The Art of Reloading (And Why You Should Start!)

This article is going to be rather short and concise.  Anyone who considers themselves a true "firearms enthusiast" needs to consider reloading, if they aren't already set up to reload.  The greatest benefit of reloading your own ammunition is the cost savings.  You are re-using the brass that would otherwise be left at the range or tossed out, and simply replacing the primer, powder, and projectile with those of your choosing.  If you buy in large enough quantities, you can save more than 50% of what you are already spending on ammunition, which will allow you to shoot more often, and we all know that shooting more often translates directly into improving your skills behind the trigger.

Enough with the benefits, let's get to business.  The basic requirements to get started reloading are simple. You need a press, dies, powder measure, powder scale, brass (spent or new, it doesn't matter), and all of the "expendable" materials used in the actual process (powder, primers, and bullets).

There are plenty of kits out there to get you started, so I will go over the differences between the 3 main types of presses to begin.  These are Single Stage Presses, Turret Presses, and Progressive Presses.

Single Stage:  A Single Stage Press is usually the least expensive, but it also takes the most time to reload a round with this type.  The press has a single hole for a single die, and you can only complete one step in the reloading process at a time, after which you have to manually remove the die and insert the next die before continuing.  This may or may not be a drawback to you.  The benefits of a Single Stage Press over the others are mainly economical, as this is by far the least expensive type of press to buy, and is often recommended for those who are just starting to reload, since it is simple to operate.  Also, I've found that performing the same operation on a "batch" of ammunition requires more attention to detail, which aids in the learning experience.

As far as the cost goes, you can expect to spend between $100-$130 for a complete "kit" that includes a Single-Stage Press and everything else you'll need (except for dies) to get started.  A decent set of dies will cost right around $30-$40 more.  This is a great starting point, since you can upgrade everything one piece at a time, and for the most part, the individual components are compatible with other presses.  For example, the dies are going to be the same for either type of press, the only thing that changes is the way the presses function.

Turret Presses:  A Turret Press is the next step, and it improves the transition from one step in the reloading process to the next.  With a Turret Press, all of your dies are mounted on a rotating "turret," and to move to the next step, you need only rotate the turret to the next die, and you are good to go.  This changes the process a bit over a Single Stage Press, in that instead of performing the same step over and over on multiple shells, you can complete all of the steps, in order, on a single round without removing it from the press.  Conversely, you can continue to reload in the same way as you would with a single stage, it's really up to you.

If you were to start out with a Single Stage Press, you can expect to spend right around $100 for a nice Turret Press, or you can start out with a Turret Press Kit, bypassing the Single Stage completely, for between $115-$150.

Progressive Presses:  With a Progressive Press, things are much smoother.  Instead of manually rotating the dies, a baseplate rotates the cases that are being reloaded, and every time you pull the handle, the process automatically advances.  The beauty of a Progressive Press is the speed with which you are completing the cycle.  From start to finish, going from a piece of cleaned brass to a complete round requires only a few seconds and a few pulls of a lever.  Most of the higher-end Progressive Presses feature some nice accessories, like bullet feeders, case hoppers, primer feeders, and catch bins for the old primers and the complete rounds.  If you've ever seen a Single Stage press side-by-side with a Progressive press, it's astounding just how different they are.  The progressive press automatically feeds the brass, feeds the primers, measures the powder charge, feeds the bullet, and ejects the complete round after you finish doing the rest of the work.  This requires much less effort, since you are essentially loading multiple rounds simultaneously, and the only function that you are required for is ensuring that the dies are properly set, and pulling on the lever.  The rest of the procedure is handled by the press.

All of this added convenience and production power come at a price, however.  The press alone will run you in the neighborhood of $250-$300 and up, with some models selling for $600+.  If you were to buy a reloading kit that included a progressive press, you would be around $300-$350 for all of the components you'd need.


There are other options out there, including fully automated machines that will reload your ammunition without any interaction with you, but for a setup like that, you're looking at dropping considerable amounts of money, upwards of $3,000.  It is not unheard of, nor difficult, to spend thousands of dollars on reloading supplies and equipment.

Either way you look at it, however, reloading not only saves you some money, but it allows you greater control over the type of ammunition you feed through your firearms, and it allows you to "tweak" the different variables with great precision to increase accuracy, performance, and reliability.

Stay tuned, we will be sharing a review of the Lee Anniversary Single-Stage Press Kit within the next couple of weeks, we have been putting it through it's paces for a while, and we are hoping to have some more information very soon.