newb questions

[stanmondz]

im looking at presses.iv never reloaded before,but want to start.
ill be loading .40s&w and .380acp.
from what iv found,ill need a bulge buster for .40(not glock).
iv seen that .40 bullets come in .400 or .401.will both work in my sd40ve?

as far a the press,im looking at the lee anniversy kit,classic turret and pro 1000 progressive.
would i be better off with the single stage or just jump into the progressive?
i think the bulge busting might be easier on a single stage.
also thinking about casting my own bullets,so id have to size them once cast.

how important is a factory crimp die?the pro 1000 is only 3 position.is the bullet seat/crimp die not good enough?

 

[novalty]

I would advise against the Lee Pro1000 as being your first press.

Here is a link to a post I created that should help with your research on reloading.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/406473-so-youre-thinking-about-getting-into-reloading.html

Both the .400 and .401" bullets will work in your SDVE. Generally, cast bullets are going to need larger diameters to prevent leading.

For information on casting your own bullets you will want to check out the Castboolits forum. Having access to lead is going to be a large determining factor in getting into casting your own.

 

[venomballistics]

presses ... no, do not get the pro 1000 till you know fully what you are doing and have tools to compensate for its shortcomings.
in fact ... don't do a Lee progressive, get a Dillon and save yourself some pain.

the anniversary kit is a good deal.
Lee seems to have put some thought into this kit and included everything you will need immediately and a fair amount of what you will need eventually.
theres no law saying you can only have one press either ... don't forget that.

bullet diameters ...
well you seem to have picked up on that which indicates that your half way paying attention ... but not quite full attention.
you will find that your .400 is going to be a jacketed bullet and the .401s will be some flavor of non jacketed lead.
It would likely be in your best interest to go with jacketed out of the gate.
This move takes a lot of drama out of the learning curve.
loading lead is a little nuanced. Not to mention when you say lead, you could mean ... cast, swaged, plated swaged, coated swaged or cast and even the coatings break down into PC and HT, with a few more obscure variants.

Don't play in that sand box till after you've closed your eyes and yanked the trigger a few times on your first run of reloads.

calibers.
I'd put the 380 on the back burner for a while.
the pistols built around it tend to be small, finicky critters without a whole lot of margin for error. Also, powder charges are kinda small, meaning a .2 grain variation means a whole lot more in a 380 than it does in a 40. You can botch that much from looking at your scale with the incorrect scowl, or sneer.
start with the 40 and learn a thing or five about the process and your equipment first, and you should be fine

 

[mikld]

I'd suggest a bit more research before you buy. The ABCs of Reloading, The Lyman 49th Edition Reloading Handbook, and the Hornady Reloading manual are all good places to start. The ABCs will show how to reload and give you a good idea of the equipment is best for you..

Most folks are better off, in the long run, by starting with a single stage press learning what each step does, how to adjust for that step and why it's done. You'd be learning how to reload ammo more so than learning how to operate a reloading machine. Many, many reloaders are very Product Loyal that the only manufacturer they can recommend is what they use personally, so research done by you is best.

Bulge buster? Depends on where you get your brass. If your gun has a "supported" chamber, then your brass won't bulge. If you buy/find range brass, without knowing if it was shot in a Glock, then you may need that die. And if you learn to properly adjust your dies, a Lee FCD is not needed...

Go slow, double check everything, and most important, have fun...

 

[Clovishound]

I think the Lee classic turret is a decent starting press. I would recommend pulling the auto index rod and using it as a single stage, until you get some experience under your belt. I dipped my toes in the reloading pool with a loaned Lee handloader, the nutcracker version, not the whack a mole. I upgraded to the classic turret and have no plans to upgrade again at current usage. I currently load 9mm, .38 spcl, and .223. In continuous mode, the turret will load faster, and with less duplication of effort than a single stage, but still give you easier oversight of important details. Progressives have an awful lot happening at once. It's manageable, but easier to miss an error. I'm sure it can sometimes be frustrating getting everything working together properly.

