I am new to Reloading and was wondering what brand and type of equuipment is worth the investment.

I would hate to buy a cheap press and end up buying another brand later because the first one was garbage.

Thanks

There are lots of ways to go, depends on what you want to load & how fast you want to load them. I use a single stage press for all my high power rifle stuff & a progressive for my pistol rounds.
Brands of reloading equip. are a bit like cars, Ford or Chevy, RCBS or Lee, it really doesn't matter. I don't care much for Lee, I find most of their stuff "cheap", but others like the inexpensive price & you can make good ammo w/ their gear. You need to determine what type of press you need then go have a look @ a gunshop. FWIW, I like RCBS, Redding & Dillon equip.

IMO : Dillon is the way to fly . Look hard before buying and I think you'll see why .

I've owned all of them at one time or another .

Dillon is what I stayed with and NO REGRETS !.

550 or 650 is what I would purchase , then again I don't know how much you plan on reloading ?.

I like RCBS, Redding & Dillon equip. SO Do I.

I use RCBS & Redding dies and some Dillon dies.

I got " Sticker Shock " the other day when I went in to purchase a box of factory 7 mm RM rounds !!!!!!.

I haven't bought a factory box of ammo in over 25 years , NOW I KNOW WHY $$$$$ !!!!!!!!.

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

For rifle reloading the RCBS equipment is hard to beat ,Dillon for pistol loading in larger amounts....my oldest RCBS press is nearly 30yrs old,and still working fine....the Rockchucker is a good size, Redding,Hornady,Forster,Lyman,Dillon, and even Lee, make some items that are different and nice for a specific task ...I have dies from 6 companies and have no complaints about any of them,4 different brands of presses....all work well....hth.good luck and good loading-shooting!!

Thanks for the replies......

I was looking at the Lyman T-Mag (Turret press) or the Hornady Lock and Load single press.

Are there any real advantages to having a turret press?

I plan on loading rifle calibers .30-06 and .223
and pistol in 9mm, .38 special/.357 mag. and .44mag.

I live south of Dayton OH....don't know where Brunswick is but I have a Forster "Bonanza" style press that I installed on my bench a few years ago (maybe 2004), and have never used it. It is supposed to be "the poo" when it comes to presses. I have a RockChucker that I still go to.

You are welcome to the press and I'll let it go for a good price.

I can ship it to you or you can come get it if you don't live on the other side of the state.

EDIT: Just looked up Brunswick. Looks like Columbus is almost half way between us. I'd be happy to meet you there. I have a friend that lives there anyway, I could pay him a visit while there.

Just an offer. Let me know.

quote:

Originally posted by Tilly.30-06:
Thanks for the replies......

I was looking at the Lyman T-Mag (Turret press) or the Hornady Lock and Load single press.

Are there any real advantages to having a turret press?

I plan on loading rifle calibers .30-06 and .223
and pistol in 9mm, .38 special/.357 mag. and .44mag.

I like turret presses. I can load multiple sets of rifle dies in one turret and never adjust them again. I'm getting lazy in my old age and have three different brands of turret presses set up on my bench along with a Dillon 450B. I also just bought another Dillon 550.

Dillon is the way to go with progressives . I love my 550b . For single stage presses I hear the RCBS rochchucker is a good one > I own an old Lyman orangecrusher which has loaded thousands of rounds.

Hey doc have you ever shot at Fairfield Sportsmans in Ross Ohio north of Cincinnati? I belonged there for 14 years and quit when they closed the rifle range. Do you know about any good ranges around you ? I can make it to Miamisburg in about 45 minutes My email address is lonewolf 899@msn.com . Ive been shooting all my life and reloading for 25 years . I would welcome an email from any of you shooters. Isnt this a great website I find myself on it almost any nite . Good reloading and shooting to yall.

Hey Fjold you must be quite an accomplished shooter and hunter . How far away was that latest coyote you posted ? was it really 732 yards away? Im sure everyone likes your picture . I sure would like to see your face. Goot Shooting to you too.

RCBS and Hornady are worthwhile but Forster and Redding are better for only a little bit more money.

quote:

Originally posted by Philbilly:
Hey doc have you ever shot at Fairfield Sportsmans in Ross Ohio north of Cincinnati? I belonged there for 14 years and quit when they closed the rifle range. Do you know about any good ranges around you ? I can make it to Miamisburg in about 45 minutes My email address is lonewolf 899@msn.com . Ive been shooting all my life and reloading for 25 years . I would welcome an email from any of you shooters. Isnt this a great website I find myself on it almost any nite . Good reloading and shooting to yall.

