I want to get into reloading, I want a progressive press, I was thinking on getting a Lee Precision Loadmaster, I could use some starter advice

[Reverin0ats27]

Good afternoon HOOSIERS, Im looking towards getting into reloading, mainly 9mm and 223/556. I want to get a progressive press, looking at specifically getting a Lee precision Loadmaster, preferably later or with it if i can buy it as a bundle type deal, I would like to get it with all the hoops and whistles, case feeder, powder dispenser, primer dispenser, etc. Would like some advice from those older and wiser with more knowledge in the field.

My interest is in pumping out cheap, training/plinking ammo, I have seen setups where everything is set up to where all you need is to pull a handle for 100 rounds and then you just gotta refill the dispensers. I covet this dream, and I wish to have a setup like that for my own.

I was also wondering if now is a good time to get into reloading, or if it would be better to wait until theres a holiday or something before jumping in.

My budget range is preferably 600-700 dollars max, not including costs of bullets, primers, cases, tumbler

Thank you for your time, and hopefully your counsel on the matter.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Lee makes good no nonsense presses with lifetime warranties.

Double check the clearance on that press that it is designed for rifles. I reload on a Pro 1000 and they say its good for up to 223, but everyone I have heard try it say its a PITA because there is barely enough room to fit the bullet into the cartridge.

Plus with rifle you also have much more case prep than pistol. Annealing, full case resizing, trimming, etc. So I'd skip that at first. I considered that when I was in your position, but here it is like 7 years later and I'm still not bothering with rifle calibers due to all of the headaches. (of course I dont shoot them that much) Maybe if I was shooting precision rifle I might do it, but for plinking? I dont think its worth the hassle.

 

[spencer rifle]

I have a Loadmaster currently serving 9mm duty. It takes some tweaking to get it to run smoothly, but I can make 225 rounds in a hour and that includes refilling bullets, cases and primers, and discarding the occasional .380 case that slips through. Getting a setup ready for 10mm soon.
I use the Lee Classic Turret for rifle calibers due to case lube requirements, and the .308 that comes off that (with some powder trickling) will put 5 shots in a quarter-size space at 100 yards. I make them for 28 cents a round, but that's with older components bought before the panics.

 

[bwframe]

I have a lot of different Lee presses, although not the Lee loadmaster progressive. They are each very good for what they are intended.

That said, if you are in this for the long haul, and or might end up shooting lots of rounds in training/competition, Dillon is the way to go. I can't tell you how many folks that end up selling their Dillon wanabee progressive presses to buy Dillons after a year or two shooting competition.

Smart money is to buy minimal Lee stuff to get started. It's best to learn the basics on a basic system, rather than tweaking things on a more complicated system that does multiple things with each pull. And you will find many uses for a single stage press down the road, to go with whatever progressive you wind up with.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I have a lot of different Lee presses, although not the Lee loadmaster progressive. They are each very good for what they are intended.

That said, if you are in this for the long haul, and or might end up shooting lots of rounds in training/competition, Dillon is the way to go. I can't tell you how many folks that end up selling their Dillon wanabee progressive presses to buy Dillons after a year or two shooting competition.

Smart money is to buy minimal Lee stuff to get started. It's best to learn the basics on a basic system, rather than tweaking things on a more complicated system that does multiple things with each pull. And you will find many uses for a single stage press down the road, to go with whatever progressive you wind up with.

This isnt bad advice. I started with a progressive, but bought one of these for several specific tasks. Like using a collet puller to fix my mistakes. you can also start single stage to get the hang of it before "graduating" to a Lee Progressive or even a basic Dillon.

You'll still need that single stage later if you choose to go that route.

Breech lock:

https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Reloading-Press-Md-90045

 

[Paul 7.62]

If you can hold off and save your $$ to buy a better press, Look into the FX-10 from Frankford Arsenal. It give you the option of swaging primer pockets on your 5.56 brass and come with a case feeder. options for a bullet feeder is coming. In the mean time look to buy the important stuff like primers, bullets, and powder.

 

[marvin02]

So you want to reload but you don’t know where to begin (??)

Hey team.. I hope you don't mind but I do a lot of "how to threads" and here is one that I thought the newbie ie (new guy) to reloading might enjoy.. It contains IMO more than enough information to build a proper foundation off of.. So here’s go nothing.. I hope that someone can use it...

www.indianagunowners.com

I bookmarked that thread as a reference for myself, don't know if it will be helpful.

Good luck.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Dillon 550. Flawless

 

[Leo]

I have a Loadmaster currently serving 9mm duty. It takes some tweaking to get it to run smoothly, but I can make 225 rounds in a hour and that includes refilling bullets, cases and primers, and discarding the occasional .380 case that slips through. Getting a setup ready for 10mm soon.
I use the Lee Classic Turret for rifle calibers due to case lube requirements, and the .308 that comes off that (with some powder trickling) will put 5 shots in a quarter-size space at 100 yards. I make them for 28 cents a round, but that's with older components bought before the panics.

