You could only have one press?

[kmw1954]

Simply put this way. I just restarted Handloading again after being away for many years. I knew when I started looking for equipment that I'd only be loading for pistols as I have no interest in rifles. Now with todays information age I was able to read forums and watch all sorts of youtube videos on every sort and brand of press on the market today and in the past. I did this to help me make an informed decision and to understand better just what it was I wanted to accomplish. After spending a couple of months researching presses, reading forum, watching videos, asking questions I started my search for both new and used equipment.

Now at this time I could afford to buy whatever I decided I wanted. What I finally came upon was a used Lee Pro 1000 press that was completely intact that was set up for 38/357 even though at this time I was only going to be doing 9mm. The buy in price was so right I couldn't pass it up. In a short time I was able to also find a used complete shell plate and carrier for 9mm along with dies. So now with this one press and by adding one more set of dies I could load for 4 calibers of pistol. 38/357, 9mm and 40S&W and still have less than $130.00 tied up in this.

I like this press, use it regularly and would buy it again for the same reasons I did originally. I have also since added an RCBS JR3 and a Lee 3 Hole Value turret press.

[historicfirearms]

I started reloading 20 years ago on my rockchucker so that one would be hard to let go. My co-ax is so handy and stout. My Hollywood is the most enjoyable to use but not so powerful for heavy resizing. If my house burned down and I could only afford one press I would buy another Lee classic turret press. It can do everything I need in a press. Not as fast as a progressive but it's a lot less frustrating. It's got power for most sizing jobs. And I like the priming system, pretty foolproof once you get the hang of it.

[Tracy]

Rockchucker. I have two of them. C-H Heavyweight would be my second choice. I have one of those, bought at the now-defunct BJ's Shootin' Shack in Raton, NM.

My number one press I wish I had is an RCBS A2.

[oger]

A T-7 you can use it like a single stage or a turret if you want.

[Gaseous Maximus]

Lee 3 or 4 station turret press. The first press I bought was a Chucker, still have it, but haven't used it much in the last few years. I also have a C-H C type, a Pacific 07, a Herters 6 station 234 ( one heavy chunk of pig iron) & 2 pro 1000's, 9mm & 38. I load a fair amount of 9 & 38 and a decent selection of other stuff, nothing very big, and not a lot of it. I bought the L.T. because the idea of leaving dies adjusted appealed to me, and I really don't need a lot of power.

[bpatterson84]

Easy! Dillon 550. It does everything I need, 8 calibers currently, and it does plenty more and has some speed behind it. Cant say enough good things.

[Spruce]

I think I would have to go with my COAX.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Randy's press is superior in every way and worth the cost of entry: http://buchananprecisionmachine.com/...eloading-press

Yes and Dragon wins the prize for being the one who brought up the only correct answer to the OP's question.

If you are down to only one press it probably means you've had to down size to the point where you no longer can afford to have that much equipment, or don't have a place big enough to put it. That doesn't mean you have to quit or commit to a conventional press mounted to a piece of plywood on a workmate. (This is how I started out.)

No,,, right in front of you has been the best solution for a Compact Portable Reloading System ever devised and you here at Cast Boolits got 98% of the first 100 made! With so many out there I was totally surprised that it took 3 pages of posts for someone to come up with the right answer.

The BPM Hand Press will do anything that any single stage press will do and a few things none of them will do.

It will stand up by itself and can be clamped to a table, it can be used without a table, it will fit into a small tool bag, and along with your dies, a small scale, and a few small doodads you can reload virtually any Brass Cartridge known to man.

When I down size and get rid of most of my equipment, I will still have P1 which is the #1 Prototype and 036B which is #1 L-N-L Prototype. They will be with me til the end and be passed on to someone who deserves them. But I will be able to reload any cartridge I shoot for the guns I choose to own til the end and I won't feel the least bit under equipped. I will also have the joy of using a quality tool that virtually everyone can appreciate.

I designed the tool to be the one tool that could do everything, and short of swaging bullets, it can. It will also last for a long time, and easily long past any of us!

Now with the L-N-L feature I can reload batches much faster, or easily at the same rate as I could with my Rockchucker (which is the last bench mounted press I will keep until I can't have a bench anymore.)

No guys,,,, If you could only have one press, this is the one you should have. Check out the pics below and see what a complete Real Portable Reloading System looks like in a Small Tool Bag.

