Looking to start reloading, some questions (some specific to Lee presses)

It specifically mentioned that .308 would not work with it so I'd need to do that on an off press powder measure. What about .223? Is it small enough to work with the on press powder measure? The thing I read did mention a Lee Rifle Charging Die was needed for smaller rifle reloads, and I can pick that up as long as .223 is doable with it.
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for rifle your going to need the pro auto disk powder measure and the double disk (plus the rifle charging die, and the riser if you are going to prime on the press). lee uses volumetric powder measuring, which means the powder fills a cavity in the disk(s) the bigger the cavity-the more powder-the more a charge weighs.

.223 is totally doable with the double disk kit, and SOME .308 powder/bullet combinations you can use the double disk kit for. different powders are different size/shape, some you can throw the desired charge with the dbl disk kit, and some you can't. the disk cavities only get so big, so if your charge weight and/or powder type doesn't fit inside the cavities to get the desired charge weight you're s.o.l. if this is the case the perfect powder measure is what you want and yes the ppm is off the press. it doesn't slow me down much at all. lee's book modern reloading has all the load data in the back of the book, plus the disk size(s) to start with and whether you charge can be doubled disked. like i said in a previous post, if you're going to get lee gear get this book.

you can do .308 on the the lct no prob.


Next, I'm looking at all the die options, I understand that when using carbide sizing dies you don't have to use case lube. However I can't seem to find any full length carbide sizing dies for .223 or .308. Do they not make carbides for those sizes?
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you don't NEED carbide for rifle, lee doesn't make them because it's cost prohibitive, like i said you don't need them.

The .308s I'll probably mostly be doing Neck sizing only on because they will be used in my own bolt action .308 and no one elses. But the .223s may potentially get used by my friend or something like that. I planned to get carbide dies for the 9mm and 38 special loads. I guess if carbide full length isn't available for rifle sizes it means I have to always lube rifle cases during reloading?
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yes you will need to lube bottleneck rifle cases. i have the carbide dies for pistol and while i don't NEED to lube them, i do anyway and it makes the run like butter.

Lastly, I've read some mixed reviews concerning Lee's .308 die set. This is the one I'm most concerned with accuracy on because it's going to be used in a 1000 yard gun. I read one reviewer that even claimed using the Lee neck sizing only die on .308 resulted in 5 inch groups where as a RCBS .308 resulted in 3/4" groups at 100 yards. Does the resizing die really play this big of a roll? If so, what are peoples suggestions on high quality dies for .308 (assuming the Lee really is less precise or something and it wasn't just that reviewer screwing something else up).
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my opinion is lee dies will make ammo better than the vast majority of people can shoot it. lots and lots of people make quality 308 ammo with lee gear. internet reviews are internet reviews, take each with a grain of salt. (the lee classic turrret however, has overwhelming glowing reviews)

if you really want to get fancy, adding a powder measure and riser (and powder thru rifle die) for EACH caliber you reload is the bees knees. once you get your desired powder charge dialed in you just leave that disk in the powder measure and changing calibers literally takes seconds
 
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Your limitation with the auto disc will be how much powder you can throw, lost sheep and led farmer have those answers.

I have one,(pro auto disc and perfect powder measure) but haven't used it on press, as my rifle rounds are either thrown with a lyman #55, and checked on the scale, then used with a funnel in the top of the charge die, or I use a rcbs chargemaster.

Plan on lubing the rifle cases, the pistol ones can be had in carbide.
While I like the lee dies for pistol,
For my rifle I prefer redding or rcbs, with decap pin removed.(just my preference)
In my turret, there is a universal decapping die, a sizing die, a powder die, and a seating die.

For rifle I manually advance the turret from the decapping to the sizing.

I do my rifle in 2 operations, lube, decap, size, trim, chamfer, debur, brush neck, remove crimp if necessary, and brush primer pocket.(this gets done consistienty, every time) I use a cts trimmer and rcbs case prep center (but there are other options to do the same things)

The next operation is with prepped brass, prime, charge, and seat.

But I'm loading match rounds, not plinking rounds, and striving for consistiency in each one.
 
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Steven,

Lots of good information here so far. I have been loading for over 25 years and if I remember correctly I started out reading The ABCs of Reloading too. I lent it out years ago and don't remember getting it back but it did teach me a lot. That was back before forums and Youtube videos.

The Lee turret press should be able to do everything you want to start with. I have one and use it for 9mm. I use the Lee Auto disk with it and it will pretty easily do 200-250 rounds per hour once you have your powder and seating depths set. For the amount of 9mm you are talking about a progressive would probably be worthwhile once you have the basics down. I bought a Lee pro 1000 years ago but I was not impressed with it and the changeover from one cartridge to another was kind of a pain. I've never used the loadmaster so I don't have any input for you on that.

You can use the turret press for the rifle rounds but you will probably need to find a different option for powder than the Auto Disk. When you load a pistol round the powder die will flare the case mouth at the same time as it drops the powder. For rifle rounds you do not generally flare the case mouth. I have always loaded rifle rounds on a single stage and use a powder measure to drop powder into cases one at a time while they are lined up in a block.

Yes, carbide dies do not need lube but those are only for straight walled pistol cases. The rifle cases will need to be lubed before you run them into a sizing die. If you don't use enough lube you will experience the joys of a stuck case. This turns into a giant pain in the ass and really slows the whole process down. :mad:

I have a mix of Lee and RCBS dies for my rifle rounds. I have generally been pleased with both. The RCBS have locking rings on the dies that are held in place with a set screw. So when you take a die out and reinstall it later you know it will be in the same location. The Lee dies have a ring with a rubber O-ring that can get moved slightly when you take the die out of the press so you may need to double check everything when you take the dies out and reinstall them later. That said, I have had very good accuracy out of both depending on the load and the rifle. But, I am not trying to shoot at 1000 yards.

Jason
 
When you load a pistol round the powder die will flare the case mouth at the same time as it drops the powder. For rifle rounds you do not generally flare the case mouth.
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yes the pistol powder through expanding die flares the case mouth.

the rifle charging die does not
 
Just take your time. READ to get the information you need. Get several re-loading books. Lots of info on that on the web. Double check your work. All should be fine. Enjoy.:)
 
I guess I'm not going to get the answers to my specific questions above though.

I guess I'm not going to get the answers to my specific questions above though.
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Yes you will. Send me a PM and I will answer then.

Jim
 
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