Need more productivity

ghentry · Post by **ghentry** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:32 pm

Last year I bought the Lee Anniversary Kit along with a tumbler, lee carbide dies and calipers. I quickly became frustrated with how long it was going to take me to crank out enough rounds for just one shooting session (100 - 200) and never even finished loading a single round.

Now with ammo prices skyrocketing, I've got more motivation to start cranking out some rounds. My question is, what press should I upgrade to that would enable me to get enough productivity that I feel it is worth my time (approx. 200 rounds an hour)?

For now I would load .45 and .40, but with 9mm going up, maybe that too. I doubt I would get into rifle loads since I've read that loading .223 is a royal pain.

Any suggestions and estimates on what cost I'm looking at would be greatly appreciated.

mrbug · Post by **mrbug** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:45 pm

I am using a Lee auto indexing turret press. I really don't have any problem with 200 or so rounds an hour. I have a 4 hole turret but I only use 3. I resize and punch out my spent primers on my rcbs o frame press and I use a lee auto prime by itself as well. When I get to the loading bench it is just expand, powder, seat, crimp and move on to the next one.

I kind of engineered things so I could still use my RCBS powder thrower. I like how consistent the loads it throws are.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/159/4183 ... 16.jpg?v=0

JLaw · Post by **JLaw** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:01 pm

mrbug wrote:I am using a Lee auto indexing turret press.

Oooohh, I saw the online video of one of these things in action at Diode's shop and fell in love with them. Looks simple and affordable enough for the average Joe to use while still cranking out more rounds per hour than a standard single stage press.

It's on the "Want" list for sure...

JLaw

mrbug · Post by **mrbug** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:04 pm

If you go to leeprecision.com you can find factory reconditioned or seconds pretty cheap. Same kind of warranty. I also like how I can buy extra turrets and keep my dies in them all ready to go. Switching calibers takes next to no time at all.[/url]

TX Rancher · Post by **TX Rancher** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:52 am

Stop by the Dillon web site. They make a great product, and they stand behind it with good customer service.

A Square Deal is a good entry press if you are loading one caliber. It takes very little room, and the purchase cost is relatively low for what you're getting.

If you want to load more calibers, and want to increase the speed, go for the 650. That's what I use now and it can really turn the rounds out. I put an automatic case feed system on it and this thing really puts the rounds out.

The 650 is a considerably larger machine, so more bench space is needed to set it up.

The 550, IMHO, is a good option inbetween the Square Deal and the 650. Any one of the three sound like they would work for you.

Smokewagon · Post by **Smokewagon** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:14 am

I'm currently using a Dillon Square Deal B. It is the least expensive of their models. It will load pistol calibers only, if thats what your interested in. They come with one caliber conversion and you can purchase more. I load .45acp, .45 colt, and will probably start loading .40S&W before long. I can easily load 350 to 400 rounds per hour. They advertise 400 an hour.

BobCat · Post by **BobCat** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:28 am

Katy is just up the road from East Bernard. You are welcome to stop by sometime and see my setup if you like. Dillon 450s - like the 550 but no interchagable tool head - a Rockchucker, and Lee stuff.

.223 is no more of a pain to load than anything else.

200 rounds per hour is a lot. I check and double check everything. If everything is working smoothly, 200 rounds is probably easy. If you stop and check overall length, powder weight, and crimp (i.e. do a lot of QC) then 200 rounds may be pushing it.

XDandy · Post by **XDandy** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:02 am

This may be alittle off topic but I thought I would ask. What is the difference between Lee's "auto indexing turret press" and their standard turret press? I can't figure it out. On Cabela's.com the auto indexing press is like $20 cheaper than the standard one. So what are the advantages/disadvantages of auto indexing?

mrbug · Post by **mrbug** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:03 pm

With the auto index you do not have to manually turn the turret. Every time you raise and lower the ram the turret indexes to the next die you will need. It adds up to more speed and less work for you.

Jeremae · Post by **Jeremae** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 3:09 pm

I use the Lee Turret press and I would say that max output is only about 100 rounds an hour. mrbug's number comes from not resizing, decapping, priming on the press I would think.

