Different presses

The main tool, the reloading press is what we will look at first. You can buy new or use, in single form or in a kit with the essentials included. You can buy from the simplest handhold tool to a big progressive machine and few of them can also be really automated and fast. It all depends on how much ammo you want to reload every reloading hour.

This is the Lyman tool 310. Its one of the oldest reloading tools that’s still being produced and you need theirs 310 type dies for it. Still useful and used by lots of people who need to turn out ammo in the woods.

This one is almost the same but from Lee and it uses ordinary dies. Those versions are good to have in yours hunting cabin but for the home use a bigger bench mounted press. It saves a lot of elbow grease :)

Those are all bench mounted single stage presses. They can reload easy anything from the small .25 ACP pistol cartridge to a big .460 Weatherby elephant cartridge. Up to include .308 Winchester case lengths (51 mm just over 2 ") whatever you buy its going to be ok, bigger and longer cartridge, bigger and heavier presses are needed.

Another type of single stage press exists and it’s a lot different than those above.

Mainly used by Benchrest shooters it uses special floating dies often cut with the same tools that cuts the chamber in the gun that will shoot those cartridges. A BR shooter don’t have the need for a lot of cartridges but they must be very accurate, hence this press and special often custom made dies.

If you want to shoot a lot (Combat type pistol/revolver shooters, varmint shooters etc etc) and spend less time reloading then you need a faster press. A press that spits out a cartridge every time you pull the handle.

Those above are made by Dillon and can fill your ammo box in a hurry.

A so will this one by Lee or Hornady. You see that the machines have special equipment on them for cases, powder and primers. Often one has also a single stage press together with a progressive one. If you want o reload just a few cartridges for another calibre than you ordinary do then the progressive takes a bit of time to change the dies and settings in them. The single stage press should always be a part of ones reloading equipment whatever your needs are.