any of you reload handgun ammo, and if so, what press do you use and why?@?
Thanks
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any of you reload handgun ammo, and if so, what press do you use and why?@?
Thanks
I load 357mag and 44 mag with a RCBS single stage press. Why? Cause it works for me I've used that same press for nearly 50 years and it's still working I see no reason to change and I don't do any rapid fire bang and clang stuff. I'm from the tribe that believes in using a big enough gun and learn how to use it. RB
I just got started into reloading, at the moment I only load 9mm. I'm fixing to start on .223/5.56 loads. I have a Lee 1000 progressive, I would encourage using a progressive loader, simply because it is hard to double charge a case. Why the Lee? I paid 175.00 for it. What is most valuable to me is my digital scale. You gotta know how much is going in a case, shotshell, a very needed tool. Buy a good one.
I would promote you reloading. Everything right now is easy to find but powder. After Sandy Hook, it got crazy could hardly find anything at a reasonable price. I got lucky and bought plenty of stuff. I don't think gun owners will have to worry much for awhile, our administration is trying to get Obamacare woes taken care of, if Hillary gets in, load up during run offs. Just know when to stock up.
Single stage for bottle neck bolt gun rounds and progressive presses for everything else. Mix of Redding, Lee, Hornady, and RCBS. They all work, some are just more refined with less plastic than others.
For a basic press to get started with handgun reloads a Lee turret press is hard to beat (Cheap and works) then after a few thousand rounds you will know what and where you want to go from there.
I have a 25 year old Lee kit 90050 which is now the 90030. I cast bullets and load about 1,000 mixed cals. per week. I tried the Loadmaster last year, didn't care for the 5 to 10% messed up loads.
When I started most everyone was into shotshell reloading. Not many people to talk to, phone calls or letters for answers, no internet.
I see you're in MO, there is a gun owners site for the state, it's kinda slow, mogunowners.com . I got booted from tngunowners.com for something I wouldn't do. I'm on the msgunowners.com site a lot. I'm on a few facebook reloading sites too.
Local supplies can be hit and miss. I use gunbot.net . Buy them online out of state to save on tax. Buy in bulk to cut hazmat and shipping charges.
canebreaker if you into cast bullets go to castboolit.gunloads.com lots stuff there and there is also castbulletassoc.org more cast bullet stuff between those they keep you reading for a while. RB
Thank you RHB, I'm on castboolits, didn't know of the castbulletassoc site. Most of the stuff I knew before casting bullets in '90. Added some info from different jobs and the instructions sheet from a mold or production pot.
I went to the Southaven gun show this past weekend. No reloading supplies, a waste of time, good thing I got in free.
Single stage for bottle neck bolt gun rounds and progressive presses for everything else. Borrowed this line from KAG, thanks KAG.
RCBS for my comp rifle shooting, i.e. bottlenecks. Check out the Dillon Blue Press, specifically the square deal B. Have loaded literally tens of thousands on it, over 15 years. The SDB is more expensive, however it has a lifetime no BS warranty. Call them up and parts are on the way! I have only called them once in 15-20 years and it was flawless (service), think i had the parts in a couple of days!!!.
Progressive would cut into my production time. Leaving me to do other things. Mostly sitting watching tv and getting fatter.
Hey Mister Jimmy, if you run across a good used press set up for 223/556 let me know. I'm getting close to start reloading them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by canebreaker
Rusty, What I'm seeing with old or new used presses is about or more than new prices. No deal right now. On some of the facebook reloading pages there are a lot of people asking about equipment and kits. So there maybe some new stuff showing up soon. I have a Load Master I can set it up for 380, 9mm, 38, 357 or 40 sw and get 600 to a 1,000 rounds loaded. Adjust, replace parts and start over. Not worth the money.
I'll let you know when I see something.
Ok, I just hate the thought of having to retool. I saw a Lee four stage for 230 I'm thinking all ready set up. Might be my best option. My wife is going to kill me
Pox, on the Dillon Machines, you buy a separate tool head, keep all dies already in it. Then all you have to do is change the Casing plate, i.e. shell holder. Unless you are going from Small to large primer then you have to change that also.
I don't know if the same idea is available on other presses, but it works for me and saves time getting all the dies, dialed back in.
All of the progressive presses I've seen have a turret to keep set up with one set of dies and change out when going from 1 cal. to another. The load masters I have came set for 9mm plus a lot of extras for $150 each.
Amazon has the Lee 90030 kit for $120 free shipping, the best deal on a single stage I've seen.
Some people buy them and dies, not sure how many rounds they load and want their money back. It's used, I won't pay new price for used stuff.
I used one single stage press for about 25 years and then added a second single stage. They work for me.
