Suggestion on press

View · by **mccandmatt** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:40 am

New to reloading, been doing it for about 4 months now, but I bought a Lee turret press (cheap) and a little rcbs single press for deprime/misc and thinking of upgrading,. I like the turret style, but not sure a progressive press is really what I should use right now being a newb. Been looking around and to be honest it's a bit overwhelming (which is good, makes it interesting). RCBS has a turret press kit that looks promising http://www.midwayusa.com/product/256779/rcbs-turret-press-deluxe-kit.

Any input is greatly appreciated, I kinda jumped into this and absolutely love it, great stress relief

Also is it me or is the Lee balance scale rather crappy lol

View · by **Seismic Sam** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:32 am

I'm using a Lyman 6 hole cast iron turret press, and have been very satisfied with it. And yes, the Lee scale is very "sensitive", as they prefer to put it. If you're having to weigh every load, waiting for the beam to quit swinging can be a pain. I prefer a Redding Master beam balance, where you know after the 2nd or 3rd swing whether the load is dead nuts on or not.

View · by **45Badger** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:20 am

What calibers are you reloading? What do you plan to do in the future? Some presses are great for one thing, not so much other things. Some presses are good at many things, but great at none. For accurate rifle work, I prefer a single stage press. For plinking rifle ammo (mostly .223) and pistol. I prefer a progressive.

View · by **yuppiejr** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:01 am

The Dillon Eliminator 3 - poise 500 gr scale is a GIANT upgrade over the Lee scale and was suggested to me by John at Gunstop.. best $50 I've spent on reloading so far.

I run the Lee Turret press as well but am considering a higher quality single stage press to reload .308 and 30/30 so I'll be sitting back and stealing the good advice thrown your way.

View · by **mccandmatt** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:05 am

45Badger wrote:What calibers are you reloading? What do you plan to do in the future? Some presses are great for one thing, not so much other things. Some presses are good at many things, but great at none. For accurate rifle work, I prefer a single stage press. For plinking rifle ammo (mostly .223) and pistol. I prefer a progressive.

I currently reload 9mm, .45, .327, and .223. I plan to do more, my thought is I reload what I own, so when i buy a new caliber gun, I buy a die set for it.

View · by **mccandmatt** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:07 am

Seismic Sam wrote:I'm using a Lyman 6 hole cast iron turret press, and have been very satisfied with it. And yes, the Lee scale is very "sensitive", as they prefer to put it. If you're having to weigh every load, waiting for the beam to quit swinging can be a pain. I prefer a Redding Master beam balance, where you know after the 2nd or 3rd swing whether the load is dead nuts on or not.

Yeah that damn Lee scale just rocks away, quite annoying. So I been using a small electronic scale that I have come to realize is very inaccurate and tends to skip weight (easiest way to describe it)

View · by **rugersol** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 8:45 am

If ya believe yer ready to "upgrade" from a Lee Turret, the correct answer is "progressive" ... "progressive".

Using yer Lee, ya put one case in the shellholder, and pull the lever 3 'er 4 times ... then ya pick the shell back outta the shellholder ... right?

Using a progressive, if ya want, put one case in the shellplate, and pull the lever 5 times ('less it's a 4-hole press, 'course) ... the completed cartridge is automatically ejected from the shellplate (so rather than movin' yer hand to pick it out, ya jest go straight fer a new case, to put in).

Once yer comfortable with what yer doin', ya can put a new case into the shellplate after every pull of the lever (this will change absolutely nothing, except the rate at which completed cartridges are ejected from the plate).

Used to be, ya could get a $75 off $400 coupon from Cabela's, and be in/out fer under $350 with a Hornady LNL-AP ... maybe even a set of dies, too. Ain't seen any of them coupons in 'bout a year, now.

I believe Hornady still sends ya 500 free XTP's, if ya buy the press ... so it's still a good deal! I believe the Dillon 550 runs 'bout the same price ... but the shellplate don't index automatically with the lever-pull (like yer Lee, and the Hornady does) ... so ya'd hafta give it a little bump, after every pull. Not the end of the world ... but when ya get to where it's a bit annoying havin' to reach fer a new case, and a new bullet, after every pull ... havin' one more thing to do, ain't great. Otherwise, yer lookin' at a Dillon 650 ... I believe that's 'nother $100 'er $200.

