[Shade]

Originally Posted by robocop10mm

RCBS, Hornaday, Lyman all make very good products. Single stage or Turret type presses from any of these will give good service.

Lee is (perhaps) a step down. Some of their products are equals to the above, some are just cheap.

If you are interested in a progressive there is only one I would recommend DILLON!. The finest progressive presses under $2000

It is all going to boil down to budget and need. Do you need to load 400+ rounds an hour? If not, a single stage or turret press will probably do what you need.

Good advice.

Originally Posted by shoottohit1

No lol 400 an hour is little extreme. I'm just a precision shooter that's wanting to perfect his own round ya know. Is there a particular set up you use?

What cartridges are you reloading?

For starting out I strongly suggest using a single stage press until you are
very comfortable with reloading. I prefer RCBS Rock Chucker for an all
around outstanding single stage press.

I have a cheap Lee press for sizing cast bullets and crimping and sizing
pistol bullets; .45ACP and .357 Mag. I would not use it for much besides
that but for $25 new it met my needs perfectly.

I like Lee factory crimp dies for both pistol and rifle. But have a mix of
Lee, RCBS and Hornady dies none are particularly better than another.
Carbide dies are more than worth the $$$.

I also have a RCBS Piggyback, don't waste your money on it. It is passable
on straight walled pistol rounds but that is it and is constantly needs
tweeking.

Dillion is the only way to go (IMHO) for metallic reloading. Don't own one yet.
but I use a friend's often on .223 Rem reloading. Maybe Santa will be good
to me this year.

Shotshell MEC is the way to go; I have a 9000 for 12 ga. and 600 Jr. for every
other gauge me and the boys shoot.

[Overkill0084]

In my experience the Lee Perfect is a bit picky. It throws Bullseye & 2400 pretty well. Unique, not so much. With small grained powders it works ok. Big flaky stuff will give you issues. A $20 powder measure is probably not going to be the last one you buy.
I ended up buying a Redding & the applicable pistol chamber and haven't looked back. I can use Unique again, accurately.

For a press, I would happily recommend a Lee Classic Turret. Reasonably well built, versatile and economically priced.

[fmj]

Originally Posted by Overkill0084

In my experience the Lee Perfect is a bit picky. It throws Bullseye & 2400 pretty well. Unique, not so much. With small grained powders it works ok. Big flaky stuff will give you issues. A $20 powder measure is probably not going to be the last one you buy.
I ended up buying a Redding & the applicable pistol chamber and haven't looked back. I can use Unique again, accurately.

For a press, I would happily recommend a Lee Classic Turret. Reasonably well built, versatile and economically priced.

Being new to this reloading gig i have only thrown IMR 4227 and 2400...neither work well. I am constantly throwing a charge back in the hopper for being to much or trickling to get it right. I would like to feel confident enough in my measure to only measure every 5th or so charge. This is NOT the case with the Lee perfect powder measure. I weigh EVERY charge. It gets to be time consuming!

I may have to look into the Redding.

[Shade]

Originally Posted by fmj

Being new to this reloading gig i have only thrown IMR 4227 and 2400...neither work well. I am constantly throwing a charge back in the hopper for being to much or trickling to get it right. I would like to feel confident enough in my measure to only measure every 5th or so charge. This is NOT the case with the Lee perfect powder measure. I weigh EVERY charge. It gets to be time consuming!

I may have to look into the Redding.

I currently use this:
RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure with Standard Cylinder - MidwayUSA

Holds +/- 0.1 grain. Within that tolerance it is very consistant. If you
want better than that you will have to trickle every charge.

This is on the want list:
RCBS Competition Powder Measure with Handgun and Rifle Metering Drum - MidwayUSA

[Mecanik]

My advise on what to buy now days is to buy a used single stage press like a RCBS Rock Chucker. I would not buy a new press. Why! Because there are zillions of used presses out there that people buy and find out they don't have the patiance to reload ammo and do it right and they end up selling off there equipment at half what they paid for it. I've had as many as 6 different presses that I obtained from people for free. I started giving them away myself to people who wanted to start reloading. Mainly my son in laws.
I would say also untill you've been reloading for a few years I would stay away from the progressives. They only complicate your life very quickly and make learning that much more difficult. There is a lot to learn about reloading and in the 40 plus years of my reloading I still don't know it all and I never will.

[axxe55]

Originally Posted by Mecanik

My advise on what to buy now days is to buy a used single stage press like a RCBS Rock Chucker. I would not buy a new press. Why! Because there are zillions of used presses out there that people buy and find out they don't have the patiance to reload ammo and do it right and they end up selling off there equipment at half what they paid for it. I've had as many as 6 different presses that I obtained from people for free. I started giving them away myself to people who wanted to start reloading. Mainly my son in laws.
I would say also untill you've been reloading for a few years I would stay away from the progressives. They only complicate your life very quickly and make learning that much more difficult. There is a lot to learn about reloading and in the 40 plus years of my reloading I still don't know it all and I never will.

well said mecanik. i agree progressives are not the best to start with for the beginning reloader. progressive presses are mainly for those reloading pistol type cartridges and semi-auto rifles that use a lot of ammo. check ebay and craigslist for good deals on used reloading equipment.