With that said, I have chosen to go single stage to start with. Down the road if I see the need, I will upgrade to a progressive. The press I am leaning toward is the Lee Classic Cast (90998). Seems to be a little easier on the pocket book compared to the Rock Chucker. My question for all of
Down the road, when you upgrade, plan to keep the single stage press. It is always handy to have a single stage press around for specialized tasks, there may be some cartridges you load that just work better on the single stage press, and it is paid for. For instance, i load most of my rifle cartridges on a single stage press. It is more efficient for small batches.
Bullet pulling, decapping, case forming, use of trim dies, primer pocket swaging, and others work better on a single stage press.
If you use Lee dies, the dies are good quality, but the lock rings are lacking. The lock rings do not have a clamping system to maintain your die setting.
Regardless what Lee or anyone else says, the o-ring on the Lee lock ring will not positively hold your die setting and at some point in time, you will loose the die setting. Your die setting will have to be confirmed, and maybe reset each time the die is removed and re-installed in the press. (Some folks like to adjust their dies at each use).
The breech lock bushings allow you to jam the lock ring against the bushing and that will maintain your die setting. But it is not the only way.
You could drill and tap the Lee lock ring and put a set screw in it. Put a piece of shot under the set screw to protect the threads on the die.
Or, you could replace the lock rings with locking lock rings. The Hornady rings are a split design and are popular but locking rings are available from virtually all the other die manufacturers.
Once a die is set and locked in place, the time difference between using a spin-in die or a die with the breech lock bushing is insignificant. On a single stage press, the bushings are mostly hype in an effort to liberate you from your cash.
But, what ever floats your boat. I am a gadget guy and spend money on some widgets that are not really necessary.
One place I like a Lee lock ring is on the powder cop die on my progressive press. I adjust the die withe each cartridge change and the Lee die can be adjusted quickly without tools and it will maintain its setting until I remove the die from the press. (Note, this die is not used on single stage loading). Otherwise, all of my dies have clamping lock rings.
Welcome to reloading. Sounds like you got a good start.
