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Which Brand Of Reloader Do You Use?

  • Lee

    Votes: 87 35.2%
  • Hornady

    Votes: 24 9.7%
  • RCBS

    Votes: 52 21.1%
  • MEC

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Dillon

    Votes: 71 28.7%
  • Forster

    Votes: 2 0.8%
  • Other (Please Specify)

    Votes: 11 4.5%

Which Reloader Do You Use?

27K views 96 replies 79 participants last post by  MAC45 
#1 ·
I am considering purchasing a reloading system and am leaning towards lee mostly because of the cost.
 
#2 ·
A lot of people start out on Lee due to the cost. They are not bad, but IMO there are better.

What will you be loading and what kind of volume? That may help narrow down what you need.
 
#3 ·
I will be reloading 9mm, 8mm mauser, and 7mm mauser. I may also start reloading .25acp and .380 for my parents. I burn through alot of 9mm and a decent amount of 8mm mauser. I would say I burn through 200-400 9mm a month and 25-100 8mm a month. I may only go through 10-40 7mm a year.
 
#4 ·
I started out with the Lee Breech Lock Challenger kit. A couple weeks ago I bought a Lee Classic Turret. IMHO it was a nice upgrade. With the Auto indexing, it ups the production dramatically.
I would recommend the Classic Turret for beginners. Just pull out the auto indexer and it's just like a single stage until you have a good handle on the individual processes. Also helpful if you batch process your brass. The extra pieces you will be buying are going to be significantly cheaper with Lee as well.
 
#5 ·
My very old Dillon handles both .45 ACP and .30-'06 with very little fuss.
I have to change the die set, to change calibers; but newer Dillon machines allow you to change-out the entire tool-head in one quick operation. (I don't have to change the shell plate, because both of my rounds use the same size. You will have to change yours, though.)
Changing the tool-head to change calibers requires also that you use a separate powder measure for each caliber, or that you do a major readjustment of the one powder measure, each time you do the tool change.

I doubt the utility of reloading .25 ACP, since all the bits and pieces are so small. I think that you'll do more damage to your fingertips than you'll ever do to a target or a bad guy.
 
#7 ·
Started with the RCBS back in the 70's and still using it. I have been considering a progressive lee for a while to make my handgun loads. I would have no problem in getting a lee. They all will work with different personalities and quirks. All reloading is a learning curve that never ends.
 
#8 ·
Started with the RCBS back in the 70's and still using it. I have been considering a progressive lee for a while to make my handgun loads. I would have no problem in getting a lee. They all will work with different personalities and quirks. All reloading is a learning curve that never ends.
^^Very true.

I use a Hornaday LNL AP with case feeder. I shoot 10-15K a year in 45acp. Once set up the LNL/with case feeder will load 100 rounds in 10-12 mins no problem safely.
 
#9 ·
I started out with RCBS in the early '70's. Excellent equipment.

I got out of it for a few years and let most of my gear get away. When I started back, a few years ago, I decided to go the cheap route, till I saw if I was gonna stick with it. The Lee gear is so much cheaper that you can afford to toss it after a few hundred rounds, if you don't like it. But I expanded into 5 handgun calibers and 3 rifle calibers, and I still like the Lee turret press just fine.
 
#12 ·
One thing I like about RCBS over Lee is the locking ring. The RCBS uses a set screw and the lee uses an o-ring. The o-ring can slip and you usually have to do more adjusting with the Lee when changing dies.
Redding also makes a good die. The local shop was selling them for just a couples bucks more than RCBS dies but now the Redding took a jump and are $13 - $20 more.
As for presses I would go with RCBS for a single stage and Dillion.
 
#13 ·
I reload only pistol ammo.

Dillon - approx 20 years old. Every time I have broken anything, I have called Dillon and they have sent out replacement parts at no charge. One time my movers lost the buttons for one of my shell plates and Dillon sent me new ones for free. Another time, the movers broke the primer catcher off my press during a move. Yep, I called Dillon and they sent out parts for free.

I reload:
.38 spec \ .357 mag / both use the same dies
9 mm Luger
.40 S&W \ 10 mm / both use the same dies
.45 ACP
.45 Long Colt

I have looked at Lee, I will stick with my Dillon. Just can't beat that "no B.S." warranty.

