Page 1 of 1
Impulse buy
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:24 pm
by melkor41
Had a wild hair and bought a lee hand press and a die set..
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... t=11082005
and
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... mid=553691
Now I have to figure out what else I need to start reloading (other than the data book)
I was tought how to reload 10 years ago one night on one of these hand presses but have decided to get into reloading just now and dont remember much of it. The price of ammo at academy made me sad.
Any suggestions of what else off hand I need to load 9mm?
I live between my apartment when I am in school and my parents house and all of my project space in my parents house is taken up by my slightly disassembled camaro so I dont really have any room to set up a press.
Re: Impulse buy
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:08 am
by Fosforos
I would return both of those items and exchange for the Lee Hand Press Kit. Or you could keep the hand press and purchase the Ram Prime and powder funnel separately, plus a set of 9mm dies. I recommend the Lee carbide dies, they eliminate the need for case lube. The die set comes with a powder dipper for measuring powder.
That would be all you need, but having a powder scale also is highly recommended. The dipper works, but you don't have anything to verify the amount of powder against if you don't have a scale. The Lee scale is the cheapest one around, but it works.
There are a few other items that are handy to have - like reloading trays, a small bowl or cup to put powder in for the dipper. I used trays (you need them when filling the cases with powder) from ammo boxes and paper bowls for the powder. Don't use styrofoam for the powder - the static makes it cling to the cup or bowl.
The Lee Classic Loader is the second item you linked to, and it has everything you need for reloading, but reloading with a hammer instread of a press just doesn't seem right. If you get the hand press instead, you can use the die set you use with it whenever you decide to upgrade to a bench mounted press.
I loaded about 1000 rounds of 9mm on the Lee Hand Press before upgrading to a turrett press. The hand press works just fine, although it takes a good while to make ammo with it. But that is fine when you are first learning - you will get very familiar with each step of the reloading procedure. If I could go back in time, I would have got the cheapest bench mounted press instead. I currently mount my press to my computer table with c-clamps, and pack it away when I'm done with a session.
So you made an impulse purchase - that's fine, but please don't be impulsive while reloading. It's serious business, and there are many things that can go wrong and hurt you, your weapon and people around you.
Re: Impulse buy
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:13 pm
by melkor41
Seems like very sound advice.
I bought a digital caliper today to do some work on my car and im sure that iwll come in handy as well. I canceled the order on the classic set and kept the hand press. I am going to see if i can grab some carbide dies this weekend.
My understanding is that dies are pretty much interchangable between brands and series. Is this true?
Re: Impulse buy
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:14 pm
by Fosforos
Yes, the dies are interchangable between brands of presses, with the exception of the Dillon Square Deal B press, which uses proprietary dies. There might be others, but that's the only exception I know of.
Re: Impulse buy
Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:37 am
by nuparadigm