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  • jwh20

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    28   0   0
    Feb 22, 2013
    2,069
    48
    Hamilton County Indi
    I was looking at the hand press. Does it take alot of force to seat a round?

    I'm going to suggest you forget the hand press idea. These things are HARD WORK! You'll be sorry you wasted your money.

    I bought a Lee Turret Press ages ago and it's both a great starter press, it still serves me to this day. You can absolutely get everything needed to reload one cartridge like .40 SW for $300.
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    I avoided the turret press on my first purchase, because it seemed unnecessarily complex, and perhaps prone to get misaligned. However, it isn't that much more expensive, and I just learned the Lee will auto index (rotate), which is a pretty cool feature, although I can't see myself using it that way. But I do like the idea of the turret just to keep my dies organized. It is easy as heck o swap out the dies, but I would prefer to keep die sets together. For that reason I suppose I would go with the Turret if I had it to do over. I do appreciate the simplicity of the breech lock though--it is infallible, so you probably can't go wrong either way.

    Here is how I do it, and as you can see, I usually only have to swap dies once:

    1) Insert depriming/resizing die and deprime all used brass
    2) Tumble brass
    3) Use hand primer tool to prime all brass
    4) Throw powder directly into brass [new RCBS Uniflow on the way ;)]
    5) Insert seating die and seat each round
    6) Optionally - Insert crimping die and crimp (on cannelured auto rifle rounds only)

    This seems probably more efficient and less prone to error than trying to do one complete cartridge at a time in a turret, but a turret can do the same by simply turning off the auto indexing.


    I just did another batch, and I left out the flaring die. So that makes two changes, and If I taper crimp, three changes. So I am convinced that the turret is the only way to go, especially if you plan on doing pistol rounds. I might even buy one, instead of upgrading to a progressive-- I can get just the press alone for $80.

    An entire turret kit should be only around $150 I think. You'll need a digital scale and calipers, each $30 or so. Die sets, about $40 each. Don't worry about case trimmers and such for now.
     

    TTB Yeee

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 95.8%
    23   1   0
    Aug 17, 2010
    322
    18
    Ohio
    I just did another batch, and I left out the flaring die. So that makes two changes, and If I taper crimp, three changes. So I am convinced that the turret is the only way to go, especially if you plan on doing pistol rounds. I might even buy one, instead of upgrading to a progressive-- I can get just the press alone for $80.

    An entire turret kit should be only around $150 I think. You'll need a digital scale and calipers, each $30 or so. Die sets, about $40 each. Don't worry about case trimmers and such for now.

    I started on a single stage and it lasted all of two months. I bought everything I needed with the single stage, so the jump to the Lee Classic Turret was a simple decision. It is indefinitely better than the single stage. With the Pro Auto Disk, it makes it that much faster. I have no problem loading 100-150 rounds an hour once I get everything up and running. On a single stage, I could only do about 30.

    You can also run the turret like a single stage for the first few times to get yourself comfortable. I think I paid like 90+ shipping on Natchezss for the press. Remember, look for the Classic Turret Press. The other Lee turrets aren't made as well, and are harder to empty spent primers (from what I remember).
     

    TTB Yeee

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 95.8%
    23   1   0
    Aug 17, 2010
    322
    18
    Ohio
    Also, my setup (costs estimated from memory).
    Turret press - 100
    Dies - 40 (I suggest Lee 4 die sets)
    Pro Auto Disk and riser - 35
    Lee Safety Prime - 20 (on press priming...it's ok, not good)
    Case Gauge - 20 (some live by them, others don't use them. I bought one because I was first starting)
    Caliper - 25
    Digital Scale - 25

    I think that covers MOST of the basics, for well under $300, so the extra money would be a reloading manual (I have Lyman, and a few free ones). I have a lot of other stuff, but this should get you started besides powder, brass, and bullets.
     

    XtremeVel

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    21   0   0
    Feb 2, 2010
    2,380
    48
    Fort Wayne
    Remember, look for the Classic Turret Press. The other Lee turrets aren't made as well, and are harder to empty spent primers (from what I remember).

    A great point ! I had the original and it served me well, but the newer cast Classic is much heavier built... The only advantage I miss from the original is the shorter throw for handgun cartridges...


