Setting up to reload

[follow maggie]

So ok looking at getting set up to reload. Not sure if I'm going to get a single or progressive press, yet. Will probably come down to budget when I'm ready to make the plunge. My question is how much space does it take to set up a reloading station. The reason I ask is my house is small and I'm not sure if I ha e the space, or not. Also, how sturdy of a table or bench is required?

[huntandjeep]

I got into it last year and built my bench 2'×5'. I used an oak door leaf as the main bench top ( $40 from a Habitat for Humanity restore ) and 4x6's for the legs and 2x4's and 1/2" plywood for the lower storage shelf. The sturdier and heavy you can make it the better. With my RCBS press I can still move my table a little while sizing brass. I went with a single stage press because I figured there was less to pay attention to at one time. The RCBS. Rock Chucker supreme master kit is what I went with. It has just about everything you need . You will still need to grab a set of calipers, a tumbler , extra reloading manual and the dies to get started .

[lokidog]

Cap. Silver is selling a bunch of reloading stuff.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,182937.msg2413024.html#msg2413024

I've got a single stage, which has worked fine for me for the last 30 years.  However, if I was reloading for an AR, a progressive would probably be in order.

[300rum]

If you are doing more then a thousand rounds or so of pistol or .223 a year, I would go straight to a progressive.  The natural progression is to start with a single stage, learn and see if you stick with it then migrate to a progressive.  The good thing is that you can likely sell your equipment for maybe 20-25% less then what you paid (RCBS Rockchucker) for it, maybe even better, if you decide it isn't for you.  If you go with a Dillon 650 you can instantly sell it for 10% less then the new price.  Every year Dillon's prices go up at the first of the year so you will be able to get more then what you paid for it in short order if you get out of it.  I would steer clear of everything but a Dillon 650 for a progressive.

You need very little space to reload.  A very nice setup can be made that will take up about as much room as your vacuum does in the closet.  If you search for closet reloading set ups I am sure you can find some nice plans.     

[Rich_S]

If I were doing it, I'd do the same as I did so many years ago. Buy a good, rugged single stage press. (I had a Herter's). Then, when you're ready, add a progressive. I have a Dillon 550, but most of the popular brands will do. You'll never outgrow the need for the single-stage. It is really the thing to have when you need to re-form brass.

Nobody says "There can be only one!"

[Bill W]

Progressives are good if you're loading the same load combo all the time.  If you're jacking around with different bullets and different powder weights I'd go with a single stage.

I have both.

[MP123]

You might check out a turret press.  It's sort of an intermediate between single stage and progressive.  I have the Lee one and just keep all the dies for each caliber I reload on separate turrets.  It works really well and doesn't take up a whole lot of room.

Your bench doesn't need to be super big or sturdy.  Straight wall cartridges don't take a whole lot of force to resize, bottleneck more so.  You can clamp the press to a kitchen table and probably get away with that for a bit at least. A heavy built workbench would be better obviously but that can come later.

[Blacklab]

Accuracy single stage rifle and pistol  . Plinking/blasting progressive for pistol. I'm still looking for a safe consistant  load for my 223 and others on a progressive. To erratic for me for now. This winter I'll spend more time on the progressive for rifle loads. Good luck!

[300rum]

What kind of progressive are you loading on that you aren't getting consistent throws?

Accuracy single stage rifle and pistol  . Plinking/blasting progressive for pistol. I'm still looking for a safe consistant  load for my 223 and others on a progressive. To erratic for me for now. This winter I'll spend more time on the progressive for rifle loads. Good luck!

[Fl0und3rz]

So ok looking at getting set up to reload. Not sure if I'm going to get a single or progressive press, yet. Will probably come down to budget when I'm ready to make the plunge. My question is how much space does it take to set up a reloading station. The reason I ask is my house is small and I'm not sure if I ha e the space, or not. Also, how sturdy of a table or bench is required?

Go with single first. You will always use it, even if you get a progressive later.  I loaded 1,000s of rounds on a Lee hand press, then a Lee Classic Cast single stage pres, before I got a progressive.  I still use the single stage more than the progressive, but I don't shoot a ton, these days. 

A turret is a decent way to straddle the fence. 

A handheld primer and a Lee hand press take up very little space. You just need a small space to measure/weigh powder.  If I were space constrained, I would not feel too limited with a hand press, except possibly in full length sizing magnum rifle cases.  I will never get rid of my hand press. 

[birddogdad]

they have a nice wood working table at harbor freight that may just be what you are after for a workbench...
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Workbench+with+Drawers+Designs&view=detailv2&&id=51F143BB0DEB140F152B2976C5A2A6E02C459AF1&selectedIndex=0&ccid=sAf01HVo&simid=607996374319890569&thid=OIP.Mb007f4d475683aa5976de565377b90edH0

[Blacklab]

What kind of progressive are you loading on that you aren't getting consistent throws?

Accuracy single stage rifle and pistol  . Plinking/blasting progressive for pistol. I'm still looking for a safe consistant  load for my 223 and others on a progressive. To erratic for me for now. This winter I'll spend more time on the progressive for rifle loads. Good luck!

Pro 2000

[lamrith]

If you are doing more then a thousand rounds or so of pistol or .223 a year, I would go straight to a progressive.  The natural progression is to start with a single stage, learn and see if you stick with it then migrate to a progressive.  The good thing is that you can likely sell your equipment for maybe 20-25% less then what you paid (RCBS Rockchucker) for it, maybe even better, if you decide it isn't for you.

