My pieced together reloading set up

[Eastex]

You don't have to spend a ton of money but it helps if you don't need a high volume of ammo and you have great friends. I started out with a Bair single stage press that a friend gave me to try. Another good friend gave me some odds and ends he had, Lyman manual, a Rcbs hand primer, and scale. I picked up a set of Lee powder dippers and got started. After getting my feet wet I traded a Lee Pro 1000 I had gotten in a gun swap for the CH press in the picture. What I like about it is that there's nothing hanging down to block access to the drawers on my bench. It also smooth as can be and works great on 38 Special cases. I found some older RCBS Little Dandy powder rotors in a odds and ends box at a lgs for a great price. I did a little looking and found out that their number two rotor drops 2.7 grams of Bullseye which is my number one practice load so I added that and it works great. All of it works for me because I'm not loading to compete and trying to shoot 500 rounds a weekend. I shoot enough to keep up my skills with my j frame lifestyle so I guess you could say it's my j frame reloading set.


Hell bent on being intentionally anachronistic

[GuanoLoco]

What are the white tipped things in the left reloading block?

[fishing]

wadcutters

[Eastex]

Yes, they're wadcutters , that was right before I seated and crimped them.


"Hell bent on being intentionally anachronistic"

[camsdaddy]

Reloading enough to shoot 500 rounds a week through a j frame on a single stage press? That's awesome and dedication. I tip my hat

[Eastex]

No, I was trying to say that I'm not trying to load 500 a week, just enough to keep the j frame fed and my skills, sad as they are, from rusting. The most I've ever loaded at a time is 100, but I have gone through just over a 1000 wadcutters total so far. I enjoy my time reloading and I'd hate to knock out that many in just a hour or two.


"Hell bent on being intentionally anachronistic"

[Malamute]

A couple things helped me simplify loading on a single stage press. I keep all the shells in shallow baskets while loading, a shake sideways turns them mostly mouth up, making them easy to pick up. I usually pick up 3-5 at a time when doing sizing or expanding, tossing the done shells into another basket. Another basket is good for bullets, making them easy to pick up. The shells only go in loading blocks when its time to charge cases and seat bullets. The Lee hand priming tools greatly speeds up and improves primer seating uniformly, the baskets also work well for the shells when using that tool. I liked sitting on my porch to prime shells, or sometimes watched TV (when I had one).

Just a few little things that helped me achieve a better speed in single stage loading.

[Eastex]

The best thing I've added lately was a Franklin Arsenal hand deprimer. The Bair press and this C-H one neither had a primer catcher with them. I had a real redneck aluminum foil catcher rigged up that worked about half the time. The Franklin has a tube on the end that catches them and like the hand primer it's something that I can do while I'm watching TV. Like I told my wife one night , I felt like I was a kid again shelling peas at my grandpas while we watched the Carol Burnett show.


"Hell bent on being intentionally anachronistic"

[LittleLebowski]

Looks good, man. I used to do the pegboard thing but now I just slap stuff onto a magnetic tool strip.

If on a budget and looking for a bid of a speed increase in reloading, the Lee Classic Turret is pretty cheap, especially if you don't need the kit.

[mmc45414]

I liked sitting on my porch to prime shells, or sometimes watched TV (when I had one).

Am in the process of modifying a stable sawhorse with the intent of having something that will straddle the chair I always sit in watching TV. Initially for the Dillon primer pocket swager, but if it works out who knows what the hell may end up mounted on there...