I am going to get a loading press! But I have a question. I am just starting to load my own and this will be my first press. In a previous post, many of you recommended a lee starter kit. I am most likely going to get that kit, but in looking at it, I see they make a turret press that will perform all the functions without having to change the dies. My question is for a beginner, what are the pros and cons between the turret press and the single stage press. Well besides the 50.00 price difference.
Thanks
Regnets

When I jumped into reloading 20 plus years ago. I was familiar with shotgun reloading and wanted to start center fire ammo. Fist thing is to buy the best that you can afford or even wait until you have enough money to get what you want. I was shooting a lot of IPSC and Bowling pin matches so I knew I needed a progressive press. If I was spending the money on a press I wanted to load both rifle and pistol ammo. I check around, before Al Gore created the internet (remeber when he made that statement), talked to shooter at the range, and bought a Dillion 550B. I haven't been disapointed yet. You can't beat the service and warranty. I have broken parts on the press, no fault of Dillion and they have sent me a new one. Lost the calibration weigh to the Dillion digital scale, sent me a new one (twice) no questions, no problems, just a thank you for using their products.When I broke the adjustment bolt on the powder bar, I told them I did it and tried to pay for it and they said, no problem and sent me a new one.

I know I sound like a poster child for Dillion, but I have never delt with a company that has that customer service. There are probably some folks out there that have had the oposite sercvice from them, but all I can say is they go 110% to make this customer happy.

Well you can do what you want but poorly designed progressive reloading presses will drive you insane (this is not a negative comment on the lee progressive - I have no experience with that one). My suggestion is start off with a single stage for a year or so until you become familiar with reloading and then consider a progressive. You can always sell the single stage if you buy a good one. I have 2 RCBS presses that are 35+ years old and they still function perfectly.

I have used RCBS single stages with good success.
My current press is a Redding Turret press which I simply enjoy. Not cheap, but quality through and through

As far as ease of use you really won't find much difference between the turret (not progessive) & the single stage. The main difference you will see is convience. As you noted you can leave the entire 3 die set (two sets in some presses) in the press at all times & that's a nice time saving feature. With Lee turrets you can buy inexpensive heads (under $10.) that allow you to have a head for each set of dies for caliber changes that take only a minute & everything stays adjusted.
I am a Lee fan. The other major brands (I've owned most all of them thru the years. I too used to shoot IPSC & NRA Action Shooting very seriously, along with varmit & big game hunting) are great too, but Lee makes great stuff at a great price. Folks say you get what you pay for, & that's usually true, but with Lee I believe that dollar for dollar you get MORE than you pay for compared to the others. Due to moves & changes of interest I sold all of my reloading stuff about 10 years ago ( Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Forster, etc. Yeah, dumb move on my part) & just started getting back into it about 3 yrs ago with the cheap "Lee Anniversary" kit & Lee dies (I've always been a fan of Lee dies), & although I've only loaded a few thousand rounds in the last 3 yrs, the Lee equipment is working great. If money was no factor in my life would I still buy Lee? I'm not sure, but there's a real good chance their new cast iron turret press would hold the prime position on my bench.

Vance,
The problem that I had with a Lee progressive (straight-wall-9mm, 45ACP, etc) was with the powder measure (plastic parts that stuck) that created some frustrating problems and caused me to pull quite a few bullets on one occasion and resulted in a bullet being lodged in my brother-in-laws revolver. I have owned a 650 Dillon (with auto case feed) almost since they first made them, but I don't load bottle-neck cartridges with them. Difference has been night and day and the cost for me, was worth it. I still use certain Lee products, but not their progressives. Maybe their newer models are better or they worked through the problems that I faced.

Hi Ernie.
Regents 1 asked about turret presses, not progessives. Big difference (of course you know that).
That said, in my IPSC days I shot both revolver & autos & so had a press that was set up for each so I wouldn't have to mess with changing calibers. Both presses were Lee Progessive 1000s.
I don't know just how many rounds I loaded on those presses. I can safely say that between the two it had to be around 75,000 (probably more). In that time I never had any powder charging problems with either machine. I also the auto case feed & that worked flawlessly. The only problems I remember ever having were simply from grime getting into the indexing mechanism. Quick & easy to blow out with a compressor. At that time mid 80s?) I believe a Progessive 1000 sold for $99 set up complete with case feed & dies. Maybe I was lucky. I do know I was one of the few that wasn't wearing Dillon blue polo shirts at the matches at the time Dillon's quality & service has earned them the place of being THE competetion shooters progressive press.

