Reloading Newbie - Press and Manual Advice

Tongarirohiker

Tongarirohiker

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Edmonton, AB
Hey folks,

Looking to reload 9mm and .40S&W. I know that reloading 9MM isn't the best deal in town, but I'm looking at it more from the hobby aspect. I am looking at using a Lee hand press to learn the fundamentals before I go crazy with a progressive.

What's your thoughts on the Lee hand press? I've heard some folks can do 100 rounds in an hour and that kind of pace suits me just fine.

What reloading manual(s) would you recommend? There seems to be a lot to choose from. Eventually I plan to shoot 7.62x39, .223 and .30-30. Are there manuals that cover everything?

Cheers!
 
I started reloading with a Lee Loader kit and it wasn't long before I upgraded to a press. The Lee Loader was just too slow and kind of a pain in the a$$ to use, and there is no way that I could have done 100 rounds in an hour. I'd suggest buying a less expensive single stage press like Lee offers and go from there. It's more expensive than the hand loader obviously, but in my opinion you'll be much more satisfied with the process.

Most, if not all manuals cover basic reloading step by step. The Lyman one is good, as is the ABCs of Reloading so I'm told. I like the Hornady and Nosler ones as well.
 
Most any of the reloading manuals are very good, and they all have "How-To" sections to describe exactly what to do, and more importantly, why.
I won't discourage you from getting the hand press, but it is maybe the most akward way to try and load pistol ammo.
Holding the press, placing the bullet, and raising the ram, each require a hand, and I'm one short.
The easy way around that is to secure the press to a bench, and they make presses that are better suited to being mounted.

The press I would recommend as probably the most flexible and useful would be the Lee Classic Turret.
Removing the indexing rod turns it into a single stage press, which is good for learning on.
Fewer things going on means you can pay more attention to each part of the process.
Once you have some practice and confidence, you can put the rod back in and turn it into a semi-progressive press to speed up production. It still requires four pulls of the lever to produce a loaded round, but you only handle the case once.

You can get it in a kit that gives you almost everything you need to get started.
Calipers, dies, manuals and components will round it out.
 
i bought the lee package for just over 100 bucks and it seems great as a starter kit all i upgraded so far is the scale
 
I learned on a Dillon 550. It's not rocket surgery. It can be used single-stage fashion.

Buy quality from the start.
 
I second the notion that anything short of a turret would be really limited for loading for a handgun, where you typically shoot higher volumes. I've been using a Lee turret (with automeasure) for both handgun and as a single stage for rifle cartridges (loading by weight and not volume) for many years. It gives good value for the money, but isn't particularly speedy either.
 
with my lee press i can do 200 rounds in about 3 hours. i do my normal reloads on a pro1000, but if i want to mess around i use the handpress. the longest part IMO is charging and seating the bullets.

i seat primers with a lee auto prime hand tool thing-a-ma-jig
 
I bought a lyman spar t turret press, works great holds 6 dies , if i try, can punch out a couple hundred 38 specl in a night, bought the press, 3 sets of dies, a scale and couple other things for $125.. so far have loaded 700 rounds of 38, 455, 45, works Great.. Good luck
 
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