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Old May 8, 2010, 07:56 AM   #1
volgunner
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New guy question re: type of press for beginner

Began shooting handguns three years ago and currently own S&W 686 and 642. Do not currently own any centerfire rifles, and don't have much interest in acquiring them.

I'd like to start reloading and have been doing a considerable amount of reading here and on other sites. I think I understand about the various types of presses (progressive, turret and single stage). From what I've read, seems like either a single stage or a turret would be the way to go. At this point, I can afford either, I'd reload only a moderate amount (I probably shoot 100-150 per weekly range session), I'd start out reloading .38 sp/.357 mag. (but I'd like to get into other handgun calibers in the not-to-distant future), and I'm really interested in learning well all the fundamentals before being able to increase speed appreciably.

Which type press (turret or single stage) would you recommend or why?

Of the two, Hornady Lock 'N Load (single) and Lee Classic Turret (obviously, turret) look promising. What do you think of these and others for a beginner.

Thanks for your help, and I look forward to your comments.
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Old May 8, 2010, 08:39 AM   #2
Tommix
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I vote for the Lee Classic Cast turret press. Loading pistol ammo on a single stage press is very slow, fiddley and boring. The turret press does one thing at a time just like a single stage, so its easy to follow what is going on at each stage. This makes it easy to learn on. My first press was a Lee Classic Turret.

The really nice thing about the LCT is instant gratification. You get a complete, ready to fire cartridge with 4 pulls of the lever. With a single stage, you've got to take the brass case in and out of the press 2 or 3 times plus use a separate powder measure. If you've got to load 200 rounds on Friday for shooting on Saturday, the Lee Classic Cast will do it in 1 to 2 hours. Figure about twice as long with a single stage.

In my opinion, the best kit for the Lee Classic is from Kempf's here They have about everything you'll need to reload in one kit. Be sure to get the upgrade with the large and small prime systems and the PRO AutoDisk powder measure for $22. You'll need both. $200 will get you started. You'll need a pair of calipers and a bullet puller in the future.

The LCC may be all you'll ever need for pistol reloading. I know of cowboy action shooters running through thousands of rounds/year who use the Lee Classics.

The Classic Turret is the nuts for caliber changes. Put another turret in with a AutoDisk Pro already set up, pull the shell holder and change primer feeds in two minutes or so. If you load for many calibers regularly, I think the LCC is the tool of choice. My two cents.
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Old May 8, 2010, 08:57 AM   #3
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http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405539

This thread is well worth reading IMHO. As another new guy, had I to do it over I would have bought a single stage ( the Horndy Classic LNL SS because of the fast change die feature ) and put the rest of the money into a high quality bench mounted Powder measure/despenser and high end beam scale.
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Old May 8, 2010, 08:59 AM   #4
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Quote:
Loading pistol ammo on a single stage press is very slow, fiddley and boring. The turret press does one thing at a time just like a single stage, so its easy to follow what is going on at each stage. This makes it easy to learn on. My first press was a Lee Classic Turret.
So, your first press was a Classic Turret, but you are sure that loading pistol ammo on a single stage is slow, fiddley and boring?

I would also recommend the Lee Classic Turret, but not to be used at all the way it was mentioned. No matter how much you try or how much you want it to be, a turret press will never be a progressive. As long as it uses a single shell holder and no shell plate then every lever throw will do on SINGLE job and it doesn't matter if it holds 8 dies in it, it's still only one job per lever throw.

A turret press does make for incredibly quick die changes and REALLY fast caliber swaps. That's the true genius of a turret press. It's certainly not the output speed of ammo.

If you aren't using a true progressive press then batch loading is the best method for building ammo. It's quicker, it's much more uniform and it's also the safest way to build decent ammo as you can keep a close eye on ALL of your powder charges.

Batch loading means that you should take, say, 100 pieces of .38 Special brass and size/decap each one of them. Then take the same 100 pieces and flare the case mouth. Then prime them all. Then use a powder measuring device to drop charges in each of those cases. (50 at a time if you have only one loading block)

Then you take a moment (in good lighting) to compare all of the charged cases in your load block and see visually that they all have a similar powder charge in them. No squibs -- no doubles -- no missed pieces. When you have 100% at this stage, you can place bullets on top of each one and then run them through the last stage, dropping a new loaded round with each lever throw.

Much smoother and safer and more consistent than trying to pretend that a turret press is some kind of progressive when it is not.

And the REAL way to batch load is the way that those of us who have enjoyed loading single stage have been doing it for many years: keep your brass supplies in stock already prepped for loading.

