Cliff's Notes for setup please

[mmc45414]

I've had the Pro 1000 (old version), and the Loadmaster. Found both to be frustratingly fiddly.

I also tried the Loadmaster and bailed on it. Some of my struggle I attributed to just how much I had used the 550, but even still there were some things it did that just seemed werid, though it has been too long to recollect.

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.

I had noticed that, and that thing does look cool, and probably much lower cost to produce than the Loadmaster with that big casting.

[ccmdfd]

The turret press for handgun and non precision rifle, and a single stage for precision rifle is all I ever use.

Why not the turret for precision rifle?

Thanks

[willie]

In traditional turret presses the turret revolves around a central rod which is a threaded bolt capped with a big nut. When a case is pushed into a die, the turret will flex slightly. Flexing is particularly noticeable during sizing. Some say that this type setup is less precise. Not everyone agrees. Lee turret presses have a different design. The turret does not revolve around a central axis and does not flex. Lee outdid themselves when they designed the Classic Cast turret press. I recommend this one after having used others. Don't overthink all this. Buy a new or used press and get busy. None will excel over the others as far as producing accurate handgun ammo is your concern.

[LtDave]

I'm going to disagree with the whole turret press thing. for loading 50-100 rounds a month a single stage press is fine. Pick one up used from eBay, a LGS or a yard sale for cheap. For powder, I'd recommend an RCBS Little Dandy measure that uses fixed rotors. There are many possible wadcutter loads you can concoct with the available rotors. You'll probably only need 3 or 4 rotors to cover what you want to do. A beam scale will be fine to confirm what the rotors are actually throwing. You only need to do it once with each powder you want to use (you may want to recheck when you get a new lot of powder). I've found that what the rotors actually throw can be different from what the charge table says.

[CGA]

I would pick up some kind of a bullet puller. I like the RCBS collet system, but any kind is handy to have.

[mmc45414]

my current regimen is 100/month, the rest of my J-frame practice is with a .22lr 43C.

Another thing about this is your ratio might be able to shift some once you were setup. Not sure what you are paying for 22LR but you should be able to load 38WC pretty cheap, not as cheap but pretty cheap.