Progressive reloading setup for two calibers for $1000

[gun_fan111]

Hi everybody, I am excited about my new reloading setup and decided to share the details with all of you. My goal was to get a progressive setup for $1000 that will load 9mm and 45ACP. Please feel free to comment on my choices or anything I am still missing - I am good with constructive criticism.

Couple of additional things to mention:
- First off I would like to Thank all of you that have answered my questions over the past couple of months. Your responses are greatly approciated!
- Of great help to me were also older posts on this forum with a complete list of items needed to get started.

At the heart of the setup is the Hornady LnL AP and some training materials:
- Hornady LNL AP Press ($391 CTD)
- Lyman 49th Edition Reloading Handbook ($20 Amazon)
- 9 MM Reloading Book ($7 Cabelas)
- 45 ACP Reloading Book ($7 Cabelas)

Required accessories that I purchased are:
- RCBS Primer Flipping Tray ($8 Amazon)
- Frankford Arsenal Electronic Dial Calipers ($20 Amazon)
- Frankford Arsenal Reloading Scale ($29 Amazon)
- Frankford Arsenal Impact Bullet Puller ($17 Amazon)
- Hornady Dry Lube (for cleaning off press & dies) ($12 Amazon)
- Hornady Powder Funnel .22 to .45 ($3 Midsouth)

Optional accessories I was able to fit into my budget are:
- RCBS Lock Out Die ($47 Midsouth)
- extra Hornady Die Lock Ring (two of them) ($6 Midsouth)
- extra Hornady Die Bushings 10 pack ($41 Midsouth)
- Hornady Light Strip ($13 Midsouth)
- Hornady Powder Drain Insert ($10 Midsouth)
- Hornady Deluxe Die Wrench ($15 CTD)
- Straight Extra Fine Point Tweezers ($2 Amazon)

Setup I decided to try is: size/deprime, powder/expand, powder check, seat bullet, crimp the case.
 
For the 9mm setup, I purchased:
- 9 MM - Hornady Shell Plate #8 ($30 Midsouth)
- 9 MM - Hornady Crimp Die Set ($44 Midsouth)
- 9 MM - Hornady Crimp Die ($17 Midsouth)
- 9 MM - Hornady Powder Through Expender (PTX) ($8 Midsouth)
- 9 MM - Lyman Catrridge Gauge ($13 Amazon)

For the 45ACP setup, I purchased:
- 45 ACP - Hornady Shell Plate #45 ($38 Midsouth)
- 45 ACP - Hornady Crimp Die Set ($44 Midsouth)
- 45 ACP - Hornady Crimp Die ($23 Amazon)
- 45 ACP - Hornady Powder Through Expender (PTX) ($8 Midsouth)
- 45 ACP - Lyman Catrridge Gauge ($12 Amazon)

I also fit some items into the budget to speed up caliber conversions to 45ACP:
- 45 ACP - Hornady Pistol Metering Insert ($9 Midsouth)
- 45 ACP - Hornady Case Activated Powder Die* ($21 Midsouth)
- 45 ACP - Hornady Powder Measure Stop ($6 Midsouth)

For cleaning the brass, I lucked out as a good friend gave me a nice present:
- Hornady Tumbler ($0 gift)
- Media Separator ($0 gift)
- 5 gallon bucket ($0 re-purposed)
- Frankford Arsenal Corn Cob Media 7 lbs ($20 Amazon)
- Dillon Case Shine ($9 Gunstop)
- Electric Timer (0.5, 3, and 6 hour settings) ($10 Amazon)

Another $65 went to shipping and tax, which could have been less if I had more patience.

[grousemaster]

FYI, Lee dies come with shell holder....save a few bucks....

[gun_fan111]

FYI, Lee dies come with shell holder....save a few bucks....

Wouldn't it be kind of hard to use a shell holder on the progressive press?

[rugersol]

FYI, Lee dies come with shell holder....save a few bucks....

Wouldn't it be kind of hard to use a shell holder on the progressive press?

it would be most difficult, indeed!

[grousemaster]

FYI, Lee dies come with shell holder....save a few bucks....

Wouldn't it be kind of hard to use a shell holder on the progressive press?

it would be most difficult, indeed!

Not at all, you epoxy the shell holders on the shell plates!!!

[gun_fan111]

Not at all, you epoxy the shell holders on the shell plates!!!

