I have kinda been looking at presses... What would you recomend for a beginner.

One I found that may be ok...

RCBS Rock Chucker

Oh is it better to buy a kit?

Buy the master reloading kit.... It has alost everything that you will need.

BUT you will need dies - I recommend Lee. I especially appreciate the unbreakable de-capper on the lee dies.

Get a full set of universal shell holders from Lee - about $12.00 GREAT to have extras for a priming tool.

Lee Deluxe Rifle Dies are by far the best dies for the $$$$ you can buy...

Reloading is fun - making something wiht precision is a great time - when you do your part - everything works - it is a good deal....

Nothing ike making 308's that unch asprin tablets EVERY TIME.

Cabela's has it on sale $249.99 Cabela's Link

I more want to do it for handgun practice ammunition.

I will probably need to find some one to help me figure this out... But it will take me awhile I tend to be slow these days.

Hardest and most dangerous part, getting expence past wife!

Grayskys,
Press choice is a little like buying a vehicle, truck sedan, wagon, ragtop etc. There are direct factors like price, output, ease of caliber change and then there are factors like do I want to make ammo that will print one ragged hole or is good, good enough, do I want lovingly crafted perfect ammo or do I need 500 rounds for tomorrow (Saturday's) plinking and it's already 10pm.

From my own point of view I see reloading as a cross between a nice hobby and a way of shooting more (it's never cheaper to reload; you just get to shoot more for the same money). When I competed seriously I shot about 1 to 1.5 K per week so I needed lots of ammo fast. I have a friend who shoots long range pistol and he will spend all week to load 100 perfect cartridges, (I mean perfect, the cases all weigh the same, the volume, case length, primer pocket depth, flash hole size, powder charge, bullet diameter, length and weight are identical), he's a fanatic, he also wins a lot because his bullets go exactly where he expects them to go.

I use a Dillon RL550 and he uses a Rock Chucker, so there are horses for courses.
My opinion is that the 550 is reasonably priced at about $300 to $350 (I haven’t checked recently) depending on what you want with it, and where you get it from (Gunstop usually has Dillon’s direct price without the shipping). I load anywhere from 200 to 600 rounds/hour depending on the cartridge. I load 30c, 223, 308, 303 rifle and 380, 9mm, 38sup, 38/357 10mm, .40, .41ae, .44, .45, .455webley & 45LC, so the interchangeability is important to me. If I loaded just a few calibers I would pick the Dillon Square deal and if I just chose one and made great ammo I’d take a Rock Chucker.

Sorry about the diatribe, but there is a lot to consider!

NP

It is all good information. I think I want something small and starterish and then see from there.

If you're thinking multiole calibers and moderate ammounts of ammo, I'd go with the square deal.

I've had pretty good luck with my Lee Turret press. I got into reloading on the cheap, because that's what I had to spend.
Does the job I require of it.

Now donning the Asbestos underwear for the inevitable Lee Bashing-

Start out with a single stage press like a RCBS, or any other single stage press that tickles your fancy. A starter set isn't a bad idea, you will need the scale, powder measure speeds thing up a bit, the hand primer is also something you will need. The only thing you might not need is the is the case lube pad, I use a spray on lube, a lot quicker.

One thing with a single stage press, you will always use it. So if you were to by a progressive now, you will just end up buying a single stage down the road. I use a Dillion 550 for the majority of my loading, but I will develop a new load using the single stage press, a lot easier to make minor changes when playing with loads. When I have what I want, then I set up my progressive to turn out mass quantities. Now this is with most handgun loads, and 221 Fireball or .223. I still do my big bore pistol and rifle on a single stage, a lot easier to turn out 20-40 quality rounds.

So my belief is to acquire a single stage press first, it will always be useful.

Lee makes great stuff, and some not-so-great. I got a Lee Classic Cast press, at a bargain price. If you do single-stage, I'd say it's the best deal for the money. Course, you might like a turret or even progressive better...

