Beginner loader - Getting ready to drop the charge!

[Cobalt 60]

I started recently on a Pro 1000 loading .45 ACP. I can recommend it with one caveat. Get a hand primer. Priming on the press is a pain in the ass and not worth the aggravation. Set up the depriming/sizing die and run all of your brass through it. Then clean it. Then prime it. Then take out the depriming die and set it up with the other two dies. Load ammo!

Sounds like a pain, but in the long run is actually less time consuming than fixing the priming system every time it screws up.

I also highly recommend the case feeder tray to go on top of the case feeding tubes, the bullet feeder, and there was something else I was going to mention but forgot.

 

[YOTESHOOTER]

DILLON 550, once and done, they have the best warranty of all......................

Then you could go to DILLON 650, have both would not deal with others any more...

 

[Cobalt 60]

Oh - remembered it. Make sure to sort your brass - you are likely to find a fair amount of small primer brass if it is range pick up brass. Run one of those on the press priming system with large primers and get ready to cuss like you never have before. All the more reason to hand prime.

 

[jjrock]

Wow, thanks for all the valuable information everyone! I'm going to check out all of the recommendations and will post any other questions before making the plunge!

 

[North Ga Hillbilly]

I'll second the Dillon suggestion if your wanting to go with a progressive, Its a one time investment, a large one, but your paying for a press, and also a LIFETIME warranty on a machine that will keep on going after your too grizzled to pull the handle.

 

[woodstock]

Stop giving out advice I have to agree with.... turret press is an excellent press for the money. You can pull out the center piece and make a single if you want to keep things slow. I usually do that with 223, where I will size and prime all my cases in one step and then put the center piece back in and use the turret for powder charge and projectile/crimping. Works for me ymmv

Go with the Lee Classic Turret press. Skip the progressive for now. If you find you need to load in higher volume, you can always upgrade to the progressive later. I just started reloading recently and am cranking out 150-200 rounds per hour with the turret press. Highly recommend it.

 

[jjrock]

Oh - remembered it. Make sure to sort your brass - you are likely to find a fair amount of small primer brass if it is range pick up brass. Run one of those on the press priming system with large primers and get ready to cuss like you never have before. All the more reason to hand prime.

I didn't even think of that. I assumed all 45ACP would have used large pistol primers. I will definitely make sure that I resort all of the 45 that I have already sorted out of the rest of the brass, damnit - I didn't even notice it.

While we are on the subject of brass, I've merged a lot of my georgia arms brass which I guess is "twice fired" with a fair amount of once fired store bought stuff. Is this something I should be worried about when sorting? I would think its too late if I was worried anyway as I can't see a discernible difference.

Thanks!

 

[North Ga Hillbilly]

I would think its too late if I was worried anyway as I can't see a discernible difference.

Thanks!

There are a lot of opinions on this, I personally have thrown all the domestic head stamps into a single pile for 9mm and have sorted my 40 into batches due to a higher case pressure and kaboom issues.
With 45 I'd just shoot em till they split, which I do with 9mm, but it's def a personal choice.

 

[Springfield 1911]

45 ACP is a great round to learn the basics of reloading. It is very forgiving and operates at low pressures, uses a lot of different powder I could go on and on. I however, as others have pointed out, do not recommend starting out with a progressive press. Learn to do the basics, crawl before you walk and walk before you run. I suggest a single stage Lee with the breech lock. You will ALWAYS have a need for a single stage press if you keep loading. Just my two cents worth. If you need help or want to view a setup let me know.

 

[NGIB]

I only reload .45 and I use a Lee classic turret but I run it without the actuator rod. I'm in no hurry and I like manual control. I generally process the brass in stages anyway, size and deprime a batch, prime a batch, then finish a batch...