Does anyone sell a set of reloading does for a bunch of different common calibers? Like can I buy one big set with all the dies for 9mm, .45, .223, etc?
question for you reloaders, how long does it take to load say 100 rounds? and are some calibers easier to reload than others?
>>28044676
I'm pretty sure that depends a lot on your setup
>>28044676
>how long does it take to load say 100 rounds?
It depends on whether your press is single stage or progressive, and how involved you are with the whole process.
Smelting scrap lead into ingots, then casting it into bullets, then powder coating them, then expanding the cases to accommodate the larger bullet takes a lot more time than just buying boolits, but its a good deal cheaper.
My reloading block holds 50 cases. I haven't timed myself but I can put out somewhere between 100 and 200 rounds per hour with my single stage press.
It also takes some time and experimentation to find a good load for a given cartridge.
>are some calibers easier to reload than others?
The only extra step I take when reloading rifle cases is to lube them so that they don't get stuck in the dies.
Supposedly reloading revolver cases is easier than auto cases, since you don't have to worry about Cartridge OverAll Length (COAL/OAL) and feeding issues.
>>28044736
>>28044787
Thanks for actually being informative guys. So then I'll ask a really common question. Is there any reason I shouldn't start out on a progressive? Or is there not much of a benefit to it over a single stage?
>>28044961
If you think you will be reloading a lot of a single pistol caliber, progressive is ok. Otherwise get a turret. The simplicity of a single stage, plus you get to keep all your dies set up.
>>28044961
>Is there any reason I shouldn't start out on a progressive?
Sure, if you can't afford a progressive or aren't sure if you'll like reloading.
I kinda wish I'd just saved up the extra couple hundred and started with a progressive.
>>28045068
I have to disagree with you on this. Sure it takes a couple more minutes to switch out dies on a progressive, but after that your rate of production is much higher.
>>28044618
No
>>28044676
Depends on a lot, cartridge, progressive vs single stage, your amount of autism.
>>28045169
>I kinda wish I'd just saved up the extra couple hundred and started with a progressive.
Or just buy a Forester Co-Ax, it isnt that much longer
>>28044961
Progressives are great for churning out a ton of rounds of a single caliber, like this anon
>>28045068
Said.
The major problem, aside from the higher cost is the major difficulty in re-configuring the dies and setup of the press to do a different caliber. Across the board i've heard reconfigging a progressive is a right pain in the ass, but doable. Turret is the way to go to balance the simplicity of the single stage, with the ability to quickly swap out die sets with almost no downtime. You won't achieve nearly the round flow a progressive can do, but it does pretty good, and most of my time is spent in brass prep anway (trimming, cleaning, tumbling etc).
If you have everything lined up ready to go, I can easily get 50-75 rounds per hour on a turret, but usually it's less.
Surprisingly, my easiest rounds by far are my 30.06 cases. They're so large and the primer pocket is so forgiving, I can easily size and trim them and get them loaded faster than any other round I load.
Slowest would probably be my 7.62x54r rounds, but that's more of a case of my VEPR chewing the shit out of them and having to resize them and anneal them very carefully
>>28045232
>Across the board i've heard reconfigging a progressive is a right pain in the ass, but doable.
Hornady makes a progressive press which accepts their quick-change bushings.
Otherwise, RCBS dies have a set screw on the depth adjustment nut, which allows you to make an adjustment a bit more permanent.
>>28044676
I various wildly depending entirely on how much you want to spend on your press. I reload .357 Magnum on a single stage press, and 100 rounds would take about 2 hours of my time. If I wanted to invest in a progressive I could cut that down quite a bit.
if i were to only be doing rifle rounds, should i go for a single stage or turret. not going for match grade, just plinking/hunting. been looking at a rock chucker forever but now im wondering...
>>28045397
The question you have to ask yourself is, how many rounds do you want to churn out on a regular basis? If you're blasting through hundreds per range session, then a turret might be a good choice.
>>28045445
im guessing they arnt as inconsistent as the usual superstitious fuddery would indicate
How much money does reloading actually save? From what I've heard, you don't really save any money reloading common stuff like 9mm. But what if I wanted to reload 8mm Mauser or 7.62x45?
For pistol it may just be worth buying a couple lee pro1000s. They are fiddly, but will crap out a pretty large volume of pretty consistent quality ammo quickly. 9mm and 40S&W use the same shell holder so switching between those two just requires me to swap turrets with the dies still properly set.
Rifle stuff generally requires more case prep and unless you spend the mega bucks for one of the dillion auto case trimmer things, you might as well just buy a single stage press with quick change bushings...
>>28045532
For 223 I save about 10 cents per round for generic 55grain soft points, but mine will consistently shoot MOA groups out of my rifle where as m193 will not. For the 75 grain flavors, its more like 50cents per round savings... 9mm is like 5cents per round cheaper to load, and 40 is like 6cpr cheaper... It mostly depends on buying projectiles, powder and primers in bulk as cheaply as possible. There will be more upfront cost, but you will get to shoot a lot.
>>28045267
Ooo that's good to know. I mainly saw folks talking about the Dillon ones in particular being a nightmare to reconfigure.
>>28045532
I'm gearing up to load 8mm Mauser soon.
Scrap lead is ~$1-2/lb. There are 7000 grains in a pound. I'll be casting 170 grain boolits, so that's about 40 boolits per buck or two, so 3 to 4 cents per boolit.
I have plenty of reloadable spent brass cases.
Large rifle primers are about 3 or 4 cents apiece.
Powder is about $25/lb, and I'll be using something like a 40 grain charge. So let's call it 2 cents per charge.
Powder coating is too cheap to easily calculate.
So approximately 10 cents per round in supplies.
>>28045585
Yeah you save more the more boutique your round is. I load 44 mag for my desert eagle and match 77gr .223 and 200gr 30.06 rounds for my rifles. Considering a box of Federal gold medal match .223 goes for like 20+ bucks plus out here. I'm definitely saving a dollar a round when I buy powder and primers in bulk and re-use the LC cases. Goes even more for the 30.06 rounds since not many manufacturers release non-hunting 200gr 30.06 rounds.
>>28045532
The rule of thumb is that no one actually spends less money through reloading. You have the large upfront costs, followed by rolling the per round savings into more components.
To answer your question however, I reload .357 Magnum, and it costs me about 15 cents per round to load while the best deal I see on factory ammo is 35 cents per round. Over 1000 rounds, that comes out to $200 saved.
