Single versus progressive

[WildcatFan]

Hey, I get it. Progressive is faster, but what if I don't care about that? I mean, c'mon folks let's slow down. We're rushin' around for T-Giving turkey deals, Christmas gifts, work - if we've got it, kids, loving our spouses. Isn't it time we cut out some stuff and enjoy just taking it easy? I talked to a buddy that works for a nice gun store here in town and he told me he's been using his granddaddy's RCBS RockCrusher since he was a kid and his wife and him love going downstairs in the garage to reload when the kids are in bed safe and sound and just enjoy each other's company. They make it a little date where they can slow down with a remedial task and chill. Heck, he even told me she thinks its soothing and pops out 200-300 rounds some days before he gets home. Folks, enjoy the press you have but lets all just chill and slow down this Christmas season.

[Terry_P]

I agree and I am using the Rockchucker that my father had. Works fine and handles all my metallic ammo needs. I like it because I feel (my opinion) it's safer for me to use as well. I also load shotshell with a single stage and they always go bang. I bring 1,500 to 2,000 skeet loads with me to Texas for the winter as we shoot skeet in the RV Park we stay at. Got to love Texas. I load them during the summer in NH. I used to bring a reloader with me but decided to bring them all with me this year.

[res45]

I load for 7 different firearms on an old Lyman single stage press I've had for 25 years. I guess if I shot a couple K of ammo a month a progressive would be in order but in my case it's not necessary.

I enjoy my bench time and the whole loading process,it's a hobby speed is not one of my concerns.

[PharmrJohn]

We are doing just that. Shopping started last month and is about half way done. It will finish in about two weeks. Tonight was a great example of slowing down. I was taking my time cooking dinner over the last hour (prep time) when my son sat down at the dinner table and we had a really great discussion about this, that and the other thing.

We all have things to be thankful for. Every one of us. Life is so great it is staggering. I am in constant awe......I am not going to be one of those who makes myself so busy that life flies by and, sometime in the future, I realize I forgot to enjoy the small things (children are a fine example of such). I have a friend who spent so much time working and playing he forgot to watch their family grow up. It is something he regrets. Not me......

Excellent topic. K+ to ya WCF

[WildcatFan]

I'm looking forward to bolting down my RockCrusher, grabbing a few Cokes and enjoying a quiet evening at home with my wife. My 9MM buddies already jab me about only 7 rounds in my 1911, what's a few others talking about pumping out a bunch more rounds/hour than on their press? Oh well, I'm not in a hurry and am looking forward to beginning my reloading for the first time.

You guys are great. Thanks for the info and funny comments. Keep 'em coming.

[henry77]

I also still use my Rockchucker. After nearly 40 years of use, it still does its job.

Yes, it would be nice to have a progressive, but at the moment, I had rather put the money in more bullets, primers and powder.

[Suicide*Ride]

My 1 & only press is a Rockchucker. I enjoy reloading as much as I enjoy shooting & can understand why folks buy & use progressives, but I'd bet a $ to a doughnut that progresive owners look @ reloading more as a chore than a pleasure.

I'm like Wildcatfan in that I believe folks should slow down a little & enjoy life more. Maybe it would be a nicer place to live.

Btw - After making up something like 10K rds total in 10 different calibers, I've not had 1 squib or kaboom (knock on wood! ) loading ever so slowly on my single stage.

SR

[user]

Haven't done any reloading. Been thinking about the same question. I'm thinking that long winter evenings were made for reloading. And I can be a lot more careful and reliable doing the same thing over and over, then going to the next thing and doing that over and over. If I have to pay attention to six things going on at once, I'll miss something. And I'm the sort of person who would be compelled to pay attention to all the processes simultaneously.

When I was a kid and had to stay after school (back when kids walked to and from school, at least those who weren't rich enough to afford their own dinosaurs), I always had to write pages and pages of something like, "I will not pull Teacher's skirt up in class.", I would always do a column of "I" then (skipping the space) a column of "w", then a column of "i", etc. Seemed to me that was the easiest and best way to do it.

