Need 1st press advice, what do you suggest?

[BRush]

Keep it simple to start. RCBS Jr. if you are reloading pistol and shorter rifle cartridges, Rockchucker otherwise. Hornady dies. JMO.

I bought my Jr. more than 35 years ago and used it exclusively until I bought a Dillion 550B about 10 years ago.

The more experience you get, the more preferences you will develop. Now I mostly use my Jr. for resizing and primer removal. RCBS bench primer tool for primer seating and Harrell's Compact Presses set up with the seating and crimping dies, respectively. I like control and simplicity. The Harrell's are light and strong, but expensive. I now use the Dillion only when I'm in a hurry but that is not often now.

 

[rwsmith]

Look at this...

Midway has a guide that tells it all.

MidwayUSA ? Shooting Supplies, Reloading, Gunsmithing, Hunting, Ammunition, Gun Parts & Rifle Scopes

A turret press is not a high step in complexity to a single stage, but allows different dies mounted on a plate to be rotated into place.

That said, the RCBS Rockchucker single stage is a fine machine.

 

[shovelwrench]

I'll put my vote in on a LEE 4-hole turret....

Either variety will load about anything you want. Remove the indexing rod and they are a single stage press till you get the hang of things/dies set up.

Production wise, they'll do 200+ an hour even for a novice.

Both the standard, and classic turret are tough to beat, especially when considering cost.

 

[15Krounds]

Again, thanks everyone for the advice. I think the Lee 4 hole turret is the way to go. Only $111. I'll be able to set up individual turrets for a whole bunch of calibers and come in way less than the Dillon. For the amount I reload, the 4 hole turret should work plenty fast enough. Money left over for a decent case trimmer and scale to boot.

Again. Thanks all for sharing your experience and advice.

 

[Bkreutz]

Again, thanks everyone for the advice. I think the Lee 4 hole turret is the way to go. Only $111. I'll be able to set up individual turrets for a whole bunch of calibers and come in way less than the Dillon. For the amount I reload, the 4 hole turret should work plenty fast enough. Money left over for a decent case trimmer and scale to boot.

Again. Thanks all for sharing your experience and advice.

Hard to go wrong with that choice. Even if your needs change in the future you'll still find a use for the Lee. I have a 3 hole turret (they didn't make a 4 hole when I bought it, so it was a long time ago ) I load thousands of 9mm a month but the Lee is still bolted to the bench for other calibers. In the picture below you can just see the top of it in the lower right corner.

 

[15Krounds]

Okay, now for the fun part. What are the most useful additional accessories to add with the press. I think I'm going to set up two turrets to start, one for .223 and one for .40 S&W. Also, it looks like the auto disk powder measure would be good to get.

What about the primer feeder? Any further advice on the add-ons would be great. What do you have to go with your Lee 4 hole turret? Do I need a hand de-primer? Which case trimmer do you like?

Thanks again!

 

[ageingstudent]

Again, thanks everyone for the advice. I think the Lee 4 hole turret is the way to go. Only $111. I'll be able to set up individual turrets for a whole bunch of calibers and come in way less than the Dillon. For the amount I reload, the 4 hole turret should work plenty fast enough. Money left over for a decent case trimmer and scale to boot.

Again. Thanks all for sharing your experience and advice.

I think you will not regret that choice at all with the amount you shoot. It will give you a ton of flexibility. Lots of guys here use them and feel free to PM me with any questions when you get set up

 

[fredj338]

Th LCT is a good choice for the lower volume reloader. Get th adjustable lee powder measure, fixed measures, with pistol Pedro's, just too limiting. A really good scale is a must. The Dillon beam is best bang or the $$. For the $$, this case trimmer.
http://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/wft.html
If you are loading mil spec brass in the 223, a primer pocket reamer or swager. You will need a bullet puller at some point, any of the inertia type, cheap & work well.

 

[LostintheOzone]

If you were starting off fresh again, what would you do?

By a manual and figure out what powder I wanted to use. Then I would start looking for powder. When I found it I would buy at least 8 lbs for every cartridge I wanted to load. When I had that secured I would by a press and everything else I need. It doesn't matter which press, I haven't heard of any bad ones lately and they seem to be plentiful.

Equipment isn't going to be a problem. Powder is.

 

[ageingstudent]

Okay, now for the fun part. What are the most useful additional accessories to add with the press. I think I'm going to set up two turrets to start, one for .223 and one for .40 S&W. Also, it looks like the auto disk powder measure would be good to get.

What about the primer feeder? Any further advice on the add-ons would be great. What do you have to go with your Lee 4 hole turret? Do I need a hand de-primer? Which case trimmer do you like?

Thanks again!

I actually de-cap and prime on the press. I haven't had any issues with primer seating. I believe this is because my bench is solid and tremendously heavy. If your bench is not solid you might have issues feeling the primers seat and might need the hand primer. I have a RCBS trim pro that works well for me. I have never used another trimmer so I can't judge against others. The primer feed that came with my LCT seems to work fine. There is a bunch of youtube videos for this press and reloading you should look a few up.

