good press for first timer?

RCBS would be a fine first press and probably the last press you'd need.

Digital scale - good as a back up. A good beam scale works just fine.

Lee Anniversary Kit. That will take good care of you for the long time.

http://www.grafs.com/product/190196

Lee Turret Kit would be my first choice, though. For an extra 20 bucks you can greatly increase your speed.

http://www.grafs.com/product/190927

Lee's dies are around $30/set.
Add powder, primers, a scale, and a few extra things and you're all set for <$200 total.

Q

Consider the Dillon SDB. You can pass just one cartridge thru at a time until you get comfortable with it. You then can use it as a progresive press. It only will work for straight cartridges. You only mentioned 38 and 45. A single stage press will be slow if you shot alot.

+1 RCBS, Rock Chucker.

I'll also recommend the RCBS press.

I load probably 3,000 rounds a year and I've had it since 1968!

Much to the dismay of my green and blue friends here, I load a LOT of 45 on a Lee progressive. Price is right, press will make a lot of ammo. If money is of no real concern, the Dillon or Hornady is a good choice. If you eventually want to progress to rifle, the Loadmaster is a great deal for the money you spend and caliber changes are much less costly. I load everything up to and including 30.06 on mine. On the upper side, the Dillon (like a 650) will make about 12 zillion rounds an hour (so I'm told by those who own one) and cost you your first born to purchase and change calibers. They are however, very good machines. Do a lot of shopping around, decide where you want to wind up and plan accordingly. Budget considerations are always a factor, what does it cost now to set up, what will it cost to add calibers later. Take most of what you will read here with a grain of salt, brand loyalty runs high, most here are true experts on the brand they own, with a few here owning multiple presses and several brands. Whatever your choice, enjoy reloading, I know I do!

I would go with the Lee classic turret press. It will cost less than the RCBS kit and load around three times faster. It is made out of cast iron and steel and will last a lifetime. I can load 200 rounds per hour on mine. Yes you can load rifle on it, I load 223 on mine. It is a very easy press for a beginner to setup and use.
Rusty

I recommend the Hornady starter kit, with the bullet promotion it is a good deal on a great press.

I think anyone new to reloading ,should start with a single stage press,So they get the feel what reloading is all about.I have one of the Lee progressive presses, you know where it sit today.? Under my bench,I still use my ole grey Lyman press for all i reload,and I been reloading for over 30 years,
If he or she wants to load more. then they could move on to the many dif,type and styles of the progresives, but they will always have the ole single stage to fall back on.
Just my 2 cents thats all

+1 on Rusty's recommendation for the Lee Classic Turret. I reload .380 & 9mm as well as .223, .308, and 6.5x55. About 200 rounds an hour for pistol, but I remove the indexing rod and load rifle single stage. Makes great ammo and you can be set up for under $200.

Depends on your budget... if you've never ever reloaded before, I recommend a single stage or turret press... I'm an admitted Hornady fan, so I'd recommend their classic starter kit. the kits from RCBS, Redding, and Lyman are also great stuff, hard to go wrong with any of them, and they'll all probably be working after we're gone...

Another plug for the Hornaday LNL. Not that the others are bad, it's just that you get alot of bang for the buck utilizing their promotion. Hell, I bought a refurbished one for $120 because it had to compete with the promotion too!
If I had to start with a single stager I would use the Lock-N-Load conversion bushing installed in a Lee Classic Cast single-stage press. I like the bushings.

I started on a Rockchucker Master Reloading kit 10 or 15 years ago. You won't go wrong.

I recently purchased a Lee Hand Press. Handy for working up handloads in the field or on a budget.

Rockchucker. No electric scale. You won't need it. The kit comes with a great beam scale. Once you get the hang of checking a load a few times, then having conficence in your thrower, you're good to go.

+2 On the Lee Classic Turret press. I have one and it works great. The Lee was had a good price and it's very solid. I also have a single stage press for decapping and swaging. The turret press and the sigle stage are a good combination.

Start with a Good solid O-Frame such as a Lee Classic cast, RCBS Rock Chucker, Redding Big Boss, Hornady LNL Classic, and a CoAx. Woodshed and then add a Lee Classic Turret, Lee Loadmaster, a 550B, a Hornady LNL AP, RCBS 2000, and a XL650.

