New to Reloading. Which Press?

[dlm37015]

i have a square deal b for my pistol calibers as i hate to change tool heads they work great. i like star reloaders as well there not made anymore but they realy load good ammo but as i saidbefore i use my old lyman more than any other .

[tt0511]

So, it looks like a 550B costs around $425? I presume there are some things needed in addition to that press kit like scales, dies, etc. I'm curious to know what kind of price tag I'd be looking at to get started with everything I need. I'm thinking that $425 would be creeping up around the $700 mark when all other parts are added in. That seems to be around 2.5-3 times as much as it would take me to get started with the turret unless I'm missing something. I know there is a huge fan club of the 550b and it must be a great press, but I can't really justify that kind of expenditure, nor do I have the funds for it at this time. There seem to be a lot of people who like the turret as well, even though it's slower.

[Mike]

Hornady LnL is 379 at midsouthshooterssupply.com

only a short drive up to clarksville has it to you the same day.

Not to mention it's an auto indexing press. so no need to turn the plate by hand after each step.

Mike

[tt0511]

So, the press is $379. Here's the link: Midsouth HORNADY RELOADING TOOLS LOCK-N-LOAD AUTO PROGRESSIVE PRESS

I'd also need a shell plate according to the description. Is that this item? Midsouth HORNADY RELOADING TOOLS LOCK-N-LOAD SMALL PISTOL CASE FEEDER PLATE

What else do I need? I'm trying to put together the total package to see what the damage would be.

[McAllyn]

Brian Enos sells an EZ Buy package for the Dillon 550B that has everything you'll need (plus some) except powder, primers, bullets, and brass. It's listed at 913.30. Looking over what's listed, you could drop off about $300 from that and still get working. i.e he lists an $80 digital scale, but you can get a decent one for $30 at the gun show.

Or, skip all the above discussion, get the Lee Anniversary kit with everything you need for under $200, and start reloading tomorrow. Oh, unless you want a tumbler for case cleaning, that's extra.

Mac

[Guest 6.8 AR]

So, the press is $379. Here's the link: Midsouth HORNADY RELOADING TOOLS LOCK-N-LOAD AUTO PROGRESSIVE PRESS

I'd also need a shell plate according to the description. Is that this item? Midsouth HORNADY RELOADING TOOLS LOCK-N-LOAD SMALL PISTOL CASE FEEDER PLATE

What else do I need? I'm trying to put together the total package to see what the damage would be.

That's not what you want until you get the case feeding accessory. This is it

for the .45acp Midsouth*HORNADY RELOADING TOOLS*#45 SHELL PLATE 45 ACP

[titan14]

Or, skip all the above discussion, get the Lee Anniversary kit with everything you need for under $200, and start reloading tomorrow. Oh, unless you want a tumbler for case cleaning, that's extra.

Mac

Exactly what I did...over a year ago. Still working great for me.

[Guest DaG]

Gotta say Dillon again. I started with a Square Deal B. No single stage stuff cause I knew I would be shooting alot. The SDB will work for any pistol caliber,no rifle. It's not this bad juju that people from time to time make it out to be with a progressive press. Take a few mins and set each die where you want it and lock'em down. After that just add case,crank handle,add bullet and repeat. It's easy. There's no rocket science involved(until you get into benchrest and thats a whole different animal). If you're shooting 300-600 rds a month, you can knock that out in just a little over an hour with a SDB or a 550B. I can say 100% that I have never in the past 10 yrs of loading on a Dillon progressive had a squib load due to lack of powder in the case. With a Dillon, the failsafe powder mech. will drop powder every time the case enters the powder die. It's just foolproof. Save your money, and get a Dillon. The cust svc is just unbelievable. It's breaks, they send you replacement parts for free. Lifetime gurantee!! Does Hornady or Lee compare to cust. svc or warranty?

DaG

[kb4ns]

The SDB will work for any pistol caliber...

I thought it only did straight-walled pistol calibers (no .357 Sig, 7.62x25, etc.).

[tt0511]

Gotta say Dillon again. I started with a Square Deal B. No single stage stuff cause I knew I would be shooting alot. The SDB will work for any pistol caliber,no rifle. It's not this bad juju that people from time to time make it out to be with a progressive press. Take a few mins and set each die where you want it and lock'em down. After that just add case,crank handle,add bullet and repeat. It's easy. There's no rocket science involved(until you get into benchrest and thats a whole different animal). If you're shooting 300-600 rds a month, you can knock that out in just a little over an hour with a SDB or a 550B. I can say 100% that I have never in the past 10 yrs of loading on a Dillon progressive had a squib load due to lack of powder in the case. With a Dillon, the failsafe powder mech. will drop powder every time the case enters the powder die. It's just foolproof. Save your money, and get a Dillon. The cust svc is just unbelievable. It's breaks, they send you replacement parts for free. Lifetime gurantee!! Does Hornady or Lee compare to cust. svc or warranty?