One thing to watch out for one the Square Deal is, if I remember correctly, you can not use standard dies on it. You have to use the Dillion dies. All of the other machines that they make are able to use standard dies. Just something to keep in mind.
Bobo
Anybody have a source of gun powder in Kansas City area?!? I want to get started reloading 9mm and 40 cal... have decided on the lee classic turret press. Pretty sure I can find primers and bullets without much issue, but I can't find powder!
Everybody is having powder problems. Can't find what they want , best advice I can give you, google search it, save those sites to your favorites and hit them nightly.Quote:
Originally Posted by wannagofishin
gunbot.net and ammoseek.com will list supplies on the internet by dealers. Bulk buy what you need plus some, group buy with other reloaders in your area. Some dealers limit you purchase. Some dealers limit the weight of hazmat shipments, some don't.
I get a lot of email sales fliers from online dealers. It hurts to find a good deal on powder and find there is a limit of 1 per purchase at this time.
(Powder Valley) Its in Kansas in Winfield.....make the drive and fish while there. For handguns it is super easy to find powder that works. In my 357 and 45 I use shotgun powder Winchester (WST). Several months ago they had it on sale and i bought 8lbs and 10k primers. There is lots of wiggle room with powder to use in handgun loading.Quote:
Originally Posted by wannagofishin
Check PV daily and jump when shotgun or pistol powder comes in.
I took a trip from the Memphis,TN area to the Flippin,AR area this past week. I checked out all of the stores I could find along the way. NO reloading supplies to be found that I wanted.
I started with a RCBS JR in 1978 loading 38spl, 357mag, 6mm-06, 270 win and 300 win mag. Progressed to a Dillon 550 in the 80's.
The RCBS JR does a good job but the 300 mag is pushing its capacity, The Rockchucker is much stronger and easier to form larger cases. For small pistols though I would take the JR over the Rockchucker. Having said that, the Dillon lets me approach 500 shells an hour but 350 or so is more realistic. I am not a robot,
BuckeyeKdog, Someone close by on a facebook reloading group wanted like $.50 each for some .223/5.56 brass. some with clips. Some 9mm and .38spl brass, he wanted $.15 each. I told him I would give him fair market price of $23 for it all. He replied that he had a RCBS JR2 press that needed repairs and a Lyman powder measure. He would take $50 for the total package. I drove 28 miles to get it. The linkage pin on the ram was broke. An email to RCBS and the pin was shipped. I replaced the pin, but haven't checked the other stuff yet. I see the press on ebay for $75 to over a hundred, so I did good.
I cast 357, 356 and 401 bullets, reload on a single stage Lee press every week or so. For the last 10 years it's been about 1,000 38spl, 200 357, 500 9mm and 500 40sw. I tried the Lee progressive for a while. It left me to much idle time.
I go on castboolits a lot - there is one guy who is amazing on casting and I've learned a bunch that applies to casting jigs. I've also found some deals on lead which because of finances couldn't take advantage of.
My son/daughter in law shoot a lot!!! .40, .45, 9mm and doesn't reload. I asked him if he was collecting his fired brass and he told me NO!!!!!!!!!! I told him I wanted to smack him one - I told him to pick it up put it back in the box's and sell it as ONCE FIRED casings. He thought I was nuts until he sold the first 6 box's for $80!!!
Re-loading is very interesting reading but something I don't do, haven't been able to hunt in a few years due to my back and waiting to find out if I'll be able to this year. The shop I go to always seems to have lot's of ammo, never really looked to see if he had and re-loading stuff.
I like to go to the range and find a few/ a lot of brass that people don't recover for reloading. One range I went to I picked up about 3 gallons of good mixed brass, a 2 gallon bucket of aluminum cases and 3 5 gallon buckets of steel cases for scrap metal.
I haven't shot my rifle 5 years. My granddaughter took the hunter's safety class and wanted to go. A day of sitting in the woods wasn't for her. We will spend a half a day or more on the pistol range every week or so.
I've made some good sell or swap deals on cast boolits in the past. Brass for brass, brass for bullets and brass for lead. The range I worked at would collect the brass, clean it and sell for cheap, well .03 for common pistol brass, .05 for rifle. I would buy what someone wanted, pack it and ship, add $5 for my time. A large flat rate box will hold a lot of brass.
been reloading for 36 yrs 7mag 270 30-06 303 30-30 44mag 357 mag useing the same lee press and some of the same sets of dies my dad used when i was growing up im 51 now that press has to be pushing 70years old and still kicking the rounds out matter of fact i just loaded 80 rounds of 7 mag and 270 this week i hoestly think my son and his son will be kicking rounds out of it long after im gone now if thats not a good press i dont know what is