If ya really want 'nother turret, I'd get the Lyman ... best bang fer the buck ... RCBS is way overrated.

Good luck!

edit: I was gonna give a link to the Jennings JSVG40 ... but then they got a bunch of these fer $38 (only a max of 155gr ... so I wouldn't weigh bullets with it) ... as ya already be a balance, I believe ya'd be a lot happier with one of these

edit: almost forgot, these scales come with ****ty little plastic pans (not made fer gunpowder) ... ya'll want a nice aluminum pan

edit: I was gonna go ahead 'n order one of the gempro's ... did my standard google check ... found this ... http://www.amazon.com/My-Weigh-GemPro-50-Jewelry/dp/B004DKKL16 ... $35.19 + free shipping ... funny thing is, Amazon says it's sold by, and shipped from, Old Will Knot (the place in my first link)

View · by **45Badger** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:14 am

I stuck with the 550Bs to keep away from auto indexing. I can easily/leisurely crank out 400-450 rounds of pistol ammunition per hour (good enough for me). If I have a fubar, I like being able to "stop the presses" at any point in the stroke to correct it. Possibly a non-issue for most, but my first progressive was a POS Lee Pro-1000 and it caused me all sorts of grief.

View · by **mccandmatt** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:51 pm

thanks all for the assistance, anyone looking to get rid of a progressive press or good turret (Hornady, RCBS etc) let me know, I can put up an AK47 for trade.

View · by **JoeH** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:12 pm

Dillon 550b. You can thank me later.

You can change tool heads to quickly change between calipers on the same press. I find it simple to setup and run. The only thing that takes a little time is changing the powder as I only run one powder measure and a beam scale. I like the beam scale but having one powder measure for 9 and one for 45 already mounted on the tool head would be slick.

I prefer Lee dies. They are easier to adjust than the Dillon or RCBS dies I've tried.

View · by **DanM** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:50 pm

JoeH wrote:Dillon 500b. You can thank me later.

There is an AT500 turret, and an RL550B progressive but what is a Dillon 500B?

View · by **JoeH** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:23 pm

RL550B is what I meant.

View · by **b727capt** on Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:33 pm

I use a Hornady LNL progressive. I mostly reload handgun cartriges 9, 40, 38sp, 45. I use a powder thru expander to open up a station for powder checking. I use the RCBS lockout die. I can load a hundred rounds in 9 to 12 minutes once the primers are loaded in the tube. I have friends with Dillons and I prefer my Hornady, but its mostly personal preference. Dillon makes a good press also. Change over is very quick with the Hornady bushings. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to change calibers if I don't have to change primer sizes. I would highly recommend a progressive if you are going to reload a lot.

View · by **mccandmatt** on Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:22 am

b727capt wrote:I use a Hornady LNL progressive. I mostly reload handgun cartriges 9, 40, 38sp, 45. I use a powder thru expander to open up a station for powder checking. I use the RCBS lockout die. I can load a hundred rounds in 9 to 12 minutes once the primers are loaded in the tube. I have friends with Dillons and I prefer my Hornady, but its mostly personal preference. Dillon makes a good press also. Change over is very quick with the Hornady bushings. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to change calibers if I don't have to change primer sizes. I would highly recommend a progressive if you are going to reload a lot.

Yeah I was looking long and hard at the Hornady LNL today, I think it will be one I go with.

View · by **rugersol** on Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:55 am

b727capt wrote:It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to change calibers if I don't have to change primer sizes.

You must be reusing the same powder-measure ... emptying it, cleaning it, and filling it with another powder ... then adjusting, dropping, and weighing powder until you get to the .1gr ya like?

I have multiple powder-measures ... with the LNL meters ... I pick the one with the powder I want, swap in the meter ... that takes about 2 - 3 minutes (including walking a couple steps to where I keep 'em all ... topping off the powder ... and starting the first case through, so I can swap the meter ... add another 1 - 2 minutes for a "test weigh") ... add about 30 seconds to swap dies ... and maybe a minute to swap the shellplate.