DaG

I hear ya on the SDB. One thing I'm wondering about, ...I've read that changing out caliber runs on a progressive can be a bit of a hassle and most people just load one caliber. Based on what I've read so far, I feel like that's one thing a turret has over the progressive: much easier transition to another caliber and it isn't a big deal when you just want to run 100-200 rounds. How does the SDB work on caliber changes? Quick and easy?

[tt0511]

I just priced out the SDB on the Brian Enos website (found by googling). I'm kinda blown away by the price point at the moment. Still around $900 to get started for 9mm and 45 ACP. And, that doesn't include a case cleaner, media, and whatever else I didn't include. That's quite a bit of money. I'm gonna have to really think about that before dropping a grand on equipment.

For you Lee Turret fans, there are two different turret presses: The one included in the turret kit, and the classic. Is one better than the other? Reviews on Midway would seem to indicate that the Classic is the better press, but it doesn't come in a kit and would require me to piece together everything I need to order.

Edited November 12, 2010 by tt0511

[tt0511]

Brian Enos sells an EZ Buy package for the Dillon 550B that has everything you'll need (plus some) except powder, primers, bullets, and brass. It's listed at 913.30. Looking over what's listed, you could drop off about $300 from that and still get working. i.e he lists an $80 digital scale, but you can get a decent one for $30 at the gun show.

Or, skip all the above discussion, get the Lee Anniversary kit with everything you need for under $200, and start reloading tomorrow. Oh, unless you want a tumbler for case cleaning, that's extra.

Mac

That Anniversary kit is single stage, is it not?

[56FordGuy]

I don't know about the Square Deal B, but the Dillon 550 is like a turret press with interchangeable heads. Set your dies for one caliber in one toolhead, when you want to change and load a different caliber you just pull two pins and slide the entire toolhead out, then slide another one in set up for your other caliber. If you only have one powder measure, you'll need to move it between toolheads. It doesn't take long once you get the toolheads set up.

I'd recommend the Lee Single Stage kit. There's just no need to spend several hundred dollars just to get started, and a single stage press will probably be something you'll want, even if you upgrade to a progressive later.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I got three SDB quick change heads and three powder dispensers for mine. Setup for 9mm, .357, and .380.

Once the dies are adjusted on a quick change head and the powder drop set, if you usually load the same recipe, I'm ultra-slow on everything and it takes me about 15 minutes to change calibers. On the SDB you have to screw 4 hex-screws to change heads. It keeps calibration real well.

I always throw powder before each 100 rounds to verify the load weight, and so it is about the same after changing toolheads. I make sure the powder dispenser is still dropping the same as last time. I check weight by letting the scale warm up, then dropping 10 loads onto the scale and measuring the total. I'll do that a couple or three times. If I want 5.4 grains, then the sum of 10 powder drops should weigh real close to 54 grains. Maybe that is over-caution. But between sessions or between toolhead changes, it hardly ever needs readjustment. I just figure better safe than sorry.

When reloading I visually check each powder drop before inserting bullet, to make sure the powder in the case looks "in the ballpark". If something looks too full or too sparse, I'll sometimes re-weigh right then. But almost always it is my eye playing tricks and the powder weight was fine.

I always load small primers. It is not real techie to swap between large and small primers on the SDB. Three hex screws and some fiddling. But all the primer feed parts are different between large and small primers. I'm not real mechanically inclined, but it is one of the reasons I've not bought any guns that use large primers. Am too lazy to also have to switch out the primer feed parts. If I got into large primer rounds, would be tempted to get another press so I didn't have to mess with changing the primer feed parts.

I like the SDB fine. The bullet trays and the strong mount are the most important two accessories to get IMO. Those make a difference worth the money. The little toolkit and tool bracket dillon sells is convenient. Worth the money for me just for the convenience of getting to the tools.

Go-NoGo case gages for every caliber seem important for me. You could caliper or micrometer cases, but it sure is nice just to drop a finished round in the gage and verify that it fits.

I'm not a klutz on everything, but have very poor mechanical aptitude. If I can reload anybody can.

I don't doubt that some people can load hundreds of rounds per hour, but I'm real slow and I inspect all the parts before loading and then inspect each and every finished round after loading. 100 per hour is about as fast as I can go. Maybe it would take weeks for me to load 100 without a progressive press. Including case cleaning and such, it probably takes up to 2 hours per hundred.

