Is it crazy to load .45 ACP in a single stage press?

[GLOOB]

I save more money loading 45 than I do 223. Way more when shooting cast. And it takes less than half the time to do pistol. 100 pistol rds an hour on a SS is leisurely for me.
I can do 200 an hour. If u cant easily do 100/hr it's cuz ur doing it the hard way.

 

[Dr_B]

If its crazy to load .45 acp on a single stage press, then call me crazy. I do all my handgun loads on just that one press. 100 rounds of .45 acp takes me about 45 minutes once I get moving. Last year I shot well over 1000 .45 acp reloads, plus about that many 9mm, and at least 750 .38 special loads. You can cut down on time by placing trays and other supplies so that your movements are minimal.

 

[coalman]

I can reload at most 600 rounds in an hour via my progressives. So, it's only a matter of time.

 

[kingmt]

I have 3 progressive presses & 3 SS presses. I think it is crazy to load that many on a SS. I have a Pro1000, Load Master, & a LNL EZ. The Pro1000 will crank out ammo as fast as the Load Master if your using a bullet feeder. The plus with the Load Master is you can see in it easier & have more room to hand feed bullets but for the few bucks the bullet feeder makes good since. Ether press is a good press. I haven't decided if I like primeing on the up or down stroke better but it is less work on the Load Master.

With a progressive you get a finished round with every pull of the handle where the turret is like your SS you have to pull 3 times to finish 1 round. For 500 you pull 1500 times on the turret 505 on the Pro 509 on the LM. Then there is all the other steps saved.

You can speed up your SS with a powder measure if you don't already use one. The Pro Disk is the best measure I have used. I can only compare it to the LNL & Uniflo.

 

[blarby]

Still, I've found that brass prep takes far longer than anything for me that occurs on a press.

A little less work for pistol, but still some.

Dressing up about 500 pcs of new to me win headstamped 45 right now...kinda why I figured I'd point it out.

IF you want faster, you can certainly get it... If you still want to weigh your charges individually, a turret will serve you far better than a progressive... and you can use the money for other things

 

[cfullgraf]

With my single stage press, I can flip on the lights in my reloading room and flip them off an hour later and have 100 rounds loaded starting with resized and clean cases. Not hard but lots of case handling and handle pulling.

I bought my progressives as new toys to play with and eliminate some of the case handling. Volume wasn't a main reason.

I can load 500-600 rounds in a 3 hour evening, lights on to lights off. About half that time is actually stroking the handle. The rest of the time is setting up, filling primer trays, storing ammunition away, cleaning up and so forth.

I rarely leave my press set up for one cartridge because I rarely load the same cartridges two sessions in a row. So, leave the press "stripped" at the end of a session so that it ready to take on the next cartridge gear.

If you leave the press set up for one cartridge, there will be less set up time.

I have a Hornady L-N-L and two Dillon SDBs (dedicated for 9x19 and 45 ACP). I prefer auto-index so the Dillon 550b was a non-starter for me.

 

[cacoltguy]

I guess I'm crazy because I'm reloading all my .45 ACP on a single stage RCBS. It is considerably more time consuming however, so it all depends on how valuable you time is. It doesn't bother me to much because reloading is fun for me and I find it relaxing. Of course if someone were to give me a nice Dillon progressive I certainly wouldn't refuse lol. With a single stage your best bet is to break it down in phases. When I reload it's usually a few hundred rounds at a time but every night I usually only tackle only or two steps of the process so I don't burn myself out.

 

[xmanpike]

Well now I'm more confused than ever

I do use a pwder measure Uniflow I think that came with our RCBS kit. It does help speed things up for sure. On rifle, I always measure carefully each individual charge.

Think I may have to get something else for 45 ACP. I'm planning on shooting a lot more often with my new Dan Wesson CCO. Now....which one to get...

Thanks guys! informative as always.

 

[Smokin Gator]

I've done all my reloading on my Rockcucker. I am bouncing back and forth trying to decide whether to get a 550 or a 650. It's supposed to be easier to change calibers on the 550. I'm thinking of getting one of the two set up in 45acp and doing my 38 specials and 9 mm on the rockchucker. It's either get the 550 and try to load everything on it or just get the 650 with casefeeder and really be able to crank out the 45's and load the others on the single stage. I don't know. I can easily keep up on my reloading at this time, with several thousand 38's and 45's all loaded, but I don't have kids at home and have more time then a lot of guys. It's going to be soon though one way or the other. Mark

 

[dirtengineer]

I bet most folks start with a single stage. For a while I used two lee hand presses and did most reloading while watching tv. I would usually resize and flare while watching tv. Then I would prime, charge in a loading block, seat the bullet and crimp with my attention focused. Did that for the first five years that I reloaded.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

Is loading a .45acp with a Lee Loader crazy?