Nothing but respect for getting that press running right.

You are not kidding about the LEE Loadmaster being fiddly. I won one and tried and tried to use it. I never found the right combination. The Press seemed alright, but the various feed parts gave me fits. I wanted to load .45 and never did get the primer parts working right. I ran out a patience and gave it to the brother-in-law that I don't like.

I either was missing something or the one I had was bed. It had been opened, but I won it so I was still grateful. I keep running into people like yourself who successfully use them.

When I gave up I spent the serious scratch on a Dillon 550b. It is not auto indexing, but I got it set up pretty fast.

 

[bgcatty]

Buy once and cry once; get the Dillon 550c! It’s very forgiving and you can learn how it works quickly. It is a long term investment that you will be happy with for years to come.

 

[Twangbanger]

Recommend doing a market study on what _you_ can purchase all necessary components for, then if this is a chore not a hobby (and it likely will be), add in some for the value of your time, and see if this still makes economic sense for your shooting volume. Your per-box reloading price will depend heavily on the size of your component purchases. How many hundreds/thousands of dollars can you afford to have tied up in components, to get the volume discounts necessary to hit the per-box target price that breaks even on your time invested?

 

[Creedmoor]

I have a lot of different Lee presses, although not the Lee loadmaster progressive. They are each very good for what they are intended.

That said, if you are in this for the long haul, and or might end up shooting lots of rounds in training/competition, Dillon is the way to go. I can't tell you how many folks that end up selling their Dillon wanabee progressive presses to buy Dillons after a year or two shooting competition.

Smart money is to buy minimal Lee stuff to get started. It's best to learn the basics on a basic system, rather than tweaking things on a more complicated system that does multiple things with each pull. And you will find many uses for a single stage press down the road, to go with whatever progressive you wind up with.

This above..., 40 yr Dillon owner here, start with a reasonably priced Lee single stage. Once you climb into it look at how much you are shooting and then buy a Dillon 4 or 5 station press, like a 550 or 750 press.
You can also look at used 450, 550 650 and 750 presses.
You will be happy with a Dillon.

 

[CB1911]

Buy once and cry once; get the Dillon 550c! It’s very forgiving and you can learn how it works quickly. It is a long term investment that you will be happy with for years to come.

This above. Totally agree. 550C is what I currently own.
With current component prices though even a box of plinking 9mm isn't going to be cheap to produce.
If all I wanted to reload was strictly 9mm, the Dillon Square Deal B would another good option.

 

[42253]

Hello
Reloading is a great and fun thing to do. I have 4 lee presses. 3 Pro 1000 and 1 classic terret press. bought 2 new and 2 used. I load only 9mm on one pro 1000 its all set up with all the bells and whistles it runs great. Another pro 1000 for only 38 special and 357 magnum I have a turret set up completely for each no swapping of dies or powder drops. The third pro 1000 is set up for 223 and 32 s&w long. The classic turret runs 270 Winchester and 30-30 Winchester. I could run with one press but I dont want to be changing things all the time. All my presses run smooth as silk. The trick is patients you must take your time and learn what you are doing. Use all your senses watch, listen and feel. Nobody sets up a press and starts pulling the handle and 100+ rounds and hour. It takes practice. I like Lee because its available everywhere at a good price. The only dray back I have with the Pro 1000s is Lee says only use CCI primers. I solved that problem with using classic turret press to prime when CCI primers are not available. If you have any questions let me know I can try to answer them. Hope you get started soon. I have loaded many thousand round of all the calibers. 9mm and 223 are my favorite.

 

[patience0830]

Started with a Lee single stage. Currently using an old RCBS. Haven't moved into handgun ammo but I've done thousands of rounds single stage and weighing every charge. Little brother got a Hornady progressive and it works well. Want a Dillon, but I'd have to shoot more for it to make sense for me. I like the Zen of the one at a time set up.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Buy once and cry once; get the Dillon 550c! It’s very forgiving and you can learn how it works quickly. It is a long term investment that you will be happy with for years to come.

I have three.

 

[DadSmith]

Good afternoon HOOSIERS, Im looking towards getting into reloading, mainly 9mm and 223/556. I want to get a progressive press, looking at specifically getting a Lee precision Loadmaster, preferably later or with it if i can buy it as a bundle type deal, I would like to get it with all the hoops and whistles, case feeder, powder dispenser, primer dispenser, etc. Would like some advice from those older and wiser with more knowledge in the field.

My interest is in pumping out cheap, training/plinking ammo, I have seen setups where everything is set up to where all you need is to pull a handle for 100 rounds and then you just gotta refill the dispensers. I covet this dream, and I wish to have a setup like that for my own.

