Reloading Press/Kits???

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Spydiefan04

Joined
Jan 8, 2005
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Hey guys, I am wanting to take up reloading as a hobby and have used some borrowed equipment but don't own any of my own right now. From the research I've done thus far I've narrowed it down to either the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Kit, the Hornady Lock-n-Load Classic or maybe a Lyman T-mag 2. Any thoughts or comments on any of these from people that have used them would be appreciated.

A big question that i have as I've only done a little reloading thus far is that if you use dies that have locks on the rings do you have to keep adjusting them every single time you have to screw in the die or not? If you can truly set a lock-ring and just screw in and out to that point I'd prefer either the Rockchucker or T-mag, but if every single time it is going to require a lot of tinkering/readjusting I'm going with the Hornady Lock-n-Load. My first hand-experience thus far has been limited to using others turret presses that had different heads for each caliber. If I go T-mag I want to just be able to screw the dies in and out and not have to mess with buying/changing turrets, if I want to change turrets I'll get a Lee Classic Turret. My personal preference is kinda 50/50 between the Rockchucker and Lyman, assuming lock rings really work, if not then I'd be between the Hornady and Lee Classic Turret.

Oh and I'd be looking to do both pistol and rifle (no magnums or precision), prob 80% or more pistol. I've done some batch and some semi-progressive, all I've used to this point are turrets with the dies already set.

Thanks for the help.
 
Spydie, both the rock chucker and the Hornady lock-load are great machines. Although I seldom use my rock chucker its great to develop loads. Then I go to dillon 550 to load a bunch of whatever.

The lock rings on dies are a little on the hit an miss side. The Rcbs ones lock in place but eventually work loose so you do need to adjust and that holds true with every brand I've used. The turret presses are much easier to use for producing any kind of numbers, the Dillons even more so. Once the dies are set on a dillon i just leave them there and tighten down the lock rings. Very efficient to swap out to load something else. Just get however many turrets you need. It really is much easier to use a turret or progressive press.

The main thing is to use reliable documented loads and be very consistent in your loading and measuring. That and avoid Lee presses and most of their dies. They are cheap for a reason.
 
Listen to Dave. I have reloaded thousands of rounds on a Rockchucker. Loading pistol ammo on a single stage press gets old pretty quick. If I was young and still reloaded, I would be looking at one of the Dillon presses.
 
Hmm, things are further complicated by T-mag turrets only being about 10 dollars more than a 10 pack of lock-n-load bushings. The only turret I've ever changed the turret on has been a Lee. Is the T-mag hard to swap Turrets and is it complicated to line it back up? I was thinking it would really be a chore to swap turret heads. I have not been able to find a video of anyone changing a T-mag turret, and I have searched hard for one. I was all set on a single-stage (either RCBS or Hornady) until I played with a T-mag, I was really impressed, more similar to a Redding T-7 (and more in my price range too). Cost not an issue I'd get the T-7 I like semi-progressive better than batch, I prob should have mentioned that earlier.

Dillons are impressive, but are a little out of my price range at the moment. Also, I'd like to keep it to a single-stage or turret until I've got more experience and feel like I really know what I'm doing, I am purposely very cautious and slow when I reload.
 
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I load on my dad's rock chucker, I have a Hornady LNL single stage and a Lee C-frame. All work well, but I use the Lee with a bushing die for first step in necking down brass before going to the hornady for one of my wildcat rifles. Hornady LNL is nice with the quick change lock rings, but they also make a conversion kit for the rock chucker as well as many other single stage or progressive presses.

-X
 
Yeah, UffDa, I've done a lot of research already, and I like turrets but I keep thinking I maybe I should start with a single stage, and really didn't know about the lock rings screwing in vs lock-n-load.
 
Start with a single stage, and move up from there. I've got a Rock Chucker bolted to the bench ion the garage that's about 35 years old, and I just used it again last week. Once you get a system down, you can reload with those things faster than most give them credit for. And you can't go wrong with RCBS. Over the years, I've tried, but I've always come back.
 
Absolutely start with a single stage until you are confident in what your doing after that go to a faster press. I still use the Rock chucker to work up loads and use a Rcbs powder measure a lot with black powder loads. The Rcbs hand priming tool is a great one too, really speeds up the process. If you do it in batches of each step you can do a fair amount on a single stage, its when your going to be using 1000 rounds a week that you instantly find the money for a progressive. I ended up with 2 dillon 550s one set up for large primers one for small along with 3 shot shell loaders. Competitions were nuts for a long time for me lol.
 
