Beginner Advice? Choosing between 2 presses

I do not appreciate any wires whatsoever in my powder scale or vernier calipers. Nothing but grief to absolutely no gain, in my (43 years worth and counting) considered opinion. Have had a litany of problems with wired gizmo's, tossed most 'em to the trash sooner or later, but no prob's at all with any of my old fashioned mechanical equipment.

We all have our own priorities, but more precise .308 cartridges would trump faster loaded 9mm blasting fodder to my way of thinking.
If I was you, I'd get started with a good single stage press and the right .308 dies (lee collet, redding body, forster BR seater) to achieve the impressive accuracy that handloading can give you .... for the time being suffer through the slow 9 mil till you can afford a hy volume loader.

Once your dies are set up and locked, it really doesn't take long to twirl 'em in and out.
Grab a RCBS/Ohaus 10/10 scale if you ever find one for sale ... you will come to treasure it, mark my words!.

:cheers:
 
It doesn't sound like the OP is into sorting his rifle cases by weight or volume, and it's not likely he's going to counting grains of powder into each precision load. So.....a Dillon 550 is perfectly capable of producing quality .308 ammo and will give the volume of pistol ammo needed by most shooters. You can use FL or neck-sizing dies and Comp seating dies in a progressive press.

$10 digital calipers are junk. I use a Mitutoyo dial vernier left over from my working days.
 
Armored Metal said:
I don't mean to hijack the thread but I own a Canadian Tire digital calliper that has zeroing issues. Where can I find a $40 Dial vernier?
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Go to a real tool store. Look up KBC for example. Slomewhere that sells real quality precision tooling. You can get a good name brand dial calliper for about $40-$50. And they will never fail or lose zero unless miss handled.
 
I have both and serve me fine. I prefer to weigh my charges and have full control that's why I choose the single stage and turret on my bench. I do not shoot thousands of rounds a week and I couldn't justify owning a progressive press at the moment but it's a nice addition in the future. So far I'm happy with the green machines on my reloading bench. Lee is the best bang for the back and will produce quality ammunitions too.
 
crasheralex said:
I'm sorry but this almost killed me. I'm just getting into reloading but I am a machinest and that mastercraft digital calliper is the biggest pierce of crap. Doesn't hold a zero and does not have a good build quality. Go buy a $40 DIAL veriner and it will last for forever.
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So, after reading this I thought "lets give that a run". I have 6 digitals stationed at different places in my shop and basement ( I hate carrying tools around all day), all of them are CT/Busy Bee type Taiwanese manuf.. I had a $300 Mitutoyo but the first time I dropped it the readings were all sideways...one of my Tiawanese has been dropped 3 times and still works fine.

I should add that some of these tools have seen extensive use anywhere from 5 to 8 yrs and many battery changes.

Back to the "test". I gathered up a handful of jacketed bullets and made the rounds of all the devises. Five of the six machines measured all the bullets exactly the same...one of them (not the one that was dropped) was out consistently .0005 from the other five.

They passed my test of "a useful, inexpensive alternative to the brand name tool.
 
I still believe you can produce rounds nearly as fast on a single stage as a turret press.

you just have to do everything in stages like , Clean and trim 200 rounds - primer 200 rounds - fill powder up 50-200 rounds at a time- put bullets in 50-200 rounds at a time- Done 200 rounds.
if you wanted 400 rounds do another 200.

The rockchucker kit comes also with a powder dispenser unlike the single turret press which speeds up pistol loading considerably. and digital scale for your rifle rounds.

Jesh this kits come a long ways from my original kit lol.

if your starting out buying this for reloading 308 I recommend getting / finding a hornady 308 die set I find them just as good as my rcbs gold medal seater dies except you get both and its 75$ cheaper on average.(yea i know some people are gonna spaz on me but having used both i went to hornady for the next couple guns i bought).

As for 9mm regular straight walled rcbs dies will be fine.

I got sucked into thinking i needed more than a single stage press a long time ago and although i still use the turret for things i still go back to the rockchucker for most things.


my2cents
 
Love my RCBS rock chucker, but I only use LEE pacesetter dies. I have bought Hornaday and RCBS dies, but seem to always go back to LEE sets. .308, 30-30, .223, 45-70, 30-06 dies. I also have the LEE 250gr (.50cal) REAL Bullet cast dies and the 501 sizer for cast. I use my LEE single stage press for this action/activity only.

Good luck both are great presses.
 
Yup imho you can't go wrong going rock chucker, a turret press may be a bit faster for pistol cartridges but ive never found mine fast enough to make me think about getting rid of the rock chucker.

Its all up to you man but there is nothing wrong with old reliable designs.
 
Like others have said,

If you are going to reload pistol ammo, go turret or be patient, I only have a single stage LEE and when I have alot of ammo to make I usually do things in stages, prep the brass and prime one day, load the powder and bullets the next. It's not too bad really but 500 rounds would really be a pain in the..
If you are going to do precision , single stage.

