[gallbrick]

Howdy all, I'm hoping some of you can point me in the right direction. I've been shooting all my life, but seriously considering getting into re-loading now. There seems to be so many options out there, it's almost overwhelming.

So here's my situation... I spend about 8 months a year working over seas. I average a 4 on 2 off monthly rotation. For my 2 months at a time home, I do a lot of shooting. The only calibers I'm gonna be loading are 223, 308, 45ACP, 9MM. I'm considering a dillon progressive, but I'm not sure if that will be overkill or not? Time isn't really much of a issue, being that I have 2 months at a time not working, just enjoying my hobbies. On the high end, I shoot about 500 rds a week when I'm home (give or take).

I'm not really worried about the "Technical" aspects of reloading, it seems fairly cut and dry to me. I have a fairly "Technical" job, and I'm very mechanically inclined, so I'm not intimidated by jumping right into a progressive set up. Just more curious as to whether or not I really need a progressive, or if I could get by with a more basic set up, since I have the spare time. I just don't want to be spending HOURS/DAYS trying to bust out a thousand rounds or so. I'd rather spend my spare time shooting, fishing, hunting or drinking cold ones!!!

OK, so let the wisdom fly!!! All of your experience and input will be seriously appreciated.

Thanks...

[RustyFN]

I wouldn't recommend a single stage if you are going to load much pistol. I load 9mm, 38/357, 45 and 223 on a Lee classic turret press. I can load around 200 rounds per hour. A progressive will load around 350 RPH and up, it all comes down to how much time do you want to spend reloading. You can get into the Lee classic turret plus extras for around $300 to $350 for one caliber. Each caliber you add will cost around $35. A progressive will cost you around $600 with extras for one caliber. Each caliber you add will cost around $100 to $150. This is what my classic turret looks like.
Rusty
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8da27b3127ccec398914a0e3000000016100DZOGblm4Yg9vPhI

[RustyFN]

I should add that you will want to buy a scale, caliper, bullet puller and tumbler to clean brass. Also the classic turret takes four handle pulls to make one round and a progressive will give you one round every handle pull.
Rusty

[gallbrick]

Thanks for the advice. I already have calipers, and a scale I can use. All the other tools I plan on buying with the initial purchase along with the loader...

[lgbloader]

The Econo way with good presses would be to:
Get a Lee classic cast single stage and a Dillon RL550B. You will have the best of both worlds. Dillons 550b's are down to $395.00 or close to that and the Lee is $70.00 or so. Buy yourself a scale, calipers, 2 load blocks, Load books, champfer / Deburr tool, Lee Hand trimmers and gauges for each caliber, Dies, Lee hand primer tool (you will also be able to prime on the Dillon and LEE presses) Lube (Imperial and One Shot) Tumbler & Separator and build a nice sturdy bench. Those are the basics that you can build on.

Or Dillon 550b and a RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master loading kit and buy anything missing from above list later.

Either way, you're screwed because once you start Handloading, there is no escaping the innevitable...

[scrat]

hhahahahah i like the pool ball for a handle i was thinking of using a Hurst shifter.

[gallbrick]

What would the advantages be of having both a single stage & a progressive? The Dillon 550 is the one I'm seriously cinsidering at the moment. But just curious why I should have 2???

[scrat]

308 not that great on a progressive. progressives are good for hand gun ammo. pretty hard to do with rifle. For the 308 i would just use a single stage press. a good O frame.

[gallbrick]

So You're saying the Dillon progressive wouldn't be very good for doing rifle ammo? If so, that sorta sucks, considering 308 is the main reason I'm looking into loading, but figured if I'm gonna start, I should just do all 4 calibers with press...

[scrat]

For me i have 2 single stage presses. I just do my rifle loading in stages. i have on set up to size and deprime. This is where you arms get a work out. I will do about a hundred.
Then its prep time. Thats where i will measure and trim the cases. ( this cant be done on a press). While im at it i will clean the primer pockets. Then prime the cases. Next i will arrange them on loading blocks and charge up the cases. (fill with the powder).

