Faster reloading desired

To learn and introduce new loaders. Tips and tricks from old timers.

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JustaShooter
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by JustaShooter »

Morne wrote:Used Lee Loadmaster on EBay

Is this a good deal?
Without looking up the value of the various extras that come with it, it doesn't look like a great deal to me. Press appears to be well used, and you can get a new one with your choice of dies and shell plate for about $250. I'd expect something closer to $175 used with one set of dies, and I don't think the 2 additional dies and extras add $200 in value. I could be wrong, but that's my take.
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Mr. Glock
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by Mr. Glock »

Eventually, when I find aroundtoit, I'm going to get a Lee Turret to delve into reloading. As such, it appears to me that Fin Feather Fur had a pretty good price on one, lower than Amazon. That was just a casual look-see, but they do stock a good line of Lee and probably worth a call.
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Sevens
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by Sevens »

I have found in the past that Natchez is a very good place to shop Lee tools. Ebay seems to be one of the worst places to buy any handloading tools -- seems as though many folks from out of the USA will bid high and win handloading tools because they often have issues importing these items new.
I like to swap brass... and I'm looking for .32 H&R Mag, .327 Fed Mag, .380 Auto and 10mm. If you have some and would like to swap for something else, send me a note!
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by BobK »

Morne wrote:Used Lee Loadmaster on EBay

Is this a good deal?
No.

FS Reloading is a good Lee source: https://fsreloading.com/reloading-equip ... -calibers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wideners also does a nice job: https://www.wideners.com/itemview.cfm?d ... 2|237|1011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Press with everything you need to get started in one caliber is about $231.

You'll want spare turrets ($12 ea.), shell plates ($22 ea.), possibly a large primer feeder ($19) if your kit comes with the small primer feeder, and a case collator ($12).

I consider the "optional" "explosion shield" to be mandatory at $4.
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by true_pair »

I would recommend looking at Hornady Lock and Load AP. I went from Lee Turrent to Hornady. Caliber change is very simple. The bushing system for the reloading dies allows you to set all your dies and never have to set them again. Simply remove the whole die and bushing assembly to change the caliber. You can also get several metering inserts and set each one at different charge if you like. I do do this for my 9mm and .45 acp charges and simply change out the insert when changing the caliber. Auto index was a must have for me and price is right on the Hornady. Their customer service is excellent as well
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by buckeye43210 »

Here's a link to a comparison between Dillon Lee and Hornady progressive presses.
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by mreising »

true_pair wrote:I would recommend looking at Hornady Lock and Load AP. I went from Lee Turrent to Hornady. Caliber change is very simple. The bushing system for the reloading dies allows you to set all your dies and never have to set them again. Simply remove the whole die and bushing assembly to change the caliber. You can also get several metering inserts and set each one at different charge if you like. I do do this for my 9mm and .45 acp charges and simply change out the insert when changing the caliber. Auto index was a must have for me and price is right on the Hornady. Their customer service is excellent as well
I liked the Lee Pro 1000s that I previously had (one set for 45 and one for 9), because they were relatively inexpensive and made okay ammo, but pretty much limited to pistol calibers. I've been very pleased with my Hornady LnL AP; with the case and bullet feeders and a Frankford primer tube filler it is very fast. Unfortunately, due to my recent move, I no longer have room for any of my reloading stuff and I'm paying a small fortune for the climate controlled storage so I'll be listing everything in the for sale section soon. I have been airplane shopping recently and hangars rent for less than what I spend on storage spaces. Yeah, this was a commercial message, stay tuned :) .
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Morne
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by Morne »

