Another reloading questions.

I am wanting to get into reloading again. My family reloaded when I was much younger and we reloaded a couple handgun, 12, 20 and 410 shotgun and a handful of rifle calibers. I have been out of reloading for about 15 years. I am looking at getting a Lee Challenger Breech lock kit and 9mm, and 40 S&W Lee Deluxe 4 die Carbide sets. I have been picking brass at my local range and have ±2000 9mm cases, ±850 40 S&W cases, and ±1700 45 auto cases(if I decide to reload latter). Are there any brands of brass that are just not worth reloading? Any recommendations or thoughts? Thank you gents

If it's not split, go for it. I prefer the nickled pistol brass, but that's just me. I still load all of them.
Rifle brass, I got more reloads from Remington brass. It seemed a little softer. Norma makes probably the best brass for rifle.
Reloading equipment: I use all RCBS. And my straightwall dies are 3 piece, not 4. My Rock Chucker can crush a Buick, if it would fit.

For handgun brass, expect PPU marked brass (Prvi Partisan) to be tough to deprime the first time. I frequently have to use a small punch to finish knocking out the primer on those cases. After I've reloaded and shot them once, the primers come out just fine. Otherwise, load'em all.

I would stay away from Lee. Their dies are actually really nice, and I use them for 9mm, .40S&W, and .223 on my Dillon press. But everything else is cheap and not well thought out. I started with a Lee Starter kit, and I've replaced everything that came with it except the press itself. I just can't justify replacing the press for low-volume or working up new loads, but it's definitely not a Rock Chucker. If I ever get into precision long-range type loading, I'll replace the press with a Rock Chucker or Hornady, but for now I load mostly in bulk on the Dillon. Buy once, cry once.

I started reloading last year with mostly Lee dies and presses. I had no previous exposure to reloading and wasn't sure I was going to stick with it, so my goal was to minimize start up costs. My goal was to make inexpensive pistol plinking ammunition so I'm probably not as demanding as some of the other guys. Since you've been down this road before you probably are going to make a better informed decisions than I did at the time.

The weakest point I see with the Lee starter kits are the scales. They are made with a lot of plastic and seem pretty much like a toy. Again, not something that instills confidence. Being a simple balance beam scale they are governed by the laws of physics, so your mileage may NOT vary, so they should work just fine. I seem to recall that scale has a pretty limited capacity, so it's fine for measuring powder charges but a lot of bullets are beyond its range. I went with an inexpensive Frankford Arsenal electronic scale. It seems to work OK, but if I buy another scale I'll be willing to spend a little more money.

I started with the cheapest C-frame press on the market which I've loaded a few thousand pistol rounds with. Mostly that was without issue, although it's handling of spent primers is kind of hit and miss. I've talked to other people who have reloaded some high power rifle cartridges with this same press and encountered no issues. I'd say it's not a press that really instills confidence, but if you can get past that it does OK.

Back in the fall I set up a reloading bench at my weekend place and upgraded to the Challenger press on my home bench. I soon found the on-press priming feature to be kind of awkward for the way I was set up, but other than that I've been OK with it. I've done about a thousand rounds on it with not a lot of gripes other than the priming feature. It feels solid enough.

My first powder measure was the Lee Perfect Powder Measure. Another forum member suggested that I get a special bushing that allows mounting the powder measure to the Lee powder through expanding die, which saves a step. It's still manually actuated, though, which is kind of a pain. Down the road I may try the RCBS or Hornady version of this powder measure in the future. Unique-Tek makes a similar bushing with threads to attach those brands to the Lee dies.

That same forum member PIF'd me his old Lee Auto-Disk powder measure. This one fits on the Lee expanding die without the extra bushing and is activated when a cartridge gets pushed into the die. That really helps with throughput. I soon bought the upgrade kit. I really recommend either buying the Pro version or getting the upgrade kit.

Lee products get a lot of grief around here. I've talked with enough guys around here that are happy with the Lee single stage and turret presses that I think that grief is undeserved or at least overstated. For many of us the Lee presses are good enough even if they aren't the best on the market.