One gallon of epoxy - that is what I have forgotten to buy! Should come in handy to seat primers into loose pockets as well

[20mm]

Make it $1600... You'll thank me.

http://www.buffaloarms.com/hornady_ammo ... x?CAT=4050

[rugersol]

I might hafta try one of them bullet-feeders! ... sounds like they got the bullet-die workin, now?!


with the brass I sift thru now, I can't imagine what kinda hell a case-feeder'd put me thru?!

[Seismic Sam]

Well, I'll register my usual mantra, which is that you're obviously starting out in the deep end of the pool with a high end progressive reloading setup, and have read ONE reloading manual, and those two little pamphlets with 9mm and 45 loads don't count for diddly squat as far as LEARING about reloading. So you do NOT have background of starting with a Lee whack-a-mole kit, and repetitively performing every little action thousands of times, and learning that you have to check EVERY step because it's all manual, and getting used to checking everything on every load. Same if you started on a single stage press or a turret press, where you have to do every action in steps, and keep track of every round you load.

Nope, you're going to get a wonderful new machine that is going to take care of most of that for you!!! WRONG!! DEAD WRONG!! (possibly literally Dead wrong!!) You are spending a $1000 for something that is going to screw up ammo at 10 times the speed of a single station press, and with 4 rounds moving at once, you simply do NOT have the background to check everything all the time, and this machine is not going to be easy to learn checking every round as it's processed. If I had enough money to just waste it with idle bets, I'd bet you $100 right here and right now you can't make it through a full year without a squib or kaboom winding up in your finished ammo. I think the odds are probably 5:1 in my favor from what I've seen in the past, so this is a sucker bet on my part.

At the very least you need a tutor to help you shake down the equipment and give you Benny Hill head slaps when you miss stuff, because there's no such thing starting out as perfect, so call Oldman and learn from him. FIRST!!

Oh, and one manual doesn't cut it for somebody who is going high end progressive, so get the Hornady #9 and the Nosler #7, and RTFM, and I mean READ it like it was the first one you ever saw!! You'll know you're doing it right when you can pick up the subtle differences between the Lyman, Hornady, and Nosler information, and if all three look the same to you, then you weren't paying attention, and were just glossing over it so you could play with your shiny new toy sooner.

So: You're setting yourself up for a very predictable failure somewhere some where down the line, if you don't show an OCD level of behavior to check and make every round is RIGHT from the day you start. Yes, that means loading 1/5th of the ammo that a pro could load with this machine, but you either pay in time up front to be safe, or you can pay for 2 or 3 Dillon 1050's at the ER down the line somewhere. God help you if you walk away in one piece and somebody else gets hurt, because THAT will haunt you the rest of your life.

Be safe, study hard, check EVERYTHING on EVERY station for a few THOUSAND rounds at least, and nobody including me is infallible.

[grousemaster]

Well, I'll register my usual mantra, which is that you're obviously starting out in the deep end of the pool with a high end progressive reloading setup, and have read ONE reloading manual, and those two little pamphlets with 9mm and 45 loads don't count for diddly squat as far as LEARING about reloading. So you do NOT have background of starting with a Lee whack-a-mole kit, and repetitively performing every little action thousands of times, and learning that you have to check EVERY step because it's all manual, and getting used to checking everything on every load. Same if you started on a single stage press or a turret press, where you have to do every action in steps, and keep track of every round you load.

Nope, you're going to get a wonderful new machine that is going to take care of most of that for you!!! WRONG!! DEAD WRONG!! (possibly literally Dead wrong!!) You are spending a $1000 for something that is going to screw up ammo at 10 times the speed of a single station press, and with 4 rounds moving at once, you simply do NOT have the background to check everything all the time, and this machine is not going to be easy to learn checking every round as it's processed. If I had enough money to just waste it with idle bets, I'd bet you $100 right here and right now you can't make it through a full year without a squib or kaboom winding up in your finished ammo. I think the odds are probably 5:1 in my favor from what I've seen in the past, so this is a sucker bet on my part.

At the very least you need a tutor to help you shake down the equipment and give you Benny Hill head slaps when you miss stuff, because there's no such thing starting out as perfect, so call Oldman and learn from him. FIRST!!

Oh, and one manual doesn't cut it for somebody who is going high end progressive, so get the Hornady #9 and the Nosler #7, and RTFM, and I mean READ it like it was the first one you ever saw!! You'll know you're doing it right when you can pick up the subtle differences between the Lyman, Hornady, and Nosler information, and if all three look the same to you, then you weren't paying attention, and were just glossing over it so you could play with your shiny new toy sooner.