I was also wondering if now is a good time to get into reloading, or if it would be better to wait until theres a holiday or something before jumping in.

My budget range is preferably 600-700 dollars max, not including costs of bullets, primers, cases, tumbler

Thank you for your time, and hopefully your counsel on the matter.

Check out the Lee 4 hole classic turret press kit.

Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press Deluxe Kit

The Lee 4 Hole Classic Turret Press features a proven design which utilizes turrets that lock into a solid steel ring allowing the reloader to quickly...

www.midwayusa.com

$243 with code.

I have one and I load 9mm upto 308 Winchester and many in between on it.
I can load 50rds an hour approximately.
It isn't the most expensive but it makes good range fodder.
I use a single stage press for my rifle hunting, and match ammunition.

Simple to set up and operate.

 

[Creedmoor]

I have three.

Lightweight.

 

[Alamo]

When I was in a revolver club I got a Dillon Square Deal B progressive loader. My goal was reliable cheap ammo that met minimum power factor with reasonable (not gnat’s eyelash) accuracy. The SDB did that for me.

I made about 10,000 .38 rounds that year. I think I hit pay back point in about 2000 rounds, if I recall correctly.

SDB has the disadvantage that it’s harder to change caliber to another compared to the more expensive Dillon reloaders. However some of my club buddies simply bought another or three SDBs and used one for each caliber. This eliminated having to fiddle with switching calibers, and also meant that once they had the machine set for each caliber they didn’t lose the settings by switching to another.

Of course you need to have the space for more than one SDB but they’re not very big.

I’ve never use anything except the SDB, but I was very happy with it.

 

[92FSTech]

Lee makes some good basic stuff. It's affordable, and readily available, and I have a ton of thier dies, toolheads, shellholders, and bullet molds. Some of their more complicated stuff is a litte klunky, and a bit too dependent on plastic for my taste. The "Safety Prime" system that is designed for thier Classic turret and Classic single-stage presses, for example, is junk. I used it for a few years and finally got so sick of it dropping primers all over the place that I went to feeding them into the arm by hand. Ultimately, I picked up a couple of RCBS hand-primers and do that now for stuff that I run on those presses. My experience with that, their cheap powder measure, and a few other low-grade tools made me leery of depending upon them for something as complicated as a progressive.

I've been loading for about 10 years now and load for over 20 calibers. I started on a Lee Classic Turret, which I still have and use regularly. It was a good press to start on becasue it gives you the simplicity of a single-stage, but you can build your load process out in batches, and it's easy to switch between one operation to the next once your dies are set. Having multiple toolheads makes it a breeze to switch between calibers, too...literally less than a minute.

When I was looking into a progressive, I was trying to decide between a Dillon 650XL and the Hornady LNL. I knew I wasn't going to buy the case-feeder and bullet feeder, and would be loading those components by hand. The Hornady press won out because it's workflow allows the cases and bullets to both be loaded with the left hand while your right-hand can remain on the lever. The Dillon takes them on opposite sides...primarily because it is really designed to be run with at least the automated case feeder installed. I've been happy with my LNL...it has a few quirks that I've learned to mitigate over time, but so does my buddy's 650. I can put about about 400 rounds an hour, including loading primer tubes and final inspection of every 100-round batch. My buddy can do 6-700 in the same time on his 650 with the case feeder. With primer availability being what it is these days I can barely afford to run enough volume to justify my progressive as it is, so no regrets here.

I use the LNL exclusively for 9mm. On paper it looked like it would be cheaper and easier to swap calibers than the Dillon, but I found it to be more trouble than it's worth, and that 9mm is really the only thing I shoot in enough volume to justify setting up a progressive. Other stuff like .40, .45 ACP, .44 Mag, .38/.357 I run on the Lee Classic Turret, and I have a Lee Classic single-stage that I use for a lot of rifle stuff and other case-prep functions. One cool thing about the Lee single-stage is that if you take the threaded insert out, you can install an insert that accepts the Hornady Lock-n-Load quick change bushings, making caliber changes super quick and easy. Lee has thier own "Breech Lock" system, but I like the Hornady one better and it's also compatible with my LNL.

I did look at the Square Deal B as well, but the proprietary dies was a deal-breaker at the time. If you're only going to use it for one caliber, though, it's not a bad option. In hindsight, since I'm only running 9mm on the progressive, I probably would have been perfectly happy with one. I'm not a fan of the 450/550...IMO, the manual indexing makes it vulnerable to a double-charge. With a single-stage or turret I can load and inspect in batches, with an auto-indexer the press's own workflow keeps the case from getting charged twice. I have good lighting, a good understanding of the process, load powders that are difficult to double-charge, and I pay attention to what I'm doing...but I'm not perfect and it only takes one. With a manual-index progressive, all you've got to do is forget to index one time, and you've got a double-charge on your hands...it makes me uncomfortable.