Reloading 9mm

[aerynsun]

NOOOO... friends don't let friend buy a Pro 1000

To much trouble/ to much tinkering... I can load more ( or equal ) on the Lee classic turret as my 1000 in same time.

The classic is good. But, as you go up in progressives the tinkering goes up also.

I had the Loadmaster; it worked fine.

[Mac66]

NOOOO... friends don't let friend buy a Pro 1000

To much trouble/ to much tinkering... I can load more ( or equal ) on the Lee classic turret as my 1000 in same time.

I've been loading for 30 years on my Lee Turret loader. At one point I had it set up as a progressive loader with all the gizmos attached, auto rotate, auto powder feed etc. When I dragged it back out of the box a couple years ago it was all in pieces and I couldn't figure out where everything went or how it worked. So now I just use the basic turret press. Since I don't shoot IPSC or PPC anymore I'm good with that.

[tom mac]

I agree that for starting the LC Turret ( IMO )is a great starter. Not overly expensive and works well for all normal rounds.
The best features I like is if you want to load 'special' round it becomes a single stage press in less then 10 secs by removing the twist rod that turns the turret ... also a die change takes 10 secs if a new die disc has been previously set up ( and allows a forth die on the disc for taper / crimp separate from the seating die when loading powder externally )

reg video in action; http://leeprecision.net/HelpVideos/Turr ... rret-1.wmv
change caliper disc ( i have multi powder drops ) ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak7jLfUDydM

Also fiq on about $200 extra for needed accessories.

[Mac66]

I agree that for starting the LC Turret ( IMO )is a great starter. Not overly expensive and works well for all normal rounds.
The best features I like is if you want to load 'special' round it becomes a single stage press in less then 10 secs by removing the twist rod that turns the turret ... also a die change takes 10 secs if a new die disc has been previously set up ( and allows a forth die on the disc for taper / crimp separate from the seating die when loading powder externally )

reg video in action; http://leeprecision.net/HelpVideos/Turr ... rret-1.wmv
change caliper disc ( i have multi powder drops ) ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak7jLfUDydM

Also fiq on about $200 extra for needed accessories.

Tom,

Do you know if the 4 hole turret plates fits the old 3 hole turret press? And/or can you use the new accessories on an original press?

[tom mac]

Do you know if the 4 hole turret plates fits the old 3 hole turret press? And/or can you use the new accessories on an original press?

Not sure, that may be a question to post to the Lee site
https://leeprecision.com/contact-us.html

edit;
found this https://leeprecision.com/4-hole-turret.html
Lee Aluminum 4-Hole Turret for quick caliber change for the 4-Hole Turret Press and Classic Turret Press. This 4 Hole Turret will not fit inside the Pro 1000 or now discontinued 3-Hole Turret Press.

[Mac66]

Do you know if the 4 hole turret plates fits the old 3 hole turret press? And/or can you use the new accessories on an original press?

Not sure, that may be a question to post to the Lee site
https://leeprecision.com/contact-us.html

edit;
found this https://leeprecision.com/4-hole-turret.html
Lee Aluminum 4-Hole Turret for quick caliber change for the 4-Hole Turret Press and Classic Turret Press. This 4 Hole Turret will not fit inside the Pro 1000 or now discontinued 3-Hole Turret Press.

Dang it! Looks like I'm going to have to spring for a new press if I want to do bulk reloading. Haven't found all the parts for the Auto Powder measure I used to have. Loading 38s one by one is pretty tedious.

[tom mac]

I use to do 38s with an old Phelps press with Dad ( a star press clone a Dillon press of its day )... must have loaded a few 100k over the years
158gr wc and 2.8 Bullseye ( IIRC )
We use to buy crates of 10k heads ... when dad passed I gave away over 100k SP primers as I couldnt store them.

BTW, love good progressives like Dillion, it's just for me there is a purchase cost vs number of rounds vs cost of time.

With me it's about 500 rds per month ( retired so time is basically out ). I can make 150- 200 rds per hr (LCT press ) and I usu shoot 300-400 per months ( down now that the range is closed )
So it takes 2 hrs to make enough to shoot per month. But my cost of the LCT press was 1/3 of a Dillon.... and that's enought for me.
If I shot more, than I def would buy a Dillon , and no you really cant go wrong with one, but out of safety I stil lean new comers to a slower press.
( not to mention it can be a single stage type is wanted for those special rounds )

[Gnepig]

You will do just fine with your single stage Lee press and you will learn a lot from it.

David, have you saved any of the brass from the shooting sessions that you've attended in the past?= this will be a huge help in your efforts, as you will find the cost of "once fired brass" going up now also.

I remember loading 9mm after 08 when you couldn't buy it from the stores and making people real happy. The prices were up there for it then to, if you could find it. The shop I was buying my components from in 06 said that "9mm was so cheap that it wasn't worth reloading it", by 08 I had a real nice stock of 9mm components and never needed store bought ammo during the whole oh-bummer era. They said the same about the .223/556 loads I had stocked up on about the same time= that also became real scarce and expensive after 08...

I eventually learned how to cast my own projectiles in 9mm, now I make better/more consistent rounds than you can buy from the store.
When you are ready for that stage, I will tell you where to find free lead -Grasshoppa.

[cityfarmer]

I started reloading 45 ACP back in the middle 80's because I could not afford to buy ammo. By chance I purchased a Lee Challenger press and couple of those Lee plastic powder scooper at a garage sale for $10 and then I purchased a set of Lee 3 piece dies from a shooter I met for couple bucks and started from there. I had a plastic caliper that I used in university and I used the beam scale at chemistry lab at university to measure my powder weight (had to convert grams to grain). I purchased cast bullets, powder and primers from Harris house in Hollywood in batch of 5,000 each and 5 pounds of powder. I had been picking up brass for years so I had plenty but I didn't have a tumbler to clean them. In all I had about $200 into it before I started loading my first batch.
I clean the first batch of brass using acetone and dish soap and then lay them out in the patio for two days to dry out in the hot sun. At the time it was staking me about 3 hours to load 200 rounds. I needed a faster way to load so I set up a 5 day reloading schedule. On Monday I would resize and deprime my brass from previous week. On Tuesday I would wash previous week's brass and put them out to dry for two days. On Wednesday I would bell the case mouth of 500 previously cleaned brass and prime them using hand priming tool. On Thursday I put powders into all 500 brass. Finally on Friday I would place a bullet on the brass and crimp it. Each day's procedure would take about 1 hour or less except to put powder in on Thursday would take 2 hours and seating and crimping on Friday would take 2 hours. So by Friday night I had 500 loaded ammo. By 1998 I had a long loading table in my garage with 3 Dillon progressive presses set up for 9mm, 45ACP and 38 Special and 3 single stage presses for developing new loads or loading small batches. Time became very limited for me due to work so I preferred to spend money on equipment to reload faster. I normally load 350-450 round per hour and for a while my wife and I were shooting 1,500-2,000 rounds of centerfire handgun ammo per month.
I love Dillon progressive presses and they work and work and work with little to almost no problems. If I do have problems Dillon has always taken care of it promptly. I got my first Dillon press in 1991 for 45ACP and that same press continues to load bulk of my 45 ACP ammo. I'm pretty sure it is getting close to loading 150,000 rounds in that time. Ones for 9mm and 38 special are newer and never gave me any problem once they were set up.