making the reloading plunge

[cajun 48]

First post I did was for info on equipment and got plenty. Here's what I came up with:
Lee Classic Turet with the iron base,
45acp deluxe carbide dies (4 die set)
Lee pro auto disk measure with the riser
Lee adj. charge bar
Lee Safety Prime
Lee safety scale
tumbler, digital caliper and reloading handbooks
**ANY additional suggestions or improvements (lets stay "red" if possiable.

will be loading .45acp 200gr plated swc or plated fp bullets
which ever is better.

Thanks for all the help in the pass and any help on this one.
ajb

 

[ChuckB]

My suggestion is to keep Lee Precision in mind. When I first set up my system- quite like yours- I had a few questions and glitches. The folks at Lee were just a phone call away, and very helpful. John Lee would jump on a problem without hesitation. Good people, those cheeseheads!

Chuck

 

[jhansman]

One thought; you might want to begin using your turret in a single-stage mode, just until you get the feel of making ammo, start to finish. Once you have mastered all the stages manually, then let the press take over some of the heavy lifting. BTW, I love my Lee equipment and have never felt the need or desire to have anything else. The ammo I make has been consistently consistent and highly accurate.

 

[SASS#23149]

will your gun feed swc's all right? for that caliber a lot of folks load round nose ammo.depends on the gun of course.
have fun,go slow,and be careful.Speed will come with experience.
the money you save will buy more and more bullets.

 

[jeepmor]

The 45 is very forgiving, will your gun be as forgiving with SWCs, my auto definitely is, love it. Nice clean holes in those targets.

 

[cobra2411]

I ran a couple rounds through without primers or powder just to get the feel and to test the settings. At first I was pulling the bullet and running them through again. Now I've filled the primer hole with silicon and use them as snap caps...

I would recommend a bullet puller. They're about $15 and you can safely dissemble if you need to. In another thread someone loaded the wrong powder, which could be very unsafe to shoot.

 

[jfh]

For those first .45ACP loads--

1. Consider getting smaller amounts of both LSWCs and LFPs--plated or not. Start with the LFPs--they will almost certainly be easier to get functioning properly.

2. For powder, start with 231--it's ideal for lighter .45ACP loads. If you want to try higher-end loads, try AA#5. Both these powders are excellent for .45ACP, and readily usable in other calibres as well.

Note that if you find you like the lighter / 231 loads, your pistol may want / need a lighter recoil spring. But, that is a topic for another thread.

Personally, I don't see the benefit to plated bullets, so I would save the expense there.

3. If you didn't get a MAX cart gauge, get one. Yes, you can use your barrel, but the MAX cart gauge will teach you more about buliding a cartridge.

4. Yes, you want a bullet puller if you didn't get one.

Jim H.

 

[RPCVYemen]

As the owner of a turret press, I would not pay extra for a turret press over a single stage. I don't see any real advantage to a turret.

Mike

 

[The Bushmaster]

No advantage to a turret over a single stage press? Well...O K. Maybe for you, but I have both. A single stage press and a Turret. The turret is much faster then the single stage and I don't have to adjust my dies every time I start a new stage of the reloading process.

cajun 48...You will find that a single stage is a handy tool on your loading bench for those special needs and reloading rifle cases. For now I have the old 3 station Lee Turret and use my single stage press for resizing/decapping and priming. You might look into Lee Auto prime II when you buy that Classic cast "O" single stage press.

 

[RPCVYemen]

The turret is much faster then the single stage and I don't have to adjust my dies every time I start a new stage of the reloading process.

Somebody pointed out to me that you don't have to do that with a single stage unless you want to. With either the Hornady Lock N Load or split locking rings, you only need to adjust once. Sliding a die into a bushing (Hornady Lock N Load), or spinnig a die down to a locking ring can't take that much more time than turning a turret one station.

Mike

 

[pinkymingeo]

I think your equipment list is right on, except for the scale. The Lee scale isn't very user friendly. Get a Hornady, RCBS or Dillon. They're all made by Ohaus, one is as good as another, and you can get them used for a reasonable price.

 

[The Bushmaster]

RPCVYemen...No problem. To each his own...Like I said...I have both and use both all the time every time I am at my bench...

 

[cobra2411]

The lee scale works, and it's pretty sensitive, but it can be hard to read. If the budget allows, upgrade. If not, it will work till you can upgrade.

I have to lean toward the turret press being handy. Using lee for the example: A basic press is $35. A breech lock single press is $70 and the 4 hole auto index turret is $95. With the basic press you have to thread in and out the dies and set them up each time. The breech press the dies are quick change, but with the turret they're all setup.

With a single stage you end up doing each step multiple times. So you de-cap and size 100 rounds then change dies and flair 100 rounds, then you fill 100 rnds an seat the bullet, then if you crimp separately you have to change dies again.

With the turret you start with a spent case and end up with a loaded ready to fire one. How about if you want to load 5 rounds to try out a new load? In my mind it would be easier and faster on the turret. Bulk loading 100 rounds? Probably the same amount of time once you had a procedure down. Especially if you use a breech lock or similar.

I guess it comes down to personal preference. Also it's a good point to make that a single station isn't that much different from a turret press so if cost is an issue you can really save money going with a single station. It's not going to make that big of a time difference loading.

 

[Oldcoyote]

Consider a different scale

Cajun

I have a similar setup to yours except I bought an RCBS 505 scale. The Lee scale seemed to have generally bad comments re. ease of use. The 505 was $38 including shipping on Ebay.

I saved the tumbler (and trimming equipment) for later purchase.

 

[RustyFN]

Somebody pointed out to me that you don't have to do that with a single stage unless you want to. With either the Hornady Lock N Load or split locking rings, you only need to adjust once. Sliding a die into a bushing (Hornady Lock N Load), or spinnig a die down to a locking ring can't take that much more time than turning a turret one station.

Mike

I agree that you don't have to readjust the dies every time in a single stage if you have the right lock rings and so on. But the difference is that you are only going to load 50 rounds per hour on the single stage and I am going to load 200 rounds per hour on my classic turret. If you own both and don't see a difference I'm betting that you don't have a classic turret. It works a lot different that the other turret presses.
Rusty