Mainly talking about pistol brass and automatic rifles like 223 and nothing extreme accuracy just for planking

voted 50 but sometimes do a 100 - only get out shooting once or twice a month but reload most Sundays - but then that is just powder, seating, crimping. I will prep & prime several hundred cases once they are ready on weeknights so they are ready for for Sundays

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Steve

Mostly 100-200, so I answered 100.

If rifle I do 10-30. I just started doing 9mm and I've had the first inkling that I could use a turret or progressive. Never felt that way before. Well, as it stands I have more time than either supplies or money so I labor on, one cartridge at a time.

.44 Spl. .44 Russian, .44-40 - 100 at a time.

.45-70 - 20 Black powder for my Trapdoor and 20 Smokeless powder for my Browning 1886.

All or most of a box of 50 for each of the centerfire handguns I take along each week. Sometimes I only take one.
A few times none cause I didn't get around to loading anything.
Center fire rifle(s) I load a box of 20 for the ones I take along. Usually a couple of different ones each week.
The M1 and the 303's I'm still burning up milsurp ammo so they get shot more than the 20rds each when they go along.

If I'd bother to dig my SquareDeal back out again, I could load some 38spcl up in a hurry. But I never seem to get around to it.

Along with the pistol & rifle ammo I load 200rds +/- of 12ga for the skeet range for each week. That's a MEC progressive.

20 rifle

200 - 500 pistol

snakeditch

That's a lot for single press. Not counting case prep how much time do you typically spend at the press to do 500? Do you do it all in one session??

I use the single stage for all rifle and for 500 S&W. All other handgun is loaded on a Hornady Projector.

I voted 500, but this is pistol, on a turret press. Rifle would be about 4 boxes of 20, but I do few of those-- Hoever, this my change.

Good idea is to get bullets seated before you run out of time or concentration. You don't want things getting in or out of a charged case.

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A republic if you can keep it

20-40 rifle,100-200 pistol.Very tedious work on a single stage and a bit hard on the back.

I'll normally load 50-100 rounds at a session due to limited space and no permanent reloading set up. I bought a Lee handpress and size/flare all my brass with it, and reprime with my RCBS hand primer while sitting in my recliner in front of the TV. Only then do I set up the press and dropper for final loading. Not the best situation, but it is what it is.

So, you have a full auto rifle in .223? That must have set you back a good buck or two... how long did the paperwork take to come through? You said rifles, what other automatic rifles do you own?

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Wby
I only load 10 of each combination bullet & powder until I get a real good load then load about 100 at a time for practicing my shooting skills.

I read on some of your other posts, that you're 17and getting into reloading with your Dad. Its great that you're enthused about it and found this forum. I'd suggest you tell everyone that upfront in your posts. You'll get a lot of great insight here. I'd also suggest that you study the reloading manuals as much as you can.

Good luck

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I'd like to agree with you BUT

Typically 50.

I also voted 100 and sometimes more like 200 pistol rounds or maybe 40 to 50 rifle rounds. Like to keep the stockpile growing a bit instead of shrinking and as a result, last evening went to the reloading table to mess around and looked in the ammo cabinet and shook my head at the amount of loaded rounds in a dozen different calibers and thought that might be just about right.

500 an hour on a Turret press????. You must be in a different time warp or zone

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Still Running Against the Wind

I have always used single stage presses, of which I have two set up on the bench. Most of my reloading is handgun ammunition. I like to set up one press for one operation (sizing, etc), then run 500 rounds through that stage. Then on to the next stage. I seat primers with a handheld priming tool (adjustable and very consistent). Crimping is done as a separate operation, rather than crimping during the bullet seating stage (much more uniform results). I have a dozen loading blocks to use while charging from the powder measure.

Usually work in sessions of about one to two hours at a time over the course of several days. Overall, I average about 4 to 5 hours to load 500 rounds of .38, 9mm, .44, .45, etc.

Rifle ammunition I do the same basic way, but working in 100-round lots. A bit more time consuming because I decap, then resize, then expand (using the Lyman M-dies, very good results), prime, charge, seat and then crimp (if necessary). Other than .30-06 for my M1 rifles (for which I load large lots when I need them) most of my hunting rifles are seldom fired more than 40 or 50 rounds per year, so a 100-round batch keeps them going for a long time.

Nothing against the progressive loading machines (if they'd been around when I started reloading 42 years ago I would probably have scrimped and saved to buy one). This is just the method that I worked out many years ago and never found any strong reason to change.

When developing a load; 2 magazines or cylinders full for my handguns. My single shots; 25-30. My 1911s 50-100. My 9mms 100. My M1 100.

200 since I have 4 50 round cartridge trays.

I load in batches of 300, and have been known to do 1500 in a day, but that's the exception, not the rule. I can do about 300 an hour starting with primed/prepped brass, but rifle cases naturally take longer.

