I'm getting into reloading...

McDAccountant

Would you recommend a handheld press for a "newbie"? Space is limited so I'm not sure a mounted single stage press is much of an option. Would be used for loading handgun ammo (9mm and .38 SPL) almost exclusively.

Thoughts, ideas, recommendations??? All advice is appreciated!

Rocky Raab

Lee makes the only hand-held press I'm aware of. It works fine, but demands some hard exertion if you load more than a few rounds at a time.

Tailgunner1954

Mount a single stage press to a board, than clamp (temporary) to a table, desk, or other solid surface, when your wanting to do some reloading.
IOW skip the "hand held" units, at least until your going to be trapped in the wilderness for 6 months or.

McDAccountant

quote:Originally posted by Tailgunner1954
Mount a single stage press to a board, than clamp (temporary) to a table, desk, or other solid surface, when your wanting to do some reloading.

That idea did cross my mind...

midnightrunpaintballer

Then when you get frustrated with the time consuming process of loading on a single stage, you can reevaluate your loading area and make room for a progressive. Sound far fetched? Just wait![}:)] Your day will come just like mine did. I only wanted the bare minimum to start and 10 years later I now have 3 presses and several thousands of dollars invested. But quality and quantity have improved exponentially... Either way, I'm pretty sure most of us started on a single stage and as mentioned, mounting one to a board and clamping to a desk when you need it is a great idea! I have my shotshell press set up that way and can load and watch tv at the same time. [:D]

skyfish

My single stage is attached to a 2x6 that I clamp down to my work bench. Even my progressive gets unbolted a lot to get it out of the way.

The kits from Hornady or RCBS make a great starting point. A single stage can be slow but its the way to start.

jonk

For just those rounds, even the Lee hand press will work; though I second the idea, look at their C frame press. Dirt cheap and fine for THOSE rounds- but not too much help for larger rifle cases.

You might also look at the Lee Loader....requires no press, just a rubber mallet. Very slow but can produce some quality ammo- for years the world record tightest 1000 yard group was loaded on one.

Going up a step you'd be looking at an O frame design- Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Hornady, they all make good ones. Might snag a deal on a used one here or on fleabay.

Then you'll need dies, bullets, powder, primers, cases, some sort of priming tool (the Lee autoprime hand held model is great) and a few other small things. Some way to measure powder. A cheap digital scale and dipper set or scale and cheap dispenser is fine to start.

You might really want to look into a kit- gives you everything at once for a good price.

charliemeyer007

I have given away several lee hand presses. They are ok for pistol and neck sized only rifles. The ladies have some trouble with strength issues to operate the press in full length sizing.

If your guns have :good, tight, round chambers you might consider a lyman 310 tool. Very handy and small, could fit in a pocket.

In my university days I clamped my big press (bolted to a board) across my water bed frame corner. Very solid but way too low for comfort.

The nice thing about the hand tools is you can work up loads right at the bench while out shooting.

Carbide dies are worth the price. They eliminate applying and removing case lube. I like all my lee ones but I did modify them to work better.

You can learn everything from books but it will go much faster if you can hook up with an experenced reloader.