I loaded a bunch of 9mm without the FCD. Ended up getting one, and use it now. I haven't noticed much difference other than it easier to adjust the seating and crimping in separate operations. I'm sure I ended up getting some 9s that had been run through a Glock. I never had a moments problem with any I loaded without the FCD. I run my 9s through a Ruger SR9c. It has been very forgiving of reloads. My buddy used to hand me reloads of his that wouldn't run through his G19. The Ruger ate them up and asked for more.

I would advise getting the 4 die set for the .40. If you need the FCD, you will have it. If you don't, you won't have spent much extra for it.

 

[rsrocket1]

If you are thinking of starting out with a single stage kit, I would recommend the Lee Breechlock Challenger kit instead of the Anniversary kit. Why, the BLC kit has a hand primer rather than the "Pez dispenser" primer. You can still seat primers on the press (by picking up a primer one at a time with your fingers) with the BLC kit, but you can also prime your shells away from the press with the hand primer.

Of course, that was when the BLC kits were priced within a few dollars of each other. Now that there is a nearly $50 difference, you could buy the Anniversary kit, a hand primer and the full set of primer shell holders for the same price as the BLC kit.

My first press was the Hornady LnL AP. However I did buy a used Challenger kit for $75 and learned on that press for 3 intensive weeks before moving up to the progressive. The single stage is still in use for rifle loading, load development, cast bullet sizing and fixing any problem rounds that come off the progressive line.

 

[fredj338]

Read, study before you buy anything. Lee makes some ok gear, but their progressives suck, blunt but true. A Lee classic turret is actually a better tool if you want to go cheap.
No, you don't need a special sizing die for 40, pure myth for most brass. I've been loading 40 since the first 4006 came out, never needed or used one. You also don't need a lfcd. Another Lee marketing ploy. Set your dies up right, you'll never need the problematic lfcd.
Yes you can use 0.400" jacketed bullets. If you use plated or coated lead, use 0.401".

 

[Rule3]

I like LEE stuff but their progressive is not on the list. Stay away.

The CLASSIC Turret is a good press to start with and stay with if you do not need mass quantities of ammo.

I have said it many many times. Determine how much ammo and calibers you really need and how much you can afford to spend,

If you need a few hundred rounds a month than a single stage or the LEE Turret is a good deal. If you need thousands than a progressive. If you need a lot of calibers than the extras will cost you a lot more than the press with the higher end progressive press.

I still think folks should learn on a single stage (the LEE Turret is also a single stage) rather than diving into a progressive, Others disagree. The expense of the LEE will not break the bank and if you want to then get a faster better press then keep the Lee or sell it.

The Blue Kool Aid Force is strong here beware

This is a good kit, throw away the scale and get a better one.
http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/78...-turret-press-deluxe-kit?cm_vc=ProductFinding

This is a great single stage with no junk. Just buy dies

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/93...r-single-stage-press-kit?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Another excellent single stage press kit with all good equipment.

http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/74...c-single-stage-press-kit?cm_vc=ProductFinding

 

[Decker]

I'll (try to) keep it short and give simple reasons for what I say.

First of all, START with a single-stage press.
I would put the RCBS Rockchucker or the Hornady Classic equally at the top of the list.

Now here's the reasons why, and in my personal suggested order of importance:

1. You are just starting out. The press itself is really a small part of the whole reloading "experience".
You will be learning a lot about additional equipment you will need/want, and you are better off learning the process with a single-stage so that you can control the process and not let it get the better of you. A progressive has you learning and doing lots of things at the same time, and reloading isn't something to do while you are distracted fiddling with the many moving parts of a progressive trying to make it work.

2. Starting with a single-stage means that you can start sort of "cheap" in the big scheme of things.
It's very possible that you quickly become either bored with it or impatient with it and wish you had never gotten into it.
Why dump more money into something that you really aren't committed to yet?

3. And this is sort of a big reason even though it's listed third...
You ARE going to want a single-stage press even after you start loading with a progressive.
When I bought my Hornady LnL Progressive, I almost gave away my Rockchucker to a friend, but I immediately realized that there are several things that the single-stage will do better and more efficiently, and the single-stage makes a great "partner" for your progressive.
With my Rockchucker, I still load small experimental batches that aren't worth the time to set up on the LnL.
The small frame of the Rockchucker handles doing some Bulge Busting with ease, something that would be quite clumsy on the progressive.
The Rockchucker is used exclusively for decapping military .223 in preparation for swaging and tumbling the brass.
Other stuff too, but those are the highlights.

