muzzlestuffer

ok let me know if you have any questions? i really think it would be the way to go !

RaySendero

I would not go with a single stage - I'd get a turret.

W/ turret you can set up each die set (9mm, 243, 270 & 308) in a plate. Then just change the entire die set and plate w/o having to re-adjust each die when you switch from 1 cartridge to another.

ggw44

When you shoot your first deer with your bullet, you will be hooked for life !!!

bronko22000

I've been loading for about 50 years and still use the same single stage press I got when I was 12 years old. I load for 8-10 rifle cartridges and 6-7 different revolver/pistol cartridges. I weigh every rifle charge on my RCBS scale but don't weigh my handgun charges. With the handgun rounds I have no trouble loading 100-150 per hour once the cases are prepared (sized, primed, mouths flared).
Go with the single stage if you don't shoot competitively and don't need a couple hundred rounds a week.

Nomercy448

I would recommend against a single stage press with 9mm on the menu. Simply put - You'll "outgrow" a single stage press for 9mm in about 100 rounds, and instantly feel like you are wasting time... I started out with a single stage, added another single stage, bought a handful of progressives, and now I'm down to a single progressive, two single stages (one for precision ammo, one only for depriming), and three turrets set up all the time. My Turrets do most of my loading.

For reloading a mix of lower volume hunting rifle and moderate volume pistol ammo, a Turret Press is the best compromise. It's much cheaper than a progressive set up, but much, much faster than a single stage. Not all Turrets are created equally, my Redding T-7 and the RCBS Turret, for example, are manually indexing - which gets old quickly, hence why I reload most of my rounds on my auto-indexing Lee Turret instead of my T-7. I've never seen an RCBS Turret in person, but their priming system looks incredibly cumbersome, I would not use it, in favor of a hand priming solution instead of that ridiculous tube.

Another advantage of turret presses is the number of holes available. In a 6 or 7 hole head, a reloader can have 3 sets of rifle dies (2 dies each) in place in the same head. That saves a bit of expense over having a single turret for each cartridge (like the Lee 3 hole turret), and saves time when changing from one cartridge to the next.

I spend much of my professional life analyzing processes to improve production practices. Two rules I have learned to live by:

1) Spend effort where effort gets spent - meaning as a process developer, you should spend time, effort, and money figuring out how to improve the steps of the process where the most time, money, or effort gets spent. If you only spend 10% of your time on a step, getting 50% better is only a 5% change. If you spend 50% of your time on a step, you only have to get 10% better to get the same 5% overall. You want to be very efficient at the least efficient steps.

2) Fix where things get broken (or can get broken) - meaning a process developer needs to identify the steps in the process that can introduce inconsistency. If weight sorting your primers takes an hour, but doesn't give any improvement for accuracy, you shouldn't waste time weighing primers. BUT, if your powder dispenser doesn't throw flake powder consistently, it WILL give inconsistent ammo, so either figure out a different powder it does throw well, or figure out a different dispenser to throw your flakes.


So....

Reloaders spend time and effort (rule number 1) doing these steps:

1) Prepping Brass
2) Weighing Charges
3) Taking brass in and out of the press

And inconsistency in ammo typically stems from inconsistency in the process (rule number 2) in these steps:

A) Weighing Charges
B) Setting Dies between batches
C) Prepping brass

A turret press will help reduce how many times you have to move brass in and out of the press - 3 - and eliminates the need to reset dies from batch to batch - B. Bushing compatible presses also save on B, but not on 3.

Electronic aides in brass prep can speed up the process greatly - 1 - and a lathe style trimmer with a reference case will help ensure the trim is consistent for every piece of brass - C.

Personally, I use an automatic/electronic powder dispenser/scale for weighing charges because they tend to throw accurate charges whether in stick, flake, or ball powders. Drum style dispensers aren't as consistent for flake powder, and jam up a lot. Scoops are only accurate if you fill them the same every time. A lot of time will be spent if you hand spoon every charge onto a pan. There's nothing faster than a good metering powder in a drum style dispenser with a micrometer, but it does require a lot of diligence to ensure accurate charge weight. So for my bench, EITHER 1) an automatic dispenser/scale or 2) a drum dispenser set up over a pan with a trickler beside it tend to be the most consistent and fastest method for me - which addresses 2 & A from above.

Other than that, don't get too caught up on brand loyalty unless they're give it to you for free and paying you to use it. A reloading bench isn't a fashion show, and ammo loaded on color matching equipment isn't any more accurate than non matching equipment. I have Forster, Lee, Lyman, Sinclair, Dillon, EGW, RCBS, Redding, PTG, Frankford Arsenal, and Hornady equipment on my bench (that I can think of off the top of my head), mixing and matching dies, scales, trimmers, presses, shell holders, priming tools, etc... It all works together. You'll find that certain mix of equipment that works best together for your method as you go, and pigeon-holing yourself into one color will rob you away from a lot of good gear.

alleyyooper

I agree not to go color blind. While I have an very old RCBS single stage press, I have dies from Ponderosa, Lyman Redding and RCBS.
I have a foster case trimmer, and home made load blocks easy to make too. I use a RCBS digital scale weigh each and every charge and every tenth charge on a balance beam scale to keep the digital scale honest.

I did this thread a while back.
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/relo...reloading.html

You can save a lot of money by watching E bay, Craig's list, the local penny pincher paper, and local auction sale flyers for stuff.
I bought my tumbler at a auction of a machine shop selling off equipment they no longer wanted a needed.

Al

Big Uncle

I think every new reloader would be best advised to use a single stage press. I do use a turret press for pistol cartridges most of the time just for a bit of speed but sometimes I use a single stage press for the same purpose. I always use a single stage press for rifle cartridge loading, but as I have no interest in being "tacticool" I am more interested in accuracy than volume with rifle cartridges.

I would guess that most high volume loaders eventually use progressive presses. A "O" style single stage press is the most versatile press and can do everything.

d80hunter

As stated brass preparation is an important deal. That said I have dedicated brass prep sessions. I inspect, clean, deprime, resize, and trim cases in large quantities. Then when I load my ammo all is left is to create cartridges. I find I can load more ammo this way because I only want to spend 2-3 hours max per session.

A chronograph is a good tool to use on accurate hunting ammo. You want to check for consistent and reasonable velocites with the most accuracy you can get. When you start killing game with these reloads you will feel a huge sense of pride.

muzzlestuffer

i would also recommend if you don't have any friends that reload try to go to a place that has reloading demonstrations like sportsmans warehouse has some not sure if you have one close to where you live? also get a couple of reloading books in advance of buying your equipment and read up this will help you as well lyman has some good reloading books and explains a lot of the process in there.

redgreen

I have been loading for 50 years, and prefer my Rock Chucker. I have tried many different presses over the years, and will not change. I have had friends that have purchased the progressive presses and get phone calls asking me to help them set the thing up, and they have gone to a single stage. Personally, I don't like them. With a single, once your dies are set, all that is required is to change the die and start the process. IMO a properly set single is more consistent with less variables to cause grief. I have no problem sitting and reloading a couple hundred , and then blasting gophers into oblivion so that I can start again. A Rock Chucker will be handed down to your grand kids, and the RCBS warranty is forever.