Here is what I mean: at my bench, I'll be sizing or flaring or priming brass in all different calibers at any time, whenever I have some spare time that I would like to spend at the load bench. There's a lot of time invested, but it's work that I truly enjoy doing.

Let's say you have plans to go shooting tomorrow and you'd like to take with you 150 rounds of 9mm and you need this particular ammo to be jacketed because you are headed to an indoor range. If you go to my shelves where the brass is waiting, it's not a bunch dirty brass that was just dragged home from the range.

It's clean -- it has already been sized, has a fresh primer and the case mouth is flared. So for me to emerge from my cave with 150 rounds is as simple as setting my powder measure to dump the proper charge, charge 150 pieces and then seat bullets on them. I can do this in about an hour.

No, it didn't take me only an hour to load 150 pieces, but the bulk of the work was done whenever... two days ago, two months ago, whenever I did it, maybe in little sessions of 30 minutes or a long morning over a pot of coffee on a rainy day.

For the OP-- if the choice is between a Lee Classic Turret and a Hornady LnL, I say get the Classic Turret. If the only choice is the Hornady LnL, I say get the Lee Classic Cast single stage. The Hornady is a fine press (as is a Rock Chuck, Crusher, Co-Ax, etc etc) but the Classic Cast is the most press for the money and the Classic Turret is the next best deal for the money and either one of these would serve you very well.
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Old May 8, 2010, 09:10 AM   #5
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Lee Classic Turret press, no question about it for handgun reloading.
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Old May 8, 2010, 10:44 AM   #6
Tommix
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Slow, fiddly and boring

Quote:
So, your first press was a Classic Turret, but you are sure that loading pistol ammo on a single stage is slow, fiddly and boring?
My son and I shoot cowboy action along with our wives. He used to load on a green machine (Rock Chucker). He told me it was "slow, fiddly and boring". He was staying up late on Fridays and dragging himself to the the matches in the AM. So I got him a Lee Classic Turret for his birthday. The Rock Chucker gathers dust now. And he's also good at caliber changes since his pistols are .44 Magnum and his rifle is .45 Colt.

Now reloading bottleneck rifle cartridges is slow, fiddly and boring along with tedious and messy no matter what you use. There's no getting around SF&B case prep. I use my Lee Classic Cast single stage for most of this. Plus I'm reloading CMP 30-06 with swagged primer pockets so case prep is extra SF&B. But I'm going to try moving the -06 reloading to my LnL AP if the RCBS X-Die will do the trick. First I have to finish load development for the 06 & 308. Load development is also SF&B. There seems to be a fair amount of SF&B associated with reloading no matter how I do it.
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Old May 8, 2010, 11:01 AM   #7
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Sevens said:

Quote:
Then you take a moment (in good lighting) to compare all of the charged cases in your load block and see visually that they all have a similar powder charge in them. No squibs -- no doubles -- no missed pieces. When you have 100% at this stage, you can place bullets on top of each one and then run them through the last stage, dropping a new loaded round with each lever throw.
I do this with each round in my CT. Very easy to do in good lighting. As you said, no squibs or doubles.
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Old May 8, 2010, 11:09 AM   #8
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+1 to everything Sevens said. I just got into reloading about a month ago and started with the Lee Classic Turret. I do the same thing as him, have all my brass in all my different calibers cleaned, sized and deprimed. I keep about 100rds primed and ready to load of each. I wait until I have a few hundred empties and then tumble a load. Then I'll spend a half hour before bed one evening and decapping and sizing the bunch while I listen to some music or the TV in the background, it's a great way to unwind.

I do batch reloading as well, I just pulled out my indexing rod and turn the turret to the next step after my batch of 50 is ready. Extra turrets are only $10 so I pick one up with every set of dies. I am very happy with my LCT for my first press and plan on keeping it around for a long long time.
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Old May 8, 2010, 11:19 AM   #9
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While on this subject, let's compare the Lee Classic Turret to all the other turret presses available on the market.

Lee also makes the regular turret press... Lyman has the T-mag, Redding has one, RCBS makes one also. Any I forgot?

I'm sure all the presses are decent, but I can't see how any of them make half as much sense as the Lee Classic Turret. Given the beefiness of it's build and the four die turret, and still with the low price, it kills the regular Lee Turret press.

And the other turret presses on the market offer a very sturdy design and more stages/places for dies. But the price of the turrets (if even available) -- are staggering. I think the Lyman turrets are about $50 each. The RCBS, I don't even want to know.

