New to reloading

[Turnup]

The Lee Progressive will not try drop powder if there is no case in the stage and I believe the newer ones also will not feed a primer either so it is entirely possible to operate it by feeding only one case at a time and thus allowing you to focus completely on each stage until you feel you have it mastered.

WRT the Lee Progressive press itself, it is certainly excellent value for money but IME they all need a bit of tinkering to get them working well. You certainly have the tinkering skills (not everyone does) so it's just a matter of carefully attending to each area one at a time. This might be dangerously unconventional but take some time to CAREFULLY RTFM to understand it all and do not skip over bits which might seem unimportant or unclear. As it the norm with 'merkin manuals, it is not written very well and easy to miss something important.

If you are going for multiple different cartridges then get extra die plates so you can avoid the tedious die set up process each time you want to change cartridges, just swap the entire die plate, and if necessary the shell holder, and crack on.

I think that there is now a four stage version so that the bullet seating and crimping stages are separate - this is a godsend - I found that with the combined seat/crimp die as used on the three stage version there is a tendency for it to shave bits of lead off the bullet as the crimp compresses while the bullet is still seating.

I would also avoid the standard powder dispenser plates - they obviously only have discrete sizes and it seemed to me that the ideal loads were always somewhere in between, particularly if you want light target loads. I believe it is possible to mount a Lee Perfect measure instead and again with a bit of fettling it works very well.

[tinbum]

Wonderful info, thanks! The Lee Classic Turret is looking favourite at the moment, Mrs Bum is keen to try it as well and wants a .45 cos the bullets are cute and tubby. Just like me

I will need a tumbler, is there a preferred one, or are they all much of a muchness?

[DedIdick]

I will need a tumbler, is there a preferred one, or are they all much of a muchness?

The vibratory ones are OK but imho the "rock" tumblers are better, especially if you get into wet tumbling. Small ones can be had for less than £100; I would makes sure it's got a capacity of at least 3lbs or 1.5kg. (ok for a few pistol cases) but like other things in life, bigger is better. I have a big one & a small one, just like my cars, one's a 1.4litre and another is 3.9litres. "You can't beat Cubes!"

[Turnup]

Wonderful info, thanks! The Lee Classic Turret is looking favourite at the moment, Mrs Bum is keen to try it as well and wants a .45 cos the bullets are cute and tubby. Just like me

I will need a tumbler, is there a preferred one, or are they all much of a muchness?

I have never used a tumbler and I don't plan to either. There are several reasons for this:

a) If, like me you like the shiny nickel plated cases a tumbler will rub through the nickel in no time and they then look horrible

b) If you tumble empty cases you then have to clean out the media

c) Tumbling does not clean primer pockets very well

I use an ultrasonic cleaner on my cases - no media residue and primer pockets are clean too. Don't buy a shooter's ultrasonic cleaner - they are silly money. Look on the site which must not be named - I think mine is a 1L 50 W unit and it will take 100 .38 spl cases loose or a brick of 50 (I use the plastic cartridge holder found in many branded boxed of 50). Add the cleaning fluid of your choice. I use boiled water with a dash of citric acid and a drop of detergent will work fine. If you have hard water in your area then a single drop of dishwasher finisher will prevent water marks. 10 minutes in the bath and set them out to dry - you can clean 300 cases in an hour in batches of 50 then overnight to dry or cook them up in the oven at 120C for 20 minutes. That said for many years I did not clean cases at all and had no problems, but they don't look so good as nice shiny ones. WARNING: do not let your cases sit in the bath after it has finished - a lot of the very fine muck will settle out on to the cases and if that dries it is really difficult to get it off again.

[tinbum]

I have never used a tumbler and I don't plan to either. There are several reasons for this:

a) If, like me you like the shiny nickel plated cases a tumbler will rub through the nickel in no time and they then look horrible

b) If you tumble empty cases you then have to clean out the media

c) Tumbling does not clean primer pockets very well

I use an ultrasonic cleaner on my cases - no media residue and primer pockets are clean too. Don't buy a shooter's ultrasonic cleaner - they are silly money. Look on the site which must not be named - I think mine is a 1L 50 W unit and it will take 100 .38 spl cases loose or a brick of 50 (I use the plastic cartridge holder found in many branded boxed of 50). Add the cleaning fluid of your choice. I use boiled water with a dash of citric acid and a drop of detergent will work fine. If you have hard water in your area then a single drop of dishwasher finisher will prevent water marks. 10 minutes in the bath and set them out to dry - you can clean 300 cases in an hour in batches of 50 then overnight to dry or cook them up in the oven at 120C for 20 minutes. That said for many years I did not clean cases at all and had no problems, but they don't look so good as nice shiny ones. WARNING: do not let your cases sit in the bath after it has finished - a lot of the very fine muck will settle out on to the cases and if that dries it is really difficult to get it off again.

That's great thanks! Mrs Bum likes the idea of ultrasonic as it works on jewellery too.

Do you have a pic or name to check I'm looking at the right thing?

[JB101]

Just to add to the mix I’ve used dry media , ultrasonic and wet tumbling for cleaning cases and settled on the latter as it gives the best overall results.It also cleans out the primer pockets as well .
Essentially get what works for you, it’s like asking an opinion on what’s the best air rifle - you’ll get loads of opinions.
Clean cases look nice😁and feed better (overall) and keeps the Loading dies cleaner.

[Turnup]

That's great thanks! Mrs Bum likes the idea of ultrasonic as it works on jewellery too.

Do you have a pic or name to check I'm looking at the right thing?

It's a JPL Ultra 7000. Looking on t'bay the new ones seem to be more expensive than I remember. There are other brands but IMO you need at least 1 litre and 50W

[Turnup]

That's great thanks! Mrs Bum likes the idea of ultrasonic as it works on jewellery too.

Do you have a pic or name to check I'm looking at the right thing?

Mine is a JPL Ultra 7000. Looking on t'bay the new ones seem to be more expensive than I remember. There are other brands. IMO you need at least 1 litre and 50W continuous (some of the real cheapies cannot run at full power for very long). Mine is not heated so I just nuke up the solution in the mirowave before use and the heat produced while running seems to keep it hot.

[baldycoot]

If you are getting a US cleaner then you can't go wrong with one of the 2 ltr digital ones from the bay.
I have three different cleaners, and ths one has proven to be the best so far.


To clean the cases I follow the exact same process as the article in the link,

https://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

[B&W FOX]

Reloading is not cheap or money saving.
After spending out on dies, press, scales, vernier gauges, load trays, pocket cleaners, lube, powder, primers, heads and anything else I've missed this no cheaper than buying factory ammo, but it is a hobby and art form in its self. It's very relaxing and interesting and the results are fascinating.
The only way to make it semi viable is to load multiple calbres and try and use the same powder for each one which is usually possible..
You'll spend more time reloading than shooting !!!!

[tinbum]

If you are getting a US cleaner then you can't go wrong with one of the 2 ltr digital ones from the bay.
I have three different cleaners, and ths one has proven to be the best so far.

Which one?!