“I have people for that”...

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Which is what I have told people whenever they ask me if I reload.

Well, son #1 has built him a hog slayer in 300BO, so I’m thinking I might better get on with the program in my garage, cuz he sure doesn’t have room for it at his place.
 
So, is there a press I can run both pistol and rifle ammo on?
 
Yep. Prob have to pull the indexing rod to do rifle but that's not hard. I loaded on the old version of that for over 15 years....still got it. Had the itch and bought a Lee Loadmaster last week.....man that thing does a lot of ammo quick.

Someone will be along to tell you to spend thousands shortly otherwise your press is junk.....lol
 
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Yep. Prob have to pull the indexing rod to do rifle but that's not hard. I loaded on the old version of that for over 15 years....still got it. Had the itch and bought a Lee Loadmaster last week.....man that thing does a lot of ammo quick.

Someone will be along to tell you to spend thousands shortly otherwise your press is junk.....lol
The Loadmaster appears to be on sale at Midway for $262, but I need to check what all it has, or doesn’t have.
 
Basically any single stage or turret can do both.
I think the square deal B is the only pistol only progressive.

If you are only going to load rifle for hunting get a single stage.

If you are going to load anything in volume ever skip the nonsense and get a Dillon 650/750, they can do anything a single stage or turret can and more. Every single person I have known that has played with a Lee for volume eventually got tired of changing broken parts and then wondered why they waited so long to upgrade.

I have an LnL with feeders, works great, most people fight them, that's why I don't recommend it.
 
The Loadmaster appears to be on sale at Midway for $262, but I need to check what all it has, or doesn’t have.

If you're new to it, it may not be the best choice but anyone can learn. I've about got it setup just right but it has required some tinkering. The one you posted is pretty much plug and play. Most important is to read and learn.
 
The Loadmaster appears to be on sale at Midway for $262, but I need to check what all it has, or doesn’t have.

If you have nothing some important items are a scale, a press, the right dies (I had never used a factory crimp die until I got one the other day....amazing how it makes cases fit the barrel), A MANUAL OR TWELVE, a bullet puller hammer for screw ups, etc, etc.
 
The Lee Classic Turret linked to above is, IMHO, an excellent press to get started with. I have a Dillon 550 that I do all my high volume semi-auto pistol ammo with, but for rifle and revolver ammo I use my LCT. Pull the indexing rod and run it as a single stage, which is what I normally do. With the index rod installed and using on-press priming and powder drop, you can get around 250 rounds per hour.
 
My garage faces due west, which means it’s an oven in there especially when two recently driven vehicles are parked in there, anytime but winter, so I need to rethink a location in the house. I’ve got a spot in my home “office” that I could build/install a sturdy work surface for the press, about 24” deep, and 48” wide.

Is that enough work surface? I have shelves and some other flat surfaces in there now, but only about 24” x 48” that could be dedicated to a press and ancillary stuff.
 
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Basically any single stage or turret can do both.
I think the square deal B is the only pistol only progressive.

If you are only going to load rifle for hunting get a single stage.

If you are going to load anything in volume ever skip the nonsense and get a Dillon 650/750, they can do anything a single stage or turret can and more. Every single person I have known that has played with a Lee for volume eventually got tired of changing broken parts and then wondered why they waited so long to upgrade.

I have an LnL with feeders, works great, most people fight them, that's why I don't recommend it.

If it was just about pistol calibers in volume, 9 and 45 in my case, I’d still be in the “I have people for that” camp, but I figure if the boy gets more interested in rifle ammo, especially pricier rifle ammo, I might as well get a press that can do both effectively.
 
I’m looking to press, not oppress.

Like this one? rifle and pistol
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013020237?pid=785993

This is what I started on.

I loved it. You can run it single stage until you get the hang of it, or for more precision rifle stuff. Then you can do a few hundred an hour on it for pistol. Inline fabrication makes an auto ejector for it that really speeds things up as well.

Eventually you will be getting a progressive, I am currently using the load master. Its ok for someone who likes to tinker. But it does ammo really quick. I will be getting a Dillon 650/750 eventually.


Go ahead and get you a rock tumbler to wet tumble. I use a food dehydrator with the mesh screens to dry my brass.
 
I will be getting a Dillon 650/750 eventually.


Go ahead and get you a rock tumbler to wet tumble. I use a food dehydrator with the mesh screens to dry my brass.

Good, you’ll get to help me set it up.
:D
 
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I have a bench but I recently bought one of these. Topped it with 3/4" plywood and have two presses mounted. Got the idea after seeing the Lee stand. Works very well, now my bench can be used for other things.

https://www.harborfreight.com/power...ries/29-inch-heavy-duty-tool-stand-95128.html

image_13382.jpg
 
I'm a noob to reloading so take what I say with a grain of salt. I bought the Lee Turret Press kit that you posted but honestly, if I had to do it over, I would buy the press and powder dispenser and then buy everything else seperate. Some of the things that come in the kit I will never use. I like the digital scales I bought cheap better than the beam scales that came with it for instance. Also bought the FA prep center rather than use the trimmer kit that came with the kit. It so far has done an awesome job. Also bought the FA tumber and am very happy with it.
 
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Do yourself a favor, a REAL BIG FAVOR, and get a Dillon. A 550 should do just fine. Get their dies and a good balance beam powder scale. You will never be sorry you did and will only have to upgrade if you want more speed by getting a different Dillon.

If you want to take your time with a single stage, an RCBS kit with a Rockchucker press, a scale, and a few other toys will get you going rather quickly.
 
