Reloading equipment recommendations

[desdem12]

I was thinking of going to a lee turret but not sure. Do they work good?

[Junk Yard Dog]

All the Lee presses work fine, single stage is best for the beginner, the turret press is a progressive model, better once you have some experience reloading.

[mosinjunkie]

A progressive press has multiple operations going on at once for every stroke of the lever. There are three or four rounds in the process at a time, one round being deprimed and sized, one being primed, one being charged, one having a bullet set, crimped, etc., all at the same time. That's a lot to set up and keep up with. (and a lot more places for a beginner to make a serious error.)

The turret press only does one operation per stroke. One pull of the lever decaps/sizes, prime on the up stroke, the next stroke flares/charges, and the next stroke sets a bullet/crimps. It's slower than the progressive, but a whole lot simpler to set up and operate.

The only weak link in the Lee turret is the little plastic ratchet piece. A lot of people forget, and try to turn the turret by hand while the lever is up, and doing that will break that part. It's cheap enough to replace though.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Lee has always been pretty good when it comes to parts and service, all the company's are, at least the American ones, I can't say for the Chinese made stuff they have coming out now. Check on eBay, you can sometimes pick up a good deal on a used press.

[kommie178]

I got the incredibly cheap lee classic loader that isnt actually a press. Its 30ish bucks and is all done with a rubber mallet. It sounds rather crazy but its actually next to impossible to hurt yourself/expload anything with it. Its just realllllly labour intensive to make rounds but the whole 30 dollar start up cost rocks.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I have several of them for different calibers, they work well.

[Dragunov sniper 777]

i too would recommend a lee loader to start out with , its cheap and some of the most accurate handloads ever have come from a lee loader , i sold some of mine to a friend that i wish i had back .

[Ironnewt]

I've used Dillon, Star, Lyman, RCBS, Lee and Redding equipment. I've seen a guy reload while at the range using "hand" tools. I'm not even to deal with shotgun stuff as that is another kettle of fish. Some stuff is built better than others and some stuff is more expensive than others. All of it works. Some works better than others. No one says you have to use all Big RED or Brand BLUE, or even Grade GREEN. My suggestion is make a friend of someone who already reloads. Find out what you need to load 100 rounds of ammunition on his equipment. (100 empty brass, 100 primers, enough powder and 100 bullets) If He doesn't have your caliber dies, you will have to get them. GET A RELOADING MANUAL. load up a starter load of about 20 and try them out. The whole idea is to make a SAFE, accurate, economical cartridge. If you only get one use of your brass, you might as well use factory. If you end up with 14" groups at 100 yards, you might as well use factory. If your gun blows up, you might as..........................You get the idea.

[bunkysdad]

Most of my equipment is Lee. I have several Lee single stage presses, and unless you want to load a lot in order to shoot a lot of handgun rounds, a progressive press will not get a chance to show it's strengths: kicking out large quantities of ammo in a short time. I have NEVER heard anyone say a bad thing about a RCBS powder measure till now. I have a Uniflow powder measure by RCBS and I love it. I you are interested in Lee you will likely find most of good stuff online, even Cabelas.com has more than in the store. However, the best 2 places that I have found for Lee is the Outlet store, called Factory Sales, and their new name is FS reloading, locatted at www.fsreloading.com. The second place is Graf and Sons. They are only slightly more than Factory Sales and they typically have the best shipping rates, actually free, with only a five dollar handling fee. They are a one stop shopping palce because they also carry all of the components you will need. good luck outgrowing Lee equipment. Just reading the Lee handbook of reloading will tell you all about their equipment, how to reload, ballistics, casting bullets, and etc..........
You will save money. Reloading cannot be compared to surplus ammo. Nothing is really cheaper than surplus. It is typically better, and gets cheaper after the first time. Reusing brass lowers the cost. As you get into it, you learn tricks that help you get more miles out of your brass, trimming it to proper length, neck sizing only, and that sort of thing. Just get started, keep it simple, and don't be intimidated.
Cliff, Both of those kits you showed are excellent, but with that electronic scale, and the fact that it is already 100.00 cheaper, looks like the best bang for your buck. I bet you can get yourself the Lee kit of your choice, dies, powder, primers, brass, and bullets for half of that amount. When you go to buy powder and bullets, you need to already have your recipe so you don't end up with components that don't match up to your load manual. Those Lee complete package kits are a great price at www.fsreloading.com
all the best, Russell

[Ironnewt]

My buddy that started me into reloading has been "cleaning" up his shop and called me up yesterday. He wanted to know if I was interested in a RCBS Jr 2 or a Lee "O" Press. Both are single stage, one die at a time presses. Both use standard 7/8-14 dies. They are both "older" presses. They both WORK GREAT! I'm going to figure out the best one to use based on the shell holders I have and where it will fit on my bench.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I have a new in the box RCBS Jr and a Lee Classic cast, both are O style presses and very good ones. The RCBS is not quite a baby Rock Chucker, but close, the Rock Chucker is just bigger, and built heavier. eBay is a good place to hunt for used gear, you can pick up some bargains.

[bunkysdad]

I love hand me down reloading stuff. Both good ones. Can you get both?

[Junk Yard Dog]

Kari found me that RCBS in that honey hole gun shop he used to go to. Scale, and measure were with it, all in original boxes. It's perfect for small stuff like the .30 carbine.

[lonewolf]

i use dillon it is the best and will last you a life time no problems it is high end but it is worth it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irC3NuIK ... plpp_video

[Ironnewt]

I was having problems loading some .45 ACP's on my Dillon 550B . I could not figure out what was wrong....... .......so I called my loading buddy up and we started checking this and that and we figured out that my large primer bar was a bit worn. I was shocked as it's only 15 years old and I've loaded oodles and oodles of .45's on it. Called up Mr Dillon and explained my problem. He asked for my customer number and by the time I got it out he said...."Do you still live at 123 XYZ Street?" I told him I did and then he said "Your parts will be in the mail this afternoon" I asked him "Don't you need a credit card # to pay for this?" and he reminded me of Dillon's "Lifetime No B.S. Warranty" No Charge!

[desdem12]

[Junk Yard Dog]

Dillon has always been pretty good about dealing with any warranty issues, all the reloading company's are, RCBS, Lee, Lyman, Hornady .