Bit the bullet and bought a press: my new setup.

[swampratt]

Nice press...I do not have my scale on my loading bench..it is on another bench that i use for filling rifle cases with powder.
the bench is actually a big solid wood dresser.

I have 45acp and 357 mag pistols and i do not crimp the rounds...I do send them through a sizer that lee makes..but no crimp...I tried crimp vs no crimp ..and my accuracy was better with no crimp.
My 30-30 would get a crimp..but just a tiny touch with the copper bullets.
You can't beat one of the lead rounds out with the lee alox lube on them...

Loading books will be your friend.
Fun hobby for sure ..just a note ..you will not save money reloading your own..
But you will shoot more.

 

[criticalbass]

Lots of good advice here. I especially like what Calamity Jake suggested about doing it single stage for a while

I recommend getting a good balance scale. One thing to watch is air currents. I can't operate my ceiling fan when I am weighing powder. It affects the scale reading. About powder tricklers, I have tried a bunch of them. The best thing I have found is a large piece of brass. My current one is a cut off .375 H&H Magnum case. I set the powder dispenser a little low, and trickle each charge up to exact. Of course this is for rifle cartridges and would not be practical for high volume loading.

For semi auto pistol rounds, Lee makes a great final crimp die that assures feeding in semis. This is really valuable if you happen to get brass that's been through a Glock.

I have adopted the convention of loading only loads that more than half fill the case. That way, a double charge will overflow.

Something I used to do with shotshell reloading might be worth considering with your press. I bought large rectangular cookie sheets with sides about a half inch tall, and mounted the press on it. The thin metal is easy to drill, and when (not if) you spill powder, it'll be easy to corral. Of course a bunch of #9 shot is an even greater headache.

You have been assimilated. Resistance is futile.

 

[chuter]

I've got a Hornady Lock-n-load press and I use a powder check die; it's a lot of peace of mind for me. I still weigh one out of every 20 or so just to be sure.

 

[Profreedomokie]

I didn't read each post but if this wasn't said , never have more than one bottle of powder on the bench when you're loading ( the one you using).

 

[okietom]

I have been teaching and advising one of my sons friends on how to reload using my equipment. He is loading .223 and we have used my Dillon rapid trim on the rcbs and primer swager to prep the mixed brass that he has been collecting. We have polished it in my Lyman 1200. We have used One shot and Imperial to lube them. We have decapped in my rockchucker and Lee hand press with a universal decapper and worked up loads with two different bullets and two different powders.

We did the load development on the Dillon. He wants a Dillon progressive and I have discussed mine with him and what I know about the 650. After asking questions about loading at the stores he has gone to for components has has ordered a Lee Classic Kit with a Lee single stage press. He know that he can get started with it and get a progressive later. That is his plan. His kit has came in and he is going to build a bench and get set up to load.

It has been kinda fun helping him get started and I always like hearing about new reloaders.

 

[Johnny]

Two things

Don't get complacent/lazy.
The ABCs of reloading is the best 20 bucks I ever spent.

Welcome to the hobby. The days you can't shoot are the best days to load. Ohh btw. You are not going to save any money on ammo however you will be a better shot.

 

[AtomicTango]

Thanks everyone. I'm going slow, work/finances have had my number lately so I haven't had a decent block of time to devote to getting some loads put together to test at the range.

The timing is a little off, and it won't fully index on the down cycle. I have to tap the shell to complete the rotation. Not a big deal right now since I'm just tweaking things single stage, but I'll want to have it indexing correctly once I do full on production.

 

[acp]

I just bought the same press. I am waiting for a shell plate to show up to start using it. It is a replacement for my RCBS setup. Anyway if you go to Youtube.com and search "Bill Morgan Hornady" (all three words) you find a series of 5 videos he does for the LNL press. They are all about 30 minutes long and he seems to have some good tips on how to prep the machine for use. I wish they went a little faster but I think there is some great info there. you might check them out.

 

[tran]

Nice set up! you didn't go wrong with the LNL press! Now you need to get the case feeder and the bullet feeder and you can pretty much keep up with any 650 out there... Enjoy!

 

[Kryxar]

Thanks, those are helpful videos.