sass reloading

longspur rider

Going to start looking at reloading equipment. Never done it before.What should I be looking for, such as styles, or types of equip. What all would I need? Not necessarily looking for bare min. eqiup. Want t be able to do it right. Cals would be 45LC & 44-40 Win. Don't know much about reloading so I don't want a salesman blowing smoke up my * & selling me what I don't need

WWII_Enthusiast

I reload my own 45LC and have a Dillon 550B, its a good starting model and easy to use, plus since its semi-progressive you can easily go back and fix a round if you mess up a bit. The Dillon 650 is also a nice reloader as it is fully progressive it will be quicker, I love the 550 and I think that it would be a good starter since it has nice upgrades available.

rufe-snow

If your just getting into anykind reloading on your own , I definitely wouldn't be starting with a Dillon. Go to one of the large on-line reloading vendors such as "Midway" or "Graff & Son", and buy the basic starter kit including the manual put out by the Lee Reloading Tool Company. After this all you will need are the components, i.e. powder, primers & bullets.

Read the manual cover to cover before you actually start reloading. It would be preferable if you could also get a experienced reloader to show you the ropes and check your not making any mistakes when you first start. My 2?.

gotstolefrom

+1 with rufe-snow.
Reloading is not hard, but simple mistakes can result in undesirable results.
Reading a GOOD loading book cover to cover, twice, is a good investment of time before you start. Better would be read two different books and pick up on a different presentations.

A single stage press is the way to start-up, and it will never be out-dated. You can focus on every process along the way, learn a lot handling the case after each step. IF you decide to go progressive, you will still want the single stage press periodically.

Lots of time, patience, and record keeping will come in handy.

ENJOY !!!

ruger41

I agree totally--I reload for .45LC with a Lee single stage. I can load up 50 rounds fairly fast. I also have a Lee progressive that I bought a year ago and for the life of me I cannot get that thing to work properly-there have been times when the powder failed to drop into the case. When I fired the handgun all that happend was a pop of the primer and the bullet getting stuck in the barrel--thank god I knew not to fire off another round as that could have been disasterous. So I went back to the single stage.

lcdrdanr

I learned on a Lee Loader, still have one for each of most of the calibers I shoot. Costs maybe 15 bucks, add another 5 bucks for a set of powder dippers and start making individual rounds. The beauty is you learn how to handle each component without investing a lot of money in equipment that you might find you aren't that interested in.
I started with loading .32 S&W, moved up to 44 mag and found that by I was able to really concentrate on each round I made. Now I still use the Lee Loader for rifle rounds and anything I don't shoot a lot of. I think I started with a block of pariffin and no powder or bullet, just resize, prime, push the shell into the block of pariffin, and, Voila, you have a wax bullet. It would put a hole in a pepsi can at 10 paces.
Reloading with a Lee Loader is demanding enough to require concentration yet simple enough to be relaxing as well.
Others have told me that the Lee Hand press is easier to use and can be done at the kitchen table where the Lee Loader pretty much requires a work bench to pound against.
Do not start with a progressive unless you really want to be frustrated.
Dan R

scrubberguy

I've said it before and I'll say it again: get a single stage press to learn on!

You will always have a use for it if you decide you need to load more ammo faster and move up to a progressive.

The trick to using a single stage press is to "batch" load.

To do this you take all of your cases and size them, then take all of your cases and expand the case mouth just enough to start the bullet straight. Then reprime all the cases, using a primimg tool such as the lee auto prime. then set up a measure with the right powder and amount set up by scale and pour powder and seat bullets.

This is a simplifaction of course! It does not include cleaning brass or the time spent adjusting your dies the first time. However once everything is set up you can reload 500 rounds in a few hours or less depending on how well you move.[8D]

shootuadeal

they are right to advise you to start with a single stage to learn the basics. i loaded 45 colt for cas for 3 years. i figured a box of 50 cost me 4.50 to reload since i already had the brass. i was intimidated by the rl550 but i finally bought one a year ago and it was much easier to set up and use than i had imagined. with the rockchucker it took me about 3.5 hours to do 400 rounds, now i can do that in a little over an hour once you get going. even with a dillon, you will still need a powder scale, brass tumbler and seperator but other than that you should be set.

longspur rider

I have heard people at the range talk about reloading & the different things they do & it didn't make much sense without seeing the equip. they were talking about. Most of it went over my head, & being in a group of people that reload I didn't want to sound like a dummy. I thank all that replied for the info. If anyone has any more 2 cents to throw at me, feel free. The more info the better.

geeguy

One additional comment.
Consider a turret press like the Lyman (several others). This combines the ease of a single stage without the wasted time of changing dies. Most have 6 stations. Also, I would advise using the Lee factory crimp die as the final stroke for the .45LC, this is an inexpensive method to assure the round will fit properly.

Best of luck, it isn't hard to do, you just have to be careful.

CS8161

There is no reason NOT to get the Dillon 550, it can used as a single stage press as well. Then when you get to knowing what you are doing, you can go progressive without having to buy another machine.