Kludge: I looked at that style and there is still the added cost of dies, priming tool, funnel, dipper, etc. now if I could buy that press as a kit that will load one caliber. Now that would be a deal.

I have never used the hand loading press but cannot imagine that it very easy to use. I see all the force that is applied when sizing my shells and cannot imagine doing that without it being attached to something.

I bought a redding press which certainly is not the low end but it is very sturdily built and I just mounted to a piece of 2x6 that is maybe a foot or so long and clamp it to a bench I have. The bench is big but used for other things so the amount of space allotted to the press is pretty small and surely there is something you could clamp it too. So for me I would opt for a press mounted to a piece of wood.

One other consideration is that when preparing shells and reloading you are going to spills stuff. Brass shavings when chamfering, powder that gets away from you when dispensing or trickling it onto the scale. Yes and I have spilled some emptying the the trickler and powder dispenser. When learning I even had a few moments of not thinking where I dumped powder from the shell when trying to get a bullet seated.

My point is that you really want to do it somewhere that a little bit of something spilled is not going to be a problem. In my experience those kind of places have lots of things that you can clamp onto to mount a press.

Lastly, given the range of game you want to shoot, you really will probably be shooting different bullets which means you will be loading more shells than you probably understand right now just to get a good effective load and I think the money you spend on a hand loader will be better spent on something that you might progress to eventually anyway.

If you don't want to invest in a powder scale but only to use the dipper provided then that will dictate what powders you can use. The load chart provided with the die set will list what powders one can use with the dipper. It will probably list several powders for 150 grain bullets and several differet powders for 180 grain bullets, etc. But the point is, it won't matter what powder I like or even what powder you like, it's what powder can be used with the dipper provided.

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Life is such a hard school that no one has ever gotten out of it alive!

To get started in reloading like you're wanting to do, the Lee Loader is the way to go. It was what I first started using as well (in .30-06) and have gotten one for every caliber I have even though I also have a bench-mounted press. And I still use them. A lot of times, I'll get them out after a day at the range and let my girls (5 and 8) knock out the spent primers with them.

And I still can't figure out why there are so many people who are so strongly against them. The process is exactly the same as with a press, only the force comes not from a lever, but from a hammer. I've never felt like I was doing anything dangerous with one. In fact, I see that there is more capability to do something dangerous with a press than with a Lee Loader.

Priming tool and funnel is included in the kit in the link... dipper and shell holder is included with the Lee dies. Dies run around $25-$35.

Anyone that tells you these are hard to use must, well, I won't comment. Take you a rubber hammer, a foot long 4x4 block and go to work. It doesn't require massive force to size using the Lee classics, it doesn't require lube. You don't need to be able to drive railroad spikes into cross ties. Got to where I could bump once to size, turn the die over insert the rod and tap to remove the brass very quickly. Get you one, and enjoy.

You will one day graduate from these, but starting in kindergarten is just fine!

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God Bless,

EW

Ive used the hand press and IMHO its ok for watchin football and knockin out primers or workin up a load at the range where you can tweak then shoot but for doin more then 4 or 5 at a time a cheap single stage is the way to go... im no authority on the whakamole kind as I never used them in metallic cartriges (have in shotshells its the only way I load them)

There is nothing wrong with the Lee Hand Loaders. I learned how to reload with my dad with the the RCBS Rock Chucker and everything you could imagine that goes with reloading. That was fine when I was living at home. When I moved out and joined the military I wanted to reload but didn't have the money or the space to do this until I got my first Lee Loader. I started out with one for a .41 magnum, then a .357 Mag, then a .44 mag. Note that these are all stright wall cases which are the perfect canidates for the the Lee Hand loader. I still have and use the one for my 30.06. The thing is with the Lee Hand loader is if you want to change bullet weight you usually have to use a differant powder unless you buy some more dippers from Lee to meausure out a new load. I have a really lagre piece of steel that I place the loader on when Im sizing the case. It makes for a solid platform. I use a plastic mallet to size the cases. Be very careful when seating the primer. It is an aquired feel. To date I have had only one primer go off after hundreds of reloads and that was due to operator error and not having used the Hand loader for a long time. These little things make very accuate reloads. When you get the money and space someday you can step up to the big press and dies,scales,powder measure and whatnot. Enjoy the Lee Hand loader. It works fine and has served me well.

T

Yes indeed and on the subject of powder dippers I highly recommend getting the full set of Lee dippers. I've had a set for probably 30 years and even though I have a scale and two or three adjustable measures I still often resort to the Lee dippers when I want to load up just a few experimental rounds.

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Life is such a hard school that no one has ever gotten out of it alive!