New to reloading, trying to decide on a press

[High Standard]

I’m a bit old school in my thoughts. I think if you are just starting out, there is nothing better to start out with than a single stage press. In particular an “O” shaped press as compared to a “C” shaped press. You will learn a lot more if you are more hands on. And with a single stage you will get a better hands-on education and a better feel for reloading which I think would do you much better when you decide to go to a progressive setup. Also, when using a single stage press, you will make mistakes. And when you do you will make it once or twice. If you make a mistake with a progressive you might make 50 or 100 or more before you realize it. I think progressive press setups are for more advanced reloaders and those that shoot a lot. JMHO

 

[Boriqua]

I’m a bit old school in my thoughts. I think if you are just starting out, there is nothing better to start out with than a single stage press. In particular an “O” shaped press as compared to a “C” shaped press. You will learn a lot more if you are more hands on. And with a single stage you will get a better hands-on education and a better feel for reloading which I think would do you much better when you decide to go to a progressive setup. Also, when using a single stage press, you will make mistakes. And when you do you will make it once or twice. If you make a mistake with a progressive you might make 50 or 100 or more before you realize it. I think progressive press setups are for more advanced reloaders and those that shoot a lot. JMHO

I agree .. I was generously gifted a progressive press when I decided to start out. I had a buddy come over to get me schooled and he brought his single stage and associated equipment to teach me. I tried to make the progressive work for me but it was to much for me to swallow all at once.

First was the reloading part which while not difficult in theory needs careful monitoring so you dont blow up yourself or your gun or like I did .. cause a squib shich lodged firm and took a couple of hours to free from the barrel.

Add to that just learning a piece of machinery at the same time ... and I went and bought a Lee Classic single stage.

I have been using it on 3 or 4 years now and while it does take time I like the control and I like being able to carefully monitor what I am doing. I have loaded thousands of rounds without issue and while the process takes a bit I probably only shoot 400 rounds a month and I can easily produce what I need.

In the future I may graduate to a turret, probably this year but unless I greatly increased how much I shoot I am comfortable with the single.

Good luck in your search! I was lucky to have a buddy come by and spend a weekend over teaching me to reload. Invaluable!

 

[Boriqua]

Im certainly not going to get in a disagreement over presses, some of you guys will find anything to argue over. I am just relaying my experience.

I will use two trays .. 100 rds .. I will rotate each case from my bag of brass under a desklamp looking for bad cases or cracks and place them in my trays. After I charge all of my cases I pass over them with a led flashlight I have on the bench to ensure all the charges look the same before I put the bullets on. Takes less than 10 seconds to confirm.

I usually check my charge over 10 drops before I comfortably charge the cases.

Maybe to much for some but I feel confident when I make my cartridges they are all the same and as perfect as I can make them.

It was an equipment malfunction and/or a user error that caused the Squib with the progressive. At this stage I dont think it would happen because I have the reloading aspect fairly well done so I could focus on equipment but ... the slow and steady method I employ now is very comforting to ME.

I chill, I listen to a comedy podcast I like and I enjoy feeling like a mad scientist weighing stuff and measuring ... all in good fun and I dont shoot enough to need to crank out rounds

Again .. there may be a progressive or turret coming this xmas but I am very happy I started with a single stage.

 

[Boriqua]

No biases here real or imagined. Just adding my 2 cents.

I like all motorcycles. Don't think a Harley sucks or my bike is better. Just different strokes for different folks

 

[Flash]

Yep, and no matter what anyone tells you, there is no "best" press, there is only the one you like. They all get the job done and as long as you compare apples to apples, you'll find some cost twice as much as others for no reason whatsoever other than people liking to say they own one. Kind of like owning some cars.

 

[dread_scott]

Best for ME, that is a good way to put it!

As i said, the dillon seems nice and everyone tells me to get it, but want to make sure its for me.

Going to check out a hornady tomorrow, we'll see how it is and how i like it.

I GET the idea of using a single stage to learn and get better, BUT not the route i want to go. If i keep reloading, i will get one, but for me and my style, it would annoy me doing the single stage thing trying to load 1000 .223 at a time.

 

[Boriqua]

Best for ME, that is a good way to put it!

As i said, the dillon seems nice and everyone tells me to get it, but want to make sure its for me.

