So, I have been reloading for shotguns since I was a kid, and for rifles since I was in my early twenties. But I have never reloaded for handguns.
Coincidentally, I have recently caught the 1911 bug, and have just about decided to jump in feet first for a lot of reasons, among them the fact that I live in Cali.
I'll take all the input I can. Almost bought a Dillon 550 in the Free Classifieds here last week, and may regret not having done so, but ...
OK, so what machine for the long haul?
I take it buying 1000 rounds of factory .45 ACP ammo and saving the brass is a plan with some merit.
What should a newbie know going into this?
Pretty much what me and my buddy did many years ago. Bought 1K 9mm and 1K 45 Auto, shot it up and saved the brass. We split the cost of an LnL. It was cheaper and came with free bullets. No other reason and we didn’t know much to be perfectly honest.
First of all, I find loading those two cartridges to be the easiest and most enjoyable of any handgun or rifle cartridge to reload for. If I had to start over I wouldn’t get stuck on red, green or blue. But, I would not ever go back to single stage reloading, period. I would not buy a 4 hole press and I would not ever manually index. I like to size, expand, drop powder, seat and crimp all in separate stations. I have tried the combinations and hated them all to be frank. That’s where a 4 hole press won’t work. I like to use small amounts of fast powders so I definitely want to know that no matter what happens, that press is going to index forward. Not if, but when something goes awry on my progressive, I pull all the cases, fix the problem and then reset the cases. No matter what, I double check the powder weight.
Something to consider, you can always start running your progressive press one case at a time until you really get the hang of it. It’s still blows away single stage reloading in terms of speed and offers all the precision you could hope for in a handgun. Just a thought. The 45 Auto is the perfect reason to get a progressive press and start reloading IMHO.