NEXT

Take to the next press. Where i have my press die. Then i press in all the bullets. Measure every 10th one to make sure depth is ok. Then i change the decapping sizing die to my Crimp die. Then crimp all the rounds.

Most handgun ammo you can almost skip on trimming and chamfering. However bottle neck ammo needs to be checked. Especially when full sizing. i know people who will buy 3 presses and load like a progressive this way. Checking length and tending to the cases in between. You can actually load handgun like a progressive on single stage presses too. its just a lot faster with a progressive. However the 308 single stage. i would even do the 223 single stage.

[gallbrick]

Cool man, thanks for the heads up. I was under the impression that I would be able to do it all on 1 loader. I guess I may have to re-think my strategy...

[scrat]

Take a look at leeprecison.com or even midway or cabelas. the single stage presses are pretty good priced. The lee aniversary kit will have just about everything you need except for the dies those you will have to buy seperately. The reason i say to check out lee. their prices will be slightly higher than midway or cabelas. however they only have a $4.00 shipping charge so you can spend about 200. get almost everything you need and only pay 4 bucks to ship. if you were to order from midway or cabelas your looking at 20.00 or more in shipping charges. Also i picked up a C type press a lee on ebay for 18.00 dollars i think it was like 6.00 to ship it. So the cost on a single press is way cheaper. Thats why you can buy 2 or 3 of them and be totally set up to load anything.


Start saving all your used brass thats the most expensive piece. Then i would check out the reloading pages of md smith or steves pages. you can see what powder works in several of the handguns so you wont have to buy a bunch of different powders for every caliber. Once you get started into reloading your shooting experience is going to change big time. Money wise initially your going to spend some cash but your going to save a lot and will be able to shoot more and save more. Recently i went out and bought a box of 45 Colt. As i was running low on brass and did not want to wait to get some more. It cost me 45.00 for a box of 50. I cast my own bullets. I think it probably cost me about .20 cents a round or less to shoot my own reloads versus buying new. This is where you are going to save.

[gallbrick]

So how approximately how many times can I expect to be able to reload my used brass? I've been hearing mixed reviews. I'm 3-4 times?

[lgbloader]

So how approximately how many times can I expect to be able to reload my used brass? I've been hearing mixed reviews. I'm 3-4 times?

It really depends on a few things. I reload my 338 RUM 4 - 5 times and then start seeing signs to terminate the brass but then I have 38 spcl brass that I have loaded like 19 -20 times. Then again, some of the semi autos will chew up the brass a bit so that can factor as well.
It depends on what caliber, how hot you charge the case and what kind of firearm you will discharge it with.

I toast THR with this great beer I am drinking.

Cheers...

[lgbloader]

What would the advantages be of having both a single stage & a progressive? The Dillon 550 is the one I'm seriously cinsidering at the moment. But just curious why I should have 2???

Use the progressive for the pistol rounds and even 223 and use a single stage to load those big calibers. You could load 308 on the Dillon but I am very picky and using a single stage allows me to be more intimate in the loading process of large rifle.

So You're saying the Dillon progressive wouldn't be very good for doing rifle ammo? If so, that sorta sucks, considering 308 is the main reason I'm looking into loading, but figured if I'm gonna start, I should just do all 4 calibers with press...

Not at all, Mate. The Dillon would load fine, it's just that with using progressive, you kinda lose a bit of that hands on that people usually like to have when they are trying to dial in the most accurate round imaginable. You know what I mean? Also with a single stage press, you can deprime your brass after you tumble, swage, prime... all kinds of duties that are just great to have it around.

I have 2 XL650's, 1 RL550b, a Redding T7 Turret and a Lee Classic cast single stage (Plus the old Retired RCBS Rock chucker that the Lee replaced.) and I still use my Single stage every time I enter The Cave. Sometimes, when I am on my Redding Turret, I will bounce back and forth between it and the single stage to correct something or for whatever.