Theres a really nice range run by DNR in Springboro just SE of Dayton. They have Archery, Shotgun and Pistol and Rifle. Well supervised by DNR personnel.

You can by a yearly pass or pay as you go. The yearly pass is the way to go if you shoot a lot.

Best wishes, Bill

quote:

I was looking at the Lyman T-Mag (Turret press) or the Hornady Lock and Load single press.

Are there any real advantages to having a turret press?

I loaded thousands of rounds with an RCBS Rockchucker press over the years and, in fact, still use it. I bought a Redding T-7 turret press a year or so ago and I REALLY like it. I many times am working up loads for 2 or 3 cartridges at the same time and it's nice to be able to leave dies in place for several weeks and still have a place to load another cartridge.

I have a Dillon 650 for mass prodution and use a single stage for rifle hunting loads. I swapped my RCBS for a Redding T7 and love it.

quote:

Originally posted by Philbilly:
Hey doc have you ever shot at Fairfield Sportsmans in Ross Ohio north of Cincinnati? I belonged there for 14 years and quit when they closed the rifle range. Do you know about any good ranges around you ? I can make it to Miamisburg in about 45 minutes My email address is lonewolf 899@msn.com . Ive been shooting all my life and reloading for 25 years . I would welcome an email from any of you shooters. Isnt this a great website I find myself on it almost any nite . Good reloading and shooting to yall.

I am a member of Middletown Sportsman's Club. I did shoot at Fairfield as a guest some years ago. I went to church at Ross Christian Church.

Middletown's club had quite the influx of new members after they closed the rifle range in Fairfield. Didn't they close it due to a new soccer field nearby?

You can shoot 200 yards at the Middletown club. It takes me about 20 minutes to get there from where I live, so I'd imagine if you can get to Miamisburg in 45, you can do the Middletown club in about the same, maybe a little longer because you are off the interstate.

Here is their link.

I've also been to the range in Springboro. It is nice but I think the longest rifle range is 100 yards. You'd have to call and check on that. It took me longer to get to that one than Middletown.

For a single stage press I have two.... One came with the kit and is an RCBS Rockchucker Supreme... My other is the Forster Co-Ax... The Co-Ax is probably one of the finest presses out there but it will also set you back about 200 bucks... My best friend who reloaded for a living for a number of years swears by the Dillon Precision equipment...

Ken....

Press choices may be easiest to sort out based on what you plan on doing the most....

Any press that lets you set and leave dies set in some way (like many my Lee turret press, or the Dillon presses, or Hornady's Lock-n-load) can save adjustment hassel.

Progressives are outstanding for producing a large volume of one load at a time. Pistol shooters, some competition rifle guys, and varmint shooters probably benefit most. For me, it seems I spend more time tinkering with and working up smaller quantities of different loads.

For load workups, and even smaller (say 50 or less) runs, I find a hand indexed turret press and some kind of easily adjustable and highly repeatable powder measure works much better than the Dillon 550B.....who's powder measure is a major, unindexed pain in the ass to adjust.

My Redding BR3 powder measure has been well worth the money.

Just my experience.....

Good Shooting,

Dan

quote:

Forster "Bonanza" style press

DOC
E-Mail me with the price and some more info.
Thanks

Tillman929@Verizon.net

I'll email you also, but it is this press:

Forster Exclusive Co-Ax® Press

As mentioned above, it is probably the finest single press on the market, so I had to have one, but never got around to using it.

I'll try and email you tonight after I get home from killing a deer.

Thanks Doc and Stinger for the info Its greatly appreciated . Doc Fairfield closed the rifle range on a heresay complaint that was not substantiated. One person said he thought he heard a bullet flying overhead. Well quite a lot of people in the area wanted the range closed I think. The trap guy who ran the place at the time didnt give a hoot about the rifle range and still doesnt im told. They had just updated the range with a new building at the time. This was a great range out to 300 yards. Instead of trying to fix the problem they kept a lot of members in the dark so the money would roll in. Well I quit because I smelled a rat . Its a shame because my late friend Ike lived and breathed the rifle range and almost lived there helping out and such . Its a shame because the rifle range could have been fixed with baffles and such. Oh well enough about Fairfield. By the way they lost over half of their membership. Thans again about the info guys good shooting to yall

I have not used any bad reloading equipment. My current favorite is a lee hand press and hand primer. I use mostly rcbs dies. I like to be able to reload anywhere. I use a lee safety powder scale and a n rcbs electronis scale and auto powder dispenser (that machine is sweet!).