Starting to reload...

[Maryland_Shooter]

midway has some deals but so does sinclair grafs and midsouth depending on what you want to get look around, loading tools midway is probably your best bet, but when it come to getting bullets and stuff grafs and midsouth shooters has some really good deals, if you spend a couple of bucks and do some paperwork to get your C&R FFL you can get even better deals, my first order I made to midway after getting my FFL paid for my license from the savings you get from having it.

Excellent observation and advice. I have a dealer account at Grafs, so you can pay them and have it sent to you. A Hornady LNL AP was $369 last I checked IIRC.

[normanvin]

I started with a rcbs pro2000. the kit came with everything but the dies and shell holder. It is a progressive press. I later added a few single stage presses that I found at yard sales and flea markets.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/63290-1.html

[lethal93ta]

I started with a hornady LNL AP, I knew I was planning to load for my ARs and they can eat the ammo up. when I started to load I only loaded 1 bullet at a time for a little while till I learned what all to watch for. loading with a progressive isnt that bad and much faster. I finally bought a giraud trimmer with my tax return this year and I will say its the best thing I ever bought for reloading. I use to dread trimming brass. now everyone comes to me to trim there brass for them since Ive been buying a lot of diffrent caliber inserts for the trimmer. I dont have the case feeder on mine but its on my wishlist to get one and I can load 4-500 rounds easy in an hour. loading the primers into the tube takes about longer than anything on the press.

[Maryland_Shooter]

I started with a hornady LNL AP, I knew I was planning to load for my ARs and they can eat the ammo up. when I started to load I only loaded 1 bullet at a time for a little while till I learned what all to watch for. loading with a progressive isnt that bad and much faster. I finally bought a giraud trimmer with my tax return this year and I will say its the best thing I ever bought for reloading. I use to dread trimming brass. now everyone comes to me to trim there brass for them since Ive been buying a lot of diffrent caliber inserts for the trimmer. I dont have the case feeder on mine but its on my wishlist to get one and I can load 4-500 rounds easy in an hour. loading the primers into the tube takes about longer than anything on the press.

Yes - the trimmer is the best reloading tool ever made IMHO.

Poster who has the RCBS - be advised it is a manual index, so not a true progressive IMHO.

RCBS Press at Midways USA

[normanvin]

Yes - the trimmer is the best reloading tool ever made IMHO.

Poster who has the RCBS - be advised it is a manual index, so not a true progressive IMHO.

RCBS Press at Midways USA

Yeah I knew that. Still a good press. A yar ago I picked up a 12 gauge press that is very similar.

[max384]

Did you decide on anything yet?

I definitely recommend starting on a single stage or turret setup. It is tedious and time consuming, but it will make you a better reloader and if/when you decide to step up to a progressive, you'll be much better prepared to more quickly and accurately diagnose problems when they occur. A reloading mistake can be VERY costly. I think a slow rate of loading is a very acceptable trade-off for correctly loaded rounds and the knowledge and experience that will be earned. It is very easy to miss a step when something goes wrong on a progressive (and this will happen quite frequently).

Lastly, once you've loaded many rounds on a SSP/turret, there is nothing that can describe the satisfaction of those first few rounds nearly effortlessly falling into the catch bin on a progressive.

[RobW]

Howdy,

You've listed three pistol and three (two) rifle cartridges - would you be inclined to start with all of them in your reloading setup? When mixing rifle and pistol (to a point) and small and large primers (definite) the ease of changing between caliber setups is a big deal. A press with easily interchangeable components will save you a lot of frustration in the long run. Another option is to buy more than one press - which can actually be cheaper if you are not loading in volume (1000's versus 100's) and therefore don't need a high-end progressive.

I tend to shoot rifles for accuracy and pistols for volume, so I own multiple presses. I bought all of mine used and most for a real bargain. If you shop around e-bay it's a no-brainer.

As a few other posters have mentioned, the accessories can make or break your process - case trimmer, hand primer, electronic scale with dispenser are all must haves for me when loading for rifles. When you add in the cost of dies and the real precision stuff (concentricity tools, case neck guage, it goes on forever) the cost of the press is almost irrelevant.

For pistols, once you get everything tweaked you can crank out straightwalled cases in quantity on pretty much any progressive. I prefer at least four-hole turrets for handgun reloading so I can separate seating and crimping operations. I suffered for years and 10's of thousands of reloads with Lee Pro 1000's and priming off the press - you can make it work, but I wouldn't recommend it!

[Plain Old Bill]

By, you're not all that far away from Allentown. If you'd like, would be happy to show you what's involved in both single-stage and progressive reloading. About a dozen from PFOA have done so, and I think they're all happily reloading now....

[Maryland_Shooter]

Yeah - except for me. Now they call me lefty

[Maryland_Shooter]

I started with a rcbs pro2000. the kit came with everything but the dies and shell holder. It is a progressive press. I later added a few single stage presses that I found at yard sales and flea markets.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/63290-1.html

OK - two things I noticed:

1.) As he explained the stations, he missed the part about priming. he did include it when he stepped through the stages with a single case.

2.) IMHO, when you have to manually index, it is not a pure progressive press.

Were I to look at progressive presses, manual indexes would not make the cut. This and a Dillon 550B require manual indexing.

Can this press work with a case feeder?

I found the case feeder to be a huge plus in reducing the handling of cases, which always slows you down.

Just my 2 cents folks