Les Jones

Get yourself a Lee Turret press from $90 and then buy used dies off of ebay (around $15 each caliber).

It works, it works very well, and is cheap.

The Lee Classic Loader works too - but is risky, not nearly as precise, and is awfully slow - especially for handgun ammo.

With my turret press, I can load a couple of hundred rounds in an hour or so. If I did it more often (or got a priming tool), it would probably go even faster.

What countertop said.

We've got a turret press at the shop for $89. You just bolt it to a sturdy board. When you want to reload, attach the board to a table or workbench with C-clamps. When you're done, unclamp it and the whole ensemble stores in a closet. With practice, you can crank out a practice session's worth of .38 in an hour.

Buy a press. Prepare to meet three great truths:

1) You will not save a dime on ammo. You will just shoot more, lots more.

2) You will be irresistibly drawn to inexpensive, interesting guns in oddball calibers. "I can reload for that!" See rule one.

3) You will discover cast lead bullets. Start saving scrap now.

Yea, I hear good things about the Lee Turret. I guess that's the way to go.

When I have time. Which I don't now. ;-)

Never really been interested in reloading, but gotta say that was pretty darn informative.

I have used Lee equipment for the past few decades. I agree that the Turret Press is the way to go, and Tam's suggestion of mounting it on a board and using C-clamps is spot on.

Hmmm. It doesn't look like there is much I can add to this discussion. But I'm going to leave a comment anyway. So there!

James

I reload .44 as well as .45LC and .30 carbine and .45ACP. On a recent trip to Knoxville (Monday and I didn't see Tam), I stopped by CCA and purchased a box of "cheap" .44 for a whopping $25.76 for an Oak Ridge range trip. Ouch! Not even reloadable brass to save. Brass I generally find free at the range (I have more .45ACP than I know what to do with)$0 or $12-14 for 100 if buying. bullets come in various types and prices Lets say $14 on average for a 100 box of quality lead. Primers are cheap around $1.50 for 100. A pint or so of powder is around $20 or so and you'll use $1 worth or less for 100 rounds of .44 Magnum. So on average I'm spending $16.50 to $28.50 for 100 rounds of reloadable ammo compared to $52 for the "cheap" stuff that's not reloadable. Even a nice Press for around $100 will pay for itself in short order. So would $50 dies. I like to shoot. Reloading allows me to do that more frequently.
A Lee Aniversary reloading Kit includes Press, Auto-Prime, 11 Auto-Prime Shellholders, chamfer tool, primer pocket cleaner, 2 oz case lube, Cutter and Lock Stud (Case Length Gage and Shellholder sold separately), powder scale, powder measure and powder funnel. goes for $69.99 on MidwayUSA. A Lee 3 piece carbide die set in .44 Magnum goes for $21.99. Always get the carbide dies (no lube necessary and they last forever with proper care). There's everything you need and more for less than $100.