Opps, voted 50 before I read your restriction to pistol and semi auto rifle.

To be honest, I only use the single stage press for feeding bolt action rifles and occasional load development work. For all handgun and auto feeders, it's just entirely two slow a process for me.
I use a turret for those needs.

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Dave

No sorry on that I ment semiauto that would suck to reload for on a single stage press because I would have an itchy trigger finger if it was full auto

Thanks I will remember to do that and I do read the two manuals that we have like bibles and I am very open to any insight. we are just about set up on the main stuff needed but just waiting on the tumbler so I can start

I load 50 round batch's but them may do 4 or 5 batch's one right after another.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I do 500 at a time for all of my pistol calibers except for 500mag.I do one step at a time to all the cases.

case prep is 90% of the work. cleaning/tumbling, cutting to length if needed, uniforming flash holes (I do it on pistol rounds too), cleaning primer pockets and the inside of the brass also, chamfering the case mouths, sizing, belling. I do this to ALL my brass then lube it with one shot, until I am ready to take the final steps of adding the primer, powder and bullet, the easy part.

.38, .357, .44, 100 at a time.

9mm, .45acp, 500-1000

.223, 100-200

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

I'll normally completely prepare the brass over a number of sittings. Tumble, remove and clean making sure flash hole is not blocked, Trim if needed, and bell the pistol brass. Do this at night while watching the boob tube.

Come loading time it is 100% concentration. No distractions. Prime complete batch, then load one soldier at a time. Drop charge, weigh, charge case and seat bullet. Once all cases are assembled I will then go back and crimp, either taper or roll, the entire batch.

Slow as molasses. Once loading starts takes a couple of hours for 50. Sometimes do 100. Call me a kook. Done it this way for 30 plus years. Never had an issue. Not changing now.

On pistol I usually size all I have empty. Then prime in batches of 100-500. Charging and seating bullets usually in lots of 50-100.

I voted 100 but typically load 200 handgun rounds at a time. I do my brass in batches. After cleaning I'll size/de-cap about 500 then some time later I'll flair the case mouth. When I'm ready I'll prime and load about 200.

For rifle I'll do 100 round batches (if I can find bullets)

50 or 100 based upon time available. Never more than that in one session.

I voted for 500. Single stage batch processing is what I use. I have 10 loading blocks for charging the powder if need be. Pretty time consuming. Then several years ago I joined a nice shooting club and began shooting more. A forum friend asked me, "do you shoot to reload or do you reload to shoot". Then I bought my Dillon 550. I am set up on the Dillon for 38 special, 357 mag, 9mm, & 45 acp. I don'
t own a semi rifle but that might change in the near future. So I will have to get that into the Dillon. The rest of the stuff I shoot will be handled by my Rockchucker batch processed in smaller quantities. I probably will say the heck with that when I am setting there wishing I was shooting instead of reloading and get the dies & shell plates for the Dillon.

It does kinda Vary


All on 3 lee pro 1000 presses.. 9mm... .357.... .223

Ill do about 50ish .223 in a sitting of 15 minutes or so
Then maybe do 100-130 9mm with Full Progressive and Bullet feeder in about 20-25minutes maybe less.. never really timed it
then maybe pop out a few .357 Mag loads... 20 or so

I try and shoot 2x a week.... and shoot about the following each trip
9mm.... 100
.357... 24-30
.223... 100-160
.22......150-400

Reloading is a lot of fun... specialy testing new STUFFS....


Like Others, I will prep my Brass in stages and Groups
Clean handgun... then de-prime to Bullet in one sitting
.223 in Multiple groups...Clean.... De-prime and size.... Clean again... Trim if Needed... debur and chamfer if needed... Then Load

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--Stav--

I prep a lot more than I load ,but I only drop powder & boolits on 50 at a time , take a break & do it again.

I have loaded 1K like this on a cold Satuday

& I keep my brass sized & trimmed , ready for primer/powder/projectile.

I marked 100, but I don't normally do them in batches. I keep my high volume brass in coffee cans (i.e. 9mm, 45acp, 30 carbine, 223.) In the winter, when the weather is bad, I'll prep cases when I'm bored, and store the primed cases together. When all my brass of a certain caliber is prepped, I'll load until I get tired, put everything up, and quit for the time being. This might be at 50 or 300 rounds depending on my mood.

For high power rifle rounds, I'll usually load 20 at a time. For revolver rounds, usually either 50 or 100 at a time. These are stored in ammo boxes.

For load development, I'll usually load 5 at a time.

I usually shoot 100 rounds per weekly range session and reload them with a Lee single-stage press and two Frankford Arsenal loading blocks. My all-time high was 661 rounds reloaded one Sunday. My usual routine is to tumble all the brass while I'm cleaning my weapon, immediately after returning from the range. Then when time permits I'll reload.