I have a Lyman Turret, the first one. I just treat it like a single stage. The advantage is that I don't have to screw dies in and out; I just swing the turret around.

Then again, I like to go for precision with both handguns and rifles, and want as much hands-on as I can get.

Regards,

Josh

 

[FROGO207]

I find it fun to reload on a SS and even though I have 2 turret presses the SS gets the most use. I do load with the batch method as this is the most efficient way for me. The most time consuming thing is the case prep. I decap and then run my cases through the tumbler with stainless steel media. Then inspect/debur/chamfer/sort etc. I store cases to load at a future time. Then to prime, fill, and crimp in batches if 100-200 is the easy thing to do. The case prep is something I will do in the winter months so that I have a 5 gallon bucket of processed brass waiting for primers for each caliber ahead on those that I reload often. Not so fussy/prepared with something that I shoot less than 200 a year though. IMHO if you are doing all the case prep that I am doing while using a progressive you do not save all that much time really. Now if you just throw your brass in to some corn cob to polish it some and then load on a progressive I can see a savings if that is good enough for your ammo.

 

[CajunBass]

Shoot, I load everything on a Lee hand press. I'm in no particular hurry though. I can get enough done for my next outing.

Back in the day, when I was really young, I was shooting two, three days a week, I was in a local IPSC club, and I wanted to be the next hotshot. I was using a Lee Loader for all my reloading. I thought I was in high cotton.

It all depends on how bad you want it.

 

[kingmt]

Now if you just throw your brass in to some corn cob to polish it some and then load on a progressive I can see a savings if that is good enough for your ammo.

I don't even do that if I don't have to.

I forgot to mention you can load rifle on the Load Master progressive. If you want precision just run one round around at a time & leave the case retainer open on the station you want to take the case out to check.

 

[TheCracker]

I've never used a progressive but when I moved from single stage loading 9mm, 44 mag and 223 to my lee classic turret there is NO comparison on speed and ease.

I shoot about once a month, twice on a good month and the turret cranks out ammo to easily keep up. I can crank out 100 rounds /20 mins or so.

If I shot every weekend I would buy a dillon.

 

[WYOMan]

Yep. It's crazy. Now if you will excuse me, the voices say I need to go to my room and take my brass out of the tumbler. hehe

 

[JohnM]

Sure it is, but everyone says I'm nuts anyway.
I load handgun rounds by the thousands with a SS.

 

[918v]

Is it crazy to load 45 ACP on a single stage press?

The question should be is it sane to load on a progressive?

Loading on a single stage press helps to prevent the following:

 

[brow_tines]

Here's the way I look at it, yeah it's kinda slow on a single stage press, but between winter, rainy days etc. If a person reloaded on them days they could have a pretty good stockpile.

 

[Blue68f100]

918v, Factory ammo blows up guns on a regular basis. TG with a HP round like 40cal probably leading the pack with KB. Has nothing to do whether it's done on a SS or Progressive, if your QC is bad expect problems.

The bottom line all work, it just gets to how much free time you have to reload for your ammo consumption. If your shooting 500/week, work a full time job with family time. My guess is that you have limited free time. A Progressive fits.

Now manual vs auto progressive?

One faster than the other?

One safer than the other?

A human behind the wheel you make the assumption....

 

[brickeyee]

It depends on how fast you want the rounds and how many you want.

 

[Sapper771]

Nothing wrong with loading 45acp in a single stage. My first 5,000 rounds of 45acp were done on a single stages. You are correct......it is a pain. My girlfriend got me a progressive press and it became the greatest thing since sliced bread. I still need and use my single stage, but I wouldn't go back to it as a primary means of producing ammo(unless I had to).

Single stage: 50-75 rounds an hour.

Vs.

Progressive: 400 rounds in an hour.

 

[zoom6zoom]

Lots of us loaded lots of ammo on single station presses long before anyone ever heard of Dillon.

Heck, there's a lot of us who started with devices like the Lee Loader... a die, powder scoop, and a mallet.

 

[Bovice]

I don't see how an auto-indexing progressive can be dangerous. It won't let you charge a case twice. The Dillon 550 is hardly a cadillac press, "cadillac" inspires thoughts of creature comfort and ease of use. If it isn't auto-indexing, how can it be? That makes it extremely easy to charge a case twice. For the money, the LNL blows it away.

The 650 fits the cadillac analogy.

 

[kingmt]

918v

That's just because it is a Glock. Didn't you know they did that.

Just kidding.