Need Advice before starting to reload

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sdlonyer

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I am considering starting reloading rifle ammunition. I would primarily be loading one rifle calibre and likely at a volume of 100 rounds a month or so. What is the advantage of a turret press as opposed to a single stage press? Is Lyman equipment as good as RCBS for this sort of use?
Thanks in advance.
 
An "O" press is more rigid than a turret press, but a turret is more convienient. Best of both is to get a press with pop in die holders, say Hornady, or a press that has a larger threads and drop in an adaptor for removable die bushings, or a Lee Breech Lock press.

For the most part, there isn't a huge amount of difference you are going to see in the cast iron presses from various manufacturers, all will make fine quality ammo and last a lifetime. Even "cheap" (some will call them c**p) presses from Lee will do fine.

Check out this article, http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek075.html near the bottom and see that he uses a Lee Challenger (aluminum) press to make itty bitty groups at extreme ranges, the person is Mysticplayer on this site and a site sponsor under Mystic Precision.

Take a read through the recent thread about presses. http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=440109
 
I use a Lee Breech Lock Challenger press and it seems to be pretty good. Nice smooth movement.
 
Since nobody mentioned it yet, a turret press can be used in a semi-progressive fashion to load faster than a single stage press. This is useful if you are planning on banging out a bunch of pistol ammo. You can also set up all your dies on the turret head, then buy extra heads to allow you to switch out the whole head to change calibers in one step and avoid having to set up the dies each time.

The head change is not a big deal to me, it only takes seconds to set up a die and I am not trying for benchrest precision in my ammo. It is a nice feature for switching pistol calibers, though. I haven't yet used my turret press with the indexing rod for pistol ammo, but I will eventually get to it. Because I will reload moderate quantities of 9mm and maybe .45 as well as a number of rifle calibers, I wanted a turret press instead of a single stage.

Mark
 
I also use Lee's Breech Lock Challanger Kit like mystic to load my precision ammo, I dont have any 1 mile shots under my belt yet but I do have several hundred 1/2 MOA shots created by careful reloading and tips and tricks that I picked up on this site.

I have used turret presses in the past... I dont really like them lyman turret head sometimes would slightly rock. Lee's auto turret kit is a very popular item I am having trouble keeping them instock.
 
They all work if you are doing a regular calibre any will work. If you plan on doing big stuff go with the RCBS because some calibers have a 1" die and will not fit in a Lyman or othar presses that do not have a 1 1/4 bushing.
 
As mentioned, I am a huge fan of the New Lee breech lock press. Very well made and makes superb ammo. With the quick die change feature, there is no benefit to a turrent press and there isn't any issue with die alignment.

The Lee breech lock starter kit is pretty much ideal to get going. Most everything is excellent and the price is right. Some things will get upgraded in time or as your tastes change.

make alot of very good ammo using this gear...

Let me know...

Jerry
 
Just starting out? Best advice I can think of is read, read, and then read some more - every reloading manual you can afford to get your hands on, then read them again. Press? Best to start off with a good single stage. I do almost everything with a Lee Classic. Not expensive, big and strong, easy to maintain and I have no need for anything else.
 
SandRoad said:
An "O" press is more rigid than a turret press, but a turret is more convienient. Best of both is to get a press with pop in die holders, say Hornady, or a press that has a larger threads and drop in an adaptor for removable die bushings, or a Lee Breech Lock press.
Click to expand...

I agree ! The Hornady L&L bushings are a cheap way to speed up your single stage press. You get the economical rugged simplicity of a single stage outfit with the speed of 1/8 twist die changes.

Problem might be. and I'm only guessing, is that the bushing supplied presses, that will accept the Hornady L&L insert, may be of the pricier variety. That would bring your turret option into line as far as cost goes. I haven't personally costed this out though and could be wrong.

I've had a Redding Ultramag ($ingle $tage) for quite a few years and recently bought a Hornady L&L progressive. For peanut$ I bought a L&L insert for the Redding and can now swap dies in under 5 seconds.

As an aside, single stage presses don't become obsolete when/if you later purchase a more complicated/faster setup. You'll always find a use for your SS press.
 
HKMark23 said:
I agree ! The Hornady L&L bushings are a cheap way to speed up your single stage press. You get the economical rugged simplicity of a single stage outfit with the speed of 1/8 twist die changes.

Problem might be. and I'm only guessing, is that the bushing supplied presses, that will accept the Hornady L&L insert, may be of the pricier variety. That would bring your turret option into line as far as cost goes. I haven't personally costed this out though and could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Out of curosity I looked it up. Conversion insert for the Lee Classic Cast are available for the Hornady die bushings. The Classic Cast, Rockchucker and other mid size presses have 1-1/4 x 12 threads, the Redding, Large RCBS and others designed for 50 BMG have 1-1/2 x 12 threads.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=858110
 
i also use the breech lock challenger, it's a nice press and really any single stage press is all you need for that kind of production, it just depends how much you want to spend. Kits are a great way to go, Lee's kit is inexpensive and RCBS or Lyman kits are more expensive but all will do the job very well.
 
sbtennex said:
Just starting out? Best advice I can think of is read, read, and then read some more - every reloading manual you can afford to get your hands on, then read them again. Press? Best to start off with a good single stage. I do almost everything with a Lee Classic. Not expensive, big and strong, easy to maintain and I have no need for anything else.
Click to expand...

Me too, another vote for the lee classic cast...
Not made in china like you know who...

Read and ask questions...
 
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