Garry, have you used the Lee cast iron press they came out with a couple years ago? I have a Rock Chucker but heard good things about the "new" Lee press. This spring I decided to set up for reloading at my acreage, and bought the Lee press, and I'll say with confidence that it gives nothing up against the Rock Chucker. I like the bigger opening it has for loading longer cases too. I did, I guess I still do have it, one of the Lee super cheap, cast beer can presses too, and that deffinately is something a person would move up from by going to any other single stage press......imho anyway.
What Press To Start With
- Thread starter Kazul
- Start date
Reloading Presses
I would have to say RCBS press would be way to go, but if your looking for other reloading stuff you will need go here:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading.html
Go to main page and order a catalogue, they explain very well about individual items you will need down the road in reloading
I would have to say RCBS press would be way to go, but if your looking for other reloading stuff you will need go here:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading.html
Go to main page and order a catalogue, they explain very well about individual items you will need down the road in reloading
IMHO the essentials (other than the press, and dies of course) are:
good set of calipers (dial or digital)
scale (either digital or balance - both work fine)
case trimmer
case mouth inside/outside deburing tool
bullet puller
Lee Auto prime tool
loading block
stuck case removal kit (it's inevitable, so you might as well have one handy
)Although not "essential", I would also recommend:
primer pocket cleaner/uniformer
flash hole deburring tool
bullet comparator (mine are from Sinclair, but I believe Stoney Point has a tool for this too)
A good loading manual (you can get loading info off the 'net and/or from magazines, but having a complete manual on the bench is pretty handy)
If you are new to the game, a good "how to" book on reloading is useful, especially if you want to load for maximum accuracy. I learned a lot from my reference library.
A chronograph is very useful too. I used to have one, and will get one again... but I am not in a hurry as accuracy matters more to me than knowing exact velocity.
Buy the lee anniversary kit
It has a manual and a scale and just about everything you need to start reloading. Yes it is built to a different price point and it is not industructible. I used mine for loading IPSC and rifle about 4000 rounds per year. In the time that I had it the attachment to the lever broke which took a week to have repaired.
I now use a lee pro progressive for my ipsc pistol and still use the anniversary kit for everything else.
It has a manual and a scale and just about everything you need to start reloading. Yes it is built to a different price point and it is not industructible. I used mine for loading IPSC and rifle about 4000 rounds per year. In the time that I had it the attachment to the lever broke which took a week to have repaired.
I now use a lee pro progressive for my ipsc pistol and still use the anniversary kit for everything else.
Thanks for all the info.
Thanks Baron, I'm starting my list of extras too.The RCBS kit comes with most of those things but still some very helpfull ideas.
The rock chucker seems like a no brainer.Very durable and it can be "up graded" with the piggy back to make it a turret press.
Accuracy is more important than speed,to me anyway.Maybe if I start doing H/G than speed will be a factor,but as of now I get great reloads for cheap,so that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it.
Thanks Baron, I'm starting my list of extras too.The RCBS kit comes with most of those things but still some very helpfull ideas.
The rock chucker seems like a no brainer.Very durable and it can be "up graded" with the piggy back to make it a turret press.
Accuracy is more important than speed,to me anyway.Maybe if I start doing H/G than speed will be a factor,but as of now I get great reloads for cheap,so that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it.
I load rifle rounds ony and have been using a Lee challenger for several decades. No complaints here, no issues, and I do lots of brass reforming with it too. Works fine for me but I'm in a lower snack bracket than most I think. But that said I really would luv that classic press just the same. Cast iron should be better than melted down bent beer cans on any given day I'm thinkin.
The Lee classic is great for pistol ammo, haven't tried rifle on it. It's fast enough that you can make 100 rds in a hour and inspect each one of them. Kind of important when starting out to have a system that is mostly foolproof and that is the 4 hole Lee classic press with the right dies, autodisks and powder scale. It nice that you can buy more die plates and leave each one setup for different ammo, just swap the powder measure with the quick release adapter. About the only thing that will go wrong is the plastic holder and guide for the turret shaft, these 2 parts are about $4.00, so not a worry.
Just to start reloading rifle ammo? Lee Anniversary Kit. Over the 4 months I've owned mine, I've reloaded 2k+ pistol rounds and about 500 rifle rounds for myself and 2 friends. Anything from 300 Win Mag to .270 Win to .303 Brit to 45ACP and 9mm. You absolutely do NOT need a huge frickin' press to start reloading even with the big magnums. A little lube, which you'll need on all rifle cases regardless if you have a big macho press or not, and they resize with ease.
Bar none, Lee has the cheapest accessories to get started. Primer pocket cleaner, case trimmer, few bucks each. They're not good for volume production, but with the calibers you mentioned I doubt that thousand round lots are what you're looking for.
Bar none, Lee has the cheapest accessories to get started. Primer pocket cleaner, case trimmer, few bucks each. They're not good for volume production, but with the calibers you mentioned I doubt that thousand round lots are what you're looking for.
started with the Lee challenger & upgraded to the RCBS rockchucker.
the lee is great as a starter, but for strength a cast iron press is better over the long term....
these days there are many good ones to choose from...
"Slug" makes a good point on the "Lee classic cast" having a good system to catch primers with the plastic tube, sometimes a primer will get away on me when depriming brass on the RCBS.
i'm picking my new Lee classic cast "turret" press next week in michigan.
ruffbird.
the lee is great as a starter, but for strength a cast iron press is better over the long term....
these days there are many good ones to choose from...
"Slug" makes a good point on the "Lee classic cast" having a good system to catch primers with the plastic tube, sometimes a primer will get away on me when depriming brass on the RCBS.
i'm picking my new Lee classic cast "turret" press next week in michigan.
ruffbird.
Start with the Lee Anniversary kit. When you upgrade your press later on you can keep the Lee press and put a Universal decapping die on it and make it a dedicated decapper and keep whatever press you upgrade to for the neck sizing and bullet seating.
