I am not intending to threadjack, so I hope this question helps the original poster, as well.
What are some 'realistic' round counts that someone can expect to load with a good single-stage press, turret, or progressive while maintaining decent precision/QC on each round?
I'm on the cusp of getting into reloading, too... I spent the past week reading through Lee's reloading book and another called "The Complete Reloading Guide" that I got off someone at our range who reloads.
Right now, I only shoot .223/5.56 and I have three reloading goals:
- Be able to up the amount I shoot without drastically increasing costs
- Load 68gr or greater bullets for more precision shooting (300-500yrd) with my current AR
- Load 55gr rounds for plinking purposes (and eventually for practice in a 'tactical' AR)
I like the 'precision' and craftsmanship (and cost, too) of the single-stage, but, as a parent with young kids and a job, I'm not sure how much I can expect to load in terms of round count per hour. Any help here would be appreciated.
You failed to mention how many rounds you shoot per outing and per month.
If you go for extreme accuracy with bottlenecked rifle rounds, a single stage might be your choice no matter how fast it goes. But if you are shooting greater quantities (like for combat simulations and such or casual plinking) an auto-advancing turret will do better with little loss in the rigidity prized by the hyper-accuracy hounds.
A progressive press is considerably more expensive than a single stage or turret, but if you want more than 250 rounds per hour at the bench, the only way to go.
With my single stage, weighing each charge, carefully quality-checking I could do about 50 rounds per hour. (RCBS RockChucker, but brand really doesn't matter). With my Lee Classic Turret, I could easily top 125 rounds per hour, but not weighing every charge, instead depending on a powder measure. Some people claim twice that rate, but I am not convinced they are not just reporting the cyclic rate instead of the continuous rate.
A Dillon 650 or Hornady LnL progressive can do over 500 rounds per hour if you have all the case feed, bullet feed and do your part.
A good single-stage setup can be had for under $250, but you can get by for a lot less ($150) if you wait on some of the optionals or scrimp on quality. 50-60 rounds per hour.
A truly fine quality auto-indexing turret press and all the accessories for a first class setup can be had for about $350 or less if you scrimp a bit. 125 to 150 rounds per hour.
A first-class progressive setup with all the bells and whistles to take true advantage of a progressive will set you back close to $800 to $1,000. But that is over 500 rounds per hour.
Advice: If you know your are going to want a progressive, get a single stage now and start saving up. Almost every loader I know has a single stage somewhere on his bench. They are handy to have sometimes.
If you will be satisfied with the quantity of a single stage or turret for the forseeable future, get a Lee Classic Turret (Kempf's Gun Shop online and add an Ohaus scale, miscellaneous accessories and a couple of manuals for a first-class setup for under $300)
Don't try to learn on a progressive. You can do it, but it is simpler on a single stage (or a turret operating as a single stage) A progressive can operate as if it were a single stage, too, but it is more complex. Simpler is better. You can learn to walk wearing roller skates, but it is a lot easier in shoes.
Lost Sheep