"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...

On 3/27/2013 9:45 PM, RogerN wrote:
snip
My goal is to reload for now and further automate (case & bullet
feeders(homemade?)) later.

RogerN



How many rounds a month do you use and how much money is your budget?

Not very many rounds per month I just want to stock up on supplies since
ammo is a bit hard to find right now.

Buy a single stage press and learn the basics until it is second nature.
(you will ALWAYS have use for it in the future)

I have 3 single stage presses, well, 2-1/2 anyway, one of them is the Lee
hand press I use on 9mm sometimes. I don't load or shoot a lot but desire
to increase practice plus I have some AR-15's in the build process so I'm
adding .223 to my reloading capabilities.

All progressive presses have their twittles and need constant TLC. Don't
worry about speed, worry about all the things that can kill or maim you or
anybody in the vicinity, AND ruin your firearm! I'm an NRA Certified
Reloading Instructor, I recommend you find one in your area and take the
course, the best money you'll spend in your reloading budget. The next
thing you WILL buy is a bunch of reloading manuals. I'll help you any way
I can.

I'd prefer to fiddle with a press for an hour and load for an hour than load
for 2 hours without fiddling with the press. I don't mind as much spending
time tweaking a press in, but when the adjusting is done, I'd prefer to
crank out parts in as little time as possible. Soft of like machining, I'd
prefer to fiddle with a CNC even if I could do a short run just as fast with
a manual machine because I enjoy the challenge and not so much cranking
handles.

If I get everything else right, I figure powder overcharge could be hard to
detect once the bullet is in...

At work we have a chemical weighing system, the bucket tare weight is stored
in memory and the final weight is the total weight less that buckets tare
weight. Depending on weight consistency of bullets and primers, I can
automatically weigh each empty cartridge when it goes in, store the weight,
and check how much weight is gained when it comes out. Powder weight =
final weight - bullet weight - cartridge weight - difference in primer
weight..

Anyway, the powder I bought for 223's and the bullet weight I have allows
for compressed load, so if it doubles the powder won't all fit in the case.

RogerN