I have said this many times... I could probably get by (even though I wouldn't want too!!!) without all my presses except one, my single stage.

Good Luck, Mate. don't feel bad either. When I started out, I only had a scale, a die set, a hammer, and small piece of 2x4 was my bench.

[MMCSRET]

The question of: how many times can I load my brass? is a question with out a definitive answer. Too many variables. About 25 yrs ago Guns and Ammo magazine did a test on loading a 38 Special round. Midrange load in the same case fired in the same chamber in the same S&W revolver. I remember that they repeated the process approx. 150 times on that single brass case.

[762 shooter]

The issue with rifle on a progressive is the trimming step on reloaded brass.

When rifle brass is fired the case extrudes (gets longer). This happens to all brass I would suspect to some degree or another, but requires the trimming and chamfering step on most rifle brass.

I would suppose that you could prepare your rifle brass ( tumble, inspect, resize, trim, and chamfer) and then use your progressive to primer seat, charge powder, seat bullet, crimp or not.

What the others said about intimate contact. Semi auto primers should be seated a touch below the case head, due to all sorts of semi auto lock up features, real or supposed. You can only do that with a Auto Prime or single stage.

There also needs to be several inspection steps inserted to eyeball the brass for your continued future safety.

I can reload 200 rounds of rifle in about an hour and a half each night on my old Lyman single stage if I have done my case prep homework beforehand. That's 1400 per week with no strain.

My bulk reloading consists of 308, 45 ACP, 223, and 30-06. All of my 45 ACP is done on a Dillon 550B, everything else is single stage.

I would suggest a single stage first to hone your reloading skills before you get a progressive but YMMV. You can use the same dies in both.

I started reloading to develop a skillset, then I reloaded for the economics, then I reloaded for fun.

Be safe and enjoy.

[stellarpod]

I use a Dillon 650 for handgun rounds and a Rock Chucker Supreme for rifle. I began reloading to feed my Cowboy Action habit, loading light .44 Mag on the progressive press. It is simply marvelous, spitting out a finished round - highly consistent - with every throw of the handle. You really can't beat a progressive if you shoot a lot of handgun rounds.

My problem with running necked cases through the Dillon is not whether the Dillon will handle it - it will. But, necked cases have to be lubed and I don't like lubed cases in my feeder. Also, I prefer the one-to-one attention that a single stage offers when loading rifle rounds.

If you opt to supplement a progressive with a single stage, take this sage piece of advice:

Either purchase a Hornady press which uses the Lock-N-Load bushings or buy the Hornady Lock-N-Load bushings conversion kit for your other brand press. With the Hornady system your dies are mounted into short-turn bushings that are easy to remove and re-install without disturbing the dies' setting. These bushings allow you to set your dies ONE TIME and remove them with a simple twist of the bushing. Re-installing is just as simple. A quick short turn of the die/bushing into the press and you're back in business - without having to recalibrate the dies. Changing calibers becomes a breeze, which is traditionally a bummer when you've actually got to unscrew and re-calibrate every time you switch dies.

Here is a link to the conversion kit from Midway (others sell it as well).

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=858110

Price of admission is cheap. Of course, you will need bushings for each die you intend to install. They can be a little pricey initially, but I promise you'll agree that it was the best money ever spent on your single-stage press.

stellarpod

[RustyFN]

I have 2 XL650's, 1 RL550b, a Redding T7 Turret and a Lee Classic cast single stage
LGB sounds like a nice setup. I was able to load on a friends 550 and it was a nice press. It seemed to be a lot smoother than my classic turret, My next press will be a 550. gallbrick I know people that load those calibers on a classic turret so the Dillon 550 would handle them no problem. The problem with loading rifle on a progressive IMO is you can't run them through complete because of the case prep. For example you will want to clean your brass first then size it. After you size it the you would have to take the case off the press to check length to see if they need to be trimmed. That kind of defeats the purpose of the progressive press. Check out this video, http://youtube.com/watch?v=zOpN9iYOyE8. It's not me but is close to the same way I load rifle on my classic turret. You could probably load similar to this on the 550. Hope this helps.
Rusty