Don't bother with cheap tools like the 12$ scale or mastercrap vernier, it will not lead to happy reloading...I'm happy for you if the MC vernier works for you but I saw that it's all over the place after a while and so was my first cheapo scale, this caused lots of extra work and stress for nothing. My first scale was giving me 0.5 grain differences +/- on the same damn powder charge, and it was supposed to be a tenth of a grain precise, totally unusable. I'm looking for a good dial Starret or B&S... but I also use a vernier for many other things as well and I digress...we are talking presses here.
 
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To the OP; neither.
It appears cost is your driving factor,so..
Kit one has most of what you need but not everything and more than what you need in other ways, i.e.: the press, powder measure and stand, manual and loading block are good and required. The digital scale and trimmer are expensive window dressing for your goals at this time. It's also missing a caliper and powder trickler.
If your after cost you need;
-A manual, buy it first and read it lots.
-A solid single stage press- they are all pretty good, nothing is wrong with a Lee classic cast but I'd avoid the breech lock feature.
-A loading block (buy on price).
-A powder funnel (again, buy on price. You don't need a multi piece kit).
-A beam scale. Buy a quality scale, I love my 505.
-A caliper (this thread is already too highjacked on this item...).
-A powder trickler.
-A powder measure with stand (IF your really frugal you can get by with a cheap measure -Lee- IF your willing to do weigh all loads and use a trickler lots. IF you can afford it, get a good measure).
-A case burr/chamfer tool.
-A primer pocket cleaner.
-A Lee case trim arbor/cutter (cheapest and easiest case trimmer system is Lee's)
-A hand primer is not mandatory but is well worth the money, most presses have a priming function but they leave a lot to be desired. The Lee Auto Prime is affordable and works great.
All you need now is dies for your caliber and a Lee case gage to load.
Fast; no.
Glamorous; no.
Good to go; you bet.
My take is with careful shopping you should be able to get all of the above AND a cheap progressive (Lee 1000) for the cost of the kit you are looking at, maybe even a tumbler too...
Search the EE as well.
 
you know wasrupzuk i didnt even think about cost.
yes Lee presses are nice presses and much cheaper
Powder funnel unless im using a dispenser for larger strait wall casings i dont use it , I even use the Tin tray for 243 necked casings and just have it down pat to not loose any powder. so yes not really even needed. and neither is the dispenser unless your doing pistol rounds.
Lee anything for case prep.
i use a hand primer and i can prime like 200 rounds in 10 min flat.
I agre with what most is said above.
Lee for most and shop around for the rest if under budget.
Most everything except for some of my dies and calipers is RCBS though but i have IRL friends who use lee to similar effect and they have no issues.
 
Forget Lee presses.. all these guys who love em have either old ones from when they were decent or have never used a good press. I broke a lee press doing .308 link arm snapped in half. The ram wore out within a few months. Everything in the lee kit was either infuriating to use or broke.... even the damn funnel ( seriously i was tapping it to get the powder to flow through and the baffle broke out of the bottom)

Get that rock chucker kit its worth every penny. If you want a turret press go with a redding T7. I have two turrets for it one set up for .338lm and .308 the other for .303 and .30 carbine. Makes reloading a lot faster. I dont have to spend time setting up dies at all. The primer system for the redding is top notch and you dont get as many flipped primers as you do with the rcbs.
As for dies rcbs and hornady... stay away from them they are crap. Even the "good" expensive sets ( i have bought many rcbs dies and they were horrible. Issues with run out, pieces coming loose, and what not). Its the one thing lee makes ok is dies..... but if you want to really tune up your .308 rounds get redding s series dies with micrometers. I have them and they are worth the price.
 
LordEvilPepper said:
Forget Lee presses.. all these guys who love em have either old ones from when they were decent or have never used a good press. I broke a lee press doing .308 link arm snapped in half. The ram wore out within a few months. Everything in the lee kit was either infuriating to use or broke.... even the damn funnel ( seriously i was tapping it to get the powder to flow through and the baffle broke out of the bottom)

Get that rock chucker kit its worth every penny. If you want a turret press go with a redding T7. I have two turrets for it one set up for .338lm and .308 the other for .303 and .30 carbine. Makes reloading a lot faster. I dont have to spend time setting up dies at all. The primer system for the redding is top notch and you dont get as many flipped primers as you do with the rcbs.
As for dies rcbs and hornady... stay away from them they are crap. Even the "good" expensive sets ( i have bought many rcbs dies and they were horrible. Issues with run out, pieces coming loose, and what not). Its the one thing lee makes ok is dies..... but if you want to really tune up your .308 rounds get redding s series dies with micrometers. I have them and they are worth the price.
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lol!! I have a LEE press/kit and RCBS dies!!
 
Wow thanks everyone for the advice. After doing much research, I've decided to bite the bullet and get the Forster Coax through Jerry at Mystic Precision. This thing looks really impressive and I haven't read a single bad thing about it anywhere. It's universally loved. I'm really not concerned with volume all that much.

Sorry for providing the initial two choices of RCBS and then completely switching, but from what I have read I am almost completely sold on this. Anyone here have any experience with the Coax?
 
Well in the end it is your choice so if that's the one you want then don't let anyone change your mind, unless everyone is telling you that they are 100% no good until then happy loading.
 
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