I use the Lee Classic Cast and I'm not convinced that the Classic Turret is enough of an upgrade for me to bother. (I just enjoy this hobby and I also really don't want to feed a progressive machine) So I've stuck with my press and I'm happy with it.

But if I had no press and I was buying right now, with a need to get value for my money? It would have to be the Lee Classic Turret.
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Old May 8, 2010, 11:31 AM   #10
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I would also recommend the Lee classic turret. It can be used as a single stage as others said. When you get tired of batch loading 50 rounds per hour on the single stage ( 2 or 3 weeks for me ) then you can add the auto indexing rod and load close to 200 rounds per hour. I have been loading on the CT four years and couldn't be happier. I agree that the CT isn't a progressive but at 200 RPH it keeps me from needing a progressive. I also look at every powder charge and don't have any squibs or doubles.
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Old May 8, 2010, 11:54 AM   #11
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I have an old Lyman ST turret press I bought used a few years back. The guy had quit reloading and had a box full of goodies including the press. I had intentions of setting it up but the problem with it is that the rams resing position is all the way up with the handle down. I was going to drill and add a detent to the ram but I got the Lee CT and the rest is history.
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Old May 8, 2010, 01:44 PM   #12
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One-piece frame

The deciding factor between Turret and Single-stage is that the single-stage is a one-piece cast iron (or aluminum) device. The Turret is an assembly. An assembly can develop clearance slop and is, generally speaking, more likely to flex than a one-piece casting, particularly if it is the closed "O" frame rather than the open-front "C" frame. Cast iron, cast or forged steel is stiffer than aluminum, so, that is my standard recommendation; "O" frame, cast iron single stage. The Hornady Lock'n'Load has a quick-change system for the dies, but Lee also has a quick die-change system on a single stage cast press, too.

Because you expressed interest in only pistol calibers, the open-front "C" press will do for you, even in aluminum. Less force required than with rifle cartridges. Cast aluminum requires a little more care (no rusting, but more assiduous cleaning and lubrication of bearing points).

Tommix, I respect your opinion, but do not share it. In my opinion, pulling the brass in and out of the press multiple times is no more onerous than rotating a turret head multiple times. I load batches of 50 at a time using two loading blocks. I can't quite do 50 rounds an hour if I weigh each charge, but using a powder scoop, I am much faster than that. On my Lee Classic Turret with auto-indexing (effectively, a progressive) I can do 150 per hour (slower than other progressive presses because the primer feeding is more finicky and I am VERY careful to inspect all four stations with each stroke of the handle. I also don't bother with the case feeding tubes because the time I save with them is equal to the time required to fill them. I measure my production time from setup to teardown, not just empty cases to full cases. I normally do 3 to 5 batches of 50 per loading session.

My two cents worth of opinion: Cast iron or steel, "C" or "O" frame single stage with or without the "Quick-change" dies feature. Check out this site
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/catalog/rlpress1.html
or, if the link does not work, paste this into your browser
leeprecision.com/html/catalog/rlpress1.html

Good luck.

P.S. I have two Lee Turret progressives, and an RCBS Rock Chucker and use them all.

Caveat and disclaimer:

I do not know you, so if my advice seems over-obvious, please take into account my ignorance of your experience level. Also, others of all experience levels are reading.


Remember, only believe half of what you see and one quarter of what you hear. That goes double for what you get from the internet. Even this post.

Do your own independent, confirming research when ANYONE gives you new facts on the web.
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Old May 8, 2010, 02:05 PM   #13
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cheap start

Begin with a $25 LEE Reloader press (use gently).
Buy the Lyman 4-die Deluxe die set.

Then, when you've matured in your understanding of what's needed, buy a better single-stage mounted 8" to the right of the LEE, and use the LEE for mounting Lyman flare/powder-drop dies with your (not a LEE) powder measure mounted on top.
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Old May 8, 2010, 10:08 PM   #14
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single stage only for beginners

LEE Single stage press for beginners, you may find that you dont like re loading, or just rather buy the whole cartridge. After a cpl years, then you may wanna use a turret press. Ive reloaded for 15 years, with RCBS rock chucker, Hornady Lock N Load , and today I still load 1 at a time, in my Lee Anniversary Press.Im an accuracy freak as I shoot BR, so I load, measure, and weigh each charge. Dont care about turning out 600 rds an hr. Id rather have 100rds that will shoot a dime at 300yds as 1000 that I have no idea of where they will shoot. Plus if your not weighing, and loading one at a time, your just doing what all ammo manuf. are doing, and thats why you have 100fps diff. between rounds. Just weigh your factory ammo and see.
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Old May 9, 2010, 05:43 AM   #15
volgunner
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Thanks for the input

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to send your ideas. Lots of good info to think about. The most important "take away" seems to be to concentrate on getting the charge right regardless of what type press/die is used.