My garage faces due west, which means it’s an oven in there especially when two recently driven vehicles are parked in there, anytime but winter, so I need to rethink a location in the house. I’ve got a spot in my home “office” that I could build/install a sturdy work surface for the press, about 24” deep, and 48” wide.

Is that enough work surface? I have shelves and some other flat surfaces in there now, but only about 24” x 48” that could be dedicated to a press and ancillary stuff.
I started with a woodworkers bench kit from Harbor Freight, in a spare bedroom. I now have a dedicated 12x20 pre-fab shed that I bought and finished the interior, and I still use that same bench. So, 24x48 would be plenty.

The decision to go with a progressive press depends really on how much ammo you want to load with the time you have available. If you are only going to load 200 rounds a month, then a progressive is over-kill. If you are going to load 500 rounds every week, then a progressive makes a lot of sense.

Keep in mind, too, that the vast majority of reloaders have more than one press. Just because you think you might outgrow a given press, doesn't mean that it becomes useless when you buy something better. I use my turret press for a lot of things that are just quicker and simpler than setting up to do on my progressive. I even have a cheap Lee C type press that I use with a collet bullet puller.
 
I'm a noob to reloading so take what I say with a grain of salt. I bought the Lee Turret Press kit that you posted but honestly, if I had to do it over, I would buy the press and powder dispenser and then buy everything else seperate. Some of the things that come in the kit I will never use. I like the digital scales I bought cheap better than the beam scales that came with it for instance. Also bought the FA prep center rather than use the trimmer kit that came with the kit. It so far has done an awesome job. Also bought the FA tumber and am very happy with it.
Do yourself a favor, a REAL BIG FAVOR, and get a Dillon. A 550 should do just fine. Get their dies and a good balance beam powder scale. You will never be sorry you did and will only have to upgrade if you want more speed by getting a different Dillon.

If you want to take your time with a single stage, an RCBS kit with a Rockchucker press, a scale, and a few other toys will get you going rather quickly.
I started with a woodworkers bench kit from Harbor Freight, in a spare bedroom. I now have a dedicated 12x20 pre-fab shed that I bought and finished the interior, and I still use that same bench. So, 24x48 would be plenty.

The decision to go with a progressive press depends really on how much ammo you want to load with the time you have available. If you are only going to load 200 rounds a month, then a progressive is over-kill. If you are going to load 500 rounds every week, then a progressive makes a lot of sense.

Keep in mind, too, that the vast majority of reloaders have more than one press. Just because you think you might outgrow a given press, doesn't mean that it becomes useless when you buy something better. I use my turret press for a lot of things that are just quicker and simpler than setting up to do on my progressive. I even have a cheap Lee C type press that I use with a collet bullet puller.
I just ordered a 1000lbs weight capacity workbench that I found for a screaming deal. $169, shipped. 24 x 48 which is perfect for the spot I have.

So I am looking at the 550 and the 750 at the moment...
This is from the Dillon website
Screen Shot 2020-06-20 at 12.40.22 PM.png
 
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Scanned over the first 45 pages of the 75 page Dillon XL 750 manual. My IQ might not be high enough to operate that thing.
 
If it was just about pistol calibers in volume, 9 and 45 in my case, I’d still be in the “I have people for that” camp, but I figure if the boy gets more interested in rifle ammo, especially pricier rifle ammo, I might as well get a press that can do both effectively.

Every reloader has used the excuse for getting into reloading was to save some money. You will not save money. You will just shoot more and you will become a brass whore.

Heaven help you if you start casting your own bullets. You will walk with your head down always looking for wheel weights in the parking lot.

Now. Welcome to the club.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
 
Every reloader has used the excuse for getting into reloading was to save some money. You will not save money. You will just shoot more and you will become a brass whore.

Heaven help you if you start casting your own bullets. You will walk with your head down always looking for wheel weights in the parking lot.

Now. Welcome to the club.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
I was shooting 10-12K pistol up until the past year when I got distracted. I’m slacking off on summer matches because I can’t stand the heat like I could and I’m tired of making vacation house payments for my dermatologist.
 
I was shooting 10-12K pistol up until the past year when I got distracted. I’m slacking off on summer matches because I can’t stand the heat like I could and I’m tired of making vacation house payments for my dermatologist.
Ok, sounds like a progressive press would be in order.

The comparison chart you posted is good info, but I just want to point out something. The Square Deal press is more economical than it seems from that chart, because the caliber conversions for it include the dies, while the other presses do not. But, with the Square Deal, you are limited to the proprietary dies made by Dillon. With the others, you are not limited Dillon dies, you can use any standard 7/8” dies from other vendors.

FWIW, I started with a 550 and don’t regret it for a minute. With the manual indexing, it is easy to use it in single-stage mode.
 
I’d be loading lots of 9, less 45, some 300 bo, and want to be able to load .223/5.56 although I rarely shoot it.
 
Seriously, the " I have people for that" line doesn't work if more societal chaos continues on until society fractures. Having the ability to reload is part of self reliance. At best you'll have it if you need it. At worse you won't use it and can pass it down to relatives that might.
 
Scanned over the first 45 pages of the 75 page Dillon XL 750 manual. My IQ might not be high enough to operate that thing.
My XL650 collected dust for about 3 years before I got it set up because, frankly, the manual intimidated me. Turns out they got some good technical writers at Dillon and the manual isn't nearly as bad as it seems. If you can understand how an internal combustion engine works the Dillons will be a breeze.
 
Thanks! I've been using the $70 Home Depot special for a few years and have been needing an upgrade for a while now.
If you haven’t ordered one yet, hold off for a day or so. I might have to put off this reloading project whilst I blow my cash on a generator and a small ac unit.
I canceled my order with them but it might already be shipped. I’ll know in a day I think.
 
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