Reloaders- what is your favorite reloading press for rifle/pistol cartridges? ?

RCBS makes the best single stage as far as I am concerned.

Lee presses wear out quickly so if you are going to load much, avoid them.

My first RCBS press came from my Grandfather, to my Father, to me, and went to my oldest son. I bought a new RCBS press 15 years ago, and just gave it to my middle son. I bought a new RCBS master reloading kit for myself last year. All three presses work just like new, and have never broken or worn out a part. You can't get that kind of quality or life span out of very many products anymore.

I should note that on my first press, I don't know how may million (yup, I said million) rounds were loaded on it, On my second one, figure 1000 rounds per week ,times over 10 years and still going strong (I was shooting competitions back then). I expect all 3 presses to outlast me.

.44 mag, .45acp, .223 and .308 are all easy and fun to reload. A word of caution on 9mm: this is a hot load, that operates under high pressures. A careless reloader can seat the bullet too far, which causes the already high pressures to jump up significantly. This is not a very forgiving caliber when reloading. You can easily destroy a cheaper pistol, and even an expensive one. Back when I was first starting to reload for pistols ( I had only reloaded shotgun shells prior) I got careless. I loaded some 9mm to a load given to me by a friend who shot an MP 5 in 9mm. Anyway, I loaded the ammo, (which turned out to be a very hot load to begin with) sat the bullets too deep, and promptly destroyed a very nice S&W model 39 pistol.

Lessons learned: Never buy poor quality equipment.

Never use someone else's loading data

Use the loading manual

Check everything twice

Never reload when tired or distracted

Don't cut corners

Always start with the lowest pressure

Work up to higher pressures

Watch for signs of over pressure

shoot (and reload) safe

For my rifle reloading, I use a RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press. I've never cared for any of the other brands of single stage presses on the market (personal choice). I did a LOT of reading and comparing of products before making my choice of press to go with and most of the articles that I found in the various shooting magazines said this press was the strongest on the market. After looking at the other offerings out there, I have to agree with them on that.

For my handgun calibers, I use a Dillon RL1000 (I think this model has now been replaced by the model 1050 if I'm not mistaken). With this press, I can easily load 1000 rounds an hour.

Between practicing, competing and hunting I shoot between 40,000 and 50,000 rounds a year. These 2 reloading presses work very well for me in creating the ammo that I need.

the process goes: 1. knocking out the old primer with a tool 2. reform case(optional with most cartridges, but you should do it after reloading a case a couple times) 3. put new primer in 4. weigh and put powder in 5. place bullet on top and load it in that's it, the guy at the top is insane, not that complicated. I personally use a Lee Classic Loader, a small, compact kit that's very simple, unless your loading more then 50 cartridges in one session, I'd advise this kit, it's also only around $20-$40(depending on caliber it reloads and store pricing) compared to $80-$500 for press kits, but as said, not good for high volume reloading, since it's slower to use then a press kit. I also advise getting a couple reloading books before starting, they're worth the $20-$40 price tag for all in the info they give you. also get a good scale that measures in fractions of a grain(the unit of measurement for bullets and gun powder)

My preference is the Lee press with RCBS dies. (I have 2, a bench mount, and a "portable" that mounts on an oak carry box. The bench is a turret, and the portable a single stage.)

I neck size my rifle cartridges with a full length resizing every 10 reloads, (220swift, 30-06, 308, 444 marlin, 45-70); and use carbide dies for pistol cartridges, (45LC, 9mm).

Hornady Loc&Load system for me. I also have the standard Hornady and have used nearly all of them. I dont believe the is a better choice. The reason I like them so much is because its so quick and easy to change from caliber to caliber. Its well built, not cast like nearly ALL others so the handles dont break off after while. Its basicly a machined unit while most of the others are casted. This allows everything to fit perfectly.

Single stage?

Forster Co-Ax single stage.

I personally use a Dillon 550, but that's because i like shooting, with the Dillon 550 I can turn out a thousand rounds of ammo in a few hours and be set for another month of shooting.

RCBS, hands down.

Good sturdy STEEL contraption.