Doc Hayworth (an awesome Aggie) was kind enough to give me a set of dies with a gun I bought from him. I have been thinking of reloading my own rifle ammo for a while and this has pushed me over the edge. I want to be able to reload from 223 to 300 Wby, and 9mm, if that matters. My only reloading experience is with a MEC Sizemaster many years ago. I would like to know the OB's thoughts on progressive vs. single stage reloaders, any brands you recommend, and what extras are needed for a beginner. Considering Dillon, Hornady and RCBS simply because they seem to be the most popular. Thanks!

IMO, the learning curve is simplified when starting out (maybe always using) a single stage press. You can pay more attention to each step, even do a lot of prep work without actually completing each round. Measuring powder charges, tweaking seating depths, adjusting bullet runout..all steps easier accomplished with a single stage.

I am using a 40 y/o Rockchucker, but also have a Dillon 650.

Edited to add: I bought the Model 28 from Doc...great transaction, very used but nice revolver.

I would definitely go with a single stage reloading press given the calibers you stated. It's hard to break even reloading 9mm ammo unless you do a ton of volume.

I would go with a Forster Co-Ax reloading press. It's a little more expensive than the rock chucker but the concentricity can't be beat (without spending a ton of money).

The Forster is definitely the go to press, although that may change in the next few days when my Heavy PraziPress 140mm arrives. My favorite presses that I own in order are:
Co-Ax (probably going to be passed up by the PraziPress)
Dillon 650
Redding Big Boss 2
Rockchucker

I ended up with the RCBS kit in a trade I made. Has almost everything you need to get started and it's all super easy to use!

I agree with the comments so far. Start on a single stage. The good news is that all the major die and press manufacturers have standard sized dies and so whatever dies you buy for your single stage can be used on a progressive reloading press. The only exception I am aware of is Dillon's entry level pistol caliber only reloader (Square Deal B?)has unique dies IIRC.

And to the comment about reloading 9mm. I have come to that conclusion as well. After I use up my substantial supply of 9mm components I may just give up reloading 9mm. Ammo is so cheap right now that I think I am saving less than $1/box reloading 9mm. Almost not worth the effort.

In terms of progressive reloaders I have a Dillon RL550B that I have had for gosh knows how long? 25+ years maybe more. I have reloaded thousands of pistol rounds and probably a couple of thousand rifle rounds though it. It's first malfunction that wasn't operator induced happed about 6 months ago. That resulted in a couple of free replacement parts shipped to me for free from Dillon.

I am sure others can chime in on other reloading machines I would assume Hornady and others make quality products.

My Rockchucker churns out very concentric ammo. Hard to beat for the price.

Tx-Ag2010... I'm jealous of the PraziPress!

I really like the lee turret press. Once you get your dies set the way you want, you just swap the disk between calibers.

I just can't see messing with it for bulk ammo like 9mm and 223. I do it to make stuff that can't be purchased. Certain subsonic loads, 85 grn 270 loads, etc.

I can't wait to put it through its paces. I ordered it back in June but they had some production delays and I had to wait for export permission.

Just got the email that it is out for delivery.

Man, thats awesome, those presses are beautifully made. Would love to see a review and pictures at some point.

Thanks for all the advice. Single stage it is.

FiTxAg04 said:

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Man, thats awesome, those presses are beautifully made. Would love to see a review and pictures at some point.

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I'll put a review together in a week or so once I have run it through it's paces.

I started with a rock chucker and have no issues it is a well built press. Having said that after a few years I upgraded to the forrester Co-ax and love it. I only load for bolt action rifles so have no need for progressive.

I have a Rock Chucker and a Redding T7. The Redding T7 Is very handy since you have all your dies at hand.

I'd probably start out with a RC or the hornady press with the LnL bushings for quick change.

The biggest problem, is knowing how far you are going to get into reloading. That will dictate your starting cost point which is usually the limiting factor for beginners. Reloading can be QUITE the rabbit hole to go down. I started with a mild interest and now have six presses and all sorts of extra doodads. Conversely I've seen dudes drop $2K+ before making a single round and then make a single batch and never touch their press again.

If you are loading a somewhat niche round for rifles and may load only a couple hundred a year, id stick with a Rockchucker. No need for a Coax or PraziPress. Those are the top tier "deluxe" models I would say. And come with price tags to match... While a sub $150 Rockchucker is probably the GOAT over the generations.

