speed on a single stage press?

[H Richard]

Volume pistol ammo is loaded on my Dillon 550, but when I am developing a load, or any rifle load, it is loaded on my 50+ yr old Texan 7 hole turret. I load from a 50 rd block, and every step is for all 50 rounds. I prime with a Lee auto-prime, and for rifle loads trickle the last teeny amount in for absolute accuracy. Loading should never be a race, but an endeavor to produce the best, most accurate ammo.

 

[mikld]

I have no idea! I "batch" load; one day I may deprime/size 200-300 cases. Next time I may prime 100. Next session I may size/deprime 100. Next time I may charge and seat 100, or fifty. I can't remember the last time I went from fired brass to finished ammo. Depends on what I feel like and how many ready to shoot rounds I have on hand. I have on hand fired brass, cleaned brass, sized/deprimed brass, and primed cases ready to charge. Fired brass is in bulk containers or boxes, sized/deprimed are in shoe boxes, and ready to stuff are in cartridge boxes. Works for me...

 

[tappedandtagged]

I have no idea! I "batch" load; one day I may deprime/size 200-300 cases. Next time I may prime 100. Next session I may size/deprime 100. Next time I may charge and seat 100, or fifty. I can't remember the last time I went from fired brass to finished ammo. Depends on what I feel like and how many ready to shoot rounds I have on hand. I have on hand fired brass, cleaned brass, sized/deprimed brass, and primed cases ready to charge. Fired brass is in bulk containers or boxes, sized/deprimed are in shoe boxes, and ready to stuff are in cartridge boxes. Works for me...

Same here. But when I start lading the prepared and primed brass, I figure around 50-75 pistol roundsw/ poor metering Unique and close to 100 when using AA #9. I do a whopping 20 rifle rounds (I throw under theintended weight and meticulously trickle the rest in by hand).

 

[rdf009]

From start to finish (sizing, priming, adding powder, and seating the bullet) I can do about 75 .357/.38s an hour with my RCBS Jr. Tried to rush things and do 100 an hour the other day and forgot to move my hand when I was depriming/sizing. I ran the deprimng rod right through my index finger . The worst part is that my immediate reaction was to pull my finger out (while the rod was still in it) instead of backing the lever off ......ripped an inch long gash right beside my fingernail. Just some proof that it pays to take your time.

 

[hawgleg]

It's fast enough that I've never had a Squib or Kaboom, just great ammo. I too load in batchs and prep my brass and by doing that I can easily keep 4 or 5 boxes of made ammo for each caliber I shoot.

 

[CGT80]

Not Enough!!!

I used to load on an old Hollywood turret press. It has a date of 1935 stamped on it. I processed my brass in batches. It took forever. I now use a dillon 550 with a casefeeder for most of my ammo. I sometimes use it as a single stage as I make test loads. I don't really have a use for a single stage now. I also run a dillon 1050 and bullet feeder for 9mm. It is a far cry from single stage at a cyclic rate of 2000 rounds per hour. I don't have the patience for a single stage press.

 

[Moonman]

Speed and Reloading can cause you some big problems.

I find reloading just relaxing, I'm to old to worry about speeding anything or anywhere.

Stop and smell the roses.

 

[dirty gary]

Here's some numbers for speed loading: Running 2 Ammo Load auto presses, my friend and I loaded non stop one day, 8am till 5pm with a lunch break. He ran 30,000 9mm and I produced 28,000 38spl. Spent the entire next day packaging those rounds. Prefer the pace of my 550 Dillon now

 

[special44]

speed on a single stage press ?

Speed & safety do not mix in reloading on any type of press. I enjoy my
reloading and strive for precision, accuracy and safety in any rounds I reload.
I've been loading for about 60 years and wore out an RCBS Rockchucker
doing it. I've never felt the need for anything other than a single stage press. If you have your components set up right & a good, accurate powder measure, speed will come naturally.

 

[oberon]

There is never any need to be in a hurry.
I ususally resize, deprime & flare-neck all my brass and then sort it by headstamp in lots of 50 or 100. Then loading is a simple (read: liesurely) straightforward process to prime, charge, seat & crimp. I do all my work on a single stage or with hand tools. I check the charge every 10th round or so. I have an assortment of Lyman Tru-line and 310equipment. The dies are the skinny fine thread ones and are obsolete, but they work perfectly. I do the heavy resizing on an RCBS jr. I have had a couple problems with misfire due to the primer being seated too high, and had a squib that lodged in the barrel of a revolver once. I have had more ammo related malfunctions with factory new ammo than with my handloads.
If you have to be expeditious in loading, a progressive and a sharp- eyed crew will get you a lot more ammo in less time.
What's the rush, anyway?

 

[Nemo288]

With the exception of the initial polishing step, which is however long I forget about the vibrator running,
a box of 50 .44 rounds takes me about 1 football game.

...Nemo...

 

[CGT80]

It is not uncommon for me to engage more than one target per second while competing. A match of 6 stages takes a couple hundred rounds and then I practice afterward. 300-400 rounds of 9mm is my average per competition. Multiply that by three 9mm shooters in my house, and up to 3 matches per month. Sorting head-stamps gains me nothing. My brass gets checked for obvious flaws/cracks about 7 times during the process of loading, even on the dillon 1050. Two of the three guns run minimum loads to work the action of the gun. The other one is loaded beyond max according to the book, but well within the limits of the gun (1911 comped race gun).

