My thoughts on Smart Reloader equipment.

[eljefeoz]

I just bought an evilbay powder thrower, seemingly a Lee PPm clone. Got the mail yesterday, and found it to be a Smart reloader SR 400.well, I am not going to be using it as a primary or secondary. More to see how a 12 buck powder thrower works.

[mdi]

The little SMART C press lists de-priming, bullet lubing, and bullet seating on the box. It does not list sizing brass.

The one I have doesn't have good enough leverage to successfully size/deprime a .38 Special case, in carbide dies. The ram was so sloppy I had to guide each primer into place when using a Ram Prime. I cleaned the press very good, re-lubed and it still felt "gritty". Bullet sizing the same; ram so sloppy I had to guide each bullet up into the die...

[rbstern]

A few years ago, Midsouth was selling a Smart Reloader kit (press, tumbler, tools, etc.) for a really low promotion price. I decided to try it to see what the quality was like. My experience:

The little C press was absolute garbage. The ram was so sloppy, it couldn't get a case into a die without hand guidance. The Nano tumbler was ok. The one concern was motor heat. I mounted a fan blade assembly from a defunct computer fan on the motor shaft, and that problem was solved. Still works after considerable use. The digital scale worked very well. Found it to be reasonably accurate and repeatable. Gave it to a friend who still uses it. The gem of the kit was the case prep tools (pocket cleaner, neck chamfer tool). They are actually quite good. Still use them.

I called the company to complain about the ram alignment. They sent me another press, no questions asked. The second one was much better, but the leverage does suck. Would never use it to size anything.

Bottom line: There are a few items that are worthwhile, but it's generally a poor quality line that beginning reloaders looking for value should skip in favor of Lee equipment.

Some of the bits and pieces are fine for experienced tinkerers with particular needs in mind.

[DRNurse1]

LOL. Saw a table full of this stuff at a recent gunshow. Sold it all the first day and had more for the second. I had never heard of them, but one pull on an empty press convinced me the prices were WAY to high for me. Now I am really glad I stayed away and did not steer any newbie reloaders that way.

[LeftyDon]

It pains me to admit that I own a SmartReloader ISD powder scale dispenser. I bought it some time ago, about went I decided I needed better reloading equipment and long before I joined this forum. I think it was just before we moved to NY state and until just recently it sat in it's box. This past year (2013) has been a tough one for me. I was doing a lot of sporting clay shooting until the knees got the better of me. So I've had both knees replaced, one in the spring and the other one in December, and so reloading has been a when ever there's time run off a few rounds. Shotgun shells have been all purchased and hulls given to a friend for now. For most of the reloading I just used my Lee on press powder dispenser and a scale to set the charge weight. However, I've got to load some rifle rounds and wanted to see if the ISD would do the trick. So far all I've done is run a few test charges through the thing and using some Youtube videos tried to change some of the speeds to improve the drop to drop consistency. . Speed change setpoints are not covered in the limited manual and so the videos helped set the trickle settings. I got it to dump consistent charges. But were they correct weight? I'm still working on that. My RCBS test weights showed a lack of accurate readout vs. the RCBS weights. Since I'm just starting 3 times a week PT for the knee, time has prevented me from making up the chart of real weight vs. readout. Hopefully I can get to this before the spring. But as with all reloading equipment anyone buying one of these should not assume that digital means accurate. Had I known more about this product I might have passed on purchase.

[plainsman456]

The tumblers were on sale when they first came on the market,so i bought 2 for small batches of brass.

The first one lasted 3 runs(about 3 hours) and the motor seized up.

I had a bud of mine find some new bearings and put them in,the armature was fried as well.

I took the other one apart and checked the bearings on it and they had no lube at all.
Put the new bearing in and it ran for about 4 months before the armature went bad as well.

I now have 2 Lyman 1200's and they have been running for 5-6 years.

You get what you pay for.

YMMV

[nightal]

I bought the Smart Loader Press, last summer on sale from Sears, $18.99 delivered to the store near me. looked really good, until I saw how the RAM went through the casting, no Bushing, sleeve, in the casting,not very tight, it wobbles all around.I just keep it loaded with Wheel bearing Grease, that helps. the top only accepts the Die, it is threaded only for the Die itself.
I bought it because it looked like a Lee knock off, and the Price, of course. it works,it accepts all Shell Holders, it's heavy, okay for decaping, resizing, my straight wall cases,9MM. 10MM. .45ACP. It's nice to have a second press, as bad as it is.seems solid, strong,it just needs a Bushing on the Ram.

[ACrowe25]

Never really heard or seen anything from them. I like my fair share of LEE stuff and have no reason to purchase any lesser quality reloading stuff (which LEE is without a doubt--- that's another story. Not saying it doesn't work... just saying it is not built like others!)