4. Related to #1 above, you will probably learn from others as you go, and you will vacillate back and forth between all the opinions you will get (you will be inundated by the "Blue Army" who will treat you like garbage if you don't buy a Dillon), so you will slowly form you own opinions about things to buy next and methods you use along the way.

Those are why I think anyone just getting into reloading should start with a single-stage.
I shopped for months before I decided on the Hornady LnL Progressive, so I did a lot of research after having loaded on my Rockchucker for over 30 years.

Now it's time for you to make your own path, but the first step of a long journey is a first step, and the first stage of beginning a long and interesting lifetime of reloading, I think, should start with a single-stage.

Whatever you do, make sure you have fun along the way.

 

[scooter123]

First, regarding your question on bullet diameters. If you use some 4 place micrometers you'll find that the difference between a "0.400" and "0.401" diameter bullet is normally less than 0.0002 inch. Yeah, 2/10,000 inch, it's a matter of whether 0.4017 was rounded up or down. BTW, that's the actual average diameter of a variety of 40 caliber bullets I've measured.

Progressive versus single stage. I shoot about 200 rounds per week and don't have any problem keeping up with my shooting using a single stage press. IMO if you only shoot once per week get a single stage and spend the money you save on components. Note, with a powder that meters well enough to allow me to "throw and go" with my powder measure I can load 100 rounds per hour without rushing at all.

Crimping.

Some powders really need a good firm crimp to function well. One of these is H110, a Magnum Revolver powder. In addition the longer cases typical to revolver ammunition buckles easily, so a combined Seat/Crimp setup has to be absolutely perfect and cases trimmed to length to avoid buckling a case. So, ALL of my revolver ammunition has the bullet seated in a seperate stage from crimping with a Lee Factory Crimp Die. All of my Rifle ammunition is also seated and crimped in separate stages.

For my Semi Auto (40 and 45 ACP) ammunition I use a combined seat and crimp when loading with plated bullets. When I'm loading with Speer Gold Dots or Hornady XTP bullets I separate the seat and crimp stages because I've found that a combined setup will result in copper rings on the bullets shaved from the jacketing. As for why the difference, the only explanation I can come up is that the copper plating on the inexpensive plated bullets is actually HARDER than the jacketing on premium hollow point bullets. Most likely because it's not good if a premium SD bullet fragments on impact so the makers temper the jacketing to make it more ductile.

So, combining seating anc crimping really depends on what caliber you are loading and what bullet you are loading with. Note, some may not care about shooting rings of shaved copper downrange and some may have never looked. Lesson here is to take a good close looked at any initial samples of what ever you are loading to make sure a problem doesn't slip past a cursory look.

Overall length of the assembled ammunition. First, you don't have to hold your length to an exact value, a variation of as much as +/- 0.015 inch is acceptable in most cases. Second, you will find a variety of overall lengths for a particular weight bullet depending on who published the data. Sometimes you'll even find two different lengths for the exact same bullet in two different load manuals. When that happens I'll load to the longer length and edge it down towards the shorter length if I have feed or powder fouling issues. Just don't use a length under the shortest listed length unless you have done a lot of testing and saw no sign of over pressure indications.

Finally, you will see what appears to be conflicting data in various load manuals. In some cases one load manuals starting charge may be larger than another load manuals starting charge. When I see something like this I'll start testing at the lowest value and work my load up until I find the where the minimum reliable charge level and then the most accurate charge level. If I don't need a tack driver I'll use that minimum reliable charge level simply so I can stretch my powder further. IF I want a tack driver I'll load to the most accurate charge level. Note, I can't think of one single case where I ever found a need to load to the maximum listed powder charge, funtion usually becomes reliable somewhere in the 5 to 30% range and most accurate seems to take place somewhere between 30 and 65%.

