Need some reloading expertise

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:25 am

Shooting too many rounds of .38 Special lately in my 1894C, so need to upgrade my reloading equipment to something that reloads faster. At present am using a Lee single stage press with a Lee 4 die set. Thinking seriously of getting a Lee 4 hole auto index turret press. Need advice from anyone that is using one or has used one for some time, THANKS

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:59 pm

The turret station presses do not save you as much time as you would think. The only savings is that your not changing dies. Which does not take much time. Since you normally load in batches.

How may rounds are you shooting weekly/monthly?

A progressive or Auto Progressive (AP) will save a lot of time. These can make 300-600+ rounds/hour. Just depends on how it's setup. The Hornady LNL-AP is what I use with the brass feeder. With my back my up time and sitting time is limited. I can set down and kick out 400 rounds taking my leisurely time. I very seldom sit for more than 2 hr as at a session. Horanady is still running there 500 free bullets with the purchase of the press. Which Caballa's had on sell for $369 and free shipping. I've see this price quite often on this press. The only thing you will need is the shell plates to start loading. The bushing adapt the dies to the press and the press comes with 5 to get you started. But you may want to add extra LNL-Bushing so your dies can be change quickly. And maybe the Through Powder Expander if you need to free up a station for Powder check die. I have only used mine on pistol rounds so I can not comment on how they work on rifle, but unless you shooting an AR you may not need a lot of rifle ammo. Most still use a single stage for rifle loads.

The Dillon 550b is also a good choice though a little more expensive and not auto indexing. But once you get in a rytheme it can put out 400+/hr.

Both presses have the pro's and con's. But both have a Lifetime No BS warranty.

Once the stations are full you produce 1 round per stroke. A std or Turret will be 1 x dies being used.

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 2:33 pm

Appreciate your advice Blue but it is not the information that I am looking for. Really looking to find out if the Lee turret press is a good product. I have never kept logs an do not really load in batches as a lot of people do, I load what I want for the day and that is about it. When I get a few minutes I would just like to set down and crank out a few finished rounds as my time allows.Always did it that way in my scatter gunning days. I have loaded many K's of shotgun shells on the 4 MEC progressives I used to own in my sporting clays and skeet shooting days. Used to shoot about 400 rounds a week for bout 15 years or better, that would have put a lot of tons of shot into the air and to the ground, like over a 100 ton.

bgreenea3 · Post by **bgreenea3** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:00 pm

I have not used the lee turret. but the other 2 lee presses i have have been excellent.... it looks like a quality product.

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:06 pm

bgreenea3 wrote:I have not used the lee turret. but the other 2 lee .es i have have been excellent.... it looks like a quality product.

pressBeen using a Lee Chaalenger? single stage and Lee perfect powder measure and Lee 4 die sets for .357/.38 n and .45, just want to make my life a litt easier in my old age

bgreenea3 · Post by **bgreenea3** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:11 pm

that'll do it. put the case in, pull the handle 4x, and have a done round. you set up your caliber and leave it till you want to load something else, no switching dies around and adjusting them each time. and you still have the ability to easily change your powder or other details .... like on a single stage

greener · Post by **greener** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:43 pm

For all the noise on the other thread, I like the Lee Pro 1000. Simple progressive press and pretty reliable. If you get it stroking you can load 150-200 rounds/hr. If all you are doing is .38 spl,your set up is adding powder and,if needed,primers. You can load as many as you like. The press w/.38 spl dies at Midway is about $162 bucks ($236 from Lee).

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:11 pm

Been giving that one a lot of thought Greener. By the time I buy the turret kit and the primer feed and the needed riser for the powder measure, it is within 30 bucks of the 100. Decisons, decisions, decisions.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:27 pm

Lee's turret is a decent press, not the best on out there but will do what you need.

I would shy away from Pro1000 though a hard press to keep running smoothly.

bgreenea3 · Post by **bgreenea3** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:10 pm

I wanted a on the cheap progressive press when I started loading. I looked at the pro100 but went with the load master for a little more green to have the longer stroke to load rifle ammo if i wanted.

greener · Post by **greener** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:23 pm

bgreenea3 wrote:I wanted a on the cheap progressive press when I started loading. I looked at the pro100 but went with the load master for a little more green to have the longer stroke to load rifle ammo if i wanted.

A Dillon 550B would be nice, but a bit too much green. I keep looking at the Load Master, but I'm not sure its worth the effort of retooling now.

I would shy away from Pro1000 though a hard press to keep running smoothly.

Primer feed can be a problem. Keep it clean and it does well. Also, you need to learn the pause on the forward stroke to allow the primer to feed and center. Winchester primers don't feed as smoothly as CCI primers. But if I routinely load 2-3/min counting refilling the primer tray, I'm not having many problems.

PS other than wearing the landing pad for the seating pin, that is.