I think reloading's the same.

[LDBennett]

I disagree.

Reloading is a enjoyable chore to me and I do it to allow me to shoot more. I reload for over 30 different cartridges and keep large supplies of each different caliber and in some case for different guns of the same caliber. It makes no sense to me to repeat the process of putting the case into the the press multiple times when all you really have to do on a progressive is to put the case in once and rotate the table to the next position to do the next process. If it were twice as fast on a progressive press then it might be a wash for me (single vs progressive) but it is at least three or more times faster which means I can get more product in a lot less time. Pursuing other more enjoyable things (fill in the blank as to what that might be) for me is a better way to use the time gained.

Beside, with my Dillon 550B it is multiple presses: a single stage, a turret, or a progressive. And I use it all three ways. It is easy on the 550B BECAUSE the press does NOT have auto table rotation. I will not ever own a progressive with auto table rotation as that makes it less versatile. I have owned one and quickly got rid of it.

I would rather use my time to do things that are not a chore (reloading , while enjoyable to me, is still a chore, and if I were rich I'd buy all my ammo). But we all get to choose.

LDBennett

[Waldog]

How about a compromise! Look at a Turret press. I have a Rockchucker but, a new Lyman turret or Redding T-7 Turret would be nice while loading rifle cartridges.

[RandyP]

Like many hobbies, reloading offers a way to particpate at all levels of interest, need and budget. From the $20 Lee whack-it-with-a-hammer to the 4 figure full boat with all the toys Dillon 1050. ammo manufacturing center.

I split the difference between the two choices and find the Lee Turret more than ample to my needs.

[Lotsdragon]

I am a big fan of the lee breech lock, have made many many rounds one at a time, and for me its just more enjoyable. at an average I can knock out 300 a night, times that by 5 nights a week and I have more than enough for a weekend of plinking. I only have to make a few rounds each year for my deer rifles so for me a prog. press investment really doesnt make $ sense.Altogether I have less than 400 in my equipment and that was spread out over a few years so I dont think I have done too badly.

[mikld]

Handloading is one of my hobbies. I enjoy assembling ammo custom made for one of my firearms. I don't have any quotas to meet nor do I need to load 5,00 rounds at a time. If I were in a hurry, or if I had to load up a thousand every time I sat down at my press, maybe I'd get a progressive (or just buy some ammo). But I prefer Quality over Quantity!

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by Waldog

How about a compromise! Look at a Turret press. I have a Rockchucker but, a new Lyman turret or Sinclair Turret would be nice while loading rifle cartridges.

Yup...don't count out a turret press (or other manual-operated multi-station press).

Most of my reloading is rifle cartridges (done 20-50 rounds in a batch) and I'm a bit anal about scaling each powder charge for em so I usually stick with my single-station RCBS ReloaderSpecial for my rifle ammo.
For my handgun ammo (usually 100-200 rounds per batch), I usually use a powder measure and only scale every 20th charge or so. For that stuff I break out my old C-H 3-station "H" press so I don't need to spend as much time swapping dies.

If I did any higher volumes I'd probably look at a progressive but that old C-H reloaded quite a bit of pistol ammo when I was doing the plate shooting thing about 15 years ago and it fit my budget too (which was mostly tied up in the guns instead of the reloading setup).

It's just like the old ford vs Chevy vs Lincoln vs Caddy debate. Each one is good enough to get the job done...all depends how many options you need or want on your setup. Everyone has different tastes/requirements.
(and if the budget allows, you can always have more than one sitting on your reloading bench too )

[Suicide*Ride]

Folks, enjoy the press you have but lets all just chill and slow down this Christmas season.

I really believe the spirit of this thread wasn't which press is better or worse....

JMHO

SR

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by Suicide*Ride

I really believe the spirit of this thread wasn't which press is better or worse....

JMHO

SR

I think Wildcat's idear in this thread was to branch off the "which press is better" debate that popped up in his other thread about powder measures into it's own thread.

