Reloading for Cheap

[FrankenHollow]

[Durdenz]

Turns out my Dad has a few Dillon 550b's that he traded some stuff for a while ago. Going to see if we can get them set up and running.

[MajorNickmo]

Durdenz -
Some other members here (and elsewhere) disagree with the idea, but I believe it's best to start on a single-stage press or a manual-indexing turret press. You need to understand every step of the process, what can go wrong, how to spot problems, how to implement your own safety checks at each stage of the process, etc., before you can really keep an eye on all of the stations of a progressive press (at the same time).

Jumping straight into a progressive press, with no experience, is like pushing a quadriplegic into a swimming pool, because they hoped to be able to swim again some day. Sure, it might work, but the learning curve is fairly steep.

If I can figure out a Lee Loadmaster progressive press, then I think anyone can. I found the videos at http://www.loadmastervideos.com to be extremely helpful when calibrating my dies for the first time. At only $249 on Amazon for the 9mm setup, I thought it a good way to go--I'm not a quadriplegic in a pool either...

I am a fan of Xtremebullets.com out of EDIT: NEVADA. Shipping is included in their pricing and their consistent bullet size and weight is a plus.

Powder is still hard to find. Discount Guns and Ammo in Provo has a ton of small pistol CCI primers in stock for $29.99 right now. That's only $2 more than the lowest price I saw just before Obama got re-elected in 2012.

Next up, I'm looking at purchasing a Sinclair single stage for .308

Beyond the press, dies, and components, you're going to need a scale, a bullet puller, and a caliper.

[FrankenHollow]

[Durdenz]

Durdenz -
Some other members here (and elsewhere) disagree with the idea, but I believe it's best to start on a single-stage press or a manual-indexing turret press. You need to understand every step of the process, what can go wrong, how to spot problems, how to implement your own safety checks at each stage of the process, etc., before you can really keep an eye on all of the stations of a progressive press (at the same time).

Jumping straight into a progressive press, with no experience, is like pushing a quadriplegic into a swimming pool, because they hoped to be able to swim again some day. Sure, it might work, but the learning curve is fairly steep.

If I can figure out a Lee Loadmaster progressive press, then I think anyone can. I found the videos at http://www.loadmastervideos.com to be extremely helpful when calibrating my dies for the first time. At only $249 on Amazon for the 9mm setup, I thought it a good way to go--I'm not a quadriplegic in a pool either...

I am a fan of Xtremebullets.com out of EDIT: NEVADA. Shipping is included in their pricing and their consistent bullet size and weight is a plus.

Powder is still hard to find. Discount Guns and Ammo in Provo has a ton of small pistol CCI primers in stock for $29.99 right now. That's only $2 more than the lowest price I saw just before Obama got re-elected in 2012.

Next up, I'm looking at purchasing a Sinclair single stage for .308

Beyond the press, dies, and components, you're going to need a scale, a bullet puller, and a caliper.

Thanks for the info i'll check out xtremebullets. Now I just need to convince my Dad to let me bring one of the reloaders home I've watched a few videos on youtube about setting them up. I've done engine rebuilding, machining, and mechanical work often enough that setting one up shouldn't be very hard. I'm extremely detail oriented.

Is there a brand of dies that are better than others?

[MajorNickmo]

From my research Lee Carbide dies have a good rep. I'm pretty sure that Dillon makes their own proprietary dies.

[D-FIN]

Dillon presses accept anyone's standard dies.

[manithree]

Dillon presses accept anyone's standard dies.

I thought the Square Deal B (SDB) presses only used Dillon's proprietary dies. I could be wrong, I haven't jumped into the progressive pool yet.

[D-FIN]

Dillon presses accept anyone's standard dies.

I thought the Square Deal B (SDB) presses only used Dillon's proprietary dies. I could be wrong, I haven't jumped into the progressive pool yet.

That could be, I am not an expert I just give free advice on the internet. But, I was looking on Dillon's webpage the other day and remember reading that the press accepted all standard 7/8 dies. I can't tell exactly which Dillon press I was looking at at the time but I guessed that it was something that featured in all their presses.

[Sam Fidler]

The Square Deal B does use special dies but the 550, 650, and 1050 all use standard size dies. I have used Lee, Hornady, RCBS, and Dillon dies interchangeably in both my 550 and 1050.