I'm going to order a couple of reloading manuals, read them, and then see how things look after that. I have a hunch that knowing a bit more about the process will help in deciding what equipment I need (and what I don't).

Regards to all,
Russell
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Old May 9, 2010, 11:09 AM   #16
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Quote:
and today I still load 1 at a time, in my Lee Anniversary Press.I'm an accuracy freak as I shoot BR, so I load, measure, and weigh each charge. Dint care about turning out 600 rds an hr. Id rather have 100rds that will shoot a dime at 300yds as 1000 that I have no idea of where they will shoot.
Yes it depends on the person's needs. The accuracy I need is an 8" steel plate or COM on an IDPA target at 25 yards or less. For BR shooting measuring everything is the way to go. For my type of shooting it is a waste of time.

Quote:
Plus if your not weighing, and loading one at a time, your just doing what all ammo manuf. are doing, and thats why you have 100fps diff. between rounds. Just weigh your factory ammo and see.
Weighing loaded ammo won't tell you anything about the powder charge. The difference in weight just between the bullet and brass from round to round can be off a couple of grains. That's why the BR shooters weigh each piece of brass, each bullet and each powder charge. All of that just isn't necessary for pistol.
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Old May 9, 2010, 11:27 AM   #17
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Not sure about slow but I just loaded about 150 rounds the other day in about 2 hours. And that was starting with sizing and decapping and changing from 45 acp to 44 mag as well. Oh and I apperantly use an old out dated Rock chucar that was bought used at a garage sale by my brother in law for a back up. Turns out he never needed a back up in the last 20 years so he sold it to me for 70 bucks. Who knows how old the press is.

Batch loading is the way to go no matter what you use. Run through a bunch of the same operations, then when you have finished with all that, tool up for the next operation. It takes no more than a few seconds to change dies they are already set up and ready to go.
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Old May 9, 2010, 01:07 PM   #18
yrralguthrie
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Different method

This is an old thread but I'm going to throw in my two cents anyway.

I have a old Herter's Press. It's built like a tank. I also have a cheap Lee press. Each cost $30.00. One bought in the early seventies at the Herters store in Minnesota.

My procedure is to size and decap at one setting. Nothing critical and I can do it quickly and without much thinking. Do a bunch at a time. I prime with a Lee hand primer watching TV. Right now for instance I have several hundred .45 acp cases sized, decaped and primed.

I then set up the Herters case with a bullet seat die. Set up the cheap Lee press with a belling die with a Lee powder measure setting on top. Run the case through the Lee and I have 50 cases belled and with a powder charge. Takes at most 10 minutes.

Then I run the 50 through the bullet seating die on the Herters. I can set this die up to apply a taper crimp or run the through the press again with a Lee factory crimp die. Takes about 15 minutes to seat the bullets and another 10 to run them through the FCD.

So 50 loading rounds in 35 minutes. I actually timed myself. This is at a moderate pace no hurry.

For a turret press to be of any benefit I would have to spend enough time at the press to load 50 cases at one seating. Size, decap, bell, drop power, seat bullet and apply crimp. That will be at least 1 hour. I think a little longer. Basically I can spread the loading out with shorter sessions. And if all of a sudden I need 50 cases I can get them done quickly.

ljg
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Old May 9, 2010, 01:46 PM   #19
Lost Sheep
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Two Different methods. Is there a fourth?

Quote:
Originally Posted by yrralguthrie

For a turret press to be of any benefit I would have to spend enough time at the press to load 50 cases at one seating. Size, decap, bell, drop power, seat bullet and apply crimp. That will be at least 1 hour. I think a little longer. Basically I can spread the loading out with shorter sessions. And if all of a sudden I need 50 cases I can get them done quickly.
As I read your description, you view single-session loading with a turret press so:
insert one case into the case holder on the ram and
1) stroke, size/decap
move the turret head
2) stroke, bell the case and drop powder; downstroke, seat primer
move the turret head
3) stroke, seat the bullet
move the turret head
4) stroke, crimp (if crimping was not included in the bullet seating die).

For years, I never thought of using a turret press in that way. Here's my (past) view.