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"Liberty or Death"

I really can't answer this question as asked. I rarely load rifle ammo all in one session. I tumble the brass and store it in a plastic coffee can with a top. Then I'll process the brass, resize, trim and chanfer, clean the primer pockets. I then store it again until I need that caliber. The next step is fairly quick, hand prime, charge powder, seat bullet.

I usually load rifle ammo in 3 or 4 steps but very rarely all in 1 session.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I still relatively new to it and I prep all the handgun brass I have when I get ready for that caliber.

Man, I really need to focus on getting a Dillon 1050. How much time I will save!

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

Same here, as I load for a wide variety of calibers with a lot of variation of bullets and powder charges within each caliber at one time. What I do most of the time is to prep all of my empty cases, regardless of amount or caliber. This way all my brass is cleaned, sized, decapped,belled and most cases primed. The exception is calibers using powders that require either a magnum or standard primer. Priming is done by hand, many times while watching T.V. with the wife. Since I generally keep far enough ahead on ammo, I don't load it as I actually need it, but load it when that type starts to get low and when I have the time. Some days I take lots of young folk or females to the range and we shoot more low velocity ammo, some days it's the opposite. I have several hundred or thousand rounds of each sittin' on the shelf waitin' to go. With brass ready on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I may charge and seat pills in 500 rounds of various handgun ammo. On a night after work before/after supper I may do 20 rifle and 50 handgun. While I may start and stop steps like sizing, decapping and priming, I always charge, seat and crimp whatever batch I started at one time. I average about 500-600 rounds a month.....sometimes this is done in two afternoons, sometimes it's over ten evenings. I can do 50 .357 or .44 rounds in the time it takes me to do 20 .460 or .32 Special rounds, so it's hard to put a "rounds per hour" or "rounds per session" on me and my press. I look at reloading much like sex. It's hard to have both quantity and quality. It's also something I don't like to do in a hurry or within a time frame. When I get to do it, I like to take my time and enjoy it....and no, I don't have a smoke when I'm finished.

I load 200 - 300 in batches. First size usually 300 cases. Later de-primeand bell them. I use a RCBS hand seater to re-prime all the cases. When I'm ready to load, I fill the cases with a RCBS Lil Dandy powder measure 50 at a time and then seat and crimp the bullets. It doesn't seem to take such a long time if I do it in batches.

Charlie

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SWCA # 2294

My single stage press, the 1st press I purchased in 1970, is mostly used for load development. therefor I voted for 50 rds. I usually stick to reloading10-20 rds.

If I am going to match where fine accuracy in really needed/required I will load those rounds on the single stage, weighting each powder charge, checking OAL, run out on each cartridge. ETC.

My Lyman star-t is set up for small batches and the Dillon 650's and 550 is used for volume loading for my handguns and plinking rounds for my AR .223's.

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Semper FI

Usually 300-500 in a session doing 100 at a time.

I start with prepped brass that has been previously tumbled, resized and deprimed. Loading sessions begin with priming all of the cases I plan to load during the session. As previously mentioned, I expand/charge 100 pieces then visually inspect for overcharged/undercharged loads before seating the bullets. To finish a full 500 rounds takes 3 hours or so...

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"Shall not be infringed"

I haven't loaded any rifle cartridges in a long time. Handguns-- I usually prep maybe 100 cases or so in a batch. I'll size/deprime, expand, & then prime with a handheld priming tool. Generally I have a batch or two of primed cases ready for loading. When loading, I'll usually do 50 or 100 in a session. Charge & seat in one operation, then crimp in another. I use a single-stage RCBS Reloader Special press and have for many many years-- I never saw the need for a turret or progressive set-up. Too much going on at once, and too much oportunity for something to go haywire- at least for me to be comfortable with.

I reload about 250 to 300 rounds at a time, but I do it in stages with my single press. deprime and resize all cases in step one, prime and expand necks in step 2 and powder charge and seat in final step. Usually I do this on 3 separate evenings.

Do you mean "One press" or "Single stage press?"

I load in batches. I'll save 450-500 cases, which is about the max for my tumbler. Tumble then resize. That's a days work. Next weekend prime and flare. Next weekend load 250, weekend after that load 250. I'm not grinding through the whole 500 at one time from dirty case to loaded round.

I usually prime and size all at once. Next time I can load 2-300 easily on a Sunday. It sort of breaks it up for me.

With me it is either;
1. Test loads
2. Final Test load
3. Target loads.
4. High Velocity loads.
5. Hunting loads
6. Low recoil target/hunting loads

and the time of year, temp, weather and if near hunting season all play a part in how many rounds I crank out.

"Family time" will also up the work load when they want to go out and pop a few "Caps" of what ever.

I have lots of pistol boxes, rifle boxes and also boxes that hold 100 rounds as well as 50 Cal. ammo boxes............. just depends, could be just six, 5 round finals or getting ready to
do some serious "Vermin" hunting which calls for a minimum of 400 center fire rounds.