Going to check out a hornady tomorrow, we'll see how it is and how i like it.

I GET the idea of using a single stage to learn and get better, BUT not the route i want to go. If i keep reloading, i will get one, but for me and my style, it would annoy me doing the single stage thing trying to load 1000 .223 at a time.

I look forward to your thoughts on the hornady! I looked it up after seeing the thread and it comes pretty loaded for under $500.

 

[High Standard]

I’m a bit old school in my thoughts. I think if you are just starting out, there is nothing better to start out with than a single stage press. In particular an “O” shaped press as compared to a “C” shaped press. You will learn a lot more if you are more hands on. And with a single stage you will get a better hands-on education and a better feel for reloading which I think would do you much better when you decide to go to a progressive setup. Also, when using a single stage press, you will make mistakes. And when you do you will make it once or twice. If you make a mistake with a progressive you might make 50 or 100 or more before you realize it. I think progressive press setups are for more advanced reloaders and those that shoot a lot. JMHO

While mostly good advice, I have to interject here at the inaccuracy of your statement in comparison to mistakes. If you make a mistake on a progressive, you will instantly know about it the same as one would with a single stage.

I was going by some personal experience my friend had with his Hornady progressive. He experienced several squib loads for either 50 or 100 rounds he brought with him to the range one day. After discovering the 2nd or 3rd squib he stopped shooting and went home and pulled the remainder. This occurred a few times that I remember before he fixed the issue.

 

[High Standard]

I agree .. I was generously gifted a progressive press when I decided to start out. I had a buddy come over to get me schooled and he brought his single stage and associated equipment to teach me. I tried to make the progressive work for me but it was to much for me to swallow all at once.

First was the reloading part which while not difficult in theory needs careful monitoring so you dont blow up yourself or your gun or like I did .. cause a squib shich lodged firm and took a couple of hours to free from the barrel.

Add to that just learning a piece of machinery at the same time ... and I went and bought a Lee Classic single stage.

I have been using it on 3 or 4 years now and while it does take time I like the control and I like being able to carefully monitor what I am doing. I have loaded thousands of rounds without issue and while the process takes a bit I probably only shoot 400 rounds a month and I can easily produce what I need.

In the future I may graduate to a turret, probably this year but unless I greatly increased how much I shoot I am comfortable with the single.

Good luck in your search! I was lucky to have a buddy come by and spend a weekend over teaching me to reload. Invaluable!
[/quote]
You said it better than I did. I think learning all of the ins and outs of reloading one cartridge at a time is invaluable before attempting to also learn machinery at the same time. Then learning the progressive machinery while understanding the loading process is a better process IMHO.

I am retired now and shoot more than I used to. But having a lot more time on my hands I have decided to not get a progressive setup. Just a personal decision. I mostly use my RC for loading rifle and I mostly use my Lee Turret press to load handgun ammo.

 

[High Standard]

I’m a bit old school in my thoughts. I think if you are just starting out, there is nothing better to start out with than a single stage press. In particular an “O” shaped press as compared to a “C” shaped press. You will learn a lot more if you are more hands on. And with a single stage you will get a better hands-on education and a better feel for reloading which I think would do you much better when you decide to go to a progressive setup. Also, when using a single stage press, you will make mistakes. And when you do you will make it once or twice. If you make a mistake with a progressive you might make 50 or 100 or more before you realize it. I think progressive press setups are for more advanced reloaders and those that shoot a lot. JMHO

I agree .. I was generously gifted a progressive press when I decided to start out. I had a buddy come over to get me schooled and he brought his single stage and associated equipment to teach me. I tried to make the progressive work for me but it was to much for me to swallow all at once.

First was the reloading part which while not difficult in theory needs careful monitoring so you dont blow up yourself or your gun or like I did .. cause a squib shich lodged firm and took a couple of hours to free from the barrel.

Add to that just learning a piece of machinery at the same time ... and I went and bought a Lee Classic single stage.

I have been using it on 3 or 4 years now and while it does take time I like the control and I like being able to carefully monitor what I am doing. I have loaded thousands of rounds without issue and while the process takes a bit I probably only shoot 400 rounds a month and I can easily produce what I need.

In the future I may graduate to a turret, probably this year but unless I greatly increased how much I shoot I am comfortable with the single.