I line up 25 cases and bullets on my table top at 1 time and load them all at once and it takes me about 15 minutes from start to finish including setup, QC measurements, etc.

If you think about it, progressive presses like the Dillon advertise 400 (or more) rounds an hour. With a turret you would have to pull the lever arm 4 times for every pull on a progressive so 100 per hour seems reasonable.

If you load say 1000 rounds a month or less, the Lee Turret is probably the best bang for your buck. And if you want to load more than one caliber, you basically only need to buy another die set as additional turret heads are around $10 and you can change calibres in about 30 seconds (45 if different primer size).

ghentry · Post by **ghentry** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:45 pm

Thank you all for the responses. I doubt I will be loading more than an average of 500 rounds a month, and while I agree that the Lee Turret is much more affordable, I think I'm still leaning towards one of the Dillons.

I looked at the video on Lee's site and I really can't see myself pulling that handle 2000 times a month.

I'd much rather be able to finish off a round with each pull of the lever.

So then my question now is... the Square Deal B or 550B? I've looked at their website and see that the Sq. Deal is about $60 cheaper and comes with the dies (which totals about $120 cheaper than the 550B once you've bought dies).

What am I getting for that $120 other than another 100 rounds per hour (which I don't need) and the ability to load for rifles?

mrbug · Post by **mrbug** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:43 pm

Y'all got me to thinking about how many I really can put out an hour. I did a fifteen minute timed test on myself working the reloader flat out fast as I could....got 86 done in 15 minutes.....now that is of course the brass has already been resized, decapped, and new primers put in before I started. Not sure if I could keep up that pace for an hour but if I could it would be about 344 an hour with the self indexing turret.

dws1117 · Post by **dws1117** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:12 pm

JLaw wrote:
mrbug wrote:I am using a Lee auto indexing turret press.
Oooohh, I saw the online video of one of these things in action at Diode's shop and fell in love with them. Looks simple and affordable enough for the average Joe to use while still cranking out more rounds per hour than a standard single stage press.

It's on the "Want" list for sure...

JLaw

Dang, too bad we didn't know each other a couple of years ago. I let mine go really cheap to a forum member when I stepped up to the Dillon 550.

ghentry,

There is some really good advice here. I'll just say that with a good system and the lee press you can get going pretty good. Now, my experience may nor mirror others, but even with the increased productivity, I quickly became frustrated with all the different steps and bought the Dillon. The Lee is an excellent press especially for the low cost. The Dillon 550b is a semi progressive press in that you must manually index that shell plate, but you have a completed round with each stroke of the ram. The Dillon customer service and warranty is second to none and, I feel, are worth the initial cost of the press.

Good Luck.

Wayne

dws1117 · Post by **dws1117** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:18 pm

So then my question now is... the Square Deal B or 550B? I've looked at their website and see that the Sq. Deal is about $60 cheaper and comes with the dies (which totals about $120 cheaper than the 550B once you've bought dies).

The ability to load many, many more calibers. You never know what find that gun you "just have to have" and ammo for said gun is very expensive.

Jeremae · Post by **Jeremae** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:04 pm

mrbug wrote:Y'all got me to thinking about how many I really can put out an hour. I did a fifteen minute timed test on myself working the reloader flat out fast as I could....got 86 done in 15 minutes.....now that is of course the brass has already been resized, decapped, and new primers put in before I started. Not sure if I could keep up that pace for an hour but if I could it would be about 344 an hour with the self indexing turret.

I took a look at my "process" and see that it was inefficiant.

I was lining up 25 cases and bullets on table top next to press and loading them. So I tried a test where I stood over a hundred cases and bullets up and loaded as many as I could in 15 mins while still weighing the same number of charges and checking for length. I did 62 not counting the 3 I had to put back in press and reseat the primer deeper.

I then went to wally world and bought 2 flat pans with covers and filled them with cases and bullets (about 1000) and started loading for a timed hour. Even with refilling primer tray after 100 rounds and topping off powder measure I completed 210 rounds in 1 hour. I glued some foam rubber to inside of pan lids and this keeps cases/bullets from moving around/falling between sessions.

This makes me wonder just how many rounds an hour I could get out of a progressive press.