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Old March 14, 2019, 06:42 AM   #51
Old 454
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Welcome to the world of reloading ammunition.

I bought a Lee press to start out the Loadmaster. Unbelievable press in a bad way lolol.

Here are things you want to consider
When you reload your own ammo.... you will find your self shooting more then if you had to purchase your ammo.

Also... future needs.
Right now you have 1 cartridge to load for .357.
You may decide you will purchase other guns in diffrent calibers and reload even more.
The Lee Classic Turret is a great first press. Probably one of the better turrets out there in that price range.

BUT....if you look to future needs I would consider a dillon XL 650
You can always load one round at a time on it till you feel comfortable using the 650 to it's full potential and the 650 is warrenty for life and they have exallent customer service. I had a 20 year old 650 that I sent if for refurbishing ... Dillon completely rebuilt the press and shipped it back... for nothing... zero charge.

Just some things to consider.

Make sure you get a good reloading manual...and above all be safe and enjoy. !
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Old March 15, 2019, 08:42 AM   #52
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It all comes down to that number - 12000 months per year, or 1000 per month. I am a big fan of the Lee Classic Turret and I usually recommend it to anyone starting out handloading, but I would not want to do 1000 rounds per month on that thing. In your shoes I would go with the progressive option.

Edit: Oh, I see you've already gotten the Lee Turret. It's a good press and won't let you down. If you can hit your numbers with a turret then you're a better man than I am!
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Old March 15, 2019, 09:31 AM   #53
Josh Smith
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Hello,

I started with a Lyman manually indexed turret press. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly to any beginner. You don't have to mess with unscrewing the dies, so it's faster than a single stage: https://www.lymanproducts.com/brands...ret-press.html

I wore that thing out, busted the king screw. I bought a Rockchucker (http://rcbs.com/Products/Presses-and...eme-Press.aspx) as a replacement and gave the Lyman to someone who could fix it and use it to get into reloading.

The Rockchucker single-stage was (and is) awesome for crafting 7.62x54r and 8x57 rounds I enjoy, but was a bit slow for making .45acp.

So, I purchased a Lee self-indexing turret press (https://leeprecision.com/reloading-kits/turret-press/) with the intention of using it only for pistol rounds, which it excels at. I have the value version, and don't think I'd try rifle rounds in it.

Regards,
Josh
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Old March 15, 2019, 09:10 PM   #54
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If the OP does a search on any reloading site, he will find hundreds of similar threads.

Listen to your instructors.
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Old March 17, 2019, 03:59 PM   #55
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Quote:
...12000 months per year
I think that's called a millenium.
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Old March 17, 2019, 10:04 PM   #56
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8,000rds?!!! That's alot of ammo. I started on a lee turret press, three hole turret. I made some high quality loads with it. Ive got a lee perfect powder measure. But you'll want something to mount to the press to auto feed.
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Old March 17, 2019, 10:07 PM   #57
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It all comes down to that number - 12000 months per year, or 1000 per month. I am a big fan of the Lee Classic Turret and I usually recommend it to anyone starting out handloading, but I would not want to do 1000 rounds per month on that thing

Aunt that the truth, I did rifle loads mainly
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Old March 18, 2019, 02:30 PM   #58
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I can only wish I was shooting 1k rounds per month. Would be happy with half that amount!
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Old March 19, 2019, 08:21 AM   #59
buck460XVR
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Originally Posted by kmw1954 View Post
I can only wish I was shooting 1k rounds per month. Would be happy with half that amount!
.....same here. Again, once one considers the cost of components @ 12,000 rounds a year, I often wonder why folks that have no problem spending that amount of monies on reloading, insist on buying the cheapest press they can to put them together with. The OP state he was given a Rockchucker to learn on. Why he even bothered with the Lee turret is beyond me. You still have the pull the handle for each and every step.
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Old March 19, 2019, 08:52 AM   #60
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12,000 rounds of .357 will be 36,000 pulls of the handle on that turret press. How much do Hornady Lock N Loads or Dillon 550's cost?

I've got the Hornady and would be would buy it again even if a turret press was given to me for free. I reload at 6,000 rounds per year and would do significantly less if forced to use a turret press.
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Old March 19, 2019, 10:24 AM   #61
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12,000 rounds of .357 will be 36,000 pulls of the handle on that turret press.
Nope, a properly set up turret press is one round per handle pull. Yes, the turret also has to be rotated for each pull as well.
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Old March 19, 2019, 11:03 AM   #62
Josh Smith
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Quote:
Nope, a properly set up turret press is one round per handle pull. Yes, the turret also has to be rotated for each pull as well.
How do you figure, Mark? One pull each for size/decap, prime/powder throw, bullet seat/crimp. Three pulls.

36,000 pulls for 12,000 rounds.

Regards,
Josh
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Old March 19, 2019, 12:02 PM   #63
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My thought also has been that if someone is doing 1k rounds per month, every month then they need some form of progressive press. Granted I can easily do 250 rounds in a weekend on my turret press but I don't know that I would have to be chained to that schedule just to keep up.

I also know many people knock it but even the lowly Lee Pro1000 can keep up with 1k pistol loads per month and so can the small Dillon SDB. 3 to 4 rounds per minute on either one of these presses should be a nice leisurely pace.
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Old March 19, 2019, 12:17 PM   #64
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How do you figure, Mark? One pull each for size/decap, prime/powder throw, bullet seat/crimp. Three pulls.
Was kind of being sarcastic. At 1K a month, I agree a progressive, in some flavor, is a better choice. Some call the Dillon 500 a turret press, but it is more a manually advanced progressive. Should have been less sarcastic and more clear.
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Old March 19, 2019, 02:00 PM   #65
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I reload on a turret and a box takes about 20 minutes if it is already set up. As much as I like my LCT, a thousand rounds a month on it doesn't sound like fun at all. Definitely need to go to a progressive for that volume.
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Old March 20, 2019, 08:21 AM   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh Smith View Post
How do you figure, Mark? One pull each for size/decap, prime/powder throw, bullet seat/crimp. Three pulls.

36,000 pulls for 12,000 rounds.

Regards,
Josh
This is where I was at in my last response. The OP stated "A friend which retired reloading gave me his old rock chucker. Not bad for learning and testing the basics about reloading and dies, but it's an absolute torture to reload high qtys of pistol ammo. ". This tells me he was already bored after a few rounds on a SS. All a turret is, is a SS with a turret head that holds multiple dies. Can get a Piggyback for that Rock chuker. Still takes a pull for every step(you forgot the "flare step" which means 4 pulls per pistol round unless you are priming.charging off the press).....or 48,000 pulls. One still needs to batch load. 12,000 rounds a year of the same caliber handgun bullet is gonna get old on the turret too for the OP. With what he spends on components every year, the extra cost for a dedicated caliber progressive is just pocket change. He already had a SS to learn on and develop loads on. The next sensible step would have been a dedicated progressive. Ain't trying to burst the OPs bubble, but advice on the internet is worth just what you pay for it.
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