Why own a single-stage if you aren't going to use it?
Good point. I have a pretty new Rock Crusher because on my journey to smoothing things out with the Lee Loadmaster, I had a good number of mistakes - more than I care to pull with a kinetic bullet puller. So then I looked at single stages to host the Hornady Cam Lock puller. And then I saw a *very* objective shootout comparison between popular single stages. And you know what? The price of a Rock Chucker was not that much different than a Lee Classic Cast. So the Rock Chucker's job has so far been to pull bullets. Maybe I should stretch its legs.
have you considered owning a second one for 9 mm? It would sure speed things up and avoid corrupting your current setup. It's also an excuse to try a different press if you want to.
Unclenick, good thought. I actually had not considered owning a second progressive, turret, or another form of primary press. I also had not thought that I could get things working as well as they are. When the going was rough, it didn't matter what caliber I had set up for, the primers would flip, jam, and seize the rotation. But now that you mention it, the price of another progressive or turret is potentially less than the price of a new firearm... hmm....Getting something that helps me shoot what I have better, or a new gun.
Are you shooting .38 Special in competition or something where you REALLY need to crank them out?
No, I think I would need just about 100 rounds a week. Maybe 150. How long would you guess a seasoned single stage user would take to make 50 rounds of 38 special? Assuming I had already tumbled the brass?
Don't buy Lee presses.
Funny thing is, my brother had the simpler Lee Pro 4 station progressive and never encountered the primer system problems I had. And here I thought I'd be better off with 5 stations. I was attracted to the price of entry. If I had to do it again, I would have gone with perhaps a different model Lee or something else with a little less micro management. But it's taught me to stay vigilant.
"New Press! New Press! New Press!"
Ha ha! I imagine clapping my hands with every word.