Quote:
Originally Posted by cigarmonkel
I was looking at that one earlier today. My buddy said I should save the money and go straight for the dillon 550b. He said ill adventually want one sooner or later. The reviews on itare all aamazing. But is it one of those tools you need experience to use kinda things?
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I load with both single stage and progressive presses.
In my experience, I've learned the following.
Speed is not your friend when reloading. Speed is especially not your friend when you're first starting out reloading. Unless you're going to load 600+ rounds and can't spend more than 2 hrs doing it, there is no real need for a progressive press.
There are a few reasons I'd suggest you start out with a single stage press.
1. You're making mini explosives and you're better off learning the basics before you start mass producing rounds quickly.
2. There are more chances of catastrophic issues with pistol rounds than rifle (pistol is much easier to double charge than rifle)
3. You're going to invest a lot for something you may not like
Stages of reloading: (basics as there are many other stages that can be preformed to attempt to control the minutia of variances between rounds in an attempt to maximize accuracy)
1. Case Prep
a. clean cases
b. size / de-prime (uses press and die)
c. trim (if necessary)
d. chamfer inside and out
e. prime (potentially dangerous as primers can ignite when inserting and if so can cause all primers in priming device to detonate)
2. Charge case (most time consuming part of process)
a. measure powder (variety of methods: manual thrower / scoop / digital thrower)
b. weigh powder (use balance beam or digital scale)
c. drop powder in case (check...check....check....I can't say this enough.....C H E C K what you're doing here as this is where serious issues occur)
3. Seat bullet
a. Seat bullet to proper seating depth for O.A.L. of cartridge (uses press and die)
b. Crimp bullet (depends on bullet/cartridge type and if necessary - uses press and die)
4. Check weights and measurements for constancy and variances
As you can see from the above you have a lot of things going on and trying to do them all at once can be dangerous unless you know what you're doing and have some practice at it.
Now if you're going to load only 9mm and a few hundred at a setting you can do this with a single stage press very easily and fairly quickly with a single stage press set up.
The key is to use a ball powder (like WIN 231) and create a load around it for your pistol. Ball powder meters very easily and consistently so you can use a manual powder thrower and this will help to cut some of the time down.
Along with this, 9mm is a straight walled case and doesn't need as much case prep (doesn't need mirrored polished cleaning each time) and can be sized/de-primed quickly with carbide dies.
Rules to live by when reloading:
1. NEVER MORE THAN ONE OPEN POWDER ON THE BENCH AT ONE TIME
2. Do not reload when drinking or taking drugs or recreationally using state approved medical drugs...
3. Do not reload while watching TV
4. If you think there is something wrong with what you did or how the round looks, SCRAP IT. It's not worth your firearm, your life and the lives of those around you.
Also, you don't really save money reloading. You just shoot more for the same money spent on factory ammo. And you'll have to calculate those savings and shoot enough rounds to break even with the cost of the equipment before the cost benefits really kick in.