The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Which press would be best for a beginner??

jsflagstad · January 30, 2005, 08:41 AM

Here's how I see it.

As a kid, I saw my dad get a Pacific "C" press from my grandpa as a christmas gift to reload for a 30 carbine variant wildcat we have. I grew up thinking that was all there was for a reloading press. Every year, it was a tradition around early november to reload a couple hundred rounds for the Wildcat. My oldest brother and I from age 5 and 10 on up would head down to the basement with dad to start the tedious task. Every round was hand scaled and funneled in and then seated on the old Pacific. Of course the step before was to decap, size and recap on the Pacific as well. It seemed like forever to get 200 rounds done. Later, to speed things up, dad bought a powder measurer to speed things up and a combo of our neglegence and it malfunctioning ended up blowing up this same gun in my hands. I threw this in, because I cannot stress enough the caution that needs to be used in reloading. Always audit the powder measurer from time to time.

When my dad moved his office to his home, my mom and 2 brothers and I went together and bought him a Dillon progressive as he had more time at home and loved guns and reloading. We bought him ALL of the bells and whistles with this one. Like I said above, I thought the the Pacific was all there was available for reloading. This Dillon was GREAT! This thing did all of the tiring work for you.

I now use his reloading equipment quite a bit. I use the Dillon for my 40S&W and the old Pacific "C" press for all of my other stuff. Now of course the Dillon is faster, but I can really kick our rhe 357 mags on the old "C" press. I also feel that I get a better quality load on the single stage.

My wife felt that I spent too much time at my dad's reloading, so I decided I would fix that but getting my own reloading setup at home. I look around a bit and decided that the Lee Precision line looked like a great deal for the money. I was going to buy the aniversary kit until I came across a auto indexing Lee turret press on eBay. I git a guy's complete reloading setup, Turret press, scale, auto prime, dies (3 sets), 500 new brass, 500 bullets and lots more for $81. That seemed like a decent deal to me. I feel that the Lee Turret press is a good compromise between the Dillon progressive and the single stage.

I see mixed reviews on the Lee products, but I decided to try them because they have excellent pricing and they are american made. I guess what I am saying, is that they are priced like they are made in China, but they are really made in Wisconsin USA, and the quality seems to be right up there and I want to support them. The Dillon is a good press, but I have found some quality issues with that as well.

Set your price, and get the most for your money....

JSF

January 30, 2005, 08:41 AM	#21
jsflagstad Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2005 Location: Up Nort Posts: 419	I got a good deal on eBay!! Here's how I see it. As a kid, I saw my dad get a Pacific "C" press from my grandpa as a christmas gift to reload for a 30 carbine variant wildcat we have. I grew up thinking that was all there was for a reloading press. Every year, it was a tradition around early november to reload a couple hundred rounds for the Wildcat. My oldest brother and I from age 5 and 10 on up would head down to the basement with dad to start the tedious task. Every round was hand scaled and funneled in and then seated on the old Pacific. Of course the step before was to decap, size and recap on the Pacific as well. It seemed like forever to get 200 rounds done. Later, to speed things up, dad bought a powder measurer to speed things up and a combo of our neglegence and it malfunctioning ended up blowing up this same gun in my hands. I threw this in, because I cannot stress enough the caution that needs to be used in reloading. Always audit the powder measurer from time to time. When my dad moved his office to his home, my mom and 2 brothers and I went together and bought him a Dillon progressive as he had more time at home and loved guns and reloading. We bought him ALL of the bells and whistles with this one. Like I said above, I thought the the Pacific was all there was available for reloading. This Dillon was GREAT! This thing did all of the tiring work for you. I now use his reloading equipment quite a bit. I use the Dillon for my 40S&W and the old Pacific "C" press for all of my other stuff. Now of course the Dillon is faster, but I can really kick our rhe 357 mags on the old "C" press. I also feel that I get a better quality load on the single stage. My wife felt that I spent too much time at my dad's reloading, so I decided I would fix that but getting my own reloading setup at home. I look around a bit and decided that the Lee Precision line looked like a great deal for the money. I was going to buy the aniversary kit until I came across a auto indexing Lee turret press on eBay. I git a guy's complete reloading setup, Turret press, scale, auto prime, dies (3 sets), 500 new brass, 500 bullets and lots more for $81. That seemed like a decent deal to me. I feel that the Lee Turret press is a good compromise between the Dillon progressive and the single stage. I see mixed reviews on the Lee products, but I decided to try them because they have excellent pricing and they are american made. I guess what I am saying, is that they are priced like they are made in China, but they are really made in Wisconsin USA, and the quality seems to be right up there and I want to support them. The Dillon is a good press, but I have found some quality issues with that as well. Set your price, and get the most for your money.... JSF