Rounds per hour.

[rattletrap1970]

Dillon 550, I can do 500 an hour of 9mm or 45ACP but that is just totally banging away, all spare primer tubes all loaded, brass and bullets at the ready and ho hiccups.
Rifle takes much longer cause I'm really fussy about rifle.

 

[farscott]

I must just be slow. I barely average 20 rifle rounds per hour if I include everything. There is just too much to go wrong if I hurry, and I am in no hurry to do it. Clean brass, inspect brass for issues, deprime, size, check length, trim if necessary, remove burrs from trim operation, prime, review load data, check and re-check powder charges, charge cases, check charged cases with a flashlight, swap dies, seat bullet, etc.

I am happy if I get a full box of ammo every hour. If I am working up a load, my time for twenty rounds may be closer to ninety minutes.

 

[Husker_Fan]

Last night I started with a box of fifty fired .38 spl rounds. I got everyghing out and set up, deprimed and sized, hand primed, reloaded them, and put everything away in 50 minutes (60 rounds per hour). That is with weighing every tenth charge. I don't trim my .38 reloads.

I imagine I could get a bit quicker if I did a larger quantity to cut down on die changes, set up, and take down. I don't think a pace of much more than 70-80 rounds per hour would be very sustainable on my single stage press (Lee Challenger), at least not for me.

 

[RB98SS]

Pokey here too, if I start the clock, change my turret, load the hopper, find my charge weight for my Auto Disk, adjust my bullet seating depth, load up my Safety Prime, and start pulling the handle of my Lee Classic Turret I get about 50 rounds done in 40 minutes. I check my charges every 10th round or so. It also takes a bit longer if I load up lead bullets because I wipe the lube off them when I'm done.

It's my time to myself when I'm belly up to the bench, I enjoy it, and I make sure the rounds are safe.

 

[jfh]

I've used--and have--all three types of presses: SS, (Lee) Turret, and Progressive. Over the years, I've sorted out my bench so that most items are at hand and the presses do not need setup. Powder measures may need to be filled, and final seating / crimping tweaks may need to be done if I am changing bullets. Caliber changes with the Lee Turret setups are quick and easy. So--once I have components at hand, and ready -to-go with extra primer trays filled--and bins in place, I have found that

1. SS: 50 rph to be a typical output for batch / rifle cartridges.

2. Turret / Auto index: 180-200 rph.

3. (Lee Load-Master): 420 rph.

These are sustained measurements--e.g., what's produced in one hour (or more), not cyclic tests.

As I age, I find that the Turret reloading bothers my sore shoulder, with its 4-strokes per cartridge cycle. The Load-Master's effort is no greater--but the additional concentration required for monitoring five stations working at once is fatiguing. When I was younger, I'd run 500-550 rph on a Pro 1000, and on the Load-Master I've run 700 rph when the components were super-organized.

Jim H.

 

[fecmech]

I load pistol rounds on a Lyman Spar T turret with an auto primer feed and the powder measure on the press between the expander and seater. I load each case to completion by turning the turret. I can comfortably load 150-175 per hour including time to fill primer tube. I also load on 2 CH Auto Champs and 400 per hour is the norm filling case and primer tubes. A "sprint" rate on the CH with primer tube and case tubes full would be more like 600-700 per hour but I don't have enough case or primer tubes, nor the will to do it.

 

[Nate1778]

My Deluxe turret with auto index I can do 150-200rph. My Loadmaster I timed myself at 450rph (.38 special). That was stopping to put them in the plastic cases with 10 minutes to spare, so if you don't count that it could have gone 500-550.

 

[swampboy]

I must be slower than average. I load about 150-175 9MM an hour on my old Lee Turret, and that's using pre-primed brass. I also don't use the auto index feature. I drop about 10 charges, seat 10 bullets, crimp 10. Repeat. I'm in no hurry though.

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

I primed about 1000 case's on my 650 in about an hour once it had been preped earlyer in the decade. Usaly once I, stumble onto a load I'll get everything set up and try to averige about 1-200 rounds an hour. The main reason for the 650 is to have every thing done at once when I, know what my recipe is.

 

[lions]

With my single stage I like to run bigger batches, usually at least 200 at a time. (I need more loading blocks so I can do even bigger batches.) Everything included I'm coming up with about 40-45 rounds per hour. I get into a good rhythm but don't like to rush things.

 

[FROGO207]

If I don't count brass pre-prep I can easily hand prime, charge and seat 200 + rph of say 45 ACP or 44 mag on a single stage press. I use 4 60 round loading blocks, complete each process with all rounds before going to next step and toss the finished rounds in a bin for later sorting. Add case prep and the batches get waaay smaller

 

[bullseye308]

I have never timed myself, and I do it a little different anyway. I'll run 1k or more through and deprime/resize at once, then run them through the tumbler, then hand prime maybe a day or so later. When it is time to load, all I have to do is dump powder and seat a bullet. Depending on the mood I'll either use a Lee Reloader press or the Loadmonster.

Maybe I'll time myself this weekend and load some up just to see how long it takes.

(I need more loading blocks so I can do even bigger batches.)

Hmmmmm, yes you do. Let me know if I can do anything for you about that shortcoming.