Put the turret so the sizing/decapping die is in place
1) Size/Decap 20, 50 or 100 cases (whatever my loading block holds)
move the turret head
2) bell the batch of cases and powder them; on the downstroke, seat primers
visually inspect all cases in the batch for amount of powder
move the turret head
3) seat bullet
move turret head
4) crimp (if crimping was not included in the bullet seating die).

To change calibers, just exchange turret heads. The great thing about turret presses is that re-setting the dies in the turret is rarely necessary. On single stage presses (before the introduction of quick-change bushings and absent my knowledge of Forster's Co-ax)

It seems to me that the first way I described of using a turret press is a lot of moving that turret head around. On the Hornady (my friend has one) it is not too difficult, but seems to me a lot of wasted effort (just as, I am sure, method two, which involves handling the cases many, many times seems wasteful to many).

From what I have read, each method has its own adherents.

I mentioned before that I had never even though of the second method for a couple of decades. Is there a fourth way of using a Turret press?

Using a batch method, I can load 50 pistol cartridges in one hour on my single stage (not quick-change) RCBS Rock Chucker, start to finish without a powder dispenser (I use scoops). That does not include set-up or take-down time, but does include the time to swap dies.

Lost Sheep

p.s. yrralguthrie, I hear you about breaking up the loading process into attention-critical (load powder, seat bullet, crimp) steps and prepping (size, deprime, bell, prime). Indeed, all methods have their adherents and relative advantages. Not something my personality would have though of on my own, but now that you described it so well, I might have to try it. Thanks. (By the way, the thread was started on 5/8/10)

Caveats and disclaimers:
I do not know you, so if my advice seems over-obvious, please take into account my ignorance of your experience level. Also, others of all experience levels are reading.

Remember, only believe half of what you see and one quarter of what you hear. That goes double for what you get from the internet. Even this post.

Do your own independent, confirming research when ANYONE gives you new facts on the web.

Also remember, even the idiotic stuff might have a kernel of truth buried in there somewhere.

Last edited by Lost Sheep; May 11, 2010 at 09:48 PM. Reason: add p.s.
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Old May 9, 2010, 01:47 PM   #20
CrustyFN
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Quote:
For a turret press to be of any benefit I would have to spend enough time at the press to load 50 cases at one seating. Size, decap, bell, drop power, seat bullet and apply crimp. That will be at least 1 hour. I think a little longer. Basically I can spread the loading out with shorter sessions. And if all of a sudden I need 50 cases I can get them done quickly.
Actually on the Lee classic turret what you described takes me around 15 minutes. In one hour I can load around 200.
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Old May 9, 2010, 02:03 PM   #21
Lost Sheep
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Quote:
CrustyFN
Actually on the Lee classic turret what you described takes me around 15 minutes. In one hour I can load around 200.
I have a Lee Turret, but to get anywhere near 200 per hour I have to be using the three-shell plate and auto-indexing. Does your Classic Turret have a single-shell ram or the multiple-shell rotating plate?

Or am I completely confused (which is a distinct possibility since the Lee names have always confused me-Classic cast, classic turret, turret, Turret with auto-indexing, or without auto-indexing. I am easily confused. Send pictures. And write with big letters. And short sentences.

Thanks,

Lost Sheep (and I didn't get that handle for nothin')

Last edited by Lost Sheep; May 10, 2010 at 11:52 PM.
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Old May 9, 2010, 08:11 PM   #22
yrralguthrie
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You are very fast.

CrustyFN

200 cases is 800 operations, size and decap, bell and drop powder, seat bullet, factory crimp die. Dividing 800 by 60 is a little over 13, so you have to be able to pull that handle every 5 seconds. Are you saying you can weigh every 10th case to make sure the weight is correct, look in each case to check the powder level, place a bullet in the die, turn the turret 4 times per case and still do one bullet per 5 seconds? You have to eitherturn the turret 4 times per cartridge or handle the case 4 time per cartridge.

Perhaps you can, it is not something I would recommend as an answer for someone just getting started. Bet you 4 bits you don't weight any powder charges or check the level in each case during that 200 cartridges/hour. Do you look at each case after it's primed to check the primer level, going that fast it would be pretty easy to fail to fully pull the handle. Do you inspect each finished case? If that powder measure is bouncing around are you sure it's measuring accurately?

Not doubting your word, you can likely turn out that many cartridges, but again not something to recommend to a beginner...or to many others either. If I were to load that many cartridges per hour...I would not shoot them, for I would have to make too many shortcuts.

