Is it worth reloading 9mm or 38 sp with a single stage press ??

jacky said:
Yes I know from loading shot shells that a progressive is better and that this might just be one of the dumbest questions asked.....:redface: but I was thinking that since I only shoot about 100 a week, and I have a digital scale and uniflow powder measure and a hand primer ( from my rifle loading) so I thought I could do 50 an hour.

I have the brass ( about 500 of each) although some was crimped and I don't know if I can use it again ?? all I need are the dies, powder, bullets and primers. It must be cheaper these days to reload than buy ??

Just wondering
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The true anwser lies in how well do you get along with your wife?? LOL!! I think a lot of us guys don't mind (hiding) working in our shops/garages. Keeps the marrage healthy;)
 
jacky said:
What type of press am I looking at for this money ?? Dies for three calibers I am thinking about $80 ( RCBS ??? ) each ( 9mm, 38 sp and 357). It really is not looking too too bad in term of cost.

I used to reload shot shells on a MEC 600 that did about 100 - 125 per hour and then I got a MEC 9000 hydralic that did about 300 per hour. I know what you guys are saying about the time thing, but then again I am only a plinker.

This is all good advice.
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There hasn't been anyone on this thread that has given bad advice. The guy that mentioned that you can run the turret press in single stage mode is totally correct, this is what I should have done. I ran out and got a single stage press to reload .38 special and 9mm, 6 months later I had to move up to the turret. I was also doing about 100 / week.

The dies will cost about $35.00 / set for the Lee Carbide pistol. I do believe you just need to buy a single die for the .357 magnum once you own the .38 special set. The turret press kit is about $165.00 and you'll probably want an extra turret for $12.00. This will bring your total to around $300.00 less the taxes. A pound of powder will run you $25-$40.00 and will reload about 1500 cartridges and the bullets will cost about $45.00 for 500 (lead cast). Primers are about $5.00 per 100. 1500 cartridges should run you in the $325.00 area, so now you're talking $600.00'ish. Keep in mind that 1500 rounds of factory ammo would have costed you $600.00, so you've broken even.

The Lee Turret press you can find at reloaders.ca or if you want to buy from a corporate big box, wholesale sports or cabelas. I still do think that you can't go wrong with the reloading manual + single stage press combination for $45.00, you can always sell the press for $30.00 and keep the book if you want to start super cheap. Keep in mind I did something similar and regretted it.

Wait and see what others say about my advice, don't run out and get it right away.
 
I get stuff from Higgison powders and MSG on this board sells Lee stuff as well.

I started out with the Lee manual, powder scale and turret press. I washed my brass till I bought a tumbler. With the turret press, you will need a new 4 hole plate and set of dies to change calibres, which takes about 4 minutes.
 
you don't NEED anything else for 38 spcl/357 mag- you just RESET your SEATING DIE up about a half to one full turn- NOT THE BULLET SEATER, THE SEATING die- ie the whole die- you do the same thing for 44 spcl/44 mag- BUY THE DIES FOR 38 SPCL,and you can do both- if you get the ones for 357 mag , that's all you can do- the same applies for 44, unless they are DOUBLE MARKED ie 38/357
as for pricing , i paid about 50 bucks, but that's the 4 die delux set, which i HIGHLY recommend as it contains the FACTORY CRIMP DIE which should be in EVERY DIE SET- that ensures that EVERY round goes into EVERY CHAMBER, which is something i found out the hard way with the 44, all into the same gun- unless you are absolutely sure that every time you shoot that's all YOUR brass, and number your casings from 1 to 6 as to which chamber they go in, you can never be absolutely sure whether they'll chamber or not- lots of guys are going to say b/s to this, but i've had it happen, to the point that went out and GOT THE DIE SEPERATELY- cost about 12 bucks not in the kit- and it was ALL MY BRASS- no one else's mixed in with-
 
Colin said:
I get stuff from Higgison powders and MSG on this board sells Lee stuff as well.

