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Was going to offer to loan it to you until you found which way you wanted to go.

That's very generous of you, thank you! I think I am set for now.

flechero wrote: ↑Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:39 am always verify the scale before each loading session!

Absolutely. I have a set of check weights on my to buy list.

Circling back around to this a little over a year later and I have this kit on its way:



I also bought an RCBS 505 Scale from eBay and have a set of Lee .30-06 dies coming.

It took a while but I am finally getting going. First order of business will be to finish setting up the lighting in my garage and then dive into the Lyman manual.

Boxerrider wrote:
I have Lee's Classic Turret and believe it is a great place to start.

Have you had issues with the auto-indexing? I've been reading about that some lately but I'm not clear for which Lee turret that seems to be happening.

Four stations is as many as I've ever wanted to use - I like seating and crimping revolver rounds in separate steps.

Do you crimp with the Lee factory crimp die? Choosing a press seems to be just the start of the adventure. Die selection will probably have me tied up for a while too.

Whatever you choose, get at it - you're missing out on the fun!
Jeff

I am getting there. I just bought an AR and enough ammo to keep me shooting for a while so I'm scraping my pennies together. I just built my workbench in the garage and I will put in some shelving this weekend. It's been fun just planning this all out and seeing it come together. A nice break from pounding away on a keyboard all day for work.

Thanks for the advice. For the money, the Lee Turret does seem to be taking the lead. The Kempf kit seems to be a good way to go to get started:

https://kempfgunshop.com/Kempf_Kit_w/_L ... -6575.html

Do you use the auto disk or auto drum powder measure?

flechero wrote:
Hope I'm not coming across as a know it all... more trying to convey that I had much the same indecision and why I did what I did.

Not at all! I appreciate your concern but I come here for advice just like this. I certainly understand what you mean about the value of time v. money and truth be told, I hadn't considered the idea of starting acquire equipment while I continue to research presses, etc but that makes a ton of sense. I like your idea of starting to process brass in anticipation of getting the rest of the equipment. I don't have much brass right now as I've moved quite a bit over the past few years so I haven't kept it. But I think I'll search out a cache of once fired brass.

I have a habit of fixating on a topic and then researching it to death. Sometimes "just getting started" is a tough nut for me to crack. It's a personality flaw.

I will say that reloading is going to be another aspect of the hobby for me, not just a means to an end so I don't mind spending some extra time at the bench. Family is always first for me. Most of my reloading will probably be done when the kids are in bed and my wife wants to watch one of her infernal TV shows.

Good luck!

Thank you and I appreciate all of the advice you have provided!

That is my big concern with going progressive is things can start adding up quickly. I'm familiar with the concept of buy once, cry once but the more I think on it, the less I want to spend ~$400-$500 for a progressive kit and then still need to add items like a tumbler, etc. Since I don't anticipate reloading a high volume of ammunition for a while, maybe I just talked myself back into a Rock Chucker.

This is as bad as building an AR, I have a terrible time making up my mind.

flechero wrote:
There are lots of good presses out there! And once you finally get a few rounds loaded, you'll kick yourself for having not started years sooner!!

Yes that's part of the problem. It's like choosing a new gun, I can't decide.

I appreciate the advice and if four stations would really be suitable, then I can always throw the Lee Classic Turret into the mix. I do like the idea of having two different calibers loaded up on the T7 though....

I have looked at the 550C but the 4 stations seems kind of limiting. I like the idea of being able to run a powder check as one of the stations. Good food for thought though.

I know we've had several press discussions on here but I figure I'd start my own.

I have been shooting in some form or fashion for a little over 20 years and finally want to break into the world of reloading. I have been researching the process and various types of presses for several years so I feel I have a decent theoretical understanding of the reloading process.

I mainly shoot handguns, 9mm and .45 ACP. I will be eventually wanting to do a cowboy round, either .38/.357 or .45 Colt. I also shoot 5.56 and .30-06 (M1 Rifle) in semi-auto. The first two rounds I see wanting to start with will be .45 ACP and also working up an M2 ball .30-06 round for my Garand. I think .45 ACP will be the first round I start working up due to the lower pressures and seemingly simpler reloading process. .30-06 will follow that.

I want to start reloading for the following reasons:

1) Expand into a new aspect of this shooting hobby that doesn't seem to want to go away.

2) Reduce the cost of more the more expensive rounds that I shoot, chiefly .30-06 suitable for a Garand, .45 ACP and one of the aforementioned cowboy rounds.

All of that being said, I am trying to figure out just which press I want to go with. I feel I have a decent grasp of the pros and cons of a single stage v. turret v. progressive press. I've looked at going with a single stage, as that is usually what seems to be recommended for those starting out. My fear is I will outgrow it quicker than I would like. I don't do any precision type of shooting and don't see that as something I'd be getting into in the future so I don't think the use case for keeping a single stage around after upgrading to a turret or progressive would really apply to me (though I have been wrong before).

I have been looking extensively at the Redding T7 Turret as I like the options it affords with the 7 die capacity turret. For that price range, a friend of mind recommended looking into the Hornady LnL AP. After researching that, it seems like a serviceable option as well.

I pride myself in my attention to detail and if anything, I am fairly conservative and risk adverse in nature so I don't think I would get ahead of myself in starting reloading on something other than a single stage and I feel it would give me the ability to ramp up production as I became accustomed to the process and had everything tuned properly.

That is a lot of text so I will boil my question down to this:

Is it insane to consider starting with a turret or progressive press as long as I am diligent about going slowly when first starting off and ensuring I am performing all of the steps properly?