    With the Pro Auto Disk,

    Another well worth upgrade from their basic Auto Disk...
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    Also, my setup (costs estimated from memory).
    Turret press - 100
    Dies - 40 (I suggest Lee 4 die sets)
    Pro Auto Disk and riser - 35
    Lee Safety Prime - 20 (on press priming...it's ok, not good)
    Case Gauge - 20 (some live by them, others don't use them. I bought one because I was first starting)
    Caliper - 25
    Digital Scale - 25

    I think that covers MOST of the basics, for well under $300, so the extra money would be a reloading manual (I have Lyman, and a few free ones). I have a lot of other stuff, but this should get you started besides powder, brass, and bullets.

    One question i have about the turret press is how the auto indexing works if you're only using three dies in a four die press. Do you have to give the handle an extra crank to skip the blank, or is it easy to manipullate?
     

    XtremeVel

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    21   0   0
    Feb 2, 2010
    2,380
    48
    Fort Wayne
    One question i have about the turret press is how the auto indexing works if you're only using three dies in a four die press. Do you have to give the handle an extra crank to skip the blank, or is it easy to manipullate?


    I have found it's best to just give it that extra stroke... Try indexing the turret itself by grabbing it the wrong way and you'll need a few of them $.50 extra plastic ratchets....

    I often times need to skip a opening... Many times the wife or son will resize/deprime a larger quantity and at a later date we hand prime only... Then once it's determined what load we want, we simply skip the first die... Not the most efficient way, but we can comfortably charge, seat, and crimp well over 200 primed cases an hour this way. This also fits our lifestyles better... We are primarily seasonal shooters... We will resize and prime many thousand cases over winter months and come nicer weather, we can load up whatever load we might want rather quick...
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    I think I'm gonna go ahead and upgrade to the classic turret. Just the turret though, I'll continue to hand prime and use my RCBS Uniflow powder measure. I don't trust that plastic "safety prime" and auto powder measure. I'm not trying to simulate a true progressive. I just want to be able to have all my dies on the turret, and use the auto indexing for 9mm flare/seat/crimp.
     

    TTB Yeee

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 95.8%
    23   1   0
    Aug 17, 2010
    322
    18
    Ohio
    I think I'm gonna go ahead and upgrade to the classic turret. Just the turret though, I'll continue to hand prime and use my RCBS Uniflow powder measure. I don't trust that plastic "safety prime" and auto powder measure. I'm not trying to simulate a true progressive. I just want to be able to have all my dies on the turret, and use the auto indexing for 9mm flare/seat/crimp.

    The safety prime is actually a pretty nice feature. Check out some videos on youtube. You deprime/resize the case, with the ram up, you push the safety prime into the attached priming seater/cup, then on the down-stroke you prime. It isn't great by any means, but is definitely a time saver. It's truly hard to mess up the priming. The safety prime can be a bit finicky, but overall a solid addition. You could hand load the primers into the cup if you would like, but the safety prime is much easier.

    What exactly are you worried about with the safety prime? Upside down primers, the fact that it's plastic? Plastic doesn't matter since it doesn't really take ANY wear, and upside down primers won't happen if you even slightly pay attention. I understand being careful at the beginning, as I did EXACTLY what you are doing with the hand primer. I passed it on to my soon to be father in law. He is getting started with a single stage, even though I tried to get him into a turret from the get go. He'll figure it out in a few months....haha

    The pro auto disk is also a great time saver. It's ridiculously accurate with ball type powder (which is all I've tried), and at 1/3 the cost of the RCBS, it's hard to beat (I have two of them...).

    I will be adding the uniflow to my bench in the near future, just because it seems to be more accurate with all types of powder. I'm loading for plinking right now, so .1 gr fluctuation is okay for me , even though it is usually spot on. I'm usually near the lower end of the spectrum anyway.

    To take full advantage of the turret press, I would recommend the safety prime and pro auto disk. Either way, you will be taking an enjoyable step up from the single stage.
     
    Last edited:

    Broom_jm

    Master
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    0   0   0
    Dec 10, 2009
    3,691
    48
    If you aren't using the 4th hole in the shell plate, that last operation of the handle is used to bring the finished round up high enough to easily remove from the shell-holder. ;)
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    The safety prime is actually a pretty nice feature. Check out some videos on youtube. You deprime/resize the case, with the ram up, you push the safety prime into the attached priming seater/cup, then on the down-stroke you prime. It isn't great by any means, but is definitely a time saver. It's truly hard to mess up the priming. The safety prime can be a bit finicky, but overall a solid addition. You could hand load the primers into the cup if you would like, but the safety prime is much easier.