Lee dies rock, and Lee makes some very useful tools, like a cheap and effective primer pocket cleaner, and shell holders (of course). Lee's book is also very good.

Lee's scales and powder throwers, though, didn't seem like they were up to snuff. I went with RCBS, but there are many choices here.

Don't forget to get an inertial bullet puller!

Excellent advice. Definately the way to start out.

Buy a Dillon -- most everyone does eventually.

If you want handgun ammo only (ie, you don't own a rifle and have no plans in the next 12 months of buying and loading for one), buy a Square Deal B. Even if you decide you don't like it, you can sell it on Ebay for around 75% of the price of new. When I sold my SDB on Ebay, the press and the 3 die sets all sold within 36 hours of being listed for my very conservative "Buy It Now" price. I sold mine to upgrade to a faster Dillon XL650, not because there was anything wrong with it.

If you want to load rifle rounds, get the 550. It's not auto-indexing, but it will accomodate standard dies. Stay away from the 650 and 1050 (its price is intimidating); they're more complicated machines that would have steeper learning curves for a beginner.

IMHO, a single stage press is a waste of time for anything other than 200 yard silhouette pistol. A progressive like the SDB or 550 isn't any more complicated to learn or operate than a single stage -- I started on a SDB with zero reloading experience, and it was easy and since it was also FAST, I got a fair amount of satisfaction from my effort in quantities of ammo in reasonable time (with care and a little experience, ~4-500 rounds an hour).

I'll admit to being something of a Dillon bigot, but look around for yourself and see who uses Dillon and ask what they used to use. Before I bought my SDB, I asked John Walton at the Gunstop about and his comment was "I sell them all, and I'll sell you anything you want, but eventually everybody ends up with a Dillon."

A Dillon is a wise investment - BUT for $250 it is hard to beat a rock chucker kit - it has some of the tools that you will need even with a Dillon- but a Dillon is a wise investment.

I started with a RCBS - I use it all the time for rifle rounds - Yeah I have a 650 - but I like the RCBS for load development and match ammo. Learning on an RCBS is a great way to start.

Progressive machines have a lot going on for someone starting to figure out - I like single stage for teaching the basics - a good foundation of knowledge in building good ammunition - the right way the first time.

When you learn to walk - then fly with Dillon. My 650XL is a great machine - I can load 800-1200/hr depending on how I am feeling and how much advance work That I do - I want the primer tube loader - but for $250 I will load them myself.

I love reloading - it is fun to make something by hand.

I started on the Dillon Square Deal B and still use it. Pistol calibers only, but very easy to get started on. I load .45 ACP and .38 spl. I have the kit for .40 S&W, but no longer own anything in that caliber.

I just ordered another case of .45 ACP bullets; I'm down to my last 150 rounds. Can't have that!

Last time I got a bullet delivery, the UPS guy staggers up the driveway with three boxes containing about 5000 bullets in his arms. He gets to the door and says, "What's in these things - lead?"

My wife looked at the boxes and replied, "Yes."

I agree whole heartedly, Dillon is the way to go, unless you just want to load 100 rounds of perfect ammo per week, and who does that except for a few long range/benchrest shooters.

I can't argue with the idea of getting a single stage press to learn on, however I started with an SDB kit that I purchased on ebay and have no regrets. I've had it for a couple years now and have reloaded a combined 14,000 rounds of .45, .40, .44 mag, .357 mag, .38 special, and 9mm since then.

As a reversal of the progression, I'm now considering adding a single stage press to start loading some precision rifle ammo.

Like Pinnacle I also enjoy reloading, both as a supplement to my shooting hobby and as an activity in its own right. I can't afford to shoot as much as I'd like (which would be almost every day), and this gives me another way to enjoy the hobby for those times when I can't be at the range.

Stacking 10 or 20 boxes of freshly reloaded ammo in my ammo cache gives me the warm fuzzies.