So: You're setting yourself up for a very predictable failure somewhere some where down the line, if you don't show an OCD level of behavior to check and make every round is RIGHT from the day you start. Yes, that means loading 1/5th of the ammo that a pro could load with this machine, but you either pay in time up front to be safe, or you can pay for 2 or 3 Dillon 1050's at the ER down the line somewhere. God help you if you walk away in one piece and somebody else gets hurt, because THAT will haunt you the rest of your life.

Be safe, study hard, check EVERYTHING on EVERY station for a few THOUSAND rounds at least, and nobody including me is infallible.

That's why I decided to start with a turret. Keep it somewhat simple and babysit EVERY round as it is made, that means visually checking powder levels and stopping every so often to audit my charge weight and OAL. I got to the range yesterday, and tried my first ever reloads out of the 1911....it was difficult to shoot in my hockey gloves and helmet with face mask....but they all went bang and hit the target. I should have started doing this years ago. After a couple years of reloading, I'll get a progressive...but right now the turret is plenty fast for my needs. Any powder recommendations for 10mm? Using unique for .45ACP right now

[Erud]

Well, I'll register my usual mantra, which is that you're obviously starting out in the deep end of the pool with a high end progressive reloading setup, and have read ONE reloading manual, and those two little pamphlets with 9mm and 45 loads don't count for diddly squat as far as LEARING about reloading. So you do NOT have background of starting with a Lee whack-a-mole kit, and repetitively performing every little action thousands of times, and learning that you have to check EVERY step because it's all manual, and getting used to checking everything on every load. Same if you started on a single stage press or a turret press, where you have to do every action in steps, and keep track of every round you load.

Nope, you're going to get a wonderful new machine that is going to take care of most of that for you!!! WRONG!! DEAD WRONG!! (possibly literally Dead wrong!!) You are spending a $1000 for something that is going to screw up ammo at 10 times the speed of a single station press, and with 4 rounds moving at once, you simply do NOT have the background to check everything all the time, and this machine is not going to be easy to learn checking every round as it's processed. If I had enough money to just waste it with idle bets, I'd bet you $100 right here and right now you can't make it through a full year without a squib or kaboom winding up in your finished ammo. I think the odds are probably 5:1 in my favor from what I've seen in the past, so this is a sucker bet on my part.

At the very least you need a tutor to help you shake down the equipment and give you Benny Hill head slaps when you miss stuff, because there's no such thing starting out as perfect, so call Oldman and learn from him. FIRST!!

Oh, and one manual doesn't cut it for somebody who is going high end progressive, so get the Hornady #9 and the Nosler #7, and RTFM, and I mean READ it like it was the first one you ever saw!! You'll know you're doing it right when you can pick up the subtle differences between the Lyman, Hornady, and Nosler information, and if all three look the same to you, then you weren't paying attention, and were just glossing over it so you could play with your shiny new toy sooner.

So: You're setting yourself up for a very predictable failure somewhere some where down the line, if you don't show an OCD level of behavior to check and make every round is RIGHT from the day you start. Yes, that means loading 1/5th of the ammo that a pro could load with this machine, but you either pay in time up front to be safe, or you can pay for 2 or 3 Dillon 1050's at the ER down the line somewhere. God help you if you walk away in one piece and somebody else gets hurt, because THAT will haunt you the rest of your life.

Be safe, study hard, check EVERYTHING on EVERY station for a few THOUSAND rounds at least, and nobody including me is infallible.

My advice is to go ahead and ignore everything except for the last sentence of the above post. Don't even read anything else in it. No matter how much he knows about reloading, you'll never be able to wade through the mountains of BS - stories about "nOOb Sandwiches", trolls living under bridges, R-ing the FM, almost being killed(not really) by some noob with a .44 Magnum revolver who was too stupid for words, and how he visits people in hospitals with non-reloading related injuries that should somehow scare you into not reloading. Every once in a while he'll even go so far as to post a picture of a pool of blood on a firing line somewhere that was not even the result of reloading at all.

His last sentence is sound advice though.

Reloading is not that complicated. It is inherently somewhat dangerous, so you need to make sure you understand everything you are doing at all times. If you find yourself doing something you don't understand or doesn't seem right, don't do it. Find out what the problem is first. There are lots of experienced reloaders that can help you, and none are as irritating or delusional as Seismic Sam, so you can just avoid him altogether if you choose. Lots of people have started reloading with a progressive press and have lived to tell about it. If you are a reasonably intelligent human being, you can do it. I'm sure you have already mastered many other complicated and/or difficult tasks in your lifetime.

