As the voice of Dillon. If you are thinking about a Lee Turret, The Dillon 550 is a lot nicer press.
You had an SDB before, why not just get another in 38?
As the voice of Dillon. If you are thinking about a Lee Turret, The Dillon 550 is a lot nicer press.
You had an SDB before, why not just get another in 38?
Price for press to volume of ammo to reload ratio.Originally Posted by bofe954
I'm just not going to reload enough to justify the Dillon price.
In 9mm I buy factory because I'd rather pay the price premium than sit there and reload.
I don't like reloading, this is a necessary evil because in .38 wadcutters are few and very far between at any price.
Last edited by JodyH; 05-01-2022 at 11:12 AM.
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
Project is on temporary hold.
Found 2000 rounds of Blackhills wadcutters in stock at a online hole in the wall shop i've used in the past for Blackhills ammo and bought them all.
Should be good for 18 months or so since my current regimen is 100/month, the rest of my J-frame practice is with a .22lr 43C.
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
I greatly appreciate this thread and have already starting buying the items suggested herein. For I too am looking to reload wadcutters for .38 SPL, because after 2+ years of burning through my stash of .38 (which is accelerating now that I have children who are getting into shooting), I need more .38, but it’s difficult to find now, and horribly expensive when it can be found.
I plan on casting projectiles due to already having a melting pot and a quantity of supposedly 99.9% “pure” soft lead due to casting Minie balls for muzzleloading. Does wadcutter lead need to be harder? If so, what is the best way to harden a given quantity of pure lead?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
For whenever you pick it back up…
-Lee turret press
-auto drum powder drop
-Lee dies (or whoever’s)
-wadcutters from magnus bullets (or whoever makes the bullet you like)
-wet tumbler of your choice (cheap ass harbor freight is mine, 4 years strong)
It might not be totally necessary, but I like using wadcutter brass for wadcutter loads. Starline is also made to accommodate the extra length internally. I’d stay away from foreign brass like PMC and Fiocchi; it’s good brass for standard bullets but it’s tight enough when resizing that is bet a dollar some of the bullet skirts will get deformed.
I wouldn’t even sweat the digital scale too much; I have a portable mini scale from Frankfort arsenal that rides around inn a travel bag that gets carried/used a few times a month, and my powder pan weight is consistent. The auto drum, once dialed in, is also very consistent with ball powders (personally, +/- .2 when weighing 40ish gr powder drops)
For pistol, I don’t see any value in decapping before cleaning; it’s just an extra step IMO.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
"I'm a tactical operator and Instructor and also retired military."
-read on another forum
Factory wadcutters are swaged and almost pure lead, and super soft. You should be fine casting what you have without additives for hardness. A little Lee alox and you’re in business.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
"I'm a tactical operator and Instructor and also retired military."
-read on another forum
The 550 is a good all-around progressive. It has 4 stations but two of the stations do more than one function. It is super quick to change calibers. If you want a case feeder, bump up to a 750 or 1050.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
Thanks all.
I've added the suggested items to a Midway wish list so I can keep an eye on them.
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
I am a pretty big Dillon fan but I wouldn't pay nearly $600 for a SDB. And if you are only planning to do 38s the 550 is no bargain either, Lee makes some faster machines that work with their little case collator.
While the Lee Turret is a solid recommendation, if you do not enjoy doing it you might consider the slight cost delta to one of the progressives and get it over with quicker. With the turret you manually insert a case then pull the handle for each step. Their progressives would be more what you were accustomed to with the SDB, only Lee even also loads cases from their simple little case collator. This increased automation costs you only about another ~$100 compared to the turret.
ETA: The video doesn't show it but there is a device that eliminates the primer handling.
What an excellent opportunity to troll for targets of opportunity since lots of stuff is not so readily available right now. Also I think the Lee stuff comes up as reasonably priced used gear. Get some primers, then start shopping for a press.
Last edited by mmc45414; 05-03-2022 at 10:53 AM.
I've had the Pro 1000 (old version), and the Loadmaster. Found both to be frustratingly fiddly. Currently have a Breech Lock Pro (AKA Pro 4000) that I'm mostly happy with (especially for the price).
It's worth noting that Lee has announced a new, 6 station progressive press (to be out this summer), and moved the Loadmaster to "legacy" status. See https://leeprecision.com/pro-6000-si...loading-press/ . $350 MSRP on the base unit, $500 fully tricked out.
If I had to drop back to one press for whatever reason, it would be the Classic Turret.
Reply With Quote