Starline brass is the cheapest (or was when I bought it last year) but it's also some of the best brass. I especially like that the flash hole isn't pressed out leaving a burr around it. Starline either drills the flash hole or cleans it up.

As for Lee - their dies are good. Their aluminium Challenger press is a good beginning place and is where I started. But I got a 338-06 and resizing 30-06 brass was maxing out it's limits. I upgraded to the Lee Classic Cast press which is a great press for much less than the green presses. Their through the ram depriming is genius and holds the mess to a minimum.

I upgraded to the Lee Classic Cast press which is a great press

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Agreed. For pistol rounds I find single stage presses really slow. I load on a Classic Cast Turret. I highly recommend them. Caliber swaps take seconds, and I can easily load 200-250 rounds per hour. 4 Hole turrets hold the resize/deprime die, powder drop/case bellling die, bullet seating die and finally the crimp die. I set up my high volume calibers with their own Pro disc auto powder drop (and riser), so all that is needed is replacing the entire turret, case holder on the ram, and primer seat and priming arm (if needed as 9mm and .40sw both use small pistol primers). Make sure you look into the Classic Cast, stay away from aluminum presses. As was mentioned above, the lee scale is poop. Spend the money on an RCBS/Hornady/Dillon or Lyman beam scale. You'll figure out what you need as you go. Good Luck!

Agreed about the Lee scale - almost any other beam scale is light years better.

I have a Dillon set up for 45apc and leave it that way. For everything else I use a Redding press. Most of my dies are either RCBS or Redding, with a preference to Redding.

For brass Starline is good as is.For some of the newer military calibers IMI(Israeli Military Industries) is excellent, I have used a lot to reform 7.62x39 to 6.5 Grendel. For the best, IMHO it's a toss up between Norma and Lapua.

As I have posted before, Lee stuff works for the most part, some of it is crap, like the old Progressive 1000, YMMV. As money allows, buy the best single stage press you can afford, there will always be a use for a good single stage press. I have three presses on my bench. A Forster Bonanza Co-Ax single stage, a Redding T-7 turret (best turret available) and a Dillon 550. Most of my Lee stuff is collecting dust in boxes, except for some 45 ACP dies that get used occasionally.
As far as range brass pick ups, beware that you don't know how many times the found brass has been fired, I would be reluctant to load high intensity or magnum loads in brass of unknown history, but that's just me. I find that Remington 45 ACP brass has inconsistent rim dimensions and have trouble with it fitting my shell holders, so for me it's not worth the effort. Obviously, don't try to reload steel or aluminum cases. It has been done but wreaks havoc on your dies and is not as malleable as brass and is dangerous to fire.

I have used a few different brands and types of presses and am back to a single stage Lee Breech Lock Challenger O-frame press. I don't do a ton of high volume reloading, but I do reload 9mm every few months. I mostly load hunting rounds and precision target loads, I find the single-stage press keeps me focused on the details of each step so I get the most accurate and dependable results. If/when I have more bench space I would like to get a couple more single stage presses so I can move from one stage to the next without changing dies or making adjustments, but for now this setup works.

When I'm doing pistol rounds I typically process my brass in one session, prime with a Lee Auto Prime hand priming tool in another, which can be done while reading, listening to the radio, watching football, etc. Finally I throw charges with a Lee Perfect Powder Measure 100 cases at a time and then seat bullets in those cases (I have a 100-shell case holder hence the quantity). After seating I always run my pistol rounds through a Lee FCD (factory crimp die) which eliminates the characteristic bulges, helps align the bullet and most importantly ensures that the rounds will chamber and eject in any in-spec chamber.

PugslyCat said:

That same forum member PIF'd me his old Lee Auto-Disk powder measure. This one fits on the Lee expanding die without the extra bushing and is activated when a cartridge gets pushed into the die. That really helps with throughput. I soon bought the upgrade kit. I really recommend either buying the Pro version or getting the upgrade kit.

Lee products get a lot of grief around here. I've talked with enough guys around here that are happy with the Lee single stage and turret presses that I think that grief is undeserved or at least overstated. For many of us the Lee presses are good enough even if they aren't the best on the market.

