, a pro auto disk $40 and a good beam scale RCBS $75. And not tie a lot of money in it.

With the Lee Classic Turret you can load (taking your time) 100 rounds per hour and that is using the 4th LFCD die. You have to pull the handle anyway, if you use the die or not. You maybe can push it and get 125 or so per hour.

Buy the Lee Dies.

You have spent less money than getting some free bullets.


Buy the kit, ditch the scale (it's accurate but a real PITA to use) buy the Dillon Balance beam for $70.(lifetime guarantee, electronics are only 1 year)

A scale is your most important tool.

Real Guns - Lee Classic Turret, It's Not Just For Kids

Dillon Precision: Reloaders, Reloading Equipment, Bullet Reloading, Bullet Reloaders

PS: The Lee Turret can be used as a single stage also, just take the turret rod out. Good idea when first starting to reload. With a single stage you handle the one piece of brass 4 or 5 times.

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Still Running Against the Wind

The Hornady electronic scale in that kit was not reliable for me. The press and rest of the kit were quite good though. Don't forget that you get the Hornady manual with the kit and that's excellent IMHO. You can mount the powder measure in the press with a bushing but the separate stand is much better. Also, make sure that you're getting the pistol rotor for the Hornady powder measure. (It's in the progressive kit but don't know about the single stage.)

I used the Hornady single stage press for 3 years the got a Lyman turret press to speed things up. No regrets about starting on the single stage press. Learn slowly plus I see no point in a progressive press for precision rifle rounds.

The turret press speeds the process up some, but you still pull a handle 4 or 5 times for each finished cartridge. I'm about to get a full progressive - probably Hornady but Dillon's 650 is a fine piece of machinery too.

Can get 200/hr out of mine once ready to go.

After 10 cups of coffee and playing heavy metal rock??

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Still Running Against the Wind

A small part on my Lee Challenger press broke right in the middle of one of my Winter weekend reloading marathons. Went to Gander Mountain and picked up a Hornady Lock-n-load just because I'm so impatient.

Monday morning called Lee and got a replacement part delivered for about 6 bucks. Took a week to get it. That press was about 10 years old and had gone thru tens of thousands of rounds.

I like the Lee better. JUst my opinion.

Now I have 4 single stage presses on my bench, all in a row. I can do 100 rounds in about 35 minutes. Fast enough for me. What I like most about this setup, as opposed to a progressive or a turret, is that I get to inspect each round singly.

Been loading since 1970. Never had a squib or a double charge. In fact, never had a misfire. Can anyone with a progressive say that?

Been loading with the same Dillon 550 since 1985 and never had a squib or double charge either. But then I don't go for speed records. If there is any distraction or stoppage of the loading session I immediately back the primed case out of station 2 whether or not it has powder in it. It's not rocket surgery, but you don't want to be yakking on the phone or watching TV at the same time.

I get 200-250/HR with my LCT. Sipping Pepsi Max(not in the reloading room) and listening to Armed American Radio or Gun Talk Radio.

THIS!!!

I would say that if you are starting out in the world of reloading, to with a single stage press to start with. You will find that even if you upgrade to a turret or a progressive that you will want to keep the single stage for load development and precision loading. The various starter kits are nice. You can upgrade or replace some of the components as you learn more. I still have an RCBS rock chucker press and beam scale I bought in a kit for $69.00 back in the early 70s and I still use them. The kit probably comes with a loading manual. Lots of good information in it. I would buy additional manuals before I bought new components for the kit. Welcome to the world of reloading. You will enjoy it.

I have the kit you are looking at. The scale works just fine. There is a bracket to mount the powder measure to a bench. The one that is sold separately is just much nicer. I can load 100 pistol rounds in about an hour. I added the primer feeding system to my press and it speeds up the process considerably. I DID NOT LIKE THE PRIMING TOOL THAT CAME WITH THE KIT! If you plan on getting the kit plan on replacing the priming tool or get the primer feeding system for the press.

Don't think I could get to 250 unless I grew another arm.