New reloader, need everything.

bearfoot.. this is what I have.... works great.. just take yer time setting it Up... and its in stock
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/363062/lee-pro-1000-progressive-press-kit-38-special-357-magnum

I actualy have 2, and 1 on its way... For me its a lot easier and convinient to have each caliber already set up...

Now if you load 8 different ones, well thats another story...LOL

for me its .223, .357 and soon 9mm

It comes with dies, so just need the other sundries like tumbler, scale, trimer, etc

Anyways hope this helps

This isn't going in the same direction as your post but a lot of guys here recommend a single stage for beginners. This lets you learn the fundamentals one step at a time and can be a cheaper initial investment. Progressives are very nice, but not always the best choice for everyone. Another option to look at is a turret press. The Lee classic turret is mentioned with fairly high praise often.

Not trying to discourage you from getting a progressive, just throwing some other options out.

^ THIS

Once set up properly, I have no trouble loading 200 per hour on my Lee CLASSIC (important distinction) Turret press. It's easy to setup and use, difficult to make mistakes on, and can be used as a single stage if desired (just pull out the indexer shaft). I have zero complaints and can only think that a progressive would make more sense to someone who shoots a LOT. Just my opinion, of course....

Warner

That's about what I was going to say.. "how much do you/intend to shoot?".
If you just want a Dillon, I hear Enos will give good input on all particulars.

You are in the same boat all of us are. Welcome. I've been at it for 30+ years and have three presses on my bench. But, I recommend going the same rout I put my son't on. Get a Turret press, mine is a Lyman T Mag, but all companies make a good ont. That way you can control all stations but by not having to change dies you can actually build up a pretty good rhythm. You can easilly make 2-4 boxes a night depending on how ADD you rae.

Ditto this:

^ THIS

Once set up properly, I have no trouble loading 200 per hour on my Lee CLASSIC (important distinction) Turret press. It's easy to setup and use, difficult to make mistakes on, and can be used as a single stage if desired (just pull out the indexer shaft). I have zero complaints and can only think that a progressive would make more sense to someone who shoots a LOT. Just my opinion, of course....

Click to expand...

But I might even take a step further back and suggest you start with the Lee hand press. It is only good for straight walled cartridges, but that's perfect for your .357 and .45, and the same dies can be used in the Lee Classic Turret press. I went this route (and am now tooling up to use the Lee Classic Turret press for .223 and .308), but continue to use the hand press for small batches (50-150 rounds) of pistol/revolver loads (I load .38 spl, .357, and 9mm). I think starting with the hand press allows you to focus more on the details of your loads -- powder choices and amounts, OAL and bullet seating depths, etc. -- and less on the mechanics of the machinery involved. Of course, with necked rifle cartridges, there are more things to learn, and the Lee Classic Turret Press, being a simpler device mechanically, will again let you focus more on the load itself. No doubt progressives have a place, especially for high volume loaders, but many have used progressives, and then gone back to a turret or even a single stage press.

Here's a brief, but good read, over the differences.

Save some money right now and buy a single stage press. You won't be wasting money because you intend on loading rifle ammo later on anyway. Learn the procedure and then buy a progressive and waiting might save you future problems too. Once you know how to load you can decide which progressive press is best for you.

Do not buy the hand press.

You will probably eventually wind up with a single stage press if you do a lot of reloading.

I Think turrets are the best presses to learn on and are wonderful for calibers you don't load by the thousands. I've never achieved 200/hr, but 150 or so is very doable. Easy to change calibers as well.

Progressives are best suited to setting up for 1 caliber and pumping out a thousand rounds. Then reconfiguring.

Dillon makes the best progressives, Lee makes the best turrets.

Barefoot, what type of shooting do you do? I agree with everyone that has all ready posted. I started on a single stage press 5 years ago and just now upgraded to a progressive press. You need to learn each step and FEEL it. If you just want to go blast off thousands of rounds with your buddies and you get in a hurry to crank out as much ammo as possible your going to make a mistake and end up destroying your gun or cause injury. I reccomend getting into reloading, educate yourself about every part of it, take your time, have fun, and lastly DON"T KILL YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE!

Just because it has a super high price doesn't mean it is the best thing for you. Most new reloaders see progressives and they want it because it looks like the least amount of acctual work and they can crank out a lot of ammo fast. But in reality you need to work up a load that will work the best and that needs to be done in small batches and slowly. A single stage or a turret press is the best for this. Once you have some experiance reloading and you have loads worked up that work well, then graduate to the progressive and then you can crank out large amounts of ammo at your known well worked up loads.

