WHICH LOADING PRESS ??

[snyder1941]

OPIONS OF LOADING BUSH 450 WITH A LEE LOADMASTER . IF NG THEN WHICH LEE PRESS WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE . I WILL BE LOADING FOR 223 , 45 , AND 9MM AS WELL BUT MY PRIMARY CONCERN IS THE 450 . I HAVE NOT LOADED AS YET AND HAVE NO EXPERIENCE EXCEPT WHAT I READ AND I HAVE NO EQUIPMENT YET . THANKS

[pitted bore]

snyder1941-
There are at least a couple of threads on this forum that address your question:

• New Guy Looking for a Place to Start
• Okay... ready to start reloading for the Hornady 250 FTX Pay particular attention to the post by "Jim in Houston" starting 1/18/11, and the follow up posts.

Opinions on starting out with a progressive presss like the Loadmaster will vary. To increase the value of advice offered, you can help the forum participants by explaining why you're considering a press designed to crank out a high volume of reloads.

(And, unless your computer is malfunctioning or there is some other good reason, turn off the caps-lock key please. It makes for hard reading.)

--Bob

[lucasphi20]

OPIONS OF LOADING BUSH 450 WITH A LEE LOADMASTER . IF NG THEN WHICH LEE PRESS WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE . I WILL BE LOADING FOR 223 , 45 , AND 9MM AS WELL BUT MY PRIMARY CONCERN IS THE 450 . I HAVE NOT LOADED AS YET AND HAVE NO EXPERIENCE EXCEPT WHAT I READ AND I HAVE NO EQUIPMENT YET . THANKS

Oh no! You opened that can of worms, now we'll get a chain of which loader is the best, almost as bad as a chain of "the best hunting or pistol caliber."
If you are starting to reload I would start with a single stage or turret press. I think the Lee "reloader press" is a real nice press and the "C" style gives a lot more hand clearance versus the "O" style presses. Plus as you start reloading you will learn what you like and eventually get more equipment, better off starting simple and cheaper. In addition a progressive is not really great for rounds such as the 450 as you have to case prep and lube. With the progressive each pull does a step and there is no easy way to remove the brass to clean off the lube, trim, chamfer, etc. A progressive would work well with the 45ACP and 9MM assuming fresh or trimmed brass and using carbide dies. Also go to Midwayusa.com and search the Loadmaster. I was real surprised to read all of the negative feedback on the Lee Loadmaster, I have a lot of Lee equipment and love it. I was planning on buying the Loadmaster until I read the reviews, maybe someone out there has a different opinion? I am still wondering which progressive press to buy.

If I was you and starting to load; I would buy the following: Lee single stage "reloader press kit" (kit is press plus Lee manual), Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure and double disk kit, (in my opinion the best piece of equipment you can buy to make plinker/target round quickly. I find it is consistently accurate to .1 grains and unless I am making max charge hunting rounds I always use this. I've even created a quad-disk setup and modified the Lee universal charging die to work with the 450BM), rifle charging die (to charge the .223 with the Pro Auto-Disk), Lee Deluxe (4 piece) carbide 45ACP and 9MM dies, Lee Deluxe .223 rifle die, Lee .223 factory crimp die, Hornady 450BM die set (Hornady doesn't provide the shell holder, but if you get the Lee 45ACP dies it comes with the #2 shellholder that works for the 450BM), RCBS Hand Priming tool (uses the standard shellholder vs Lee which requires a special one), Lee Chamfer tool, Lee cutter and lock stud, Lee case length gauge for each caliber, Lee pocket primer cleaner, Lee powder funnel, digital scale (I like the RCBS rangemaster 750, accurate and not expensive. A lot of people may say go with a manual scale, but I find they take so long and I like getting the result immediately.), a good digital caliper, Lee case lube, loading trays (I recommend the caliber specific Frankford Arsenal at midwayusa.com). Phewww, that should do it I think, though I’m probably forgetting something. I hope this helps.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Single stage press is my preference for rifle cartridges. I have been using a RCBS Rock Chucker since 1984 and it still "Rocks".