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The absolute WORST Lee product I've ever used was that Auto-Disk Powder Measure. It might be worse than their little scoops that come with the die sets, because it allows you to throw inaccurate charges even faster. There's no way to fine-tune your load, and you have to disassemble the whole thing to change your charge. I wouldn't give mine away because I think it's a dangerous piece of equipment, especially for an inexperienced reloader.

Unless one of the disk cavities is spot on for the charge I want I'll use the adjustable charge bar in my Auto-Disk. It allows me to dial in exactly the charge that I'm trying to get without having to dissassmble the whole works to change disks.

I really like my Lee equipment. I load a few hundred a month, and I am sure all of my cartridges are more accurate than
I am. I am considering a progressive but funds are pretty low for a while so prolly not. I have decided that when I do it will be Lee, I just don't see the need to spend more money, they all perform the same function, just some with more frustration...

I also really like my Auto Disc. Rather than trying to fine tune it to my liking, I adjusted my liking to what it throws. It stays consistant to within +/- a tenth with Bullseye in handgun weights. I cannot tell any difference in accuracy between 2.8 grains and 3 grains of Bullseye pushing a wadcutter anyway. The pro version is plenty easy to switch cavity sizes, the original version is a bit more work, but it is still only two screws. I think any powder measure will be somewhat picky about the types of powder they measure (and leak) accurately and consistently.

I always hear good things about Dillion and Hornady, and I am sure with good reason. I say good things about Lee with good reason as well.

Good advice. All I can say about the brass is make sure that it isn't Berdan primed.

Look at the bottom of the inside of the case. If you see two small holes rather than one large one, toss it in the trash.

They can be reloaded, but are a stellar pain to remove the primer. If you let one slip by, you're taking a chance on breaking the de-priming punch as it will make new hole in the bottom of the case.

Been there, done that, and bought new primer punches.

I load .45 ACP, .38/.357 & 9mm using Lee dies and a Lee press. However for throwing my charges I use a Lyman Digital Powder system.

PugslyCat said:

Unless one of the disk cavities is spot on for the charge I want I'll use the adjustable charge bar in my Auto-Disk. It allows me to dial in exactly the charge that I'm trying to get without having to dissassmble the whole works to change disks.

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My kit did't come with an adjustable powder bar, just the stupid disks. I might not hate on Lee as much if my kit had come with a good way to dispense powder.

My Dillons throw ball powder very consistently, and I can adjust hundredths of a grain, if I'm patient enough. I have a scale that will do it. Anything I load on my Lee gets trickled. The Auto Disk hasn't seen daylight in years.

Outbreak said:

My kit did't come with an adjustable powder bar, just the stupid disks. I might not hate on Lee as much if my kit had come with a good way to dispense powder.

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It's worth getting the adjustable charge bar if you don't have one. I think they are under $10 from the online vendors.

My local gun store is very much opposed to complete starter kits because none of them include the best value of everything you need, so you always wind up replacing components. The Lee scale, for instance, works but doesn't exactly instill confidence. Most of the Lee kits I've seen come with the Perfect Powder Measure which isn't nearly as convenient for use on a single stage press as the Auto-Disk is.

nortac said:

For those who think they may want a progressive someday, Dillon sells a stripped down version of the 550, the BL550. It functions much like a turret, except instead of the die plate turning, the shell plate does. You can later add all the bells and whistles of the full 550 version. While not as cheap as a Lee set up, it is a way to "grow into" a top quality progressive without having to abandon a lesser quality rig that you have "outgrown".

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Dillon presses also hold their value very well. You could probably get almost all of your money out of it if you decide to sell instead of upgrade.

PugslyCat said:

It's worth getting the adjustable charge bar if you don't have one. I think they are under $10 from the online vendors.

My local gun store is very much opposed to complete starter kits because none of them include the best value of everything you need, so you always wind up replacing components. The Lee scale, for instance, works but doesn't exactly instill confidence. Most of the Lee kits I've seen come with the Perfect Powder Measure which isn't nearly as convenient for use on a single stage press as the Auto-Disk is.

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I'm not gonna throw good money after bad on Lee products.

I agree on the starter kits.

I have no problems with my Lee turret. Is it a Dillon? Nope. Does it make rounds that work in my guns? Yup.