I started out with the Lee manual, powder scale and turret press. I washed my brass till I bought a tumbler. With the turret press, you will need a new 4 hole plate and set of dies to change calibres, which takes about 4 minutes.
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4 minutes?- maybe if you count having to re-string the chain - i've got the old 3 and it takes about 30 seconds without doing the chain- snap the new shelkholder in, half a turn to the right so the head unlocks, drop in the new head, lock it back in, and restring the chain if you have one-if you have the old style, it's even quicker- no chain
 
Seabass said:
The true anwser lies in how well do you get along with your wife?? LOL!! I think a lot of us guys don't mind (hiding) working in our shops/garages. Keeps the marrage healthy;)
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hmmm good point.

So from what I am hearing I should get LEE stuff. Now on that video I watched the powder was being dropped using a powder measure mounted on top of the press as well as a primer feed. Are all thes necssary to make the system work ( I believe the answer is yes but I wnat ot make sure)
 
priming tool that comes with the unit is perfectly fine, as well as the powder feed- but the primers are placed in the tool one at a time- there is no primer"feed" as such- i never missed it, it's all about SPEED
one less step to worry about- put the casing in the shell holder, down on the handle which raises the ram , decap and resize, and then put a primer in the tool and prime on the way down- simple- then the head pivots to the next station where you either pour a weighed charge from your pan into the powder through die, or you use an auto disc dispensing system, which allows a certain volume of powder, weighing so many grains to drop automatically into the case
then the head rotates again and the seating die is brought into play- this is where you seat your bullet- then the head rotates again and your factory crimp die comes into play, bringing everything but the bullet length back to factory spec- that's the way it supposed to work- i used to have auto discs with the ADJUSTABLE CHARGE BAR on every "head" - and still do- the disc system is ALWAYS wrong - IT'S EITHER LIGHT OR HEAVY, depending on the cavity, i always weigh every 10 charges if it's a new combo , or just double check the powder charge if i'm starting a session- as to the accessories, definately get the auto disc, and the adjustable charge bar, but i wonder as to the necessity of the primer feed, esp on a single rounder, like the turret
 
t-star said:
priming tool that comes with the unit is perfectly fine, as well as the powder feed- but the primers are placed in the tool one at a time- there is no primer"feed" as such- i never missed it, it's all about SPEED
one less step to worry about- put the casing in the shell holder, down on the handle which raises the ram , decap and resize, and then put a primer in the tool and prime on the way down- simple- then the head pivots to the next station where you either pour a weighed charge from your pan into the powder through die, or you use an auto disc dispensing system, which allows a certain volume of powder, weighing so many grains to drop automatically into the case
then the head rotates again and the seating die is brought into play- this is where you seat your bullet- then the head rotates again and your factory crimp die comes into play, bringing everything but the bullet length back to factory spec- that's the way it supposed to work- i used to have auto discs with the ADJUSTABLE CHARGE BAR on every "head" - and still do- the disc system is ALWAYS wrong - IT'S EITHER LIGHT OR HEAVY, depending on the cavity, i always weigh every 10 charges if it's a new combo , or just double check the powder charge if i'm starting a session- as to the accessories, definately get the auto disc, and the adjustable charge bar, but i wonder as to the necessity of the primer feed, esp on a single rounder, like the turret
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I see...... I can throw a charge using my uniflow into my pan and then into the bullet. The video shows a primer feed as well as a powder dispenser mounted on the press and I thought these items were required to keep up the speed of the process. Would my uniflow mount on the press like the one in the video or would I have to buy a LEE. We are talking the LEE classic Turet press which from what I see runs around $140 ??
 
My turret press does not have the primer feeder which runs about $49. It's not critical, but get the autodisk setup, in the back of the LEE book is a chart showing you what each powder will throw through which disk. I have an adjustable charge bar as well, but don't use it much as I load for economy. I use my turret for .303, 308,357Sig/.455 and .45acp and my Loadmaster for 9mm and .40cal I might reload 5.56 on the loadmaster
 
jacky said:
I see...... I can throw a charge using my uniflow into my pan and then into the bullet. The video shows a primer feed as well as a powder dispenser mounted on the press and I thought these items were required to keep up the speed of the process. Would my uniflow mount on the press like the one in the video or would I have to buy a LEE. We are talking the LEE classic Turet press which from what I see runs around $140 ??
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That's the one! There's also an anniversary kit floating around right now that has a $35.00 scale and about $30.00 worth of accessories for $165.00, might want to look at getting one of those, that's what I did.
 