I will always have a place for this tool bag even if I'm living in a tent or a Camper.

Randy

[sawinredneck]

- Not everyone loads 20k rounds a year.
- Not everyone needs to form cases.
- People can afford to buy a 1050 conversion kit for thirty cartridges.
- A 550 is a more versatile and economical press compared to a 1050.

I can answer why so many are choosing a 550. It's a good compromise of speed, versatility and economics. Conversions are affordable. It cranks out ammo in short order. And most people don't form cases. So for the people that need a good amount of ammo for readily available cartridges it's one the best options. It will load large magnum rifle cases so it has plenty of leverage.

The topic isn't "what press do you recommend". It's "what press would YOU choose if you could only have one". So people are choosing what meets their needs. I personally think if you're choosing a Lee turret or progressive you should still have a single stage. But that's just me and I happen to form cases.

Exactly! Thank you. For whatever reason, finances, space, she who must be obeyed says you can only have one, whatever reason, but you can only have one. What would you pick and why.

[sawinredneck]

Mean, green Rockchucker.

Now Ghosthawk has got me traveling into the windmills of my mind, i.e. "thinking", what are your fella's opinion of the Lee hand press?

Looks like it would be great for boolit seating while exerting one's self out on the patio deck in a lawn chair, or in the living room doing strenuous work-outs in the recliner!

There are times, I would like to be free from the bench press.

I don't know nuthin about being redneck!
Grrr. Can't get the pic to upload. Anyway, I made a portable stand out of 2"x2" tube and screwed a 2x6 on top for a portable bench.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Exactly! Thank you. For whatever reason, finances, space, she who must be obeyed says you can only have one, whatever reason, but you can only have one. What would you pick and why.

He would pick a BPM Hand Press because he already has one!

Read post #68 for all the other reasons why.

Randy

[dragon813gt]

He would pick a BPM Hand Press because he already has one!

Read post #68 for all the other reasons why.

Randy

Well yes and no. If it came down to only one press it would most likely be due to no room for a bench mount press. In that case I would choose the BPM. It has enough leverage to FL size 375 H&H so it's more than up to the task.

I took the question to mean a bench mounted press. In that case it would be a LCT. In reality for what I load I absolutely need a single stage. W/ Starline making rifle cases now I may not need to form much longer.

[derek45]

DILLON XL650

true love

[Jack Stanley]

You mean the reloading police are now collecting presses ? .... (sigh) ..... Tough choice but I think I'd narrow the choice down to either the CO-AX or the Dillon 550 . Probably keep the CO-AX because I was using it before the Dillon came along in the eighties and have used it in harmony with it ever since .

Jack

[kmw1954]

This has been a far more interesting conversation than I imagined. As many different ideas and needs as we have personalities and all w/o anyone taking a potshot. Well done folks, I've enjoyed this and am thankful that this is only a "what if"..

[tarbe]

I purchased an RCBS Jr press in 1975. It was an upgrade to the Lee Loaders that I started out on (at the ripe old age of 16).

That press is still attached to my bench. I put together 150 rounds of .308 on it just this afternoon. I still load all my rifle ammo on it (I don't do the high volume black gun thing...although I did load 500 rounds of .220 Swift and .22 Hornet a couple times for P-dog shooting.
500 rounds is high volume for us single-stage guys!).

If I had to choose between the Jr and the progressive I also own, I'd have to keep the Jr. Besides, I have a barely used Jr sitting under the bench waiting for its turn!

It is time consuming to load 5,000 pistol rounds a year though....and that is why I now also own a progressive. But I have proven I can live without one. I can't imagine loading .416 Rigby ammo on a progressive - but I do on the Jr. (barely!).

[sawinredneck]

This has been a far more interesting conversation than I imagined. As many different ideas and needs as we have personalities and all w/o anyone taking a potshot. Well done folks, I've enjoyed this and am thankful that this is only a "what if"..

I agree, as I said before, I'm surprised by many of the answers.
Also, I mentioned "benchrest presses" in the op, I meant that to include the hand presses as well. I'm not trying to exclude anything, I just am curious, as it seems others are, as to which one and why.

[Eddie Southgate]

My Lyman All American . I have adapters so I can use my Tru Line Jr dies as well as the standard dies the press is set up for . It does everything I am ever gonna need a press to do and has for years .

[Lloyd Smale]

550 Dillon hands down

[bgw45]

For me it's a 550.