I would suggest that you get the Lee single stage press. Learn to load, see if you like it. Then after a time, take a good look at what you are loading for or like to load and decide what equipment is right for your needs. Just remember the "KISS" principal when you start.

KISS = Keep I t S imple at the S tart

Lee makes good solid products for a very reasonable price. They also stand behind thier products 100% I had thier hand primer break. I mailed the broken piece to them and within 1 week a new piece showed up at no cost. I have said it before that Lee keeps all the other companies in check. Quality products at a reasonable price. Other wise I'd bet that a set of dies would be $200 or more, and special dies ....well I shudder to think.

I'm sure you know the difference but I just thought I'd explane the difference in presses.

Single stage press= Holds one die and performes 1 function, die must be changed to perform another function.

Turret press= Holds many dies, usually 4 or more. You can preform one task many times or each task on the turet head by indexing the head manually.

Progressive press= Holds all dies needed to load one specific cartridge, each station (die) performes an action when the handle is cycled, and the head indexes automatically. Very nice for production.

Vance,
Never had a problem with any other Lee product. I still use their auto prime for almost everything that is a bottleneck cartridge. My progressive had that circular plastic insert for the powder measure that you could change out that caused the problem. I also had some other plastic parts break. I must have got several lemons
I have no problems with their turret press and have advised others to purchase their single stage as a beginning press.
I know of others who have had wonderful experience with Lee's progressives. I sure wouldn't have changed had I not had the problems with that one.
I'm not sure why Lee being brought up today brought out that old frustration-I'm not even having a bad day
Thanks for letting me vent

everyone,
Thanks for your insight (and for being so patient with a newbie). You guys have explained things very well. I went back to MidwayUsa and looked at the difference between the two kits I was looking at (and embarissingly) they are both single stage except one comes with Lee's reloding manual. So I searched for their turret press kits. While it is still very affordable, I am going to go with the single stage kit with the manual. Tigger I am a huge fan of the KISS principle, thanks for remnding me. One other factor is the turret kit does not come with the same amount of equipment as the single stage kit. So for under a hundred bucks, I am going to have everything I need besides the bullet parts to start loading. Right now I am only going to be loading for my 357's. I have one rigged for hunting and that is the real impetus for loading my own shells. I have not been able to find hunting grade ammo on the shelf, and thanks to the wonderful lawmakers here in Illinois, I can't mail order ammunition anymore. So I suppose if I can't buy it I'll make it.
From here, I have a few other toys I will consider loading for, I have a 9mm pistol and then two rifle cartridges I will have a lot of brass for in the future. So if you don't mind indulging me another question on this thread, can this press load both the straight walled handgun rounds I mentioned above and a 30 carbine and 30-06 springfield? (Hopefuly I will need a 45 acp to round out my wwII collection soon too but I know the press will load those.)
Again, thanks for your opinions, I really value them and your help!

Regnets

Man Ernie, if that was your version of venting your wife has it made!!!

regnets 1, the one thing I woud suggest you add to the equation is a powder trickeler. for some reason they don't put one in the kit (not sure Lee even makes one), but they are great for getting those last couple of .01s of powder in the pan. Mine is Lyman & was around $10. I also like Lee's powder dipper set (around $7.00) I find I use them more han my powder measure on bottleneck rounds. I use them on all rounds that I weigh individually (all but light plinking loads for pistols.)

Quote:

---

So if you don't mind indulging me another question on this thread, can this press load both the straight walled handgun rounds I mentioned above and a 30 carbine and 30-06 springfield?

---

YES!!

Regnets 1, no matter what brand or model you choose, you might look at the Lee websight.
http://www.leeprecision.com/
I had never wandered over there before but if you look at the menue they have instructions that explain the process with all their machines (use with most any brand). Also short instructional videos. Worth your time.