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

I won't speak for others, but I reload rifle rounds just fine with my Hornady L&L progressive press. Not just .223, but also 45-70 and 30-06. While the powder charge may not be as accurate as that weighed on a scale and loaded single stage, I use mostly ball powders for the progressive press, and they measure very accurately with the Hornady equipment. If I intend to use extruded powder, I load that ammo on a single stage press and weigh each charge. Yes, my progressive is very useful, but I also need my old Rock Chucker for the special loadings that do not work as well on a progressive.

As always, I still recommend that everyone learn to reload on a single stage press before going on to a progressive. Besides, a true reloader will always have a need and use for the single stage press, and the time spent learning on the single stage will be a very valuable education.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[Shoney]

I sarted reloading in 1960. In addition to several single stage presses, I have the Dillon 550 and the Hornady LNL Auto, and trade loading sessions on a friends 650. I used to be a member of the blue buffoon battalion, who, because of blind loyalty, dishonestly spewed the “lots of BS” Blue Shinola. The first time I saw the Hornady LNL AP quick change system, my product loyalty was shaken, and I eventually got an LNL.

Not only is the LNL AP a superior machine to the 550 and arguably superior to the 650, it is much less expensive both in initial cost and in the cost of buying quick changeover units, roughly the LNL changeovers are 1/3rd the cost of the Dillon changeover system. And now with the 1000 bullet deal, the LNL costs under $100.

My friend with the 650 and I did run-out tests on ammo produced with the same dies on the three machines. Run-out of the LNL is much better than any of the Dillons. A little while ago, my true blue Dillon Loyal friend informed me sheepishly that he had ordered the LNL AP. In addition the powder measure of the LNL is far more accurate than the old tech Dillon slide measure.

The LNL is so beefy, that I now load all of my semi-auto rifle and most of my bolt rifle ammo on it. It took about 4 years of testing to convince me of this, but am now absolutely confident in the LNL for rifle cartridge production. The LNL is ideal for very accurate progressively loaded 308 loads, depending on the powder. All extruded powder loads are hand weighed.

[RustyFN]

Shoney I was wondering if you have ever used Lee dies on your LNL? I didn't care for the Dillon dies on the 550 I used and like how easy my Lee dies adjust. I have heard about some problems with Lee dies on the LNL. Is it that big of an issue or not as big a deal as some people say? I wish I had a friend close by that owned one so I could take one for a test drive.
Rusty

[gallbrick]

Man!!! Thanks a million guys, all of your opinions are really informative. The biggest reason I'm wanting to go the progressive route is do to the amount of ammo I shoot. The more I have the more I shoot :) I'm not looking for my ammo to be crazy accurate. I know that prolly sounds like blasphemy to some of you, but hey. As long as it's as accurate as the mil-surp I shoot, I'll be happy. I just like to stay on top of my game while I'm home.

I tend to have the bad habit of jumping into everything I do with both feet first. So I think I'll prolly end up getting a stingle stage, and the progressive LOL. I'm sure you guys are right, I should start with baby steps no matter how many years I've been shooting...

I'm also reading about all of the difficulties involved with reloading Mil-Surp brass? I have a co-worker that may be able to ship me once fired Mil-Surp from South Africa. I can't imagine there being a restriction on shipping empty brass cases. Besides, the rest of my brass is pretty much all mil-surp, and some American Eagle. Is the Mil-Surp really that hard to load, or would it just be the stuff that's getting banged up by MG's??? I would Imagine everything He's gonna ship would be outta FN-Fal's etc...

[David Wile]

Hey Rusty,

Before I got my L&L nearly a dozen years ago, almost all my dies were RCBS and Lyman. Since getting my L&L, I think I found two calibers that I had to buy Hornady die sets to work with the L&L properly.

