Ohioans For Concealed Carry Discussion Forums

Jake wrote:I heard you ate a can of spinach before making that video.

More like 20+ years of working on the assembly line.

ALL THESE RELOADING POSTS MUST STOP

I can only hang up the phone after dialing cheaperthandirt so many times. Sooner or later that call will go through and then....

I have so very little time any more and here you are tempting me to fill it completely with a new Lee press setup.

Bad man. Bad, bad man.

On the other hand, since I shoot .45 ACP and the cost of a box is now $20+ a reloader would pay off really soon. And I did reserve that copy of 'Reloading ABC's' at the library (just for the articles, really). And I have been sorting my spent brass into buckets for no good reason.....

AAAHHHHH!!! Must stop this before it takes me....

Ok, now do I buy a Dillon or a Lee? Right now I use an old RCBS Rock Chucker. I think this will be the year to upgrade.

I think a Hornady l-n-l progressive is my next press. Been hearing a lot of good things about them, and they have been out long enough to get the bugs worked out.

Shooterwolf.

Birdman wrote:Ok, now do I buy a Dillon or a Lee? Right now I use an old RCBS Rock Chucker. I think this will be the year to upgrade.

That question could easily turn into another Glock, XD, 1911 debate

They've probably all got their good/bad points. The reason I got my Dillon is that a coworker had one, and he helped me get into reloading.

My kids used to shoot a lot of 38/357 with me, and I'd been saving all the brass for quite a while before deciding to buy the press. About a week after setting it up, it was paid for

Birdman wrote:Ok, now do I buy a Dillon or a Lee? Right now I use an old RCBS Rock Chucker. I think this will be the year to upgrade.

The Lee Pro 1000 is good enough at a fantastic price--Cheaper than some single-stage and most turrets, let alone progressives. The primer feed has a learning curve, but works once you get the hang of it. (tap the tray often enough to keep the chute full, pause for a fraction of a second at the end of the upstroke)

I'm sure the Dillon is better, not so sure if it is 2 or 3 times better.

(edit--originally said 'progressive' where I meant to say 'turret')

techres wrote:ALL THESE RELOADING POSTS MUST STOP

AAAHHHHH!!! Must stop this before it takes me....

Here, I'll make it easy on ya.

Birdman wrote:Ok, now do I buy a Dillon or a Lee? Right now I use an old RCBS Rock Chucker. I think this will be the year to upgrade.

I hear the Dillions are suppose to be the epitome of presses. But, to be honest, I'm doing well with my Lee at less than 1/2 the cost.

tjeffries wrote: That question could easily turn into another Glock, XD, 1911 debate

Those Dillion guys are as back as Glock guys.

ArcherAce wrote:Here, I'll make it easy on ya.

Much appreciated. I would order that pile today but just found out the MRI I had to get yesterday will be an "out of pocket expense". Gotta love unopened mail from insurance companies...

Pretty much blows any buys for awhile.

Happy friggin New Year. [/whine]

Well, I hope the actual test was far less fun than the bill.

Hopefully next year will have me happy, healthy, and reloading. In the meantime I have other projects I needed to finish anyways (see box of AK parts in corner).

Speed is not really my goal when loading ammo, yes I get quite a few done (RL550B) but I make sure the ones I get done are done RIGHT . Getting more brass, bullets, primers, and powder in the machine when needed takes some time too.

I started with a Star, then got the 550B when I wanted to load more calibers...I typically only put 100 primers in the tube of either machine, loaded 100 rounds at a decent pace, then took loaded rounds away, refilled powder measure, added 100 primers, added empty brass if needed.

I cast bullets like a one armed paper hanger with a 6 cavity mold, but I reload at less of a harried pace.

If I wanted to go faster I would buy a 650 and a casefeeder or a 1050.

The Lee stuff is no way in the same league as the blue stuff, the one thing it has going for it is that it is cheap enough to setup a machine for each caliber and leave it setup. However my own personal standards in what I consider quality equip would never have me owning one . Lee does make some good products that I use but some of their other stuff is just L A M E . And to top it off the owner of the co is a jackass.


Bill

Bob, thanks for the cudos.

Let me add a caveat:
If you are only doing straight-sided cases, pistol, M1 carbine, etc. the Pro-1000 is going to serve you well (unless you are an IDP or Bullseye shooter who needs 10,000 rounds a month). For the average recreational shooter a Pro-1000 will get the job done.
If your reloading mix will include bottlenecked rifle cases, and you only want one press, the classic turret would be the better choice.
The Pro-1000 will do .223/.222/.204 Ruger rifle cases no problem.
The three-hole turret press and the Pro-1000 can use the same turret and die setups; so if you want to run a short run of some special ammo on your turret, no sweat or need to set up again.
Not bashing Dillon, quite the opposite. It's just that most of us can make do with the Sears Craftsman on-sale lawn mower instead of paying for a John Deere.

I imagine Lee will introduce a 4-hole version of the progressive press (like the classic cast is now) to take advantage of the Factory Crimp Die that is gaining so much popularity.

I have the Lee 4-die set that I use in a rock chucker. On a Lee Pro-1000, I suppose the best thing to do is do another operation on all the completed rounds on the single stage press. Anybody do this? I do like that last die, just to get every round into spec. Any other press in Lee's price range have 4 or 5 stations?
Do I need different dies for a Lee Pro-1000?

I reloaded as a kid with my dad on a single stage and will probably do that with .223 and .308. But I am thinking of the progressive for .45.

For a while I plan to do just one type and get used to the process.

So time to start putting some $ aside when possible and maybe do the deal on fathers day...

Birdman wrote:I have the Lee 4-die set that I use in a rock chucker. On a Lee Pro-1000, I suppose the best thing to do is do another operation on all the completed rounds on the single stage press. Anybody do this? I do like that last die, just to get every round into spec. Any other press in Lee's price range have 4 or 5 stations?
Do I need different dies for a Lee Pro-1000?

The Lee Pro 1000 uses standard size/thread dies. Lee makes the Loadmaster progressive, which has an extra station or two (don't remember for sure).