Good luck in your search! I was lucky to have a buddy come by and spend a weekend over teaching me to reload. Invaluable!

My first press that I learned on was a progressive. While at first it was a bit intimidating, it quickly wore off because the more I was cranking the more I was learning and soon rookie mistakes was a distant memory.

But like the other I must interject here as well. You can just as easily get a squib with a single stage and have personally seen people miss cases while dropping powder and seating them all without checking...or have caught the double charging because they got complacent. You can't double charge on a progressive or have a squib when watching a powder checker.

I think this was my friends’ problems when they started their reloading experience with a progressive setup. They did not have the powder check die. Rookie mistake. This is the sort of thing I was trying to relate in my original post.

 

[Flash]

I've never used a power checker and never will. I look inside each and every case to see the level of powder and after a few thousand you can tell if it's off by even a very small amount.

Some presses make it easier to do that than others and mine makes it very easy fortunately.

 

[Flash]

You look down the necked case. You don't have to look directly down unless you're using small amounts of powder as if you're using a powder that nearly fills the case, it'll be up to almost where the case neck ends and the shoulder starts. You can see that very well from an angle up to around 45 degrees or so.

And that's in a Lee Loadmaster. The 4th station is where the bullet is placed in the case and the case is sitting at 7 o'clock, directly under LED lights I have on the press and almost directly in front of the operator.

 

[knockonit]

well now, i stand and reload, and i do gander at the filled case, and i do have a bar stool, that i may occassionaly set on, but don't reload while setting, just me, works for me, and well fella that showed me how did the same, so not sure if i just learned that or like it that way, but it works.
everyone has their style, injury or health issue aside, back in the day, i had lee hand loaders when working up loads out in the big wild, and when i went to africa, many decades ago, we hand loaded, didn't have much choice, and frankly wasn't fun. But now i enjoy it, some rock and roll and the one armed bandit and i go to town.
hehe, to each their own
Rj

oh yeah forgot last year i reloaded over 30k of misc. and well this year, probably do almost double since i plan on shooting just about once or more a week, each outing is usually around 1k min.
just a hoot to shoot. :lol:

 

[Boriqua]

You stay doing you, and we'll again, continue to do us

Who is "us?" Flash has been a knowledgable, respectful and has been generously giving of his experience on this board for somewhere around 15 years. If flash is anything ... He is "us!"

 

[knockonit]

uh the thread is basically about deciding on a press if you read the lead title, not about anyone specified other than thru discussion.

sheeesh

 

[knockonit]

says you, but others have different opinions and ideas, the singular thinking is not working for me, and others. many options and scenarios are available, and others are only sharing their experience,
shame on you to decide who what, where and when, is the liberal coming out..............hehehe

sheesh back at ya

Rj

 

[Boriqua]

this tiny almost not heard of local board.

Yet ... Here you are !

 

[delta6]

says you, but others have different opinions and ideas, the singular thinking is not working for me, and others. many options and scenarios are available, and others are only sharing their experience,
shame on you to decide who what, where and when, is the liberal coming out..............hehehe

sheesh back at ya

Rj

You're purposely derailing with very weak arguments and extremely petulant flippant redirection of my remark of a benign "yeesh" that you made it your repertoire. Seriously, how old are you??

Yep, another millennial with 50 years of experience. Yeah, I'll listen to his advice...geesch..

 

[Boriqua]

..The Pot Calling the Kettle Black applies here!

I been here a long time. I take breaks but I like the local flavor. I have probably met 30 or more people from these boards. I have good friends I met 15 or so years ago due to these boards. They have been to my home, I've attended group shoots with the denizens of AZS and hosted and attended bbq's with them. I have been with some through divorces, problems with kids and some raucous "choir practices"

Lots of guns and ammo and info have been exchanged over the years. Most of the guns I grew bored of belong to someone here.

Lots of whiskey and beer has been shared with some and a few guys carry in or own something I have made for them.

I didn't try to make the board seem inconsequential... you did.

While I am sure everyone appreciates you lowering yourself to participate on this unheard of forum and bestowing upon us unworthy your overwhelming breadth of knowledge perhaps it's to small a pond for you.

Me I like it just fine.

 

[Boriqua]

Still hoping to hear about that Hornady. Got to admit it's peaked my interest. Hope the op comes back with input.