I aim for quality and safety with my ammo. I used to have enough time to load on a single stage, and I didn't shoot as often. I had a bit more patience then and less money for progressive machines. I like reloading, but it can get quite tedious and boring.

Everything, other than 9mm, that I load is on a 550 and done at a more relaxed pace. I may spend a few hours at one time working up a 460 load at times. When I am going for production I will often times setup the press and run only a hundred at a time when I have a little bit of time to spare. 15 minutes here and there on a progressive adds up pretty quick. I keep a close eye on my powder weights and check every shell as it gets a bullet for powder level. Most of the ammo I shoot also gets case gauged before it goes into boxes. The 1050 with a bullet feeder only requires me to look at the case receiving the bullet and focus on making full strokes of the handle. Now that the press is dialed in, I usually have no more than 1% loss due to rounds not passing the case gauge.

While I agree that consistency and safety are very important, I will have to disagree that ammo shouldn't be loaded quickly or that it would be less safe (at least in my case). I have been loading for 20 years and have yet to have a squib or damaged gun. Knock on wood. I am also a perfectionist and very detail oriented and a technical person.

I enjoy both my monster 460 that I shoot slowly and my XD limited gun that I run as fast as I can while hitting targets. Reloading is the same. Sometimes I feel like smelling the roses and sometimes I don't.

Happy reloading.

 

[dla]

i am just curious how many good rounds anyone can load an hour on a single stage press. i mean good quality loads well done. i am just curious more than anything. iknow there is personal preferance over what kind of press, and procedure each person uses. this just a topic for each ones ideas and preferance. not to start a range war. scooter-2

We don't normally use the word "speed" when talking about a single-stage press. Sort of a verbal gaffe, like "soaring like a fly".

 

[arjay]

There's a big difference in speed between a single stage and a progressive.I've used a single stage for rifle and pistol rounds for years and at my fastest,maybe, I can load 100 in an hour.Back when I did a lot of clay target shooting,I bought a mec 650 and I seem to remember producing 300-400 rounds an hour quite easily.Trying to go fast with a single stage is trouble.Go for rhythm.

 

[cowart]

i am just curious how many good rounds anyone can load an hour on a single stage press.

A lot depends on how many loading blocks you have. When I was reloading, I had 10 blocks and would load 500 rounds of pistol ammo as a batch. That speeds things up considerably.

 

[gwpercle]

Scotter-2
Reloading is not a timed event, coming in first won't get you a gold medal. The idea is to produce safe accurate ammo.
Sometimes rushing thru it causes things like double or partial powder charges , upside down primers and bullets seated cockeyed. My goal is to load the absolute best ammo I can and I strive to produce better than factory loads . Like a lot of people I batch load also. Resizing , trimming, priming brass in lots of 100 and having everthing ready so all I have to do is throw powder, seat and crimp bullet .
My advice is not to rush, take your time and prep cases in lots, when you have time, and save the charging and seating as a last and final step.

 

[revolvergeek]

On a good day I used to do anywhere from 90-100 rounds for hour of handgun ammo using a Rockchucker and Lee powder scoops. Last year I switched to a Lee Classic Turret (the all cast iron, four position). Now I can do 250-260 an hour. I REALLY like this little press. It is fast and easy to change calibers thanks to the replaceable turrets. I have a powder measure mounted on my bench next to the press, so I remove each case to charge powder and then visually inspect it before seating a bullet.

My buddy has a Dillon 650 that goes much faster, but 1) also cost a lot more, 2) takes longer to set up and change calibers and 3) costs a lot more to set up multiple tool heads to allow you to change calibers more quickly. It is great once we have loads worked up, but the little Lee Classic Turret is much easier to work the loads up with.

 

[Glenn H]

Speed demons suggestions please

So. Need a little advice. I'm loading 10MM in a single stage. I'm shooting IPSC (for the first time in years) and finding that HOLY **** I'm shooting a lot more.

I batch my reloads. I.E. I deprime a bunch. I prime a bunch. I flare a bunch and then I load a two or three hundred at a time. This is over several days/weeks.

I'm looking at moving to a progressive but the cost is making me gulp a tad.

However those folks at Lee have a caliber specific press set for cheap money. Much less expensive than Dillon etc. The reviews are pretty reasonable and I wanted to know if anyone here has had any experience with these things. For $180 I don't expect a world beating press but I'm wondering if I should go this way or just bite the bullet (if you'll excuse the expression) and spend $750 on an RCBS or Dillon.

I figure I'll load around 1200 to 2000 per year.

Any and all suggestions welcome

 

[fredj338]

If you are really organized & use a powder measure, handgun, 75-80rds/hr on a single stage. THat is hauling *** though, 100, not so sure it can be done from scratch but with prepped brass, sure. That is really adding time to the process though & should be counted.

 

[kentguy]

scooter2,
Just for kicks, I thought I'd actually time myself... Now this is with brass cleaned and in trays, powder already set up and metering to exact charge, scale balanced and set, all other toys & tools set out.

With 9mm/124g RN FMJ, checking the first 5 then every 5th one after that - I ran 80 complete rounds. Not quite what I thought I could do, but not too shabby for a single stage.

Now as Fred pointed out, if you walked into your shop area and hit the clock, than started setting up and running your loads... perhaps 1 box of 50???

All I do with my ss now is test runs and work up loads, no real "hurrying" going on these days on that press.