A few experiments

[John3354]

Right before my LnL decided to crash and burn I ran a quick test. Starting with cases and bullets loaded in to the feeders but with empty primer tubes I loaded a primer tube and ran 100 rounds. 5:20

Not too bad. Roughly speaking 1,000 rounds per hour at a steady pace.

Since I have time due to the broken press I ran some other tests with other presses.

Lee Turret Press:

Starting with dies and powder measure set I loaded the primer feed tray and started. 34:30 to run 100 rounds at a nice steady pace. So ~175 rounds per hour. Not too shabby for a turret press working on one case at a time, and especially so considering the low cost of the press.

Lee Single Stage:

Starting with dies set and using the easy primer feed attachment along with a Hornady powder measure that was already set to the proper charge, 37 minutes to run 50 rounds. So ~80 rounds per hour.

If I have time I might try it tonight with my 550B and see what I come up with. I also have a Lyman turret press but I would assume that it would be roughly in line with the Lee, maybe a slight bit slower since it doesn't have autoindexing and the primer feed is 50 at a time and takes longer to fill.

 

[Wolfhound]

That is interesting. I wouldn't mind knowing what caliber you are reloading at that rate? Any other prep work done beforehand?

 

[John3354]

The LnL was 9mm, the other two times .45ACP.

As for prep, the cases were all deprimed and cleaned beforehand, but I went ahead and went through all of the motions regardless. All of the cases were run through a resizing die in those times. I did glance at each case head before putting it in the press for the turret and single stage tests just to make sure I didn't waste any primers on military crimped or S&B cases that had not been swaged yet.

Is that what you were wanting to know?

 

[Wolfhound]

The LnL was 9mm, the other two times .45ACP.

As for prep, the cases were all deprimed and cleaned beforehand, but I went ahead and went through all of the motions regardless. All of the cases were run through a resizing die in those times. I did glance at each case head before putting it in the press for the turret and single stage tests just to make sure I didn't waste any primers on military crimped or S&B cases that had not been swaged yet.

Is that what you were wanting to know?

Yes, that covers it. Thanks for the info.

 

[John3354]

Oh, and with the LnL I said I started with an empty primer tube but forgot to mention that I used a Frankford Arsenal vibratory primer filler and not a primer flip tray.

 

[DadSmith]

My lee classic turret press i can churn out around 200-250 handgun rds per hour. Big step up from the old single stage press.

 

[John3354]

My lee classic turret press i can churn out around 200-250 handgun rds per hour. Big step up from the old single stage press.

Have you ever actually timed that, or is that a seats of the pants sort of guesstimate? I ask because I actually timed that and I was not wasting any time as I was loading. I'm not saying that gains could not be made, but I wasn't exactly letting grass grow under my press either.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

I timed myself loading 9mm on my LCT at the beginning of the 'Rona. I was around 250 per hour. I started with the auto drum and primer tray filled. I had 4 stations- size and deprime, flare and powder drop, seat, and crimp. I think I could get the 1st hundred in 21-22 min, then had to refill the primer tray. I also was checking powder drop on a scale and OAL on every 25 loads.

 

[DadSmith]

Have you ever actually timed that, or is that a seats of the pants sort of guesstimate? I ask because I actually timed that and I was not wasting any time as I was loading. I'm not saying that gains could not be made, but I wasn't exactly letting grass grow under my press either.

Timed and a very worn out shoulder. That was for our 4th of July bash. I was behind so had to catch up. 45acp, 45lc, 9mm. Thank God for the quick change turrets too. No the turret change and powder adjustment times were not included just the actual time spent reloading. Once everything is set up I can pump out 250rds in an hour if there are no distractions. It takes me around 11 minutes to do 50rds.

 

[Robert Richardson]

Myself, I never felt the need for speed when reloading. If that's what floats your boat, go for it. No knock intended.

 

[John3354]

Myself, I never felt the need for speed when reloading. If that's what floats your boat, go for it. No knock intended.

It all depends on what a person is loading.

Sometimes you want to spend some time listening to an audiobook or an interesting commentator while taking your time loading some precision, experimental or special purpose rounds.

Sometimes you want to load bulk rounds for plinking or competition.

But I totally understand those who have no desire to increase production. For a lot of guys the fun in reloading is tooling around in their reloading area and relaxing. No hurry at all. The people who tend to shoot so they can reload. Others reload so they can shoot. I tend to do both, depending on what I am loading at the moment.

I shoot 20,000-30,000 rounds per year (not counting rimfire). If I were not able to make good progress when loading bulk ammo I would not have any time to shoot.

 

[DadSmith]

John I just timed loading 100rds of 45 Colt. It took me 24:25. My boys shot ever one of them up in approximately the same amount of time or less yesterday afternoon.

 

[John3354]

John I just timed loading 100rds of 45 Colt. It took me 24:25. My boys shot ever one of them up in approximately the same amount of time or less yesterday afternoon.

Seems I need to work on my turret press technique.

For another data point I loaded some ammo on my 550 while waiting on parts for the LnL. I was running pretty much exactly 15 minutes per 100 rounds and that was across 9mm, .40 and .45ACP, all ran around the same amount of time.

 

[DadSmith]

Seems I need to work on my turret press technique.

For another data point I loaded some ammo on my 550 while waiting on parts for the LnL. I was running pretty much exactly 15 minutes per 100 rounds and that was across 9mm, .40 and .45ACP, all ran around the same amount of time.

Main thing I learned is not to run it fast. Slow and steady works the best. A nice steady pace while working the handle.

 

[John3354]

I thought I was doing that. It seems I might be going too slow and steady.