LJG
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Old May 9, 2010, 09:26 PM   #23
BigJakeJ1s
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A few random thoughts on this...

Batch reloading makes it easier to compare powder levels in charged cases, while they are all side by side in a reloading block. One can easily spot powder levels that are a little more or less than their neighbors, indicating an errant charge. On a turret press, you must remember the relative level of powder in the case from four handle pulls (and operations) ago, making it much more likely that you will miss an errant charge.

Reloading dies, with proper lock rings, do not need to be reset each time you put them back on the press. By proper, I mean a lock ring with a set screw or preferably a cross-bolt to make sure the lock ring stays put, preserving the setup.

Strength and rigidity of a press has more to do with the combined geometry of the linkage and the frame, rather than just the shape of the frame itself ("O" or "C"). Forster Co-Ax and Redding UltraMag are both C-frame reloading presses, but both have the linkage anchored at the top of the press, very near the die, for rigidity matching or exceeding any O-frame press.

The Lee Classic Turret is just that, a turret press, with one shell holder and up to four dies. If it is a Lee press and holds more than one shell at a time, it is either a Pro-1000 or a Loadmaster, both of which are progressive presses.

The Lee Classic Cast single stage press and most others with a removable threaded bushing in the die hole (e.g. RCBS RC, Redding Big Boss/BB2/UltraMag), are compatible with the Hornady LNL press conversion kit, which allows it to work with LNL bushing-equipped reloading dies.

As for my recommendations for a reloading press:

On a budget, the Lee CC single stage is an excellent choice, and can be fitted with the LNL bushing system if desired. The Redding Big Boss II has similar features, but at a significantly higher price.

The Forster Co-Ax is more costly, but has features that are both convenient and accurate (though the latter is not of as much concern with handgun cartridge reloading). If you will be reloading longer-than-standard-magnum rifle cartridges, the Redding UltraMag is also a fine choice.

Andy
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Old May 9, 2010, 09:28 PM   #24
Tacoma
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Join Date: October 27, 2004
Location: SE New England
Posts: 620
Lee classic turret. Very adaptable press that you will not outgrow or be still trying to pay off in 3 years.

p.s. This press will easily spit out 3 quality rounds /min (if desired) once you get everything set up.

Last edited by Tacoma; May 9, 2010 at 09:34 PM.
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Old May 9, 2010, 09:30 PM   #25
CrustyFN
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Join Date: June 4, 2006
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 2,258
I agree with you 100% that a beginner should take their time. I am not telling them to go fast just what is possible when they get used to the press.

Quote:
200 cases is 800 operations, size and decap, bell and drop powder, seat bullet, factory crimp die. Dividing 800 by 60 is a little over 13, so you have to be able to pull that handle every 5 seconds. Are you saying you can weigh every 10th case to make sure the weight is correct,
No I weigh the powder charge and check OAL every 50 rounds.

Quote:
look in each case to check the powder level,
Yes, every case.

Quote:
turn the turret 4 times per case and still do one bullet per 5 seconds?
The turret turns automatic as you cycle the handle.

Quote:
Bet you 4 bits you don't weight any powder charges or check the level in each case during that 200 cartridges/hour.
Yes I do, same as above.

Quote:
Do you look at each case after it's primed to check the primer level,
Yes I check the level of every primer as it goes from the shell holder to the ammo box.

Quote:
going that fast it would be pretty easy to fail to fully pull the handle. Do you inspect each finished case? If that powder measure is bouncing around are you sure it's measuring accurately?
No never had any of those problems. You would actually be surprised at what a comfortable relaxed pace it takes to load 200 per hour. If I sit down for three hours I load 500. That includes all the powder checks and OAL every 50, filling the primer tray and checking the primer on every round. I could keep the 200 per hour pace for three hours but as I said I like to load at a confortable relaxed pace. This is my process.

Put a case in the shell holder and pull the handle to size.
Pop a primer into the primer cup.
Lower the ram to prime, index the press and grab a bullet with my left hand.
Raise the ram to charge with powder.
Lower the ram, look at the powder charge and set the byllet on.
Raise the ram to seat the bullet.
Lower the ram and then raise it again to crimp.
Lower the ram, take the finished round out with my right hand and check the primer as I put a new case in with my left hand.
Repeat 200 times.

Check out this video. He is loading at a rate of 300 per hour. It really is a comfortable pace at 200 per hour.
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/Hel...20turret-1.wmv
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Last edited by CrustyFN; May 10, 2010 at 07:37 PM.
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