If you want to make a little bit of a jump though I would actually look up a turret press like the Lyman All American 8 or Redding T7. Well built presses that function mechanically like a single stage but are far more convenient.

Let us know how it goes!

ETA: The one tool I would say is a must for a beginner that isn't "required" would be a bullet puller. You are going to make mistakes. Kinetic or press mounted. You will want to dismantle your oopsies. As far as first "upgraded" tools past the most basic beginner set, I'd say a decent (and digital) set of calipers would be my first choice. Followed by a nicer scale. Those IMO are the two biggest comfort of life items out the gate in reloading.

For rifle rounds, I'd do the single stage presses. If you're doing large quantity pistol stuff (9mm, 45acp, or 40S&W), then I'd seriously consider the Dillon 750 or the Hornady Lock and Load or similar progressive press.

I've done single stage pistol stuff, and when you're shooting a large volume it gets old very fast not to mention how time consuming it is. It's just not feasible for me to do that when you're shooting thousands of rounds a month UNLESS you're working up a new load

You're not going to see much cost cutting on 9mm, but you will for calibers like 45ACP, revolver stuff, or niche exotic caliber stuff IMO.

I agree with what has been stated. Don't jack with 9mm and get a single stage for the rifle stuff. I have a Co-Ax and love it. In my opinion money is best spent on calipers and a good scale. If you aren't loading for benchrest competitions, the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 is a great option. I have shot plenty of 1,000 yard stuff using that scale. You can also turn out good ammo without having to spend $300 on Redding dies. Forster makes great dies for the price.

I am reloading 9mm for $.08-$.10. Even when Federal ran that Black Ammo rebate it cost $.13. those rounds were very long 1.159"-1.161" which made them unreliable in Glock mags and sometimes stuck in chambers if unfired.

Start with a single stage. RCBS, Lyman or Hornady all are great single atage presses.

Go slow, it isnt about speed. It is about making ammo custom tuned to your gun.

Progressives are awesome, but in a different league than single stage jobs.

I reload 9mm JHP for less than you can buy cheap FMJ at Wal-Mart. The idea that 9mm is not cost effective is wrong.

schmellba99 said:

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I reload 9mm JHP for less than you can buy cheap FMJ at Wal-Mart. The idea that 9mm is not cost effective is wrong.

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Even if it isn't cheaper... It also depends on the use. Just wanting some decent bulk ammo for plinking at the ranch? Maybe not worth your time. Wanting consistent repeatable ammo for serious accuracy-driven pistol competition? Definitely worth it, regardless of a little extra potential cost

Eliminatus said:

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If you want to make a little bit of a jump though I would actually look up a turret press like the Lyman All American 8 or Redding T7. Well built presses that function mechanically like a single stage but are far more convenient.

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I think this is the direction I am going. It may turn out to be a mistake, but I feel like the convenience factor is worth it. Doc gave me the final nudge I needed, but I have been wanting to do this for a while because I have not been able to buy any 257 Wby 100 gr ttsx ammo in over three years. With the turret style press it seems like I can reload 20-50 cartridges at a time much easier for my deer and varmint rifles, but still be able to reload 100's of 223 when necessary. I especially like the fact that I can get extra turrets to hold my dies once everything is dialed in. I may be extremely ignorant here, but I can see a scenario where I load a box of 257, 7-08, and 300 and a couple of boxes of 22-250 in an afternoon or a day to take to the ranch and the turret style seems better suited for that.

I appreciate everyone's advice.

Mr. Dubi said:

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I am reloading 9mm for $.08-$.10. Even when Federal ran that Black Ammo rebate it cost $.13. those rounds were very long 1.159"-1.161" which made them unreliable in Glock mags and sometimes stuck in chambers if unfired.

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Mine are more like $.15/round not counting the amortized cost of brass over several reloads.

Primer $.03 based on 1000 count CCI 500 small pistol primers
Powder $.02 based on 4lb Power Pistol
Bullet $.10 Based on Speer/Rem/Win (whatever is on sale) 1000 count 124gn FMJ RN

So for me that is $.015/rd I am sure I could do it cheaper if I shot 115gn and/or lead or plated bullets. Or maybe I just need to find a cheaper supplier.

SG Ammo sells cheap S&B or Fiocchi 124gn FMJ for $.16 to $.17/rd

IDAGG said:

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Mr. Dubi said:

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I am reloading 9mm for $.08-$.10. Even when Federal ran that Black Ammo rebate it cost $.13. those rounds were very long 1.159"-1.161" which made them unreliable in Glock mags and sometimes stuck in chambers if unfired.