The auto disk PM works okay...I use it for 45 acp and 40 S&W and 500 S&w but it is somewhat limited for the precision rifle loading I do. I use a perfect powder measure and trickle for my 22-250. I do not have experience with .223. It's higher volume shooting if it is an AR so it might be more like loading for pistols. A trickler is a good idea.

I got a LCT kit so it came with a scale--i don't care for the scale. I do find it useful for checking against my Hornady scale and weighing other stuff.

Get the carbide pistol dies.

 

[ageingstudent]

And another thought...since you are getting a classic turret it would be a good idea to get the lee manual 2nd edition. It has a whole chapter on Lee presses. Manuals are expensive but I have picked up 4 good ones in the last month at a used bookstore we have here called Powell's Bookstore. I got them all for less than 10 bucks each. You can look them up online if you don't have a similar bookstore near you. I got the latest Cartridges of the World for 7 bucks there last weekend. You can't have too many good manuals.

 

[Clovishound]

I use an auto disc pro on my turret. Works well. I use the pre drilled disks. I have found that with any of the powders I use, I can get one of the holes to come close enough to my ideal weight. I had issues with inconsistency using the adjustable charge bar.

If you wish to use the auto disc with .223, you will need to get a rifle powder drop die, and a double disc kit. The other option is to use a stand alone powder measure and load powder off the press. That's what I do. I had a perfect powder measure already, so I just batch process deprime/size then prime and pull the cases and batch load the powder, then back to the press to seat and crimp.

In handgun calibers the on press powder throwing makes things go much quicker. I prime on press as well. I just use the on press system and hand load a primer into the cup. I made a thin shallow bowl on the lathe to make it easy to pick up a single primer. The safety prime system to facilitate this operation on the lathe looks awkward to me. I might like it if I tried it, but haven't so far.

 

[pmhayden]

There are as many different ways to get into reloading as there are shooters. It does not really matter whether you get a Dillon or a Rockchucker for a first press. Just start. The rest will work itself out. It is far more important to learn the steps of reloading, safety habits, and the little details that make you a craftsman, someday. You can learn them on any reliable press from a good manufacturer. But go slow. Get a mentor. The most important thing is to learn good habits and skills. People tend to tell others to learn they same way they, themselves, did. But its not about the press.

 

[ggibson511960]

Forester Coax Deserves a Look

If you predominantly load rifle, and are fussy about quality, less so about speed, then a Forester Coax deserves a look. The dies float laterally to guarantee a centered, runout-free round. The de-priming and priming system is superior to any "C" press, and the clever shellholder mechanism eliminates the need for separate shellholders. The Coax shellholder is an advantage for odd calibers or brass with varying rim thickness. If you really get fussy about primer seating, the Forester bench mounted tool is the best I have ever used, and I've been through a bunch of RCBS and Lee variants. Coax presses are more expensive, but are a thing of engineering beauty to operate, with a loyal following. They are slower, but for me this is a hobby for the intrinsic fun and satisfaction of turning out quality rounds, not competitive speed reloading.

 

[fredj338]

They are slower, but for me this is a hobby for the intrinsic fun and satisfaction of turning out quality rounds, not competitive speed reloading.

Good Progressives are not just about speed but less work. If you shoot a lot, any single stage is drudgery for high volume. 600rds of handgun ammo a month is 1800 handle pulls on a ss press or 603 pulls on a progressive, 3x less work. Nothing wrong with a good ss press, but if you shoot a Lot, they are a lot more work. You can go fast or slow on a progressive, a ss press has one speed.

 

[novalty]

If you are still looking at the RCBS Summit, Cabelas has the red, white, and blue one for $149 as well, but you can easily find a promo code for $20 off orders over $100.

 

[RussellD]

That red, white and blue just looks good.

 

[smokindog]

Midsouth has the LNL-AP for $379 with FREE shipping!

 

[johnnymg]

I started with a ss press, but if starting today, I would jump into a Dillon 550B. Use it as an inverted turret, loading one round at a time thru all the processes. Then later if you need to, like loading a lot of 223 or 40, then use it as a progressive. This will save you $$ in the long run because you'll only buy once.
As noted, it comes down to volume. If you only loaded for a bolt gun or magnum rev, a ss press may be fine. Any semi auto will eat 100rds in short order & that will take you about 75min on a ss press. On a 550B, about 15min.

I totally agree with this post. Can't go wrong with a Dillon 550 as a first press. However, if you plan on shooting a LOT of 40 (5K+ per year) you should consider a 650 with a case feeder.

Been there-done-that with Red stuff and sooooooo happy to now be using big Blue.

cheers
JohnG

 

[fredj338]

I totally agree with this post. Can't go wrong with a Dillon 550 as a first press. However, if you plan on shooting a LOT of 40 (5K+ per year) you should consider a 650 with a case feeder.

Been there-done-that with Red stuff and sooooooo happy to now be using big Blue.

cheers
JohnG

I load on both but unless you are needing 1k rd + a week, the 550 is plenty of press. Just coasting, a 550 will get you 400rds/hr. So on a 550, a whopping 12hrs for 5k rds or 1hr a month?!?
I have a 650 because I wanted one, not because I needed one. I shoot about 600rds a month of one caliber, easily done on the 550 in 90min at the bench. If I had to sell one press, it would be my 650, not my 550.