There, everyone happy?

Cheers...

Being a person who is too shy to express opinions, I think the Lee Classic Turret Kit is the better buy and suits the newer loader very well.

Click to expand...

LOL ... yes, I know... you are very shy.

How you been Mate. Hope all is well. I see you like my post. I'm trying to include all crew in here so no one feels left out, You know what I mean?

Well gotta go. post to you soon.

Cheers

LGB

The Lee classic turret kits are terrific and every bit as stout as any other colour of press. I would advise a turret over single stage to anyone starting off wanting to do pistol in the beginning. Doing pistol on a single stage is the definition of tedious. The turret will speed up pistol yet still allow single stage style reloading for your rifle cases.

It's a horses for courses question alas and everyone has an opinion.....

My suggestion,

Lay out a sheet of paper and do a Pro's and Con's list.

On the left hand side write down

Budget
Realistic expectations of number of round usage and caliber types
How much time can you devote (and that is the right word) to reloading
What space you have to work on and with
Shooting type? Match, Fun, Plink or some or all of the above
How detail orientated are you (fiddle/change/tweak or Set 'n Forget)


Now in general (rule of thumb)

Speed
Single stage presses are slowest followed by turret, followed by progressive. Various folks report their turn around at ROUGHLY 75 - 200 - 400 cartridges per hour respectively.

Accuracy and repeatability of round creation
OAL, powder charge, weight etc etc as Single - Turret - Progressive best to worst. Worst does NOT mean bad it is used in a comparative sense if you want identical characteristics for each fired round.

Set up complexity
Single - Turret - Progressive

Least amount of time to to setup
Single - Turret - Progressive

Ease of change between calibers or round type (pistol - rifle)
Here I would tend to go Turret - Single - Progressive if you use a replaceable turret plate

Costs of the initial set up including press, dies, shell holders, powder measures, scales etc. NOT consumables, these will be the same for each kit.

Once you know yourself exactly what you want then the pick will be a lot easier for you.

Now the dispassionate bits out the way, I would suggest the Lee 4 hole turret....

Define a budget, that is a good suggestion. The best way to look at things is look at buying reloading equipment is that you are spending about the same as a new gun.

But, long before you work on a budget you must decide if you have the time and inclination to reload ammo properly!

Buy and read cover to cover The ABC's of Reloading.

What ever you do realize that a lot of advice is coming from noob reloaders themselves who have a tainted view of things......Lee is entry level and serviceable...but not the best you can buy. The Lee scale sucks! Their powder measures are problematic.

No powder measure is perfect.....

im looking to mainly load 45acp and 38spcl, what would a good all around setup be? i've been looking at the rcbs rock chucker kit mainly, a buddy at work recommended that one. what would you recommened to a first timer to make it as easy and mistake free ($$$ and BOOM) as possible? is a digital scale worth the money?

Click to expand...

I haven't been reloading very long and mostly load .38 Special and .40 S&W (though I've branched out into .45ACP just recently). My research (and a list a lot like the one everallm gave you) led me to the RCBS ROCK CHUCKER SUPREME MASTER KIT.

I have learned that it is important to disassemble and grease the swivel socket of the "push arm" mechanism on the hand primer (when you get one you'll know what I mean), and I've learned that I like using old ammo trays better than the RCBS loading block, but other than that the kit has served me very well (though it's gone up in price $100 since I got mine!)

In addition to that kit you'll need...
-A good dial caliper (digital is nice but dead batteries suck)
-A decent tumbler (I have a Lyman 1200 I like a lot)
-Reloading books from a couple of other sources.

Buy and read cover to cover The ABC's of Reloading.

Click to expand...

and then read it again
and then come here and ask your questions (Lord knows I sure did).

My first 10 reloads. Pay special attention to my comments on post #51 regarding reloading paranoia <grin>.

Another vote for LEE !

Start with an O frame or Turret. Move up to Loadmaster when you really want to crank some volume.

Buy all three and you'll still spend less than for one of the other colored presses.