Not trying to open a can of worms of brand wars and mud slinging between members and blue vs green vs red presses. Reloading is expensive to get started period. For the price of a Dillon progressive press, you could buy a Lee turret kit that has everything you need minus dies, buy some bullet molds to cast your own bullets, dies, and reloading components, and still have money left. But it is your money spend it how you want. Low price doesn't ALWAYS equal low quality.

Buy a lee classic turret, if your not comfortable you can take out the rod and go single stage. You won't regret buying it.

Assumption #1 is correct for a lot of us.
Assumption #2 - output on a turret press is either the same as a single stage (when used in single stage mode) or roughly 3 to 4 times as fast when in turret mode. A Lee classis cast turret is roughly a third of the cost of a Dillon as I recall. Also Caliber changes on the Lee are much faster, and much cheaper. Setup on the Lee is less complex, and so is fixing mistakes since you're only working with one cartridge at time.
Assumption #3 I am not familiar with doing it single stage style on a progressive press. I can say that all the progressive press owners I know personally also own single stage or turret presses for load development so I'm guessing it's easier that way then on a progressive.
Hope this helps clarify some things, and welcome to the world of reloading.

There's nothing wrong with a progressive so long as you know what you are doing. For pistol cartridges, it can't be beat. Rifle is a little different with case trimming, lube removal and weighing charges, but I'm sure you can figure it out.

Just be aware that there's a lot going on when you crank the handle of a progressive press. Use your caliper and do plunk tests to check your rounds. Buy a bullet puller to fix mistakes.

I also suggest the Lee Classic Turret and if you really want a single stage then get the Lee Classic Cast either the breech lock version or the one I have which is non breech lock. The non breech lock can handle 1 1/4" dies as well as 7/8" dies while the Breech lock version only handles the 7/8" type. Either press should last a life time if properly maintained.

I can't speak for all progressive presses but the Hornady LNL can be used one casing at a time.

I assume all will do the same.

A hand press is a great item to have for a few reasons. If there is a process you prefer to do seperately from the turret, or of you want to do it slowly to learn, you can use the hand press to size, decap, and bell while you watch TV. If you want to be able to go to the range and try load variations on the spot, you can use it for that too. For $32, how can it be bad?

Have you picked up a loading manual yet? If not pick one up and read the sections on reloading. This will answer a lot of your questions. Even if you buy two Dillon progressives you will eventually pick up a single stage press. I use mine for de-capping and priming and load on the turret. Also, the learning curve on the progressive is going to be enormous for a first time reloader when compared to a single stage press. Best of luck what ever you choose.

+1 with what Bmac1949 said- Get a couple different reloading manuals and read them cover to cover... then do it again.

I have been reloading for a few years now, am using a Lee Classic Turret with no issues and have loaded in the high thousands of rounds. It's easy to swap a turret plate plate with different calibers and convert it to a single stage for working up loads or small batches of special rounds.

So far, I haven't been able to justify a progressive for loading 800-1000 rounds an hour- other than the cool factor!


.

one other point to consider is where do you shoot most often? if you can load a few and then kick the back door open to see if the loads are accurate, then you probably wont like a hand press. if you go any distance to shoot, take the handloader with you and work at developing your favorite loads at the range. then you can crank em out on a turret or progressive at home. just a thought.....

I've loaded sub-moa rifle loads on a hand press. I have no idea why people think it would make less accurate loads than any other press.

I'm relatively new to reloading, about a month. I use a LNL single stage and am very happy with it. I weigh all loads and can get 50-70 loads/hour if I don't have to resize and/or trim. I will eventually get a progressive but am not comfortable with the idea as yet. I get .5MOA on 223 and 308 and test a lot of loads in 38, 40s&W, and 45ACP. Just looking for a comfortable load on them as I cannot get more than a 6" spread at 10 yds with a pistol anyway. I did buy a cheap Lee press, less than $30, to de-prime my rifle loads before tumbling them. I would recommend this as a great starting setup for noobies.

I have a Lyman Turret press and use it for handgun and rifle and its great,i was going to start with a Dillon but luckily a friend talked me into the turret. Years later i still use it for most all of my loading,its good to start slow when your doing something that could potentially blow your hands off.

This is a great thread. I'm also seriously considering to start reloading due to the shortage of ammo.

I Would like to go with a single stage like the Lee Classic. Can someone tell me how much this costs?

I am looking to reload 9mm and 223 (and possibly 300Blackout since that uses 223 cases). Would the Lee Classic be sufficient?

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to reloading soon!