With the Lee single stage, will the quick change bushings make it so that I don't have to adjust my dies everytime? Wouldn't they maintain the same OAL and what not?

I looked at turret designs in my price range but I just don't think the quality of a Lee Turret Press is worth trying.

And my shooting output does not warrant a LNL at the moment.

Yes, the die stays in the bushing and just twists into place.

Thanks Mars

It's the same for any press really. All dies have lock rings Adjust them, lock them in place & go. The quick change Lee is lke the Hornady LNL, it allows faster die change, but all dies have lock rings.

I think the Lee turret press is the best bang for the buck out there unless you're trying to crank out ammo for sale. My turret was an old 3 hole model which I upgraded to a 4 hole after a while, and honestly it makes absolutely fine ammo. I've never read any bad things about it.

Don't write it off if it's what's in your price range. It works very well especially if you size and deprime separately, then hand prime, and run the primed cases through the turret for the remaining operations on the press (bell, powder drop, seat, crimp)

I'd hold off on the Lee progressives. They get a mix of aggrivation and praise. Single stages are okay from what I can tell, but I'd rather have an RCBS Rock Chucker or equivalent.

Hey otto, I bought a Lee single stage a year ago and load 40 & 44mag with it, Seems to be a good start for a noob like me. But I dont burn up that many rounds either.

Yeah I've loaded the first 50 rounds earlier tonight actually.

Just got my P250 back today so I could test OAL and what not. Going tomorrow to shoot.

I don't like getting in a big hurry, so it works great for me. Simple and keeps me busy for a minimal cost which is what I was after, I got everything to make 2000K rounds to keep a good stock, so 2-3 months and I'll buy more supplies and continue on.

But yeah, it works great for me, I just need to get a good powder measure, the lee one is horrid and the 505 works okay, but it is simply too slow. Either that or a good electronic scale sometime in the future.

Otto, I have an old RCBS electronic powder scale which is good but I just use it to spot check my powder measure. If you have the 505, then all you really need is something like the Lee auto disk, RCBS Uniflow, etc (other mfr's) to dispense an exact powder quickly.

The electronic scale is a bit faster than the 505, but for real speed at a price lower than the electronic, all you need is the powder dispenser. Crank the handle, weigh some charges to make sure it's consistent, then start loading and periodically check every 10th charge or so to make sure it's still on.

Have fun and be safe.
rod

Rod,

I have one of those Lee Measures, perhaps it will be worth my while to set it up.

I tested several of the .40 loads today. I'm assuming Rainier was covering their ass saying load using lead data because the heaviest lead load wouldn't even eject the round. I only had up to 6.2 grains made and those barely ejected the round and rarely chambered the next one. I think OAL was good, just gonna try moving up to 6.8 ish next time at the range.

Otto,
What type and weight of bullet, and what powder, are you loading in the 40? Also, what kind of gun? All stock springs etc?

That's seems pretty surprising off the top of my head, but it's possible. Because of the many variables we can't measure directly reloading seems part alchemy some times but there's usually a reason.

Time for some head scratching.

rod

If I recall you can load up with 10% of what a std jacket is.

But normally once you get it the upper 50% auto work just fine. I would double check your weights and make sure your reading the scales correctly. All scales need to be balanced before use, so check your zero before you start.

Did you do a TC or FC to the rounds?

I used rainier 165 gr. rnfp with AA No. 5 and a 1.125 OAL. Maybe a bit long but like I said, when it cycled properly, they chambered fine. Was when I used some 4.5 grain and 5.0 grain charges that they would not chamber or eject very well at all. 6.2 grains seemed a litle on the low side to me, but considering how the factory loads were performing, i'll probably go to the range this weekend with about 400 rounds of factory and try to get them performing flawlessly again before I make permanents adjustments to my loads.

Otto,

You didn't mention, but I assume you are loading 40 S&W, correct? If so, please double check this and double check your components... but what I see on AA's website for the 40 S&W with AA #5 is:

155 Ranier FP 6.9 to 7.7 grains at 1.125" OAL
(you need to be LOWER than this, because yours is HEAVIER)

165 SIE JHP 6.5 to 7.2 at 1.125" OAL
(you need to be LOWER because this is a jacketed bullet)

180 Berry's HP 5.8 to 6.5 at 1.125" OAL
(this range should be safe since it's a plated bullet like Ranier and MUCH heavier)

I also see in my Lyman #47 manual for 40 S&W using AA#5 and Win SP:

175 gr lead FP with 6.1-6.9 gr at 1.125" OAL
(should be safe since this is a heavier bullet)

175 gr LFP 6.0-6.9 at 1.100" OAL (different profile)
(should be a safe range for same reason)

Double check your caliber, components, etc, and if they match, check the AA website to confirm the data I listed and confer with your manual. If it all looks correct, I would look at the 6.0 to 6.9 range and start with maybe 6.4 and work up to 6.9 if it functions well AND no signs of pressure.

Hope that helps.
rod

Rod,

Identical data to what I have come up with for the most part.

I started out at like 4.5 gr because that's what AA had for their lead data.

After testing a few different grains, I've settled that somewhere around 6.6 was about where I needed to be. So about right where you have come up with also.

The 6.2 felt just a tad bit light so you are probably right on at startign at 6.4 next time.

And yes it is .40.

I've got one of those lyman # 49 on order atm. The speer manual had some helpful tips but it is mainly a 4" thick advertisement for RCBS imo.