ok- first i'm sure you mean CASE not bullet- you don't throw powder into a bullet - second, when you get your die set there's a thing called a POWDER THROUGH DIE - that does a COUPLE of things- 1) it FLARES the mouth of the case SO THAT THE BULLET WILL ENTER EASIER WITHOUT SHAVING -
2 there's a small collar in there that pushes up on the mouth of the auto-disc and allows the powder to flow- this is actuated by the MOUTH OF THE CASE- without the auto disc dispenser in place, you simply POUR the weighed powder charge into the hole - and don't forget the FUNNEL- it screws in the top just like the auto disc
i'm not familar with the uniflow, but you can mount any measure that takes standard dies in the turret- what kind of scares me is i don't know whether your measure would screw down far enough to meet the top of the case with the ram fully extended- if there's no gap, fine- that why lee uses the flow-through die- that and having to trip the lever on the powder measure every time it rotates- just to give you an idea, i shoot a 338 as well though my old 3 holer turret, and i use a DILLON powder measure hooked up with a lee powder through die- wny?- b/c i don't want to have to drive a 338 bullet back out through thechamber b.c i forgot to charge the case- pistols, yea , sure, it happens to all of us, but backing up through 22 inches or more of barrel is a NIGHTMARE
the reason for the dillon is that the lee simply won't throw 70 grains of any powder at a pop
 
I strongly recommend getting at least a turret press as a bare minimum. I shoot about 100 rounds of centrefire pistol ammo a week and I would not want to spend all my spare time loading ammo.

I use my Dillon 550 for both rifle and pistol reloading. With it, I can load 100 pistol rounds in just under 15 minutes. Rifle ammo is not so fast due to the case prep requirements, but there is still a substantial time saving.
 
I saw on reloaders web site a LEE pro 1000 in 9mm. Now this system appears complete and ready to go and the price appears quite reasonable, $230 ? what do you guys think of this ??
 
The lee pro has a 3 hole turret, so you have to seat and crimp the bullet at the same time. You won't be able to use the factory crimp dies and all your cartridges will have taper crimps.
 
i have 3 of the 1000, or what they call the "pro"- trust me, you're NOWHERE NEAR READY for that press- and it won't suit you besides, if you do revolver, there's only 3 stations- the 1000 takes a certain amount of fiddling and contriving to get it to work properly- esp the priming system- and it's really only good for automatics with their generous chambers- get a 1000 for a revolver and you end up getting another turret to run the factory crimp die or another single stage - or you can go loadmaster- which is what i did for revolver-
really your best option is the 4 STATION TURRET - the lee classic turret
 
t-star said:
i have 3 of the 1000, or what they call the "pro"- trust me, you're NOWHERE NEAR READY for that press- and it won't suit you besides, if you do revolver, there's only 3 stations- the 1000 takes a certain amount of fiddling and contriving to get it to work properly- esp the priming system- and it's really only good for automatics with their generous chambers- get a 1000 for a revolver and you end up getting another turret to run the factory crimp die or another single stage - or you can go loadmaster- which is what i did for revolver-
really your best option is the 4 STATION TURRET - the lee classic turret
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I don't know about the ready thing since I have been through this with shot shells and my MEC 600 lasted a month before I got went with the MEC 9000 hydralic.

I shoot 9mm in my semi-auto far more than my 38/ 357 so the 9mm is where the majority of my cost is. Is the 1000 9mm ready to go meaning I don't need to get anything else. If it is I think that one of those for loading 9mm is the best option.
 
Go with a press with a four station toolhead; it is easier to adjust seating and crimping when they are done by separate dies.

I think a Dillon 550 would serve your capacity needs well. Lee progressive presses tend to take a fair bit of fiddling to work properly, although their single stage and turret presses are OK for the money.
 
i would recommend any one to start off with a single stage press...
it just makes it easier and simpler to follow the stages in the reloading processes ...
once you have the understanding of why your doing what,give er and get the toys to speed things up for you....
then you can resell the single stage in the EE..;)
 
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