Getting into Pistol and Rifle reloading ADVICE would be greatly appreciated

[mr.ak47]

Alright So I've decided due to my high volume of shooting and consistent want for more and more ammo, I should get into more reloading, My only platform right now is a mec 650,Which I've had great luck with had to work out a few kinks,but after that she runs like a top. Anyways Right now I'm Thinking of going with a dillion 1050 press,eventually I want to get at least 5 dedicated presses,My questions more or less are would the 1050 be to complicated to start with? Being my first press was a progressive but I know the load data is a lot different when your talking forgiveness factor,I feel shotgun loading is probably a lot easier and more forgiving.Also I do want something more less "quick" after I learn all my load data and things to check for. thanks ahead of time

[Rightwinger]

Your going to have to weigh the factors of what calibers your loading vs cost of components vs cost of bulk factory. I reload but the small pistol calibers of 9mm and 45 ACP do not save me any money at the rates I load. (lately it's been no loading bleh) When you catch a good sale on bulk plinker stuff it's still usually cheaper to buy factory for those calibers. Now, you can't put a price on the fun and relaxation loading your own stuff can bring. Since you already do that for shotgun, you have that to formulate into the equation. If you load for harder to find calibers and big bore rifle, then your saving can really add up quick.

If your going to go progressive, look at the Dillon 550 which you can start off pretty reasonably and then add all the bells and whistle you want for the most part.

I have been lucky enough to use 56Fordguys and we roll the 5.56 stuff off it pretty quick and with good return on investment except that we stop loading when we talk (safety) and that slows the output down a bit.

If you get the tool heads set up so you just switch them out, you can roll a couple of hundred of whatever in an evening after work and go shoot.

I still use an old Lee Anniversary press to load my rifle stuff as I like the time in the shop and the quality of the single stage press for that kind of work.

[leroy]

To add a bit to what Rightwinger says above; i've got a Dillon 650. They (...like the 550...) work very well when you dont keep changing components (....like bullets....).

I found my Dillon used (...believe it or not...). Had to rebuild some of the consumable parts (...springs...). They are great for volume pistol loading. I'm sure they work well for rifle calibers; i just never load 'em on the dillon.

Have fun.

leroy

[7mmvol]

I load for 223, 9mm, 38, 357, 44 mag, 257 Roberts, 270, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Weatherby, and 45 long colt, and plan to add 25-06, 243, and 30-06. Maybe one other when I decide what barrell to add to my Contender. I just do it so I won't spend so much time in front of the tv. I use the Hornady single stage lock 'n load press, and go really slow compared to a lot of the guys on here since I'm not trying to load big quantities. I'm striving for accuracy on the long guns and the 223 Contender. I spend much time checking, measuring headspaces etc...nitpicking...

[mr.ak47]

Yea for right I want my initial press to be for handgun calibers mainly.9mm,40s&w,.45acp,.38 special which I don't think would be to crazy to do for one press,But as i mentioned before I hope to be able to get at least 5 presses for my handgun calibers and my "black rifles" ak's and ar's.I plan also to go the single stage route to load my .300 win,.308win and .338 due to the fact I'm a lot more concerned about accuracy with my big bore rifles. With that said I want for my pistols I want accuracy out of my loads of course,But I also want to be able to put out a good number of loads if I sit down and reload for an evening as I do a lot of shooting drills on my property as well distance pistol shooting for S&G(s***s&giggles). With that say would I be better suited buying lets say a 550 or 650 and adding a case feeder and just going with that?

[dlm37015]

to oad for pistol i would buy a square deal b for each cal. keeps from seting back up again and on a 1050 even with a tool head it takes 45 min.to an hour to change if speed is what you are wanting .or get a camdex or ammo load

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Some folks who reload a lot seem to think a square deal b is just about as good as anything for pistol ammo. Rifle ammo need not apply.

I have separate powder measures and quick-change toolheads for the three pistol calibers I load on the SDB. It takes about 15 minutes to switch calibers and verify the load, and I'm incredibly slow and thumb-fingered.

All three I load use small pistol primers, so I don't have to change out the primer feed. A long time ago it seemed potentially annoying to be swapping out the primer feed if swapping ferinstance between 9mm and .45. But I've removed the SDB primer feed a couple of times for cleaning and lube and its not as big a hassle as I expected.

As long as you don't expect to load rifle with it, an SDB might be a good way to get your feet wet. Even if you decide you want more presses later, it ought to do fine to leave dedicated to one of the calibers you like.

The biggest problem with the SDB is that the dies are not compatible with any other machine. Maybe if you plan to invest in many calibers of dies then it would be better to get standard dies and a 550 to run them on?

[leroy]

Lester passed on a "pearl of wisdom" here with the interchangeable toolheads speech. This solves bunches of problems with fiddling and re-adjusting everything with a caliber change. We do this too:

....I have separate powder measures and quick-change toolheads for the three pistol calibers I load on the SDB. It takes about 15 minutes to switch calibers and verify the load, and I'm incredibly slow and thumb-fingered. ...

Hope this helps

leroy

[mr.ak47]

Alright yes this helps a lot guys Thank you very much and more question before I close the thread around how many rounds can you put out with a square B in an hours time? without you know speedy gonalezing it lol, Just normal speed

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Mr Ak47

Some people report speeds in the same ballpark as Dillon 550. An average speed is probably much faster than what I put out. I seem to be very slow on everything.

It takes me about an hour to load 100 rounds. It goes in 100 round increments because the primers usually come in little 100 round sub-packets. Primers are the biggest true explosion hazard so a box of 1000 primers contains 10 boxes of 100, packed in space-wasting holders to make it very unlikely that the whole box might get dropped and go off.

Similarly the primer feed tubes seem most often sized to hold 100 primers, the entire contents of one packet of primers. Also, if someone accidentally sets off a full primer tube, it usually doesn't end in injury or burning down the premises, though it usually results in a reloading machine that needs a rebuild, and very nasty shorts. Such a thing has never happened to me, but it has occasionally happened to people. The dillon primer feed is like a gun barrel and it points up above one's head. So if the feed tube goes off, it would tend to make a lot of noise and smoke and blow up over yer heat against the ceiling. Shouldn't hurt anything except the ears, pride, press and undershorts as long as you have eye protection. I wear a full face shield. Silly perhaps. I keep a fire extinguisher handy, but never needed it yet.

And then the bullets also often come in boxes of 100.

I don't intentionally try to go as slow as a turtle, but I first dump some test charges to make sure the powder measure is working the same as last time. Then go over to another table on the other side of the room (away from any powder or large quantities of primers) and dump 100 primers in the flip tray and put them in the primer tube, and feed the primers into the press.

Then crank the rounds thru, visually checking powder level on every throw, and moving the lever slow and firm to feel each primer seat. Then visually inspect each of the 100 rounds before putting the finished rounds in a plastic ammo box. And then everything is done and about an hour has expired.

Some folks may be able to do all that, safer than I do it, a whole lot faster than I do it. But I would have to get sloppy and slam the lever real quick to go much faster. I don't want a double-charged or un-charged bullet. I don't want any upside-down primers in the primer tube or loaded in the ammo. I don't want to set off a primer tube. I don't want to accidentally shoot any ammo with a high primer, bent round, too long, too short, or split case.

I fully believe that some folks can do all that better than me and a lot faster too. But it is doubtful I could go faster than about 100 rounds an hour with a 550 or 650. Maybe auto-shell feed, auto-bullet feed, and an electric primer loader would get it a lot faster. But I don't see how any machine would go any faster for me if I'm still having to manually feed shells and bullets, feel for good primer seating, and visually check each powder load.