mreising wrote:
true_pair wrote:I would recommend looking at Hornady Lock and Load AP. I went from Lee Turrent to Hornady. Caliber change is very simple. The bushing system for the reloading dies allows you to set all your dies and never have to set them again. Simply remove the whole die and bushing assembly to change the caliber. You can also get several metering inserts and set each one at different charge if you like. I do do this for my 9mm and .45 acp charges and simply change out the insert when changing the caliber. Auto index was a must have for me and price is right on the Hornady. Their customer service is excellent as well
I liked the Lee Pro 1000s that I previously had (one set for 45 and one for 9), because they were relatively inexpensive and made okay ammo, but pretty much limited to pistol calibers. I've been very pleased with my Hornady LnL AP; with the case and bullet feeders and a Frankford primer tube filler it is very fast. Unfortunately, due to my recent move, I no longer have room for any of my reloading stuff and I'm paying a small fortune for the climate controlled storage so I'll be listing everything in the for sale section soon. I have been airplane shopping recently and hangars rent for less than what I spend on storage spaces. Yeah, this was a commercial message, stay tuned :) .
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by buckeye43210 »

And just to sweeten the pot, Hornady makes a LNL conversion bushing that fits in the Lee Classic Cast and RCBS Rock Chucker single stage presses.
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by htower099 »

for the most part reloading is a material handling problem at its heart. shuffeling piles of brass from waiting to , to, doing, to waiting to do ,to doing. moving the brass in hand fulls of 15 to 30 at a time from here to there is tons of time saver than: pick up one, do one..

I find my set up as basically as follows: tumble 223 brass. laying clean brass into silverware trays on their sides, 180 pcs to a tray} this allows for grabbing 25 at a time. lube 25. from the lube tray, they can be easily picked up and sized. then back to another tray, from there if needed swaging. after swaging they goto "the tray" again, then handled 10-20 at a time to chamfer case mouth. at this point, brass goes directly into a tumbler or a "tumbler ready box"..tumble, clean primer pocket and stand the brass into crowds on the table, of as many as there is room for. I then line them 3 at a time in rows right to left in front of me .. priming.. after prime they goto a federal 45acp plastic tray standing uprignt. 6 trays will fit in the box from Aldis that had 12 cans of soup. this box allows for the brass to be easily moved and have a home until the tail end of the batch catches up to the front of the batch.. when everything is ready for powder I do 600 psc as a batch. I use a custom made, adjustable, little dandy powder thrower incert. set a bullet of top and then seat the 600 bullets {no crimp} and return to trays from federal.. until stripper clips are procured. 600 rds will stack nicely in a 30 cal can. w/ room for a stripper guide and a bandoler, along w/ a ingredients list for later reference, chrony info will also be accounted for all the barrel lengths available.. then do it again.. pistols get a little dandy for powder dispencer and match rifle gets a hornady dispenced doseage.. lee primer does the priming. these 3 items allow 1000 rds to be made in about 25 hours not counting tumble time..swaging is a one time event and is not tracked for timing tracking. htower099
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by hAkron »

I went from a single stage to a Lyman T-Mag Turret press. I was disappointed that it didn't really speed me up that much. After a bunch of other money spending, I now have a Dillon XL650. I'm very happy with the speed and quality. It wasn't cheap, but now that I have everything I need, I'm covered by Dillon's 100% No BS lifetime warranty, so, as they say "Buy once, cry once".

A Lee turret press is a great tool to have for load development, and just to have on hand, so maybe that's a good intermediate step to take.
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Morne
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by Morne »

***UPDATE***

Got a Hornady LnL AP. Frankly, it was somewhat intimidating. Eventually, I watched the YouTube videos and was able to get it all working. Cranked out some .38 Special target loads on it.

I'm still a bit hesitant to change it over to .45 ACP. Sure, swapping out the dies is cake with the quick change bushings. But changing the primer feed and the expander in the powder dispenser seem a bit more involved. We'll see what happens when I finally get around to doing it.
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Sevens
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Re: Faster reloading desired

Post by Sevens »

Unless I have you mixed up with someone else... you know how to FLY AN AIRPLANE. Please don't try to sell me on the idea that you can't swap out parts on a Hornady progressive... :P :lol: :mrgreen:
I like to swap brass... and I'm looking for .32 H&R Mag, .327 Fed Mag, .380 Auto and 10mm. If you have some and would like to swap for something else, send me a note!
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