Bulge busting. Forget what you have read about needing to Bulge Bust the 40 caliber. If you have a first generation Glock in 40 caliber you may need to do some bulge busting. If you have almost any other 40 caliber semi auto you'll need to do some shooting and measuring to determine if you really need to Bulge Bust your cases. I load for Sig Sauer and Springfield Amory 40 calibers and have NEVER had to run any of my cases through a Bulge Buster. I also purchase once fired cases at gun shows on occasion and in a guessed 500-600 cases I've had to Bulge Bust perhaps 5 to 10 cases. Quite simply "glocked" 40 caliber cases is way way overblown.

 

[southsgt]

Go Blue and never look back

My first chioce would be a Dillon, my 2nd - Dillon, 3rd choice Dillon. See where I'm going with this?

 

[OKFC05]

im looking at the lee anniversy kit,classic turret and pro 1000 progressive.

As others have said, the Lee pregressives are the worst press they have made, but the LEE CLASSIC TURRET is the best.
And about the advice to get a single stage for pistol loading, well, the LEE CLASSIC TURRET is a SINGLE STAGE if you pull the rotation pin, which is handy for learning, and just drop the pin back in, and IT ROTATES.
I have two Dillons, which are first class, but I still keep the Lee turret set up for trying a new load, a box of .270 for hunting season, etc.
Advice from people here is good, but a mentor or an NRA loading class is golden! Nothing like an experienced eye over your shoulder first time out.

 

[Murdock]

Interesting thread.

Full disclosure: I now own and run a Dillon 650.

My first press was a Lee pro 1000. I was on a very tight budget when I bought it. On it I have loaded over 32,000 rounds of .45 ACP, and another 1-2K of .44 Spl. It has always been cranky, twitchy, bitchy, but once I learned its personality it was mostly OK. Mostly. It more than paid for itself over the 20 years I used it. Lee stuff is really very clever, when you think about how it's designed.

I now load all of my .38 Spl & Mag plus .44 Spl & Mag on my Lee turret press, which I got after the Pro 1000 maybe 22 years ago. The attraction of the Turret is that it is easy to change calibers by swapping out the whole turret and powder measure as a unit. I cannot make the semi-progressive feature on the turret press work reliably (it does not index consistently), so I advance it manually, one stage each 50 rounds. A good basic press.

Ultimately the progressive press is the answer for the serious pistolero. By the time the Lee Pro 1000 wore to the point that it needed a rebuild, my financial status had improved dramatically, so I retired the Lee Pro 1000 and the Dillon was a no-brainer. The Dillon too has a personality and requires a measure of patience, and honestly it's faster than the Lee 1000, but at least in my hands not (yet) light-years ahead of the Lee as some would attest.

You can't go wrong with the Lee Turret. You will learn a lot using it, and if 100-200 rounds at a time is enough to fill your needs it will satisfy. You will always have a use for it, even after you get a progressive.

Go with a good progressive later when you need/want 1-2K rounds at a time.

An unintentional double charge of pistol powder or squib load is very bad juju, so develop a routine that checks for that. Buy a bullet puller to check or correct mistakes.

Stay safe. NEVER FORCE ANYTHING. An unexplained increase in needed effort is always a signal that something is wrong.

Like with shooting, slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

 

[fredj338]

Once again, progressives are not all about volume but less physical work. Any progressive will give you one rd with one pull of the handle, 75% less work if you seat & crimp separately. Even if you only load 500rds a month, that is a lot less work. Why I feel something like the 550 is a great press for new or exp reloaders. Go fast go slow, you are still doing 66-75% less work.

 

[bananaman]

Classic Turret Press works fine for me! I load .38, 9mm, .40S&W, 45ACP, & 45Colt. Never had problems. I do not plan going to anything else. I do buy the 4 die sets, and get a die plate for each caliber, for faster change over. Bob

 

[Johnnn01]

I thought about a single station press to start, but I started with a
RCBS pro 2000 progressive and could not be happier with the decision.
I separated the seat and crimp to separate stations,
way more control over the seat and crimp when they are separate.
I do not own a bulge buster.

One pull on the handle and you get one bullet.

I only load 40 S&W so everything is set, very easy to make rounds,
all that I do is check the powder drop a few times (that never seems to change)
and check the overall length (that never seems to change),
and make a box or two, or three