Livin_cincy

Precision X ring 1,000 yards shooting with handgun is something few can do. So don't worry about handgun bullet loading precision & runnout accuracy. It is myth & marketing. Your Lee Classic Cast Turret is fine for loading 1,000 per month @ 2-250 per hour for (1) hour each week. The 550 realistically will do 350-400 per hour when you load primer tubes during loading. It gives you a break. So this gets you 1,500 per month with an hour each week. The 750 without bullet feeder & primer tubes filled ahead will realistically yield 5-600 per hour. You can add to the press to get 8-1,000 per hour. So you are @ 2,000 per month loading (1) hour each week. The Lee CCT is not mentally or physically exhausting to run. Loading for (2) hours is not leave you fatigued. The 550 is like the Lee. You can relax with music or pod casts and roll for two hours. The 6/750 tends to cause fatigue at about an hour for many but not all users loading 8-1,000 per hour. Which is fine since you made so many. Unfortunately, you will not know what you enjoy until you try each press. You can explore and always sell off and try another press. If you set up a 550 for (3) complete caliber conversion tool heads will " loose " about $200 selling it all off used when you go to buy a 750. That is only $4 per week to play with it for a year. Cheap entertainment ?

I always weigh out each bullet and sort them when I buy a couple thousand. Then I gently file each one to make them all weigh the same. My brass is already sized, weighed and trimmed to be the same... This is handgun shooting... Load them & have fun shooting them. ?

Assuming you are holding them to a length that makes them feed & chamber, how do they shoot ? Bullet Jump in handguns can be seen as negligible when you shoot 38's in 357's or 44 Specials in a 44 Magnum. So the COAL should not be as significant as we think it is. This is because it is a handgun and not a rifle. You can always sort your brass, hand prime and measure depth, weigh your bullets, trickle your powder charge, adjust COAL on each one, and sign each one... But this is what a single stage press is for.

With Factory ammunition available and prices way down my reasons for hand loading handgun seem ignorant. Hand loading gives me a control over cost and availability into the future. We all feel our hand loads would only be replaced by premium handgun ammunitions. So this screws the savings. Your $1800 investment could be sold by the next sunrise for $1200. So when you balance the books after 16,000 rounds there is a $600 one time profit. So if you shoot (100) rounds per month it will take you about 3 years. If you decide it was not enjoyable you take your $600 and walk away.

I make a dummy round and save it for setting up. Then you just use what ever bullet seating die you prefer and set it up on the dummy round. You just run your first case thru and you will have little or no adjustment.

I know who you are talking about. I like the LNL over the 550 for sure. I never could figure out how some had all the problems that he showed how to fix and others have had none of them. The comparison to the 650 is not as clear. The 650 with the after market parts and additions is a hard to beat. I think this places it above the LNL. He could no longer get his LNL to seat primers below flush. He called them and they said they only warrant them to flush. He explained that his published load data called for below flush. So he stopped using it. I am not sure that is an issue for everyone as flush is fine. RCBS with their Pro Chucker 5 & 7 seem to be rare. Not many reports on them. The primer system was an issue that got resolved by Gavin.

I have pondered the LEE FCD. I have never had an issue. It is set up to make the OD from the Bullet to the bottom of the case SAMMI spec. So the OD of the brass & exposed Bullet will end up the same if a Bullet is over sized. The Bullet inside the case will be reduced by to case thickness. The goal is to have 100% chambering by using an FCD. It does that. So it makes handloads as reliable as Factory. A soft lead Bullet will be “swaged” to your Guns chamber/ Cylinder. So it was not an issue in the days of old six guns and early autos. I think it all all comes down to properly adjusting the die. This can be elusive. On a Progressive Press getting all of the Dies to work together is an issue for some. With that said, I adjust the FCD for each bulllet I shoot. Lee makes a universal case expander. Many people use a NOE plug in the LEE die when using lead boolits. I am thinking about going this route during case prep.

I use a Dillion Beam Scale. I found it easier to read than the more common 2 poise scales. I really do not find a Beam Scale cumbersome to use. You can learn to use it quickly. If I were to trickle rifle loads I would consider the automatic electronic scales.

Titan Reloading makes a Micro disc that may work. i have never seen one or used one.

Trail Boss, The Preferred Powder Of Outlaws & Sheriffs, gives a soft feel. The Max Loads are based on case full volume so your Bullet will drive this to an extent. It will not produce a great deal of velocity even at maximum loads. The 158gr coated SWC from any of manufacturers will shoot great. Or the Hornady or Speer lead hollow point SWC if you do not mind the Lube in your dies.

Just a thought. Can you run a single case all of the way around without any issues ? If so then it is a possibility it is one of the dies not correctly set up.

The new version takes the LEE Breech Lock Bushings.

I found that Xtreme 38 Bullets are sized to the bore and not the Revolver Cylinder throats. Since they are to be loaded using ‘Hot Lead Data’ . That implies that they need to be sized like lead Bullets. They size them like FMJ bullets. I found a noticeable increase in accuracy with coated Bullets. The Xtreme will hit an 6” circle all day long. The coated Bullets go into a much smaller & tighter ring. So accuracy is relevant to what you are shooting at. Steel goes ping no matter where you hit it. Bullseye Shooting has points based on where you hit. So just have fun doing what you enjoy and select your Bullet based on that.

I have had mine about a year and load 150-200 rounds per week I suspect. No problems to report. I think set-up is critical so you do not break the plastic linkage piece or other parts.

Hodgdon's TrailBoss is an interesting powder in tall straight wall cases. It is somewhat deceptive as its burn rate is not extremely slow and the volume of powder to be burnt fills the case. So there is a lot of powder volume to be burn't. It has a unique feel to me. It was very soft in my LCR. Be sure to review their reduced load data page: You can find the max load based on the bullet you are reloading by measuring .