You need very little space to reload.  A very nice setup can be made that will take up about as much room as your vacuum does in the closet.  If you search for closet reloading set ups I am sure you can find some nice plans.     

Many reloaders will definitely recommend starting single stage.  There is a steep and dangerous learning curve with reloading, it is quite easy to produce unsafe loads.  By having ONE thing going on at a time a single stage press helps counter that for new reloaders.  Single stages also as mentioned are normally more precise for the same reason that you have ONE round in it and going thru 1 die at a time.  Variances in brass going thru multiple dies can cause loss of precision in progressive units.  A tight piece of brass going thru the size/deprime can tilt the shell plate and make a bullet seat deepr on the other side of the press, etc.

That said if you know you will be putting out lots of rounds out for plinking a progressive is really the way to go.  A progressive running well can put out hundreds of rounds per hour once you have it dialed in.  To start off with though I recommend getting a few loading books and then when you actually start, only run one piece of brass thru at a time.  Get to learn the process and understand what is happening in the process as well as how the press is doing it for you.  Then you can start going full production.  you can also try one round at a time to do more precise rounds though that is just thinking theoretically as a way to get them more precise.

All the Mfg these days make a good press.  I have owned 2 lees and now a Hornady.  Just starting out the Lee is often the right choice just due to budget.  Hornady will be about 2x the cost of lee, and dillon about 2x the cost of hornady.   (this is a rough ballpark based on looking last month) 

In the lee I would recommend the loadmaster and skip the pro1000, it is just a better more vesitiile press.  The Loadmaster you can get ready to go for one caliber for $250shipped.  That is press, powder drop, shell plate, dies etc for a single caliber.  All you add is brass, primers, powder and bullets..  Similar setup for Hornady will be $500-600.  If it will take you a year to save up the $5-600 then go for the Lee, you will get yourself rolling, start saving$ on ammo and gain experience.  (I said saving, not spending less!)  The Lee will get it done and every press mfg has their quirks, it is just figuring out which you can live with.  The lee was great with turrets so base pistol or plinking rounds you can just put shellplate and turret in and start producing.  Dies stay preset in the turret.

I ran my loadmaster for 3yrs, just sold it 2 months ago and upgraded to a Hornady LnL but only after using a friends and liking how it ran with new calibers I was adding.  I had so many accy with the Lee I got a decent price for it.  I took that sale price +$250 to get my Hornady running but was short shellplate and lugs for one caliber still.  The Hornady is a nicer press imho.  The indexing in particular is more consistent and the press overall feels more solid.  I also prefer the way you can insert and remove dies 1 at a time without losing setting as well as the spring setup for retaining cases.  This can be handy if you need to do something unique with a couple rounds in the middle of a run for some reason.  you can just swap out a single station, slide a case in mid process and run it thru the die and then go back to what you were doing.  I also liked the way the press cams over better.

It really just comes down to budget though and what you can and cannot afford combined with your "needs".

[lamrith]

What kind of progressive are you loading on that you aren't getting consistent throws?

Accuracy single stage rifle and pistol  . Plinking/blasting progressive for pistol. I'm still looking for a safe consistant  load for my 223 and others on a progressive. To erratic for me for now. This winter I'll spend more time on the progressive for rifle loads. Good luck!

Pro 2000

Pro1000?
Using the stock powder drop?  I never got the stock disk throw for them to be super consistent.  It worked for 223 ok, but was +/-.2or3 if I recall, ok for plinking but not much else.  That will be dependant on powder type too; Extruded, stick, etc..

Get yourself a used uniflow or hornady thrower and a hornady case activation kit, you will love it for progressive loading!  Or for real precision get a trickler and manually load each round.

[Mxracer532]

I have a brand new in the box Hornady Lock N Load AP that im looking at possibly letting go. (Im trying to get a rifle just for bear hunting) Even trying to trade off my tack driving Vangaurd 22-250.

[jaymark6655]

Lee Precision 50th Anniversary Reloading Kit is $126.79 on Amazon.  At least that is what I went with, I also bought dies, case trimmer, primer pocket reamer (especially useful for crimped primer pockets), bullet puller, a lube pad, and case tray.  I think I spent about $200 to get started for one caliber.  I use the Harbor Freight woodworking bench that birddogdad posted, the setup takes less space than the wooden pegs in the picture so the other half supports whatever other projects I am working on.  When I am not reloading everything but the press and the powder measure goes in two drawers and powder, primers, cases, bullets, and finished rounds go into ammo cans on the shelf underneath.  Now reload for 3 rifle calibers on that press, have not been tempted to upgrade yet.

[2labs]

I recently down sized significantly (W.A. State women's retirement fund)divorce. And was in the market for a new press. Was going to get a rock chucker but ended up with the RCBS partner! It's a smaller version of the rock chucker. Nice solid and small single stage.

[rudysts]

 

I recently down sized significantly (W.A. State women's retirement fund)divorce. And was in the market for a new press. Was going to get a rock chucker but ended up with the RCBS partner! It's a smaller version of the rock chucker. Nice solid and small single stage.

[rudysts]

For precision I go single stage any manufacturer will do.
Don't skimp on the dies I use bushing dies and micrometer seating dies. Redding, Whidden or Forster are in my opinion some of the best out there.

[follow maggie]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to go with a single stage and a small work station. Can the same press load for pistol and rifle?

[2labs]

Yea, no problem.

[Blacklab]

Just add dies