I've done a couple searches, and although I've come up with lots of info and advice, I haven't found exactly what I was looking for

I am a Marine, and although most guys are lucky to get to the range to qual once a year, a big part of my job is shooting so I'm lucky enough to get through on average about 2000 rounds a month each .45ACP and 5.56 courtesy of the government

thats all fine and good, but the problem is thats an average volume, some times we don't shoot for a couple months, and if we're getting sent through some courses, I may not even see my service rifle or pistol for a month or two, so I'm needing to expand my practice into my personal time a bit to really get the proficiency level i'm looking for and to maintain my skill through the "dry" spells

What I'm really looking at is that I think for the volume I'll be shooting out of pocket, probably 500 rounds of .45 and under 1000 a month 5.56, reloading would be a pretty good option for me, I also REALLY like the idea of atleast my first mag being filled with ammo I know to be 100% reliable because I loaded it myself, the very first shot tends to be very important, the failure rates for govt ammo aren't bad, but start shooting thousands of rounds and you start racking up dud rounds (I've had .45s loaded with no powder and 2 bullets jammed in, so little powder that the bullet slid out of the barrel and landed on my boot, and others that were just complete duds)

right now we're shooting quite a bit, so I'm not in a rush, but I wanted to start getting a set up going so I was ready in the "lean" times when we're doing other stuff at work a few months from now

1. I have an unlimited amount spent brass in both those cals, litterally thousands of pounds of the stuff (anybody looking for spent military casings for either? i'm in NC, have brass will trade for peanuts!)
2. Those are the only cals I work with, so they're really the only ones I'll be shooting and there fore the only ones I'm intrested in loading for the time being, and right now I just don't have the time to even think about getting into other loads
3. I know I'll be having more initial outlay for the equipment, and that really I'll spend just as much on ammo as I probably would otherwise, but I'll be getting more rounds and much higher quality control, I like all that

For the bullets I was going to try to match the govt ammo, powder and primers I'd like to go with reliability above all else

I'm not really concerned with key hole accuracy, with the ranges and speeds we have to shoot, I know the human factory trumps all else for accuracy, so the shot to shot consistency of the ammo would even take a back seat to its reliability

really i'm trying to figure out what kind of a setup to get me started, and what kind of set would I eventually be looking at

the classic lee loader looks pretty intresting, atleast to get me started with the .45, but I've read mixed reviews on the quality/durability of their stuff, does RCBS have a similar product?
if so, would the dies for that work in one of their rock chuckers

I know I'd eventually be getting a press type reloader, numbers of rounds per hour, how does a single stage really compare to a progressive

as far as cost goes, I'm talking about my life really, so I'm not concerned about the cost too much, but I still don't want alot of stuff I don't really need

anyways, all opinions appreciated, thanks

The Lee Classic reloader is only suited for VERY low production. I'm talking about the guys who can load twenty rounds and make it last three years. The "dies" are pretty much the tool itself and they aren't compatible with anything.

If you want to load in fairly good quantity at the lowest price get a Lee hand press and set of carbide dies for the .45.

Are you referring to the Lee Classic Loader, which is a set of hand tools, or the Lee Classic Press, which is a conventional single station loading press?

Lee Classic Loader, for very small volume:
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1166375466.5694=/html/catalog/cleeloader.html

Lee Classic Press, for medium volume:
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1166375466.5694=/html/catalog/classic.html

Dillon 550, for 1500 rounds a month:
http://dillonprecision.com/template/p.cfm?maj=12&dyn=1&cookieClean=1

Bye
Jack

I'm a diehard Lee fan and they do make a couple of progressive presses that work well, but ammo in quanity I'd suggest you spend the bucks and look into Dillon as Jack suggests.

Iowaloha SumGrunt.
I agree with the Dillon. Can do it on a single-stage, but you will get tired of doing it! You can also mow a couple of acres of grass with hand clippers. I prefer a rider, thank you.

Cheezywan

Wow... I did the same thing many years back when I was in the Navy! Here's my input.
1. Certainly a press over Lee hand set.
2. Dillon is best for your volumn. Single stage is cheaper but will wear you out.
3. You only need about 12 sq ft of space. A desk top will work provided its firmly anchored.
4. If you are in a $ pinch and need to cut cost I have an RCBS with all the toys and .45 dies that I will GIVE u for the cost of shipping. It has everything u need to handle military brass.

If you are near the 2ND RECON, look up Doc (HM2)Rogow at the BAS for references. Tell him you heard from the TMC.

Your decision to keep practicing is the right one. The late Col. Cooper told us about two weeks without pressing a trigger was about as long as one could expect to go without the skill beginning to deteriorate. Dry firing will keep it up and lets you watch for sight disturbance when the hammer falls, but you still need to keep indifference to recoil practiced, too.

We've been going through this loading startup question on another thread. To familiarize yourself with the process of reloading, look at the Lee Windows Media Player library. Everything from reloading to die adjustment is explained using their equipment in these free video downloads (http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/video.html).

I recommend you start with the .45 singly reloaded. For the volume you shoot, I think you will likely want to go to a progressive press later, after you’ve learned the basics. The Dillon 550B will handle both calibers you want, and you can buy a demonstration video from them for $6 to see how it is setup and works? But to get you started on basics, I would go to Midway (http://www.midwayusa.com) or Midshouth (http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com) (the Lee factory store will charge full retail, while these places won't) and order a Lee hand tool kit for under $30 and Lee Speed Die for .45 ACP for another $15 and a Lee powder dipper set for $6.50. The hand tool will always be useful for working up new loads at the range, where you won't want to drag the Dillon along.

If you buy FMJ hardball bullets (Hornady 230 grain FMJ ENC bullets are about $0.10 each with shipping in bulk quantities of 1500 from Midsouth) and you buy Alliant Bullseye powder, the second dipper in the Lee set. 0.5 cc, will throw 4.7 grains, which is very close to a standard hardball load (5.0 grains). It will cycle the gun perfectly and will not feel any different from military hardball. It will be very slightly lower in energy, but not enough to be apparent in practical situations. If you want to squeeze more stopping power out of it, buy the Hornady 230 grain FP ENC bullet, which is a truncated cone FMJ with rounded meplat edges for better feed reliability. This same powder charge will also drive a 200 grain cast bullet hard enough to cycle a hardball gun. That cuts the bullet cost in half.

Because you have military, rather than commercial brass, you have crimped primer pockets that will have to be opened up to accept a new primer. Several hand and electric screwdriver driven tools are available for this. The most economical way to get started for both large and small primer pockets is this Hornady tool (http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=804809). The fastest tool for the job in any quantity is the Dillon primer pocket swaging tool at the bottom of this page (http://dillonprecision.com/template/p.cfm?maj=15&min=0&dyn=1&). It has one drawback, other than price. Crimped primer pockets that are swaged rather than cut away get a slight swell of brass around their perimeter. No problem for the .45, but in the .223, it will slightly tighten headspace and a minor bit of accuracy loss may be observed on the first two reloads. If you don't shoot high-master class scores routinely, don't worry about it. Boltface thrust from firing will flatten this right back out, but a portion of the brass will flow back where it came from. For this reason you will likely have to run it through the swaging tool a second time. After your second reload all that is gone and accuracy comes back to full potential for the rest of the brass life.