Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Let's start at the start

If I weighed each charge with handgun loads, I wouldn't be able to shoot half of the number of rounds I normally shoot. I can see that with absolute maximum charges, but with normal target and plinking loads, small variations aren't anything to be concerned about. Even competition loads for steel challenge, bowling pin shoots or IDPA don't require weighing each charge.

Years ago, in the 90's, wife really got into shooting, mostly rifles. Gave her a pistol for self defense and she took to it like a duck to water. I would load 50 rounds on a single stage press, take her to the range so she could shoot while I shot rifles and before I could finish setting up to fire the rifles she'd ask for more ammo! Bought a Dillon XL650 just to stay ahead of her. It made shooting a loading much more fun. Wife died 10 years ago and I quit loading pistols and have shot very little until recently. I've taken the Dillon out of mothballs and shooting weekly, about 200 rounds a session. No telling how many thousands of rounds I've loaded on it but in all the shooting out of multiple pistols I have NEVER had a squib load. I have the powder check system for each of the cartridges for which I load and I've never had the warning buzzer wake me up! It's pretty difficult to screw up. The only problem I've had has been with the occasional primer going in cockeyed, or flipped, but that's easy to catch on inspection. No telling how many rounds I've loaded on the Dillon but I'd guess in the tens of thousands. I've loaded for both 9X19 (Luger), 9X21, 38, 357, 41 mag, and 44 mag. Have yet to load any rifle cartridges and truly don't intend to, preferring to load them singly for "extreme" accuracy. Depending on the powders you use the Dillon powder drop system is quite accurate.

The 550 is best non-auto indexing progressive press to make double charges with. That said, if you learn how to double, and then manage your routine - you can crank out zillions of perfect rounds.

The SDB is an auto-indexing progress. It is very hard to cause a double (but it can be done). The SDB takes up less space on your bench and it comes setup for the caliber of choice.

I load 45acp on an SDB.

A great thread here!

Nothing wrong with the Dillon 550 machine, I had 2 until a few years ago. Saved setup time for sm vs lg primers. Lots of ways to save setup time, but never devoted a die set to each ctg I loaded, as I mostly deprimed and sized on single stage press. The Dillon can reliably produce match quality rifle ammunition and for sure match quality for handgun. It is great to crank out 300 .45acps an hour, just keep a few extra primer tubes ready to go and keep the powder measure near full. The priming stroke is very powerful. I have crushed a few primers over the years.

Never too worried about match pistol loads. For rifle though, I sure did all the brass prep tricks I knew. There was a thread over on one of the National Match boards about mods on the 550 for match loads. Mainly related to improving measure throw weight uniformity by smoothing the measure body funnel & throat.

I learned handloading on a Lee Loader as a kid and then with a Lyman 310 tool. Bought a Lyman All-American turret press back in the mid-70s which expedited my loading times a great deal. Still have the press updated years ago to accept RCBS type shellholders. I also use a Lee auto-prime to feel-seat primers; and for rifles, will usually uniform the primer pocket with a Sinclair carbide tool and broach the flash hole with RCBS tool. Using Starline brass for handguns, have rarely even seen a primer pocket that needed uniforming.

A Redding turret press would be the way I'd go if not totally sold on a progressive machine. Lots of die positions and extra turrets available. Turret press is very fast . The Redding machine allows a handgun setup and rifle setup on one turret. If you get a Dillon machine, be sure to buy the stand accessory, and if you're going to reload 1x fired mil brass, their #600 primer pocket swaging machine is a godsend for processing hundreds of cases. I did try their gizmo for adapting Redding/RCBS powder measures and had no luck at all with it. The Dillon powder measure is excellent.

Might want to think about Starline's +P or .45 Super brass if you intend to load full-house loads. Their Super brass is really some strongly built stuff and costs maybe a buck more per hundred. Don't have to run Super loads to benefit from the superior strength.

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.

You can load 200 round in a afternoon with your dingle stage.

I load all my hand gun loads on a Square Deal B. 9mm, 38, .357, 45ACP, 44 Sp, 44Mag.With 44 mag. I found it easier to size first on a single stage.Betwen9mmand,357, I have probably run 35,900 + thru it. I have quick change tool head for every caliber. Center fire rifle I use my RCBS Rockchucker.

With the Square Deal you can retrieve any round from any station if you think you have a screw up.I think the bigger /more expensive machines are an over kill for handguns.300 rounds per hour is easy.Once you get setup , one can do 400/hour

I have loaded on Dillon presses, and were I to go high-volume and a single chambering, I'd buy one. I ended up buying a Hornady LNL a few years ago, mainly because:

1) Price.
2) Ease and cost of changeovers
3) I wasn't going to do high volume (with automatic bullet and brass feeding)

I went from 50 rounds an hour on my Rockchucker to 200 rounds an hour, and that was what wanted. I now load 45 ACP, 357 Mag, 9mm and 223 REM on the Hornady LNL AP and do everything else on the Rockchucker.

If faced with your case, here is what I'd do.

1) Buy 500 rounds of whatever you want, and save the brass. That will hold you until you've got the loading down pat.
2) Buy a Hornady LNL AP, a Powder Cop die, and a Lee 45 ACP die set with the Factory Crimp Die.
3) Set up the press as follows:
Station 1: Size and decap
Station 2: Powder with a PTX (powder through expander) insert
Station 3: Powder Cop
Station 4: Bullet Seating
Station 5: Factory Crimp
4) Buy 1000 rounds of once-fired brass
5) Buy a bunch of Berry Plated Bullets of a type that will cycle through your pistol

If you price out what I just lined out, you'll find you are significantly under what Dillon is asking. The real kicker is when you go to your second chambering-- the cost of changeover, is much higher with a Dillon and requires more work. I'm also a big fan of the Lee Factory Crimp Die, and I could not find a better place for it than at Station 5 on the Hornady LNL AP.

Have fun. I can do 200 rounds of 45 ACP at a sitting, and that does me just fine. I'll load a bunch on a Saturday, do the changeover to some other chambering on Sunday, and have it ready for 200 rounds of whatever the next weekend.

Now, let me also say that my experience with Hornady LNL AP has not been perfect, but I can still attribute most of the trouble to the nut holding the handle.