For dies if your loading pistols cartridges I really like RCBS and add a redding taper crimp die. Everyone loves the lee crimp but me I've had them come apart and loose the little spring in them. Some of the straight walled loads you can use the cheaper lee dies, other than those stick to the more expensive companies. I know funds can be hard to come by but really you will save in the long run if you avoid most of the lee products, some are decent most are not.
 
OP - sage advice offered so far in my opinion. RCBS gear has proven to be a good investment for me, it works well and lasts for decades. Well worth the couple of extra bucks it costs vs. the competitors.

Learning each step completely on a single stage press is definitely the best way. Get yourself several different loading manuals and be sure you are familiar with the process. Being "slow and cautious" is the only way to go!

One thing I'd suggest is to buy Dillon dies for your pistol cartridges. These dies will work just fine in your single stage press today, and if the day comes you want to add a progressive press (the Dillon 550 is a great machine) these dies will transfer right to the new press. The RCBS carbide dies are fantastic, but I found their standard diameter openings fell far short of the wide-mouth Dillon dies when trying to get any kind of production out of a progressive press. Like you, I started out on a single stage machine and I bought the RCBS dies for all calibers - the rifle dies are still in use on the single stage but the pistol dies are now collecting dust after spending more $$ on the Dillon dies which are mounted on the 550's tool heads. Something to consider.

Good luck,

Z
 
If you think you want a progressive press, just get one to start so you start off investing in the direction you want to end up in. Just bite the bullet and purchase a Dillon, if by chance you want to get out of reloading Dillon progressive presses hold their value very well and are quick to resale.
 
Dillon 550 or 650.

You are going to get a progressive so might as well start with a progressive. Might as well start with a Dillon too. Bite the bullet and never look back.

And don't discount the bench. It must be STURDY and of appropriate height.

Buy several reloading manuals. The older ones are often the better ones.
 
Go RCBS, you can't go wrong. I have a rockchucker as well as a Pro 2000.
On the lock rings, don't screw the set screw onto the die, it will screw up the threads eventually. Remove the set screw and insert a small piece of shot and then tighten it down...... 45 years of reloading here....
 
I've never had a problem with Lee stuff, either their stand alone sets or single stage presses. That being said, I only used them on "simple" calibers and low production numbers, 303.brit, 6.5x55, 30-30win. pretty easy stuff. Mr.Lee's explanation works for me. You don't need a 2 ton mandrel press to load ammo. that being said, horses for courses, and I can see how someone could start wearing out components at a certain production rate, its the same as any other mechanical process.

Also for quick measuring, the Lee spoons are very good, they take a bit of practice, and they still recommend weighting once and a while as a personal QC (don't want to get charges wrong) but once you get the hang of it, they go pretty fast.
 
Rockchucker works for me. I check the dies before every batch, just to be safe, weigh the charges, etc.
 
I started on a Rock Chucker. Currently I have a Dillon 550, 2 Hornady Pro Jectors (1 dedicated as a 5.56, the other I'm thinking about leaving .30-06) and the Rock Chucker.

The Rock Chucker only gets used to deprime or resize/deprime rifle calibers before they get loaded into the progressive.

If you're going to reload and do a variety of calibers and do ANYTHING in quantity, get a progressive press as the single stage will be a waste of money.

Get a Dillon 550 that's a manual index and use it as a single stage until you get familiar with the system.

With the tool head system, once you set the dies, you don't have to mess with them unless they get loose, and changing calibers is easy.

Doing "bulk" on a single stage blows. No other way to put it. Getting a progressive is the only way. Just go slow, you'll be fine. Mechanics isn't that hard.
 
if you are reloading straight wall auto loading pistol cartridges, the Lee carbide sizing dies size further down the case, and head off many problems down the road... I use them on my 1050
 
I reload all my weird hunting cartridges (30-06, 25-06, 7-08 and 300 WM) on a rock chucker. It makes sense because I only load 20-50 of each a year.

I have two Dillon 550s One for large primer (308, 45acp) and one for small primer (.223/9mm)

This system works for me. I highly recommend the 550. I have owned a RL 1050, Super 1050, multiple 650s and just kept coming back to the 550s for their sheer reliability.

If you plan on shooting in any volume buy a 550 and bite the bullet. The only time I would want a rock chucker as my only press would be if I lived in northern Alaska and had a LOT of free time on my hands.

Be careful reloading can be very addictive.

My .02
 
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