Yep, the single vs progressive debate has been covered just about as much as the equipment color war (which brand name is best).

I pretty much think of it as just like there are many different brands and models of cars & trucks on the road there can be just as many choices for reloading equipment too. Everyone has different needs or tastes for different reasons.
It doesn't hurt if someone asks an opinion on what they should buy buy...but they better be prepared for everyone to chime in with their reasons for what their favorite is (and to bash the other brands occasionally too )
Other folks reasons might match up with the person asking...and maybe not...but if it helps them make a decision then it's a good thing.
When it gets off track, then it can get confusing though...

Speaking of getting off track...
I like my rusty old MoPars, my Fords, and my Nissans...but I've owned GMs too. I'm not fussy, as long as it works.
Same goes on my reloading bench. My RCBS, Lee, Hornady, and C-H equipment all gets used for the reasons I bought em for.

[user]

Yeah, but I want y'all to tell me which one I'll like best!

[zb338]

If you load for rifle alone. Just about any press will do. because you
don't usually shoot that much, unless you are a target shooter.
If you shoot pistol you are going to shoot more ammo. Then you
need a progressive. Unless, of course, you like to spend lots of
time reloading.
Zeke

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by user

Yeah, but I want y'all to tell me which one I'll like best!

A rusted out, beat-up, but finely-tuned Masserati drop-head coupe would fit ya perfectly!

(erm...ohh...reloading...how about a second-hand Herters turret press?)

[user]

Originally Posted by Bindernut

A rusted out, beat-up, but finely-tuned Masserati drop-head coupe would fit ya perfectly!

(erm...ohh...reloading...how about a second-hand Herters turret press?)

What I'd really like is a 1967 VW sunroof sedan! What I've got sitting in my yard are 1990 GMC Suburbans.

All seriousness aside, I am not in a hurry, and I am the sort of person who attends to details more than most folks, and I like to monitor everything that's going on. So something that loads six cartridges at once is too much complexity for my poor li'l pea-brain. On the other hand, I want to optimize productivity as much as possible.

I liked what LDBennett said about the functional advantages of the Dillon 550B. It appears, too, that the 650 is overkill and not as flexible in operation.

[LDBennett]

If its a car comparison for reloading you want, the single stage press is any brand standard transmission car and the progressive is any brand automatic transmission car. There are times when shifting by hand (along with clutching) is fun and there are times when it is not (like stop and go traffic). I'm lazy and like automatic transmissions whereas some of you out there would rather shift. Again, we all get to choose.

The topic was slowing down and enjoying the trip. I don't like that advice for me because I just want to get it done and lots of it all at once. That leads to single stage vs turret vs progressive.

I also like to point out to newbies that the right choice up front saves money in the long run over sequentially buying and selling presses to get to the perfect press you never sell. That sequence for most is single stage then maybe turret then progressive. I say if you get the right press to start with (Dillon RL550B, of course.... I have said that before!) you get all three. The one press allows you to progress over time without having to buy then sell and repeat. You just buy once and you sequentially upgrade yourself. But most find when they have a progressive it doesn't take long to move to totally progressive, certainly for pistol rounds. With rilfe calibers you have to do some steps single stage and some like a turret and sometimes you can do the whole reloading session progressive. But you at least have the ability to go fast if you want.

Back to the car analogy. Could you single stage press guys be happy with a Renault 700 cc green car for all your automotive needs? How would a 3000 mile cross country trip with the family be in that Renault? For that trip I would like a big SUV or maybe a Cadillac or big Lincoln. But around a congested town the Renault with just me in it sounds great (or my Toyota Yaris with automatic sounds good too!). The point is versatility in presses is not a bad thing... if you wnat to go slow then you can but you have the option to go fast too. Stopping and smelling the roses is sometimes over rated for me. GET HER DONE is more to my liking. But we all get to choose, don't we.

LDBennett

[GMFWoodchuck]

What ever you do....If you decide with a single stage get a powder scale AND a powder dispenser. Not having a dispenser is what really slows you down....