Be careful and work slow. You'll be fine.

Good luck,
Erik

[RJWesleyIII]

Well, I'll register my usual mantra, which is that you're obviously starting out in the deep end of the pool with a high end progressive reloading setup, and have read ONE reloading manual, and those two little pamphlets with 9mm and 45 loads don't count for diddly squat as far as LEARING about reloading. So you do NOT have background of starting with a Lee whack-a-mole kit, and repetitively performing every little action thousands of times, and learning that you have to check EVERY step because it's all manual, and getting used to checking everything on every load. Same if you started on a single stage press or a turret press, where you have to do every action in steps, and keep track of every round you load.

Nope, you're going to get a wonderful new machine that is going to take care of most of that for you!!! WRONG!! DEAD WRONG!! (possibly literally Dead wrong!!) You are spending a $1000 for something that is going to screw up ammo at 10 times the speed of a single station press, and with 4 rounds moving at once, you simply do NOT have the background to check everything all the time, and this machine is not going to be easy to learn checking every round as it's processed. If I had enough money to just waste it with idle bets, I'd bet you $100 right here and right now you can't make it through a full year without a squib or kaboom winding up in your finished ammo. I think the odds are probably 5:1 in my favor from what I've seen in the past, so this is a sucker bet on my part.

At the very least you need a tutor to help you shake down the equipment and give you Benny Hill head slaps when you miss stuff, because there's no such thing starting out as perfect, so call Oldman and learn from him. FIRST!!

Oh, and one manual doesn't cut it for somebody who is going high end progressive, so get the Hornady #9 and the Nosler #7, and RTFM, and I mean READ it like it was the first one you ever saw!! You'll know you're doing it right when you can pick up the subtle differences between the Lyman, Hornady, and Nosler information, and if all three look the same to you, then you weren't paying attention, and were just glossing over it so you could play with your shiny new toy sooner.

So: You're setting yourself up for a very predictable failure somewhere some where down the line, if you don't show an OCD level of behavior to check and make every round is RIGHT from the day you start. Yes, that means loading 1/5th of the ammo that a pro could load with this machine, but you either pay in time up front to be safe, or you can pay for 2 or 3 Dillon 1050's at the ER down the line somewhere. God help you if you walk away in one piece and somebody else gets hurt, because THAT will haunt you the rest of your life.

Be safe, study hard, check EVERYTHING on EVERY station for a few THOUSAND rounds at least, and nobody including me is infallible.

That's why I decided to start with a turret. Keep it somewhat simple and babysit EVERY round as it is made, that means visually checking powder levels and stopping every so often to audit my charge weight and OAL. I got to the range yesterday, and tried my first ever reloads out of the 1911....it was difficult to shoot in my hockey gloves and helmet with face mask....but they all went bang and hit the target. I should have started doing this years ago. After a couple years of reloading, I'll get a progressive...but right now the turret is plenty fast for my needs. Any powder recommendations for 10mm? Using unique for .45ACP right now

I use power pistol for my 10mm. Works great. I actually use it for 9mm, .40, .45auto and .45 gap as well.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[gun_fan111]

Sam, thank you for the scalding - l've been on the forum for almost a year and was starting to think that you chose to ignore my existence

On the serious note, I am new to reloading but waited for a year before buying my own setup. During the last year I have loaded with a very experienced friend and asked a LOT of questions. I am also planning to run my first few batches one station at a time to make sure both me and my new equipment can deliver consistent results. Starting slow is also why I did not go for the case and bullet feeders right away - those things can wait a few years.

Thanks for the constructive part of your post! I definitely need to buy more reading materials for the long winter.

[67camaro]

I might hafta try one of them bullet-feeders! ... sounds like they got the bullet-die workin, now?!


with the brass I sift thru now, I can't imagine what kinda hell a case-feeder'd put me thru?!

I have had nothing but trouble with mine using plated bullets apparently you have to use FMJs, but I gave up on it. But then again you may have more patience than I do.

[rugersol]

I might hafta try one of them bullet-feeders! ... sounds like they got the bullet-die workin, now?!


with the brass I sift thru now, I can't imagine what kinda hell a case-feeder'd put me thru?!

... then again you may have more patience than I do.

doubtful! ... thanks fer the heads-up!