Hey guys I'm jumping into reloading and this is what I'm getting. A RCBS turret press deluxe reloading kit. I can't afford a progressive loader. I'm also getting some pistol dies, tumbler, caliper , and obviously ammo parts. Are these presses any good? I believe they have 6 holes in the turret, I'm not sure why so many. Please give me your opinions. Also I'm going to load 9mm and 45acp, is winchester 231 a smart choice for both these loads? Thanks for the help.
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- Thread starter ammopoor
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scrat
Member
They are very good. Win 231. Thats a Ball powder i believe. Looks good. Checked the load data. Its a nice place to start. Make sure you get some reloading books. Read everything you can first. Your going to need case lube too. If the kit you have comes with the case pad i belive the lube is seprate. Any how merry christmas and welcome to the high road.
RustyFN
Member
I don't have any experience with that press but have heard it is a very good press. I have also heard that it isn't much faster than a single stage press. I own a Lee classic turret and can tell you that it is also a very good press. You can get into the Lee classic for around $150. Most people can load around 200 rounds per hour on the Lee press. I just wanted to throw that in in case you didn't know about the classic. Good luck with whatever you decide to buy and welcome to reloading.
Rusty
Rusty
jfh
Member.
About the 6 die turret: There are several die configurations for reloading. A simple, typical older configuration is the three die setup--die one does the sizing; die two is for expanding the case mouth, die three is for a combined seating / crimping operation.
However, other reloaders end up preferring to seat the bullet separately from the crimp, or a second crimper set up for a different bullet, or to keep an different calibre / set of dies in the same turret--you get the idea.
So, you end up with greater die configuration flexibility on a (manual) turret press.
You might want to consider the Lee Classic Cast turret press--it has the capability to provide auto-indexing, like a progressive, or it can be operated as a SS press. An economical setup can be bought for $150.00, c/w dies, and a complete package with calipers, tumbler and media, etc., etc. can be had for under $300.00.
Personally, I would NOT want to load pistol ammo on a SS press or on a manual turret. Do a search here (use Google for the site) on "Lee Classic Cast Turret" or some similar combination and you can find out more information on it.
Jim H.
However, other reloaders end up preferring to seat the bullet separately from the crimp, or a second crimper set up for a different bullet, or to keep an different calibre / set of dies in the same turret--you get the idea.
So, you end up with greater die configuration flexibility on a (manual) turret press.
You might want to consider the Lee Classic Cast turret press--it has the capability to provide auto-indexing, like a progressive, or it can be operated as a SS press. An economical setup can be bought for $150.00, c/w dies, and a complete package with calipers, tumbler and media, etc., etc. can be had for under $300.00.
Personally, I would NOT want to load pistol ammo on a SS press or on a manual turret. Do a search here (use Google for the site) on "Lee Classic Cast Turret" or some similar combination and you can find out more information on it.
Jim H.
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deerassassin23
Member
Loading
I use W231 in my 45's with both lead and platted bullet works great and it burns cleaner then bullseye to me. Also very easy powder to work with I would reccommend it never used it in my 9mm. I use TITEGROUP for that with Hornady XTP bullets work nice burns good as well. Your press will be fine if you don't need hundreds of rounds everyweek end. I also trim my cases to length before I load them as well some say its not need but what does everyone else think? I also would use the RCBS Carbide dies if you can afford the extra 10 or 15 dollars if you are going to use them alot that way you don't have to mess with the lube and pad that can get messy.
I use W231 in my 45's with both lead and platted bullet works great and it burns cleaner then bullseye to me. Also very easy powder to work with I would reccommend it never used it in my 9mm. I use TITEGROUP for that with Hornady XTP bullets work nice burns good as well. Your press will be fine if you don't need hundreds of rounds everyweek end. I also trim my cases to length before I load them as well some say its not need but what does everyone else think? I also would use the RCBS Carbide dies if you can afford the extra 10 or 15 dollars if you are going to use them alot that way you don't have to mess with the lube and pad that can get messy.
donttellthewife
Member
Buy components now, tomorrow morning, take out a small loan and buy as many as you can. Don't panic or anything, just don't wait for the next price increase. As far as I can see the price will only go up from here and I see nothing in the future that will drive the price down. If you don't load them you can aways sell them for what you paid.
You didn't mention how many rounds you plan to shoot this year or the following years to come.
I use W231 for both 9mm and 45acp, 8lbs cost $122 at my local sportsmans warehouse or $105 at powder valley. That will load close to 10,000 rounds of either caliber at about a penny a load. CCI primers .018per. Win 115gr RN FMJ .067 per. Win 230gr RN FMJ .103 per. Brass free
9mm $95.00 per 1000
45acp $131.00 per 1000
http://www.tjconevera.com/index.html
Merry christmas, Ron
You didn't mention how many rounds you plan to shoot this year or the following years to come.
I use W231 for both 9mm and 45acp, 8lbs cost $122 at my local sportsmans warehouse or $105 at powder valley. That will load close to 10,000 rounds of either caliber at about a penny a load. CCI primers .018per. Win 115gr RN FMJ .067 per. Win 230gr RN FMJ .103 per. Brass free
9mm $95.00 per 1000
45acp $131.00 per 1000
http://www.tjconevera.com/index.html
Merry christmas, Ron
jfh
Member.
I have the older Lee 'standard' turret that I updated--and if I were buying a new turret today, I would buy the (new) Classic version. There's loads of comments here on the Classic Cast Turret--did you try that search?
Jim H.
Jim H.
I am also a new reloader (about 700-800 rounds thus far) and bought a Lee Classic Cast Turret as my first press and couldn't be more happy with it. I disabled the auot index for the first 100r or so until i got the hang of it, now with the auto index enabled I can crank out about 100r an hour, checking weight every 10th round and checking for powder every 5th or so. Did I mention I'm a bit paranoid?
Lee gets a bad rap for all the plastic parts, but once I read his (Mr Lee's) explanation why (if you break a plastic part you are using too much force) I think I agree with him.
I will say this though. If you are at all the paranoid type then buy a second scale of some sort. Being able to check zero of my primary scale would really let me relax alittle.
scrat
Member
i have a single stage cast press. works good. of course its only a single stage so it cant go wrong.
jfh
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