I lately started decapping after cleaning and then uniforming the primer pockets, before loading. That takes more time. I loaded thousands of rounds before beginning to uniform the primer pockets. Some people say its a waste of time to uniform primer pockets on pistol ammo. But every batch of 100 would have one or two rounds with a high primer or something else I didn't like, and it was real hard to seat a certain percentage of the primers. Since uniforming the primer pockets, virtually all the primers go in real easy and they are all the same depth.

[McAllyn]

That Anniversary kit is single stage, is it not?

Yes, but I was just showing that there is a bottom level to the scale as well.

Mac

And, yes, KB, you are correct, no necked cases in the SDB.

[McAllyn]

FWIW, people will usually mention that the SDB conversions cost more than those for the 550, 650, LnL, etc. But consider that they not only come with the shell plate, powder funnel, and locator buttons, but they come with the carbon dies as well, lifetime warrantied carbon dies. Buy a conversion kit for any of the other machines, and you'll need to buy dies as well, which will raise their prices a little closer.

Takes me about 10-15 mins to change caliber on my SDB, including time to verify the powder funnel charge has not been changed.

Mac

[tt0511]

Thanks for all the input and advice. I've decided to get started with the Classic Turret Press. It fits my price range and my needs as best as I can judge. I would like your help making sure I get everything I need! I want to order everything in one order.

So far, here's the order list I've compiled with Midway USA item numbers. Alternative recommendations are welcome if there are more affordable or similarly priced items that are better.

Lee Classic Turret Press - 814175

Extra 4 hole Turret - 292460

Lee Deluxe Carbide 4-Die Set in .45 ACP - 242098, and in 9mm - 885350

Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure - 348753

Lee Safety Prime Small and Large - 548630

Hornady Electronic Caliper - 417494

MTM Mini Digital Reloading Scale 750 Grain Capacity - 713049

Lyman Magnum Impact Bullet Puller - 667064

Hornady M-2 Case Tumbler - 711534

Frankford Arsenal Brass Cleaning Media Corn Cob 7lb bag - 730107

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's a good looking list. A lot of that stuff can be had without paying shipping. Did you

look at Midsouth Shooters Supply in Clarksville? Midsouth Shooters Supply, Reloading, Air Guns, Optics, Muzzleloaders & Shooting Supplies

If you are close by they are well worth the drive. Right at Exit 11 on I-24. They don't have

a showroom, but you can pickup.

[tt0511]

Yes sir. Problem is that from my understanding, they aren't open for pickup on Saturdays and I can't get their by 5pm during the week due to work. I live about 30-40 minutes from them though. Shipping from Midway on all of that appears to be about $30 which is better than I thought it would be.

**EDIT**

Wow. I just compared pricing between Midsouth and Midway and it's actually a little cheaper at Midway with shipping.

Edited November 14, 2010 by tt0511

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's good. Their pickup is Tuesday through Friday, I think.

Your list is a good starting point. You will be infected with the disease in short order.

[tt0511]

Order Placed.

Now, which bullets? Cast or Jacketed?

How do you pick a powder? I've been told I should start with Unique.

Both of those may be answered by reading my reloading manuals. Haven't got very far in those yet.

[leroy]

...Order Placed.

Now, which bullets? Cast or Jacketed?

How do you pick a powder? I've been told I should start with Unique.

Both of those may be answered by reading my reloading manuals. Haven't got very far in those yet. ....

TT:_____________

Study your reloading manual; especially the reloading description section.

Jacketed for semiauto; cast for revolver. Hard to beat Unique.

Regards and welcome to reloading!!

Leroy

[kb4ns]

Jacketed for semiauto; cast for revolver.

Pretty much how I roll as well. There is another option that I play with some as well - plated bullets like Berrys and Rainier. They're cheaper than FMJ, but you get to avoid the leading.

I've bought bullets from a ton of places. My most often used supplier these days is http://www.precisiondelta.com for FMJ's.

Hard to beat Unique.

Yep. It's a bit dirty, but it's (IMHO) hands down the best powder for a new reloader.

Welcome to the wonderful world of reloading. I think I actually enjoy it more than shooting!

Edited November 15, 2010 by kb4ns

[deerslayer]

I've bought bullets from a ton of places. My most often used supplier these days is Deltaprecision.com - delta precision Resources and Information.This website is for sale! for FMJ's.

I think kb4ns meant Precision Delta - The Ammunition of Champions

[kb4ns]

I think kb4ns meant Precision Delta - The Ammunition of Champions

Yep. Thanks. I fixed it. Sorry, been a long day.