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SQLGeek wrote: ↑Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:10 am 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.

Souds like a good plan to get started... read a lot, ask a lot and always verify the scale before each loading session!

SQLGeek wrote: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

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.

I waited about an extra year before buying my press thinking about the same kind of stuff. In the end, I looked more at the time spent loading than the cost of the press. I think time with my wife and son is way more valuable than the $300 extra bucks I could have saved. I figure each time I load 100 rounds I save an hour. SO I have saved 60+ hours so far this year... my conclusion was that time saved is worth that extra outlay up front. And I anticipate the same or more hours "saved" each year.

During the year before I started, I bought some of the things I knew I'd need- like a wet tumbler a Lee C press ($20) and decappping die, bullets/powder and primers. THat way it lessened the $$$ impact and I had already processed the brass I had saved up. I had several thousand cases shined up and components ready to load the day my press arrived.

Good luck!

I wondered about 4 stations as well but 4 dies is the most I need for any caliber. Heck, I only use 2 dies for rifle.

The powder check was also something I originally wanted but I weigh rifle and development charges. When loading a run of pistol ammo, I can see clearly into the case and do look at each one before placing a bullet on the case. A check die won't detect a slight variance, just a dbl or missed drop, IIRC. So as cool as it sounds, unless you have a bullet feeder and a case feeder and blow them out at a high rate without looking- I don't see the value in a powder check.

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!!

In your shoes (and I'm not too far off in terms of what I want to load eventually) I'd at least consider a Dillon 550. I specifically say the 550 for a variety of reasons.

-Versatility of calibers
-manual indexing (which is helpful for learning, rifle and load devel/workups.
-inexpensive upgrades (compared to other models and brands)
-Can be run manually, 1 round at a time if you want (rifle is a choppy process with sizing, trimming, case prep and manually weighing powder)
-surprisingly accurate/consistent
-Lots of info on precision ammo (F class) on a 550 with basic mods. (google for tons of examples and set up info)

I'm NOT one to get into the brand debates- just look at your processes and needs and get the press that best addresses the worst of each caliber. I think that will clearly steer you towards one press. (or validate the need for a 2nd press)

To your last question- I started with a 550- if you are capable of reading and following directions, it's not an issue to start with a turret or progressive. As mentioned, you can run the 550 as a single and even individually weigh powder with it.

I finally decided to get a 2nd press (Forster CO-AX) for rifle but not because the 550 wasn't perfectly capable- it was purely a convenience buy. I had a $50 off coupon and $250 in gift cards to burn, on top of a $40 off sale at cabela's... so it was free to me with some accessories.



eta: I bet you could post, asking for help on this site and get a few people willing to invest an hour or two to help you get an understanding of the processes let you watch/help them load a few to get comfortable.