Single Stage Press Thoughts

[honkey]

All right so now that I have used my press a few times, I thought I would share a few thoughts about it.

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php?pag ... &Itemid=41

This was the kit I bought. When I first got the press and started using it, I was thinking that it was too slow and that I should have spent the extra money to get a turret press, but now I am not thinking I made a bad purchase. The part of using the single stage press is changing out the dies, so what I have been doing is just doing everything in large quantities.
When I deprimed and primed, I did about 500 cases each of 9mm and 38 special. So today, I decided to time myself and see how long the last two stages would take me just moving at a normal pace. I did 150 rounds in a little over an hour. Just seating a bullet and crimping (I do so in one stage rather than using a FCD) took me 8 minutes per 50 rounds. It took me about 10 minutes to adjust the seating/crimping die and measure the OAL. It took me about the same amount of time to measure my powder and make sure I was getting 3.2 grains everytime before I started charging the cases. It took me 7 minutes per 50 rounds to charge/expand the cases. Overall, it took me an hour and 7 minutes and this was all just working at my normal leisurely pace.

So in short, I am pleased with my single stage press and I don't really feel like it is necessary for me to step up to a faster press for a while. For anyone getting a first press and trying to decide, I hope this helps you make your decision. I feel like it was money well spent.

 

[MikeD]

I learned on a single stage and I still have it although I haven't reloaded in a while.

I used a RCBS Partner press and used it primarily for .357/38 ansd .45ACP. With a little extra muscle I was even able to reload 30-06 on that little bugger.

You can get a lot done in short time once you get the process down. Good job Sir!!!

 

[honkey]

Thanks! I am going to start reloading .45 ACP for my 1911 also. I want to get a mould so I can cast my bullets for it, but I am not sure which mould I want yet. I am leaning toward 230 gr Round Nose though.

 

[megawatt]

I have a Hornady single stage press. I have reloaded many .45 and .308 with out a single problem in the last four years, and I believe it is because I am still using a single stage press. Reloading fast is where problems "can" occur (squib, half charge, double charge, etc.). I think turret presses are great and I may get one some day but QC has to be better with a single stage setup, IMO. I too do things in large quantities, one day or session all I will do is deprim and resize and may not even get to the powder stage. I did get a RCBS chargemaster to measure out the grains of powder, it is fast enough so the time it takes me to pour the powder, add bullet, seat and crimp, remove the new round and replace with new primed and sized shell into the press, the chargemaster is done accurately dispensing a new charge.

 

[nitesite]

honkey~

I don't know if you could possibly improve on a 230-gr RN to start casting for a 1911.

I'm very much like you, in that I have a turret press (which is really, like yours, just a single stage that keeps several dies already adjusted) so it's nowhere as fast as a progressive press that completes a round with every handle pull. Of course, in between is the very fine Lee Classic Cast Turret which can churn out almost 200 rounds per hour from beginning to end but you run one case thru four handle pulls to complete each round before moving on to the next case. It's pretty productive but nowhere what a true progressive can accomplish.

So, again like you, I sometimes spend an evening just sizing and flaring and priming a few hundred pistol/revolver cases which get put up in Ziplock bags for a rainy day. Same with sizing, trimming and priming rifle cases by the hundreds and put back for later. And just like you described, when I want to break out the powder and bullets I can make a whole lot of finished cartridges in little or no time!

Done that way, it seems like my single stage turret press is mighty fast when it comes to finished rounds.

Megawatt makes a great point, that by doing things a little bit slower and more methodically it comes much closer to eliminating "mistakes" that might not be caught by some fella who's reloading at breakneck speed so he can later sit as his computer and brag on the interwebz that he cranked out 500 finished rounds per hour.

That is not why I got into reloading. My equipment helps me produce far more ammo to set aside for range trips and plinking than I can ever find the time to shoot.