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Mine are more like $.15/round not counting the amortized cost of brass over several reloads.

Primer $.03 based on 1000 count CCI 500 small pistol primers
Powder $.02 based on 4lb Power Pistol
Bullet $.10 Based on Speer/Rem/Win (whatever is on sale) 1000 count 124gn FMJ RN

So for me that is $.015/rd I am sure I could do it cheaper if I shot 115gn and/or lead or plated bullets. Or maybe I just need to find a cheaper supplier.

SG Ammo sells cheap S&B or Fiocchi 124gn FMJ for $.16 to $.17/rd

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I can't say this for you, but my match ammo that I shoot for matches and practice has much different felt recoil from either Fiocchi or S&B. And I shot S&B 124gr out of my CO gun for quite awhile last year. And that's with 147gr coated RN bullets over Sport Pistol. There's nothing wrong with going with a coated lead bullet from a proven manufacturer. Most of them are using Hitek and what really matters is the thickness of the coating to me so my barrels don't lead that quickly.

I personally like coated over plates or jacketed ammo, especially if you're shooting at steel. If you're shooting an open gun, you're kind of stuck with having to use jacketed ammo because most are shooting at major velocities (124gr 9mm projectiles need to be hitting around 1400 fps).

schmellba99 said:

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I reload 9mm JHP for less than you can buy cheap FMJ at Wal-Mart. The idea that 9mm is not cost effective is wrong.

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I don't think anyone is saying you can't reload it cheaper than you can buy it... my point was it's not worth my time (finding/cleaning brass for a few cents per round savings), especially for plinking ammo.

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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schmellba99 said:

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I reload 9mm JHP for less than you can buy cheap FMJ at Wal-Mart. The idea that 9mm is not cost effective is wrong.

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I don't think anyone is saying you can't reload it cheaper than you can buy it... my point was it's not worth my time (finding/cleaning brass for a few cents per round savings), especially for plinking ammo.

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Okey dokey

Buck Compton said:

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schmellba99 said:

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I reload 9mm JHP for less than you can buy cheap FMJ at Wal-Mart. The idea that 9mm is not cost effective is wrong.

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Even if it isn't cheaper... It also depends on the use. Just wanting some decent bulk ammo for plinking at the ranch? Maybe not worth your time. Wanting consistent repeatable ammo for serious accuracy-driven pistol competition? Definitely worth it, regardless of a little extra potential cost

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Progressive for the win - I can crank out a couple of hundred rounds of plinking ammo in an hour, hour and a half. About the same time it takes to drive to the store, deal with the unwashed masses and get back home.

Everybody is different - I don't see my time making ammo as a cost or lost time or wasted time. It's no different to me than the time spent on other things, so it's a wash. Some folks view things differently, and that's cool. Most of those folks don't really account for all things associated with buying ammo either, but that's their perogative too.

And I still buy 9mm at the store when the price is right too. I'm an equal opportunity guy. It's nice though to have a lot of components built up from over the years to the point where I can shoot JHP as pinking ammo if I want.

I probably need to get the dust knocked off the press and crank a few rounds out one of these days, I'm low on HP/varmint rounds for my AR as it is.

AnScAggie said:

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Eliminatus said:

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If you want to make a little bit of a jump though I would actually look up a turret press like the Lyman All American 8 or Redding T7. Well built presses that function mechanically like a single stage but are far more convenient.

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I think this is the direction I am going. It may turn out to be a mistake, but I feel like the convenience factor is worth it. Doc gave me the final nudge I needed, but I have been wanting to do this for a while because I have not been able to buy any 257 Wby 100 gr ttsx ammo in over three years. With the turret style press it seems like I can reload 20-50 cartridges at a time much easier for my deer and varmint rifles, but still be able to reload 100's of 223 when necessary. I especially like the fact that I can get extra turrets to hold my dies once everything is dialed in. I may be extremely ignorant here, but I can see a scenario where I load a box of 257, 7-08, and 300 and a couple of boxes of 22-250 in an afternoon or a day to take to the ranch and the turret style seems better suited for that.

I appreciate everyone's advice.

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I have no use for turret presses personally - to me they have all of the negatives of a single stage and none of the benefits of a progressive.

