Reloading rookie

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DocCharlie

DocCharlie

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Hello everyone! I’ll try to keep it short. I know nothing about reloading and I was kicking around idea of getting one of those lee classic loaders for 38 special and 45 colt. (The one you do by hand with a mallet) I would love to start with a real setup but I don’t have the space for it. While looking at those on YouTube I came across the lee hand press. Is that something that would be worth it over the classic reloaders? For the most part I would only be loading .38 special and .45 colt so I don’t want to get in over my head. The hand press looks nice because I could pack it up with with my other cleaning gear since I don’t have room for a full loading station. I’m not too concerned about pumping out tons of rounds at a time and it seems relaxing to load some rounds for range trips. Is there a reloading book you guys would recommend? Thank you in advance!
 

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twarr1 said:
A Lee “C” frame press isn’t much bigger. and You can bolt it to a strong board and clamp it down somewhere. Plenty strong for straight wall pistol cartridges.
Click to expand...
That looks nice but I’m really trying to minimize the stuff I would need because of all of my hunting/fishing/ black powder hobbies. I’ve really run out of room. Once kids go to college then I can make room in the garage for a whole station!
 
Please reconsider and follow twarr1's advice. You can't do a good job of full length sizing with the whack a mole and, you have to buy the whole thing for each new chambering.
A simple press, dipper set, scale and dies should get you started.
BUT, start with a good loading manual, by Lyman or Hornady. Lee has one but it isn't best.
 
I've used the classic loaders as I picked some up in a box of reloading stuff years back. I know if I'd started off on one of them I would have given up on reloading quickly. I have a feeling using the hand press would have had similar results. It's possible to make a box of ammo with them, but man is it going to be tedious.

Maybe if someone shoots like 20 rounds per range visit, a couple times per year they might be the perfect tool...
 
I have to respectfully disagree with the above. For straight wall pistol cases you can knock out some good ammo with the set up you are contemplating. Get the hand press, Lee 4 piece die sets, a good scale, a reloading block to hold the charged rounds. Get one the manuals listed above and you will be set to go.
I think you will enjoy it enough that when your situation permits you can buy a single stage or a turret press.
 
Whack-a-mole works, but that is about it.
Not quality, not easy, not fun.

Lee C press mounted on a piece of 2x6, then clamp it on bench, table or ?????

My buddy puts his on a rolling tool chest. Rolls it out where he wants and loads his rounds.
 
I have the hand press. I don't use it a lot for sizing much beyond 9mm, 10mm, 50ae(this one can be a bit of a workout), the occasional .223/5.56(sometimes a workout), and rarely a few pieces of 8mm Mauser(those suck). The downside of it is no built in priming method. If you have another means to prime by hand or buy the kit(I think it's called the ram prime), it can do most of what any other single stage press can do, so long as you can grunt hard enough to do the sizing. For stuff like 38 special and 45 Colt, it should be fine aside from the priming situation I mentioned.

It also works really great with a universal decapping in it so you can sit on the couch and watch TV while decapping spent brass.
 
You'll quickly tire of using the whack-a-mole loader and wish you had bought a press.

The Lee C-frame is a good starting point as others have said. Lee dies are good dies and economical to buy.

Reloading gear is fairly easy to unload if you decide reloading is not your thing.

Get yourself a good reloading guide (ABC's of Reloading) or reloading manual (Lyman 50th edition). Lots of good learning information in the books.
 
I used the old wack a mole Lee die set when I was a teenager. Wait till you set a primer off in the dang thing... In your HAND. It looks something like this. :eek::eek:
Buy one of the little C presses Lee makes. The Lee Hand press at a minimum.
 
Awesome thank you guys for all the advice! The guy using hand press on YouTube looks easy but that’s probably cause it was 9mm. I’ll look a little more at that c press! And thanks for the book recommendations!!!
 
The reason I recommend a press is this; the Whack-A-Mole is a dead-end. They have their place (I guess), but giving hand loading an honest try isn’t one of them. An inexpensive press can be a foundation. Even if you invest in a turret or progressive later you’ll keep the single stage around for various uses, as many on this forum will attest to.
If you decide reloading isn’t for you, you can sell the press very easily, in todays environment, probably close to or equal what you pay for it. The Lee Loader will be harder to dispose. And, if you upgrade, it becomes essentially useless. There’s a bare bottom threshold to starting in reloading and the Lee Loader is below that threshold.
 
Last edited:
DocCharlie said:
Hello everyone! I’ll try to keep it short. I know nothing about reloading and I was kicking around idea of getting one of those lee classic loaders for 38 special and 45 colt. (The one you do by hand with a mallet) I would love to start with a real setup but I don’t have the space for it. While looking at those on YouTube I came across the lee hand press. Is that something that would be worth it over the classic reloaders? For the most part I would only be loading .38 special and .45 colt so I don’t want to get in over my head. The hand press looks nice because I could pack it up with with my other cleaning gear since I don’t have room for a full loading station. I’m not too concerned about pumping out tons of rounds at a time and it seems relaxing to load some rounds for range trips. Is there a reloading book you guys would recommend? Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
I’ve been using a Lee hand press for small jobs for years and yes they are a good investment. For .45Colt you will probably want to use a little light sewing machine oil to lube cases before resizing. Carbide dies are also a good idea but I won’t say they’re essential. I highly recommend you get a copy of The ABC’s of Reloading and read it thoroughly before deciding anything. I use the Lee as a small batch tool only. 15-20 at most. That’s a good place to start.
 
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