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Old December 27, 2008, 12:50 PM   #1
k3new
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Reloading advice

Forgive me if this has been covered before, but I think my request will be a little more specialized and unique than others... With that said:

I am looking to get back into reloading after a 20 year break. I reloaded thousands of 357 and 45 with a Lee turret press, but found the equipment to be a little on the cheap and flimsy side.

I want to do primarily 357 and 45, and eventually get into .308, 6.8 RPC, and maybe even 5.56 and 7.62x54R

I plan to cast and load mostly lead for the pistols. And don't forsee a need to shoot thousands a month, but don't want to have too slow of a press. If I could do 50-100 rounds an hour, I would be fine with that. Also, I'd prefer to use carbide dies.

So, with all that, what would you guys recommend that I get? Press, dies, scale, etc, etc.

Thanks.

Joe
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Old December 27, 2008, 01:05 PM   #2
Unclenick
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Well, I don't know which Lee you had, but I believe their newer Classic Turret is steel like their Classic Cast press, so it is sturdier. Steel rather than aluminum handle linkage, for sure. You might want to consider that? I've never had any problem with Lee dies, carbide included. I also own Lyman, RCBS, Hornady, Redding, Forster, and Dillon Dies. No problems with any of them, either. The Dillon 550B press is hard to beat for sturdiness and will work with conventional dies and is more than strong enough for all you want to do. Faster than you need (600 rounds an hour is not hard to get to if you don't count loading up the primer pickup tubes) and slower to change between .45 and .357 than the Lee, since the primer feed and shell plates have to change.
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Old December 27, 2008, 02:33 PM   #3
Sevens
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I agree-- Lee's classic turret is much more sturdy and much less flimsy than their standard turret press. So much so that I'd imagine you would be impressed with it's construction. It's a heckuva lot of press for the money.

Scale is always going to be a tough choice when you have nothing to start with. You can pick up digital scales for anywhere from $30 to $300. Cheap digital scales and be erratic and annoying, but spending more doesn't always eliminate the problems.

You can pick up the Lee Safety scale for only $20... very accurate, but difficult to read & use. Most decent beam scales start around a hundred and go up.

Most of my dies are Lee because I think they work very well and are by far the cheapest.

When you get to the rifle calibers, you'll need to look in to case length trimming. That's a whole other group of equipment.

I'd recommend going to www.midwayusa.com and use all the tools on their site to help give you some ideas.
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Old December 27, 2008, 03:20 PM   #4
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k3new, not much to add to what was already mentioned. I own a Lee Classic Turret Press. I contend that it is the best bang for the buck on the market. It is semi-progressive and will spit out up to 200 rounds per hour. I take my time and turn out 150hr. The base is cast; it is very solid. Lee dies are an exceptional buy. Caliber swap out on the above press is literally seconds. Dies and the needed turret are about $40 a set. I bought my hole getup from Kempf Gun Shop. www.kempfgunshop.com. They have kits with most if not all of the ammenties included or as upgrade options. Good people. I have also purchased a goodly amount of stuff from Midway also. Good people but often out of stock temporarily.
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Old December 27, 2008, 03:48 PM   #5
Don P
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I use a Lee turret press and manage 100 rds per hour and its a 3 hole manual turret. Spending more is foolish ( In my opinion ) I have $319 invested and have loaded 7400 rds. without any problems. Equipment list, 3 hole turret press, single stage press that came with the anniversary kit. Frankford tumbler set up, 5 sets of carbide dies with the factory crimp dies. Works for me
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Old December 28, 2008, 10:24 AM   #6
k3new
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Thanks

Looks as thought Lee must have impoved their wares. I'll have to give this a look!

Thanks again for the good replies.

Joe
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