    What exactly are you worried about with the safety prime? Upside down primers, the fact that it's plastic? Plastic doesn't matter since it doesn't really take ANY wear, and upside down primers won't happen if you even slightly pay attention. I understand being careful at the beginning, as I did EXACTLY what you are doing with the hand primer. I passed it on to my soon to be father in law. He is getting started with a single stage, even though I tried to get him into a turret from the get go. He'll figure it out in a few months....haha

    The pro auto disk is also a great time saver. It's ridiculously accurate with ball type powder (which is all I've tried), and at 1/3 the cost of the RCBS, it's hard to beat (I have two of them...).

    I will be adding the uniflow to my bench in the near future, just because it seems to be more accurate with all types of powder. I'm loading for plinking right now, so .1 gr fluctuation is okay for me , even though it is usually spot on. I'm usually near the lower end of the spectrum anyway.

    To take full advantage of the turret press, I would recommend the safety prime and pro auto disk. Either way, you will be taking an enjoyable step up from the single stage.

    I have the separate hand primer tool, which I like just fine. Currently I just pop all of the primers in while watching TV. I usually get my cases cleaned, sized and primed ("prepped"), and then set aside for when I'm prepared to work with the powder, which is something I put a lot more planning into than the previous steps. I don't want to have to keep refiling the station, getting all the primers facing up, and perhaps dropping them in the garage. I have a bad back, so the more time I'm not hunched over the press fiddling, the better. The safety prime system is cheap enough, I just don't know if it is necessary or advantageous for me yet.

    You recommend the auto disk powder measure, but say you are adding a Uniflow. The Uniflow won't operate automatically right? i have the same problems with my Lee perfect powder measure--it only works with ball powder, which is why I didn't want another Lee measurer, even if it is automatic. i suppose I could mount the Uniflow over the turret press and just hand crank it into the expanding die, or simply throw the powder into a scooper and then dump it into the expander. Either way I can't imagine using the automatic Lee powder measure once I have a high quality Uniflow available, because the charge is so critical to safety and accuracy. Do you plan on continuing to use the Lee for ball powder?
     
    Last edited:

    TTB Yeee

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 95.8%
    23   1   0
    Aug 17, 2010
    322
    18
    Ohio
    Yup, I want to try the RCBS for non-ball powders/match ammo where I truly want to dial in on the amount of powder I'm throwing. It wouldn't be my "mass" produced ammo. You can mount it on the turret, but it won't be automatic like the pro auto is (case mouth activates the powder throw). I think you can buy something to convert the RCBS, but it's not exactly cheap. Even when I get the uniflow, I will still use the pro auto as my primary powder dispenser.

    I haven't tried any flake type powder with the PRO auto disk, so I can't comment on that. It may work great, but it may not. My go to powders are ball (titegroup, h335, and CFE223), so it doesn't matter to me right now.
     

    kludge

    Grandmaster
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    5   0   0
    Mar 13, 2008
    5,360
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    I think I'm gonna go ahead and upgrade to the classic turret. Just the turret though, I'll continue to hand prime and use my RCBS Uniflow powder measure. I don't trust that plastic "safety prime" and auto powder measure. I'm not trying to simulate a true progressive. I just want to be able to have all my dies on the turret, and use the auto indexing for 9mm flare/seat/crimp.

    I used the Safety Prime for almost 20 years, and only this year upgraded to the new Ergo Prime. The Pro Auto Disk does a very good job as well.
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    I used the Safety Prime for almost 20 years, and only this year upgraded to the new Ergo Prime. The Pro Auto Disk does a very good job as well.

    So you are saying you used to use the press safery (automatic) prime, and now you switched to the new ergo hand tool? Simce you have to take the shells off the press after decapping in order to tumble them, so hand priming in bulk after that makes perfect sense I think. What are your thoughts on this if you don't mind?

    Some people tumble with the spent primers still in the cases, and for them, it makes more sense to deprime/prime in one step. But everything I've read saysto deprime before cleaning brass, so that is what I do, and it makes something like the Safety Prime seem almost useless. I guess decapping before cleaning makes the media last a bit longer, and more importantly, helps to clean the primer pocket some. So it seems like those who are a fan of priming on the up stroke after decapping should might disagree with that.

