Best press for a newbie?

[ImjinScout]

OK. So you got the basics from reading the instructions. But your ammo is still not up to par with that made one a single stage. It may be adequate for plinking but that's where it ends.

I also started on a progressive and didn't have any problems, I did have a buddy who reloads come over after I set it all up and show me some tricks and tips.

Now all I reload is pistol ammo, 9mm, .40S&W and 45ACP but I'm not sure what you meant that the ammo is not up to par. The stuff I have been reloading is by far better that any factory ammo that I have bought.

Now I do know some friends that load their match rifle ammo on a single stage and that is the way they like to do it, and some guys I know reload their rifle ammo on their progressive, I guess to each thier own

 

[Hangingrock]

This is some of my for crap plinking ammo produced on a progressive unit @ 25yds from the standing position with a stock Springfield 1911A in timed sequences of fire.

 

[918v]

I'm not sure what you meant that the ammo is not up to par.

Bullet not as straight in the case. Inconsistent COAL. I guess when you change the definition of "match" they all the same.

 

[918v]

This is some of my for crap plinking ammo produced on a progressive unit @ 25yds from the standing position with a stock Springfield 1911A in timed sequences of fire.

Yeah, you're the human ransom rest.

 

[jcwit]

Not bad shooting, much better than I can do, but noadays I shake way to much.

I help at the regional bullseye matches and watched them put all 5 rounds into a group you could cover with a quarter at 25 yds using a 45 ACP in timed fire, also have seen it done once and only once at 50 yds with the same pistol, also timed fire.

These were all handloads, BTW.

 

[Trent]

Can we stay on topic?

All of the off-topic pissing-match about who's way is right, is not helping this new guy pick out his gear.

He wants to roll his own ammo and save money. Help him.

 

[ImjinScout]

Bullet not as straight in the case. Inconsistent COAL. I guess when you change the definition of "match" they all the same.

I wasn't changing any definition of "Match", they shoot 100yd or 200yd competition "matches" so again I don't know where you are going with this. Also as was stated you can use a AP press as a single stage if you want to, and still have the ability to load quantity much easier with having the AP.

As for the 2 things that you state are sub par, I have not seen the bullets crooked on the case and as for inconsistent COL, I have been getting +/- .003 and that is due more to bullet tolerance than the press.

 

[jcwit]

Can we stay on topic?

All of the off-topic pissing-match about who's way is right, is not helping this new guy pick out his gear.

He wants to roll his own ammo and save money. Help him.

Sorry I made a comment to hangingrock. Actually it was a complement to his shooting skills.

The orginal question has been answered many times both using inexpensive equipment and high dollar equipment. Also using everything from single stage to full progressive presses.

How did post # 56 help the op, more than what has already been discussed?

 

[918v]

Actually, that is due to brass tolerance and the press. Everyone knows the shell plate torques away from the die under stress and the two are seldom square. There is no comparison in terms of alignment.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Thanks for asking our advice.

I've been wanting to get into reloading for almost a year. I've done a lot of reading and debating back and fourth on things. I've been talking about getting a press a while with my wife. She's decided thats what she's going to do for a Christmas present for me.
I shoot .38, 9mm, .40s&w, 45acp and 357 mag. I've decided all I want to reload is 45 and 9mm. I don't shoot .357 mag enough to justify buying the components for that caliber. I've been told to stay away from loading .40s&w because its a real volitile round.
The wife and I shoot once a week together and its mainly 9mm(80% I'd say)
I love the 45 acp round above all others and I have three 45's that see less and less range time due to cost. I'd love to shooth them once a week. Any where from 100 to 300 rounds a week would be ideal.
I"m thinking the Lee90064 Classic turret press would be my best rout. It would be faster than a single stage but slower than a progressive loader. With the lee, every 4 pulls of the handle I'd have a ready to shoot round right? Round stays in one spot as I rotate dies? I've been told to learn on a single stage press, but this seems to be a safe alternative. My lgs told me once I get comfortable with loading I'll want to move to a progressive loader(thats not a concern right now, if ever)
I feel like only wanting two calibers to load and shooting once a week(making rounds for two people though) this would make me productive enough to keep us shooting at a lower cost. Does any one have a better suggestion for me based on my needs and wants for loading.

My shooting habits are similar to yours, though not as high a quantity of centerfire.

Be sure to check out Kempf's Gun Shop (online) and take a look at their kit built around the Lee Classic Turret. It contains (for $200, or $180 if you scrimp, but I advise not to) everything you need to get started except a good scale. (Most Lee kits come with the Lee Safety Scale, which, while the equal to any other is not as convenient to use and has a capacity limit of 110 grains, making it less than capacious for weighing bullets; powder, fine, but most bullets are over 110 grains.)

Add $25 (for the Lee scale) or $50 to $80 for an Ohaus (with RCBS, Hornady etc nameplate) and you are very well set.

Use it as a single stage for "Batch" processing or with autoindexing for very convenient "Continuous" processing and you can do 50 per hour to over 200 per hour if you like.

Read my post #8 on this thread
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=626142

my "10 Advices for the Novice Handloader"

Be sure to talk to Sue Kempf. She uses a Lee Classic Turret herself (at least she did as of June 2010, the last time I heard.)

Lost Sheep

 

[AK_Maine_iac]

IMHO The brand name of any equipment is not what counts. Get what you feel that you can afford. Then do a lot of reading, reading, and more reading of manuals. You do not need to buy all of them. You can use the the local Library for most of your reading. Start out small and learn your way up. I did it one yard sale at a time over the summer.

Off topic:
JCWIT congrats on becoming a fellow cancer survivor. Reloading and getting to the range has helped me almost as much as chemo and radiation treatments did. Proud to be both a survivor & re-loader.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I think I'd find something that I could spend my remaining time at in a more enjoyable manner, I KNOW I did after surviving cancer.

It became time to stop and smell the roses.

 

[Hangingrock]

I’m in no watering contest with what other respondents have written. Everyone has their opinion. I simply stated mine with ammunition loaded on a progressive and a stock Springfield 1911A1 this is a combination of what is achievable for me which is good enough.

 

[jcwit]

Hangingrock, I still consider that good shooting, you're doing whay you enjoy.

AK Main iac, Thanks, Life is good. Congrats to you also.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

There is no "best" of anything. What is best for you press-wise is getting one that serves the purpose you intend it for. Try to avoid letting cost be your only determinant in making your decision.

If you are starting out from zero, a single-stage or turret is best (safest and most forgiving of mistakes).

It also doesn't have to be new to be good. Most, but not all presses are made to last. Most of the nine presses on my bench are as old if not older than me (56), yet they look like new and function like new. You can get a perfectly serviceable Herters Super 3 on Ebay for $55 that was made in the 1960s or before that will outlast both of us.

 

[Uniquedot]

Everyone knows the shell plate torques away from the die under stress and the two are seldom square.

Well ther are some things you can do to prevent this. I use the loadmaster and unlike other progressives there is absolutely no movement in the tool head or turret either side to side or up or down because of the way it locks into the head of the press, but as you mentioned the shellplate will cause some variance in OAL in the last three or four rounds off the press, but one can use a dead length bullet seating die and solve that problem if he views it as such.

What i do is, i keep grabbing the last case of the session before it indexes for the last three or four rounds and reinsert it into the sizing station and that keeps the shellplate from causing slight inconsistencies in the last rounds off the press. The ammo is at least as consistent as any I've loaded on any of the turrets I've owned.

I agree that if one wants the most consistency he uses a single stage press though. Heck a simple Lee loader will load ammo more consistently than some folks do with single stage presses.