I am looking at starting to reload, I am going to look at the Wanamacher show in Tulsa in about a month, but wondered if this would be a good starting place, that would be something that would be serviceable for a while. How fast will this reload, is this a single round at a time? I am really green at this and don't really even know the right questions to ask. I will ask over at the Reloaders Bench also. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1171558035.5079=/html/catalog/anivers.html
this is a good choice mine is still in use don't worry about speed at first take your and get the basics down it's not hard be sure to get a reloading manuel the one from lee is pretty good i use it a lot it is one one round at a time
Most definitely take your time when reloading at all times no matter how experienced you're at it. All it will take is one incorrectly loaded round to mess up your life. If you overcharge a load you'll get extremely high you better have safety glasses on and a prayer. If you undercharge a round, you could lodge a round in a barrel and then fire another after it without knowing you have a round lodged in the pipe, thus resulting in another blowup. If you don't get the cases sized right, you'll run into various problems as well. Being consistent with each round while reloading makes for better accuracy, tighter groups, and safer shooting.
To start off I would DEFINATLY suggest a single stage or at most a turret press that just loads one round at a time. I load on a single stage press and have no problem loading 300-400 rounds in an evening. My dad has been reloading for at least 40 years and thats still what he uses. Its not quite as easy to make a mistake when you are dealing with one at a time as it is with a progressive where you load several rounds at a time (each pull has a round at each stage of the process). I love the LEE carbide dies and their presses arent bad at all on price and hold up pretty well also. For getting into it my personal sugestion (its what I wish I had done) would be to go to www.midwayusa.com and get one of their Lee starter kits that has the scalees, press, manual, and all the other stuff you need to get started for under $200.
Gillman get the new Lee Classic turret press and you'll never look back . The turret indexes the dies over one piece of brass so you are only working with one at a time . The biggest advantage of this isn't really speed but convenience if you will be loading more than one caliber . When it comes time to change calibers you will need another set of Dies and a $10 turret head and you swap them out in 20 seconds and you're up and running almost immediately . If you have to move the powder measure from one head to the other it takes a few minutes , however entire powder measures from Lee are only about $35 each so you can buy one for each and every set of dies and head you have built up if you want to . With a single stage press you will always have to adjust your dies a bit to get them to where you want them with the turret head once you have things like seating depth and crimp as you want them you never fiddle with them again unless you WANT TO !! Another downfall of the single stage is you have to load in lots and after putting powder in the case you will have to set it aside in a Block that holds the charged case until you get enough done to start seating bullets if for some reason you are interrupted and have to leave you will have a bunch of cases without bullets sitting there and could get spilled . If you have to leave in the middle with a turret it will take you a few seconds to finish the round you are working on and you can walk away without worrying about anything other than emptying the powder measure back into the powders original container . Don't listen to anyone you hear badmouthing Lee the press will out live you .
My humble suggestion is to look for used stuff. There is almost always someone looking to dump reloading stuff. I picked up a Lyman Comet press for $30 used and it will out live my grand kids. It is ALL STEEL! Lee is good stuff and will out last most folks, but I have a buddy who always tears shit up because he is strong as an ox and has a tendency to use a cheater pipe (even on a reloading press) and he tore his up. He stood on my press and jump (wieghs about 215lbs) and it didn't flinch I am a fan so steel though. You can almost always find a deal on used dies, I would clean them first and formost before any usage. The scales... if you want digital you will probably have to go with new, Midway ussually will have something on special. I picked up a PACT scale and autodispenser for a song around Christmas, and it is damn handy. Other than that just take your time the Lee book is a good start, and a lot of the time you can get free lit at any powder dealer, or from the powder makers themselves.
I started out with a Hornady single stage and it is the only single stage that I still have of the three I did have, it and two Lee's. I Disagree with Big001, I have bad thngs to say about Lee because of all the companies, Lee is the absolute worse at making things right. I like Lee dies for their ruggedness, I like the Lee auto prime and the powder drop, but the scale is terrible. I ended up throwing both Lee presses away because of various problems. Dillon and RCBS are very good about fixing things that do go wrong, to the point that Dillon doesn't even question whether you broke it or it failed, they will replace it for free! Dillon and RCBS can get pricey, but that is why they have good customer service as well. If you ever go to progressive presses, I think that Dillon can't be beat. This is all just IMHO, been reloading for 20 years now.
Lee dies have served me well for a lot of years. I have a mixed bag of reloading stuff so here's my take. Lee - if budget is limited as mine was when I got started. RCBS - would be a better first setup IMO - wish I'd have started there. Redding - if you want just a little more - kind of a cult thing - I like these best, but have not tried all brands. If you get a Dillon press catalog (called "the Blue Press") you will notice that Redding is the only dies other than their own that they sell. Dillon - what more can I say - probably best for heavy users of handgun rounds. Hornady - very good IMO, I own some of their stuff. Lyman - I have one of their hand presses mounted on my bench for decapping brass, also use it some for reloading rifle ammo when only loading a few rounds. There are many others, but unless you can get a super deal on a used setup, you should probably stick with one of the more popular brands. I'd start with a good single stage until you learn the basics, then step up to a progressive. A big +1 going to Dillon then Redding or RCBS for the turret press.
I suggest starting off slow with a single stage press too. Even then accidents happen if you get distracted. Something as simple as missing a powder charge can part your face from your body. Be safe and remember the only dumb question is the one not asked.
I have to agree with Sniper in that the Lee scale is far from the best you could use , as a matter of fact mine is going to get replace with a different brand and probably a digital at that . As far as customer service I have never had to use it so I don't know how good it is . Sniper did you mean you had problems with two single stage Lee presses and tossed them ? Hard to imagine problems with a single stage other than the fact it is plastic "except the classic cast Turret that I am suggesting to gillman and it will be much stronger" and could break I suppose . Sniper is right in that Dillon is the cats meow in progressives but you will wind up with a grand plus spent if you go with the best and load for a few calibers . If you can afford it go for it !
I busted the ram on one trying to get a stuck case loose, and the other had a the head warp somehow, couldn't get the dies to line up straight. Lee said that I could send it back and almost the cost of a new one would fix it. I also had a die have a case neck break off and I couldn't get the decapping pin out to fix it, so I tried to send it back so they could do it for me. They wanted me to pay almost new price to fix the die, so I said no, just send the die back. they wanted me to pay the postage and I refused, so I how have a .223 die set missing the decapping/resizing die. I still use their dies, but, am still miffed about it. As for a scale, if you want to stay with a beam scale, use a Hornady, it is the best for the cost I have ever used.
RCBS has good service. I busted a decapping rod and pin in a full length sizer die and they replaced it no charge When I got my used Lyman press I called for a shell holder and they sent me out a manual no charge in addition to the shell holder I did have to pay for of course. BTW my PACT scales are US made right here in TX