Hey Shoney,

I agree with you about the cost of changing L&L bushings vs. the cost of changing Dillon tool heads. A Hornady change out is much less expensive. However, I have never been completely sold on the whole idea of needing quick change systems. I simply never minded changing dies, and I never was interested in turret presses for the same reason.

For several years after getting my L&L, I never bothered leaving bushings in place on my dies. I simply changed dies in the same bushings all that time. Then I finally bought a bunch of extra bushings and started leaving them in place on my sizing dies in various calibers. I still do not leave bushings in place on my expanding dies and bullet seating dies, however, since I find I have to change the settings on them fairly often for different bullets in the same caliber.

Like you, anything I do with extruded powder is hand weighed, and then I will most often use the RockChucker. I do like and marvel at the L&L for all the good things it does.

Hey Gallbrick,
All I use for .223 and .308 Win is US Lake City surplus brass (most of my 30-06 is also Lake City brass), and I don't have any problems with any of the brass. They work fine in my L&L also.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[stellarpod]

David Wile:

All I use for .223 and .308 Win is US Lake City surplus brass (most of my 30-06 is also Lake City brass), and I don't have any problems with any of the brass. They work fine in my L&L also.

I presume you remove the primer pocket crimp in some fashion? What method do you use? When loading necked cases (such as 223 and 308) doesn't the lubing and trimming aspect disrupt your progressive flow?

These are the reasons I load necked cases on a single-stage press. But, maybe it would be worthwhile to attend to the decrimp, lubing, sizing, trimming aspects, remove the sizing die from the die plate and proceed with primer seating, powder and bullet seating in a progressive fashion. If I were loading several hundred (or thousand) at a time I can certainly see this saving some time.

Although I use and prefer my Dillon 650, I have a great deal of respect for Hornady. I believe they do offer a variety of well-designed products. I use several of their die sets, and the Lock-N-Load bushings on my Rockchucker as mentioned above.

In my opinion there is merit in Dillon's seating dies vs. other brands - at least for mass quantities of loads such as for Cowboy Action shooting. Eventually, seating lubed bullets will result in lube build-up in the seating die, which can over time cause inconsistent seating depths. The Dillon die design allows the die to be cleaned without removing the die body from the tool head, thereby keeping you from having to re-calibrate seating depth when you clean it. This is a worthwhile feature to me.

My 650 is tricked out with most of the whistles and bells and I marvel at it every time I use it. But, I'm not blinded to other brands that do an equally proficient job of the process for other folks. Every machine has its personality, and once you get to know it, the process moves along pretty darn efficiently. Heck, years ago I loaded many tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm on a Lee Pro 1000 for God's sake. It had LOTS of issues, but you learn to work around them. Just like people, these machines have their strengths and weaknesses and you will only get into trouble if you ask it to do something you KNOW it's not really able to do.

stellarpod

[ar10]

I started reloading a couple of months ago because of the high cost of bullets. I also thought is was pretty cut and dry, but there's all sorts of "little" things I found out the hard way.

I started out by buying the Hornady single stage kit that came with a hand primer tray, powder dispenser, one set of dies (.308), and a balance scale, and a can of One-Shot case lube.
The first thing I ran into was getting a number of stuck cases, six of them. I found out that you DON'T spray the case then put it in the press. Let it dry first. It'll save you a lot of time.

I pressed 14 "dummy" bullets because I forgot to buy a bullet puller. After doing some reading on THR I found the cheapest way to pull bullets and still be able to re-use them was the impact hammer. It works great, you don't have to beat the crap out of hammer, and it pulled even my live rounds that I screwed up.

All my bullets had a canelure so I needed to crimp them. I was way to aggressive on setting the crimp and really didn't look at the brass case during the crimping. The result was I compressed the neck at shoulder of the case. I did about 20 of them before I saw a prefectly round lip on the shoulder of each case. The moral is if you crimp watch the case and adjust the die every carefully. It's very easy to over do it.

I also bought an electronic scale because I wasn't convinced the balance beam scale was accurate. It is, just don't let scale move around when you set your powder on it.

