New Gear Recommendations

[kmittleman]

Hi guys,


I have a basic Lee Hand loader and am looking to buy a new press to hopefully speed up my reloading process. I have all Lee stuff so I'm hoping to only buy other Lee equipment.

Does anyone have any advice on a new Press or other gear?

Thanks in advance!

K

 

[BigT5g]

Lee classic turret press!

 

[Neutron]

Lee classic turret press!

+1 I got one for Christmas and it's been great. Get the auto drum and safety primer accessories for it. Auto drum is amazingly accurate.

 

[LGood48]

Lee classic turret press!

This! Have used only Lee products since the mid 80's and have never had an issue. Best bang for the buck is to buy one of the all inclusive kits. Get a turret for each caliber you load.

 

[kmittleman]

Awesome - thanks guys! Would you all say the process goes a lot faster? At the moment, it takes me a good hour or so to load a box of .45 (me taking my time and being careful).

K

 

[BigT5g]

Awesome - thanks guys! Would you all say the process goes a lot faster? At the moment, it takes me a good hour or so to load a box of .45 (me taking my time and being careful).

K

Indeed. When I'm in the zone I can load about 175-185 rnds an hour no problem. Nothing compared to a progressive press but still way better than a single stage.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

If you want a progressive and want to stay with Lee, get their progressive.

Oh the irony, my 18k post was made in the reloading section...

 

[kmittleman]

What do you guys do for a Powder Measure? Right now I weigh all the charges ; very precise but time consuming.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

What do you guys do for a Powder Measure? Right now I weigh all the charges ; very precise but time consuming.

If you go with a progressive, it will have an automatic powder measure that will drop the correct amount of powder every time.

If you are going to go with a single stage or turret, you may want to look into getting an RCBS ChargeMaster combo, when they are on sale.

 

[Neutron]

If you have the Lee Auto Drum, once you set the proper charge,you're good to go. I check the charge every so often against my scale and it is always dead on.

 

[Pinecone]

For pistol rounds, pretty much any of the powder measures will work. Some of the Lee's are known to leak ball powders.

But and RCBS or Lyman powder measure will work well.

For precision rifle, the RCBS Chargemaster is very nice. It weighs every charge, but it not manual, so faster and less effort.

Lee presses are very good presses. For long term, I prefer the Lyman or RCBS cast iron O frame presses.

Progressive it a HUGE step up. And IMO, you really have to look at how much you are shooting to decide if it makes sense.

 

[kmittleman]

For pistol rounds, pretty much any of the powder measures will work. Some of the Lee's are known to leak ball powders.

But and RCBS or Lyman powder measure will work well.

For precision rifle, the RCBS Chargemaster is very nice. It weighs every charge, but it not manual, so faster and less effort.

Lee presses are very good presses. For long term, I prefer the Lyman or RCBS cast iron O frame presses.

Progressive it a HUGE step up. And IMO, you really have to look at how much you are shooting to decide if it makes sense.

Cool- thanks for the info. How many rounds a month would justify a progressive press?

 

[BigT5g]

Cool- thanks for the info. How many rounds a month would justify a progressive press?

Hmm, since you can crank out 5-6 hundred an hour with those the sky is the limit monthly.

 

[Eng]

if your somewhat ambidextrous and shoot tons of ammo a dillon is nice. on my SDB i can do over a hundred a hour. Very consistent powder weight, i use ball powders. i understand other powders don't meter as well.

for low volume hi-accuracy, rcbs single stage.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

if your somewhat ambidextrous and shoot tons of ammo a dillon is nice. on my SDB i can do over a hundred a hour. Very consistent powder weight, i use ball powders. i understand other powders don't meter as well.

for low volume hi-accuracy, rcbs single stage.

The Dillon powder measure is designed to accurately meter ball and flake powders. It is not designed to meter extruded powders. Ask me how I know that.

 

[Pinecone]

Hmm, since you can crank out 5-6 hundred an hour with those the sky is the limit monthly.

I am at about 1000 rounds per hour for .45, 800-900 for 9mm or .40. About 500 for 5.56.

 

[Pinecone]

Cool- thanks for the info. How many rounds a month would justify a progressive press?

You have to shoot a bit to justify a progressive.

Of course, you can also just want one and get it.

I have a Dillon 650 with case collator. As mentioned above, I can do 500 - 1000 rounds per hour, depending on the caliber. With the proper accessories, I can swap calibers in less less than 10 minutes.

So if you don't want to spend time loading, but don't shoot much, you can reload for an hour or two a year.

I got mine when I was shooting USPSA and running through several hundred to 1000 rounds per WEEK.

 

[Neutron]

Yeah if you shoot 1000 rounds per week a progressive would make sense. If you are like me and only shoot a couple hundred rounds a month, the Turret Press is a great choice. I'm still a little slow with mine compared with what others are cranking out of the Lee Turret Press. I probably average about 100/hour but I'm in no rush and I enjoy the process. If you save $5 or $6 a box on let's say .45 cal ammo, it will take a while to pay for the press and some accessories. But, you will be shooting your own custom ammo and having the satisfaction of making it yourself.

 

[PowPow]

The Dillon powder measure is designed to accurately meter ball and flake powders. It is not designed to meter extruded powders. Ask me how I know that.

How do you know that?

I've got a 550 like you do. I couldn't find a quick reference anywhere that I could look up what is ball, flake, or extruded.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

How do you know that?

I've got a 550 like you do. I couldn't find a quick reference anywhere that I could look up what is ball, flake, or extruded.

Ball is stuff like W748. It looks like little spheres or round things.

Extruded is stuff like IMR 3031 or IMR4895. It looks like pencil lead.