I'd almost argue to just get a good progressive if you are looking at multiple calibers and decent volume. You can load on a progressive in a single stage format and produce very, very good and consistent ammunition. Hell, when I go longer periods of not reloading that is what I do on my LnL - because it takes a little while for me to ensure I get my system back down and don't have a ruh-roh because I'm trying to do too much at one time. Consistency and correctness trump speed all day and twice on Sundays.

I still load for rifles on my single stage, but some of that is old habits dying hard. I rarely load more than about 25-50 on the single stage at any sitting, so it's not a huge issue on the time or effort front.

Turret presses just seem to be a solution to a problem that has been created simply because to me.

Slight detour to this thread. I've reloaded for one cartridge for a short while, not through my first pound of powder, but now looking to load for 2 others. Where the F do you find powder. I am wanting RL26 and Varget. Neither in stock anywhere. Does it just sell out quick or are stores not even getting any in? I backordered some from Cabela's but just not sure why there is so little on the shelves or online.

meggy09 said:

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Slight detour to this thread. I've reloaded for one cartridge for a short while, not through my first pound of powder, but now looking to load for 2 others. Where the F do you find powder. I am wanting RL26 and Varget. Neither in stock anywhere. Does it just sell out quick or are stores not even getting any in? I backordered some from Cabela's but just not sure why there is so little on the shelves or online.

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Varget has been a unicorn for a while now. Not sure about RL26 as I dont use that particular powder.

Where are you located?

meggy09 said:

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Slight detour to this thread. I've reloaded for one cartridge for a short while, not through my first pound of powder, but now looking to load for 2 others. Where the F do you find powder. I am wanting RL26 and Varget. Neither in stock anywhere. Does it just sell out quick or are stores not even getting any in? I backordered some from Cabela's but just not sure why there is so little on the shelves or online.

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There's particular distributors that have powders, primers and other reloading components. Unfortunately, I think pretty much all powders are imported. So that may have something to do with it.

Frankly, powder is one of those components that I would look for online. It's probably not going to be that great of a deal because you will have to pay shipping and hazmat fees unless they have some kind of quantity deal or like Brownells has, one cent hazmat fee a couple of weeks ago. A decent option is to try and do an order with a friend so you can split the costs.

Online retailers that's I can think of ate Powder Valley and Grafs and Sons. Might check those two and see if you can find it.

jabberwalkie09 said:

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meggy09 said:

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Slight detour to this thread. I've reloaded for one cartridge for a short while, not through my first pound of powder, but now looking to load for 2 others. Where the F do you find powder. I am wanting RL26 and Varget. Neither in stock anywhere. Does it just sell out quick or are stores not even getting any in? I backordered some from Cabela's but just not sure why there is so little on the shelves or online.

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There's particular distributors that have powders, primers and other reloading components. Unfortunately, I think pretty much all powders are imported. So that may have something to do with it.

Frankly, powder is one of those components that I would look for online. It's probably not going to be that great of a deal because you will have to pay shipping and hazmat fees unless they have some kind of quantity deal or like Brownells has, one cent hazmat fee a couple of weeks ago. A decent option is to try and do an order with a friend so you can split the costs.

Online retailers that's I can think of ate Powder Valley and Grafs and Sons. Might check those two and see if you can find it.

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A whole lot of Hodgdon powders are manufactured in Australia and imported. I'm assuming the fires have dampened the supply chain. But Varget, specifically, has been near impossible to find for a considerable time now. When places like Powder Valley get a shipment in, it's usually sold out within an hour or so it seems.

In Denver. Neither are in stock at any of online dealers, Natchez, powder valley, etc.

Already wasted a hour trip to Cabela's when they showed Varget in stock online, called to verify and they said "yep we have 6 on the shelf" except they actually didn't have any.

Just seems weird something would be in such short supply. I remember hearing about shortages during the last big gun/ammo run, but just seems weird.

I don't mind eating the hazardous shipping cost for the most part. Back ordered 2 lbs at Cabela's and it added $10 to each. Not in it really to save money.

meggy09 said:

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Slight detour to this thread. I've reloaded for one cartridge for a short while, not through my first pound of powder, but now looking to load for 2 others. Where the F do you find powder. I am wanting RL26 and Varget. Neither in stock anywhere. Does it just sell out quick or are stores not even getting any in? I backordered some from Cabela's but just not sure why there is so little on the shelves or online.

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I've had pretty good luck finding powder on gunbroker. You will over pay for the powder but not by enough to significantly affect the cost of your reloads unless you plan on doing serious volume.

If I'm running low I'll order a few pounds there until I get lucky with a back order.