Missy Stockholm-Leon
Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2019
- Messages
- 8
So, My boyfriend and I have been going to the range - a lot. I am looking at getting into reloading and bullet casting for a few reasons - #1. To save money. #2. As a new hobby (now that winter is hitting here in North Dakota, we will be shooting less.
We normally shoot .22 (I don't plan on reloading these), .380, 9mm, and 40. Mainly 9mm....all in all we go through about 1,000-2,000 rounds/ month of the center fire calibers during the non-snow months. I have been trying to do my research, but run into varying information and I'm looking for advice.
First, after looking at various progressive presses, I have narrowed it down to the Hornady LNL AP, or the Lee Loadmaster progressive. A lot of folks swear by the Hornady, but I have been leaning towards the Lee for a couple of reasons...I want to make sure I am well-informed on the pros and cons of each before I go ahead and buy something.
Second, I have made a list of the various steps of casting and reloading that I feel is the best course of action (time-wise, cost-wise, and ease-wise), though I will put that in another post. I am hoping those who have been doing this for a while can help with other opinions or considerations I may not be thinking of.
So in this post I will focus on the presses. The purpose of the press will be to produce range quality handgun ammo to help save money foremost with the amount that we currently shoot.
Pros/cons of the Hornady:
We normally shoot .22 (I don't plan on reloading these), .380, 9mm, and 40. Mainly 9mm....all in all we go through about 1,000-2,000 rounds/ month of the center fire calibers during the non-snow months. I have been trying to do my research, but run into varying information and I'm looking for advice.
First, after looking at various progressive presses, I have narrowed it down to the Hornady LNL AP, or the Lee Loadmaster progressive. A lot of folks swear by the Hornady, but I have been leaning towards the Lee for a couple of reasons...I want to make sure I am well-informed on the pros and cons of each before I go ahead and buy something.
Second, I have made a list of the various steps of casting and reloading that I feel is the best course of action (time-wise, cost-wise, and ease-wise), though I will put that in another post. I am hoping those who have been doing this for a while can help with other opinions or considerations I may not be thinking of.
So in this post I will focus on the presses. The purpose of the press will be to produce range quality handgun ammo to help save money foremost with the amount that we currently shoot.
Pros/cons of the Hornady:
- Cost is about double that of the Loadmaster - meaning I will have to get components slower and it will take much more time to pay for itself
- Ease of use (from what I can tell) is better than the LM
- Has 5 stages
- Auto indexing
- Case loader is additional (and quite expensive), meaning I will be haing to hand place cases and bullets
- Dies are not included (common with most)
- Higher build quality than that of the LM
- Additional components are more expensive than the Lee
- If I find reloading isn't for me, I will be out a chunk of change
- Half the price of the LNL - this means I can get more dies and components off the bat
- Has a lower build quality and requires more of a learning curve
- Has 5 stages
- Auto indexing
- Case loader is included with set up (though may require a washer modification for 9mm and .380)
- One set of dies included with press
- Additional components are cheaper
- Known auto-prime issue that requires some babying (though I have read the updated prime system is better now, and small primer system has fewer problems still)
- If I find reloading isn't for me, it won't hurt my wallet as much.