[Shoney]

RustyFN: I do use a few Lee dies on the LNL. The problem is that they are too short to go all the way down because of their thick locking ring. I solved the problem by removing the lock ring entirely, and tapping the bushing with a hex-head lock screw. I get the adjustment correct then carefully remove the die/bushing and tighten the lock screw. Works for me!!!!!!

[lgbloader]

Although I use and prefer my Dillon 650, I have a great deal of respect for Hornady. I believe they do offer a variety of well-designed products. I use several of their die sets, and the Lock-N-Load bushings on my Rockchucker as mentioned above.

In my opinion there is merit in Dillon's seating dies vs. other brands - at least for mass quantities of loads such as for Cowboy Action shooting. Eventually, seating lubed bullets will result in lube build-up in the seating die, which can over time cause inconsistent seating depths. The Dillon die design allows the die to be cleaned without removing the die body from the tool head, thereby keeping you from having to re-calibrate seating depth when you clean it. This is a worthwhile feature to me.

My 650 is tricked out with most of the whistles and bells and I marvel at it every time I use it. But, I'm not blinded to other brands that do an equally proficient job of the process for other folks. Every machine has its personality, and once you get to know it, the process moves along pretty darn efficiently. Heck, years ago I loaded many tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm on a Lee Pro 1000 for God's sake. It had LOTS of issues, but you learn to work around them. Just like people, these machines have their strengths and weaknesses and you will only get into trouble if you ask it to do something you KNOW it's not really able to do.

stellarpod


Stellerpod,

That, my friend was poetic. I completely enjoyed reading your post and believe you to be a true gentleman.

Cheers, Mate.

[David Wile]

Hey Stellarpod,

Some years ago I bought a few thousand .223 and .308 Lake City surplus cases that were once fired. When buying surplus cases like this, they come in anywhere from clean to a bit dirty. Of all the cases, perhaps 2or 3 percent of the total had some staining on the brass that made me suspect these few had been laying on the ground for some time, and I simply discarded them. All considered, the surplus brass was a good buy for me.

First I washed all the brass in hot soapy water to clean them, and then I dried them in a low temp oven. After that, I lubed the cases and sized them all on my RockChucker. Then each case was trimmed to a uniform length and the case mouths were chamfered. Using regular RCBS sizing dies for each caliber, I found I did not have a problem with any primers being crimped. Occasionaly, there would be a case where the primer required a little more force to puch out during the sizing process, but I never had to do anything to open the primer pockets, and new primers seated just fine with the Lee Auto Prime. At this point, I had a few thousand uniformly sized, trimmed, and chamfered cases ready to be loaded. Now all my work on these surplus cases took a lot of time, and I spent several hours each evening for a couple weeks before I was finished.

In using the .223 and .308 for loading, I should point out that I always full length resize the cases, and I never shoot hot loads. Because of my milder loads, I find I can reload these cases over and over without the need to retrim, and I usually load these on my Hornady L&L progressive. Sometimes I put the cases in a block and spray them with lube, and other times I put them on a case lube pad and do it the old fashioned way. In any case, when they come out of the press as finished rounds they are messy, and I do not like to remove lube with cleaning media. Instead, I rinse the messy finished rounds off in a #10 can with about a quart of gasolene. I let them dry on a towel, and then put them in my vibratory cleaner to polish the finished cartridges.

So in answer to your questions, no, I do not find it necessary to remove any primer crimp, and because I do not shoot hotter loads, I don't find it necessary to trim my cases after my initial trimming. Some folks use a lube application die at station one to avoid lubing cases beforehand, but I have never tried this. I have always been comfortable with lubing my cases beforehand.

As to 30-06 brass, I also made a large purchace of Lake City Match ammo a good many years ago, and I pretty much did the same thing with this brass after using the ammo. I did not have to wash the brass, but I did trim all the brass to a uniform length after my initial sizing. Like the .223 and .308 brass, I did not have any trouble removing the primers and did not have to address primer crimp problems. While I sometimes run some batches of 30-06 brass on my L&L for use with my Garands, I find I do my bench rest loading of this brass the old fashioned way - on my RockChucker.