    And again, I admit that I like to hand prime as a separate stage so I can have prepped cases ready to go, so I can focus more attention on the powder and seating stages when I get around to it. Right now for example, I'm waiting on some new tools, like a headspace gauge and the Uniflow, before I drop powder and sear mu .223 cartridges, but I have 500 cases already deprimed/sized, cleaned, and primed.
     

    U.S. Patriot

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 87.5%
    7   1   0
    Jan 30, 2009
    9,815
    38
    Columbus
    So you are saying you used to use the press safery (automatic) prime, and now you switched to the new ergo hand tool? Simce you have to take the shells off the press after decapping in order to tumble them, so hand priming in bulk after that makes perfect sense I think. What are your thoughts on this if you don't mind?

    Some people tumble with the spent primers still in the cases, and for them, it makes more sense to deprime/prime in one step. But everything I've read saysto deprime before cleaning brass, so that is what I do, and it makes something like the Safety Prime seem almost useless. I guess decapping before cleaning makes the media last a bit longer, and more importantly, helps to clean the primer pocket some. So it seems like those who are a fan of priming on the up stroke after decapping should might disagree with that.

    And again, I admit that I like to hand prime as a separate stage so I can have prepped cases ready to go, so I can focus more attention on the powder and seating stages when I get around to it. Right now for example, I'm waiting on some new tools, like a headspace gauge and the Uniflow, before I drop powder and sear mu .223 cartridges, but I have 500 cases already deprimed/sized, cleaned, and primed.

    I hand prime, and I tumble before sizing pistol brass.
     

    TTB Yeee

    Sharpshooter
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    23   1   0
    Aug 17, 2010
    322
    18
    Ohio
    I have a universal decapping die that I use to deprime. I usually deprime when I get a load of used brass, then toss them in the tumbler. I don't think cleaning the primer pocket is necessary, as plenty of people tumble then deprime, but I don't mind spending an extra few minutes to do it. I then resize and prime my cleaned brass.

    The universal decapping die is permanently set up on my single stage. This is the only action it sees.
     

    netsecurity

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    22   0   0
    Oct 14, 2011
    4,201
    48
    Hancock County
    Update:

    You all convinced me to try and auto disk (Pro) powder measure, and auto safety primer. I got the Lee Classic Turret for about $99, and these add-ons were only $70 combined, so no big deal. Anyways, I guess I'm going to try just tumbling my brass with the primers still in them, then do it as below. At least this is how I expect the Lee Classic Turret to work with auto indexing:

    1) Deprime and size the case - Prime on up stroke
    2) Flare the case - Drop powder on up stroke
    3) Insert bullet by hand and seat
    4) Crimp

    Hopefully OP is following and doesn't make the same mistake as I did by buying a single stage. Although I suppose I could still use the single stage for one-off type stuff.
     

    shibumiseeker

    Grandmaster
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    52   0   0
    Nov 11, 2009
    10,763
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    near Bedford on a whole lot of land.
    Hopefully OP is following and doesn't make the same mistake as I did by buying a single stage. Although I suppose I could still use the single stage for one-off type stuff.

    Buying a single stage is not a "mistake." It's a good and inexpensive learning tool, and more to the point, for many of us reloading itself is a relaxing hobby and don't feel the need to rush the process. It may not be what everyone wants or needs, but it's never a waste of money and there are plenty of reloaders who have tens and hundreds of thousands of rounds loaded all on a single stage who have no desire to switch.
     

    Broom_jm

    Master
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    0   0   0
    Dec 10, 2009
    3,691
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    The OP has stated that he wants to reload so he can shoot more on a limited budget. I applaud that kind of thinking and hope he has great success at it. I would just like to point out that someone on a budget probably doesn't need to spend the money for a Dillon because they probably can't afford the volume of components you have to buy just to feed the dang thing. For someone who is wanting to shoot 100 rounds a month, there isn't a reason in the world a single-stage would be a "mistake". Also, many folks start reloading for pistol and then graduate (that's right, I said "graduate") to precision loads for bolt-action rifles. A quality single-stage press, in my opinion, is the best way to produce this kind of ammunition. I started out making rifle ammo and never bothered making pistol ammo until a few years ago, but that's because 90% of my shooting was done with bolt-action guns.

    Why is everyone in such a dang hurry these days? :dunno:
     
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