[BayouBob]

There are probably a lot of folks who have started loading with a progressive press but I am with Lucas; start with a single stage press. Reloading is a pretty straightforward process but there is still a lot to learn and you want to take it step by step. When you use a progressive press everything is happening at once and if you aren't familiar with the process you may not realize something didn't go right until you have a failure to fire or a worse incident like a double charge. Unless you are going to shoot pistol match or 3 gun match you can do all the loading you want with a single stage press. I have loaded for 50 years with a single stage press and am still happy. A friend gave me a very nice Dillon progressive several years ago but I found I just didn't shoot the volume to justify it.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

About the only time I wished I had a progressive press is when I am doing my handgun cartridges. But for my rifle loading adventures, I would still use a single stage press like my Rock Chucker. I bought it USED in 1984 and it's still just as solid as it was when I got it. I am even considering another single stage Rock Chucker so that I can get idle hands off the Playstation 3 controller and in my gun room decapping/resizing brass while I use my other press for loading. Gotta keep these young'uns productive.

[mnhornet]

I started with the Lee Turret press kit, it came with a lot of the stuff you need. You can run it single stage, or auto index for pistol ammo. It has been a decent setup, but I still wish I had a single stage besides.

[Jim in Houston]

Some of my posts on the OK . . .ready to start reloading . . . thread have been referenced here in previous posts. Since I was also new to reloading, I was asking the same questions and getting a lot of good advice. Here is what I ended up doing, starting from zero experience and having no equipment:

I purchased the Hornady Lock and Load Classic Reloading Kit from Cabelas. There were a couple of reasons. At the time, Cabelas price was $299 with free shippping (it is now $319 plus shipping - http://www.cabelas.com/presses-dies-hor ... it-3.shtml), and buying a kit was cheaper than buying everything piece-meal. Plus the Hornady Classic Press included in the kit has good reviews. I selected Hornady because I was going to be reloading Hornady brass for the 450. Also, Hornady was (and still is) offering "free" bullets with the reloading kit. The Bushmaster 450 are not part of the offer, but if you call them, add the correct number to the free bullet offer form, and pay an additional $5 (may be higher now) per box, you can get 5 boxes (250 bullets) with the purchase of the kit.

I purchased Hornady dies from Midway. They had the best price at the time, $64.99 or thereabouts. I also got another 50 "free" bullets with this purchase.

I also bought some bits and pieces that seemed necessary or advisable, based on advice from the board:

A Franford Arsenal digital caliper to check case length, mouth diameter, and cartridge overall length.
A Franford Arsenal bullet puller (which I have used during my die set up exercise)
An RCBS primer pocket cleaner brush set
Two additional Hornady die bushings (you get three with the kit and need a fourth for the fourth die - they come in 2, 3, and 10 packs)
Two Hornady #1 shell holders (not included in the kit) one for the press and one for the primer tool
A Frankford Arsenal Quick N EZ case cleaning kit (tumbler,media, case cleaner and separator)
Hornady degreaser (also not included in the kit) for cleaning the powder measure and dies)

A pound of Lil Gun powder, a box of small rifle primers, my free bullets, and some recovered brass and I am good to go.

In addition to Cabelas, I bought from Midway, Brownells (and their Sinclair company), Natchez and Sportsman's Guide. I made several calls to Hornady tech support and got advise on some unclear points. I also studied several how-to videos on the Ultimate Reloader website - http://ultimatereloader.com/.

The total cost ex consumbable was around $500, and I should break-even about 350 cartridges based on Hornady's retail price for factory loads (and while my "free" bullets hold out), more if I buy elsewhere for less.

But of course, I am doing it for the fun of it.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

You'll love reloading so much, you will be buying more dies for your other firearms!
Way to go, Jim.

[BD1]

This is my opinion, and it's worth just what you paid for it:

A good cast iron or steel single stage press will last for several lifetimes of hard use. An RCBS Rockchucker was my first press, and it is still being used on my bench 20 years later even though I own two other turret presses and three progressives. The Rockchucker, or the Lee classic cast press make a lot of sense for your "only" press if you can afford them. I'd buy one used if possible if I was trying to save some money. Any turret or progressive press can come with built in alignment issues, even brand new. The problem for the new reloader is that you probably won't recognize the problems until you've put some time in. Single stage presses are simpler to learn on, and simpler to manufacture correctly. You'll have enough to keep an eye on in the beginning without needing to worry about the press mechanism.

About the time your shooting 300 rounds a week or more, a progressive will start to make sense. About the time you're shooting a couple hundred rounds of three or four different cartridges a week, a turret will start to make sense. Before, durring and after those stages of learning to reload, the single stage press will still make sense.

BD