:smt038
 
#14 ·
Bonjour,
LEE.:smt1099
Use nothing else for my casting-lubing-reloading. I reload about 1000 38spl+1000 9mm+1000 45acp every few months month.:smt071
I use a LEE 4-hole Turret Press with the index rod taken out, I can work faster when I rotate the turret head.
 
#16 ·
Newb question, is the index rod the part that automatically rotates the turret to the next stage? If so, why does that make the process go slower? Thanks!
Answers: "Yes," and "Because you have to stop between operations and rotate the thing by hand."

Going slower and non-automatically forces you to pay careful attention to what you're doing, and, in reloading, that's frequently a good thing.

It's also The French Way, even though Fusil is really British. That is, he's confused. Proof: He believes that hand rotation makes the loading process go faster.
Had Fusil stayed in his native Britain, he would be able to accept the principles of Newtonian Physics, and thereby understand why operating a progressive press by hand is philosophically wrong. But because he has adapted himself to French Thought, he is required to reject Newton, even though he lives in The Land of Falling Apples. Thus, he has become intellectually reversed.
I hope that all of this is clear to you. I'm sure that Fusil agrees with my assessment.
 
#19 ·
Eighteen years ago, I started rolling my own with an RCBS Master Reloading Kit. I still use the Rockchucker to load rifle ammo with.

I then purchased an RCBS Turret Press that I use for specialty handgun ammo.

Since I shoot quite a bit of 9x19 fodder, I decided to buy a Dillon SDB. And I have yet to regret my decision. Their tech support, and warranty are excellent. I like this little blue machine so much, I recently bought a .40 S&W quick-change conversion kit for it. :)
 
#20 ·
I use the Hornady LNL for all my handgun rounds, and the RCBS Rockchucker for all my rifle rounds. I currently reload 45, 9mm, 380,30-30, 223 and 308. Shortly will reload 30-06 for my Brother-In-Law. I like to separate the steps in the rifle reloading. I also only use the RCBSuniversal hand priming tool for everything because I can "feel" the seating better.

Bill
 
#21 ·
At the peak of my hand loading hobby I had and used 141 different die sets, I don't know how many different cartridges that would load considering the combinations such as 38/357 and 32 S&W/Long/Magnum/327. I used RCBS, Lee, Lyman, Herters, Echo, Pacific and others; they will all do the job. If I was starting out today with the knowledge and experience of 55 years of doing "IT"; I would go with Lee as far as I could go and add other items from other companies to streamline and customize my operation. I would definitely have a RCBS Little Dandy Powder measure for loading handgun, it is pricey but it is the only one like it, that I know of, on the market today. There used to be several and I have some, obsolete but I have and use them.
Investigate Lee to the fullest, first!!
 
#24 ·
I started in the mid '70s with an RCBS Rockchucker for rifle and pistol and it's still the only press I have.
Measures, scales, funnels, everything else RCBS as well.

I have tried different companies die sets over the years; don't see much difference there.
Now if I try a new cartridge I buy the Lee, just cause they are cheaper and seem just as good to me.
 
#25 ·
I use a Lee 4-hole turret press. I only load pistol calibers since that is what I shoot most (9mm, 38 Special, 44 Special, and 45 ACP). I only shoot recreationally (no competition shooting), so I don't go through huge quantities of ammo. If I shot competitively, then I would certainly go with a progressive press. I find the Lee 4-hole turret press is a good compromise between a single-stage press (like an RCBS Rockchucker) and a progressive press. I have separate turret plates for each caliber that I reload with the dies already set. Makes for a very fast change between calibers.

I have a friend who used a Lee progressive press and had problems. He sold the Lee and went with an RCBS Pro-2000 progressive press and loves it.

Here is a site that has some good information about reloading presses from the various manufacturers:

Ultimate Reloader

:smt1099
 
#26 ·
RCBS here....Its slow but it allows me to look over everything and spend some quality time alone listening to the Eagles, Poco, Little feat, Avvett Brothers, Alabama Blind boys ect and make some bullets. I can't make 100 per hour but I live in MN and there are a lot of hours in the winter here. I touch everyone of the 6 or 7 K I make in the winter. I really like making bullets.

I have a buddy who has a Hornaday with all the bells and whistles and we can load like 250 an hour. Its like a factory. If I had his setup I'd have to go ice fishing more often.

RCG
 
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