I have a good friend who has had a Dillon 650 for a long time, and I have used his machine a fair bit to learn how it works. I prefer the Hornady L&L over the Dillon 650, but I would also point out my friend prefers his 650 over my machine. Hey, they are both good machines, and to each his own. As to the "quick change" features of the Dillon and the Hornady (the Dillon tool head and the Hornady bushings), I think the Hornady is a better application, but I really could do without either one of them. I am one of those folks who never minded changed die sets for metallic cartridges. I use the Hornady bushings for my sizing dies now, but not for my expander and seating dies because I find I need to change them too often to make the quick change feature worthwhile. I have never put a L&L bushing adapter in any of my single stage presses. You know, the old dog and new tricks thing may be affecting my mindset.

I also do not have an auto case feeder and most of the bells and whistles you probably have. Yes, the old dog & new tricks thing again. But I do like my Hornady L&L just the way it came nearly a dozen years ago, and I still marvel at all it does with each completed stroke of the handle.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[stellarpod]

David Wile:

Thanks for the excellent recount of how you handle the process - a great illustration of how there is always more than one way to skin a cat. We all have a tendency to plod along in our trench, content with the way we've always done things, sure that it's the best. We can learn a great deal from each other's methods if we'll just check our preconceived notions at the door. I believe I've learned a few things from your post that I'll likely give a try. As for me, a homogeneous mixture of Blue, Green and Red gear allows my loading bench to hum along harmoniously.

Thanks!

stellarpod

[evan price]

IMHO, I would ditto the use of a progressive for the .223 and the pistol ammo. Dillon's a nice machine.
I would also advise a Lee Classic Cast Turret press instead of a single stage.

The reason is that you can use it as a single stage press whenever you want, plus be able to manually index the dies to get quicker production and then install the auto-index and run it as a semi-automatic- even faster.

I personally consider old-sk00l reloading a waste of time. If I were a bench rest shooter trickling each charge to within .05 of a grain, maybe. I just want blasting ammo.
Resize 500 case. Prime 500 case. Charge 500 case. Seat bullets in 500 cases. ETc. I want ammo NOW not after 500 cases are finally done.

With the turret system you have the option of running each single round of ammo from start to finish without needing to change dies or take the shell out of the press. Once you set up your dies, they are set until you mess with them. Buy spare turrets for each caliber, lock them in place, and you are set to load whenever the mood strikes you without needing to fiddle around setting up.

Also, if interrupted, you don't have loading blocks with half-finished ammo sitting around, with powder in the cases and no bullets.

I load pistol on a Lee Pro-1000 progressive. As pointed out they can be finicky and take some tinkering from time to time. But once setup right they run and run. Price is reasonable. If I had to load 1000 rounds a week I'd get a Dillon, for my 500 rounds a month or so I have a Lee.
I also use a Lee turret press that takes the same turrets as my Pro1K so I can do anything I want on the turret press, like develop a custom pistol load or have a turret with a collet puller in it.

[gallbrick]

Thanks a million guys!!! And David Wile, that was a helluva informative post on cleaning brass. Thanks. This post has become a LOT more informative than I thought it would be. Again,, thanks a million!!!

[Idano]

I personally consider old-sk00l reloading a waste of time. If I were a bench rest shooter trickling each charge to within .05 of a grain, maybe.

Evan, that sentence in your comment is a little alarming depending on what you mean by old school. If you mean by trickling every charge I agree and I do it for a two hunting loads; but if you mean verifying that your loads are not within 0.1-0.3 grains then that's not just old school but good safe reloading practices.

I load on a progressive and a single stage but I always use either one of my Uniflows powder measures or my Hornady powder measure to charge my cases. I check about every 50th dispense with ball powder and every 25th with flake powder. The only powder I weigh every load with is 3031 because it is a large extruded that doesn't dispense well and my load very hot but smoking flat and accurate.