bigcountry,

Since reloading is a hobby in itself, I don't pay much attention as to the time it takes. I'm a big believer in loading it right and loading it safely to be the two major considerations. I tend to be be a nit-picker, so it takes me awhile to load virgin cases. I usually get about 150 cases in the hopes of ending up with sixty cases when I'm finished. So I'm not exaggerating when I say it will usually take me two weeks, working two hours a night, and a trip to the range for fireforming before I can usually have a load I'm refining.

I do a couple of things that you might find interesting. First, I don't load for anyone. I must know someone quite well before I'd expect them to put up with the cost of the way I do things. So I invite them in to the house, set them down at the bench and teach them how to reload. This is the standard method of reloading. But along the way I also introduce them to the steps I take. Usually some of these steps are used, usually weighing cases and uniforming primer pockets. It's not uncommon that by the time a loads has been found for his rifle he has opted for additional steps as well. The fact that my groups are smaller seems to lead to following the same steps I use. Second, I use the Lyman VLD deburring tools for both the inside and outside of the case mouth.I chuck these in a small variable speed drill and adjust the drill to the slowest speed and set the trigger in the on poition. This results in an even slower speed. Since I'm right handed, I hold the drill in an upright poition with my left hand and my right hand to take cases from the loading block and place them on the deburring tool. The cases are case mouth down in the block, so I don't have to turn them over. I'll do all the inside the mouth, and after changing the deburring tool do the outsides. This is the quickest way I've found to do the job. I hold the case with my thumb and middle finger with my index finger on the fase of the case head. this works great for me.

But back to your question on time. It takes what it takes to do it right and safe, and not a second less. Nor should any steps be taken to shortcut it. But 4 hours sounds pretty quick.