[Dave Waits]

Well, when I started reloading some 30 years ago, I started with a single-stage press. Had quite a few I've tried over the years and I keep going back to the same Rockchucker I started with. Once you get everything down, you'll find out you can load a lot more with a single-stage than you think.

Granted, there are some upsides to a progressive press, it's a lot faster. But, there is also a downside to them, consistancy. Most guys,as a rule of thumb, check every tenth round that dumps into the bin. This means they know that one round out of ten is correct. What about the other nine? when you ask these guys they usually say,"Well...never had any problems." Well, there's a first time for everything, with ammunition it only takes once.

If you set up your operation correctly with a single-stage, you don't have to worry about that at all. While slower compared to a progressive, I can reload 200 45ACP in a five hour session and that's with taking a few breaks. Makes for a nice,relaxing, fun time. Plus, by using a single-stage each round is more precise,...consistancy.

The best way to use a single-stage is to do each operation to every case you want to reload at the same time. Take 100 cases, deprime/size them all, then expand all 100, then do the primer-pocket cleaning and prime all 100, then, using a tray, charge all 100. A tray is important because you can look directly down into it and see if any cases are under or over-charged at a glance. After that, you move the tray to the press and seat the bullets, checking each for Overall length.

The reason I can load that many in one session is the Powder-charging system I use, it's electronic. I use a Pact Electronic Dispenser/scale. After it's calibrated to the powder, every charge is exact and fast. It can dump a 5.2 grain charge in about ten seconds. Much faster than a Powder-Measure, Razor-scale and a Trickler. But, speed is not important when you reload, it's actually your enemy. The faster you try to go, the more room for error there is, with both a single-stage and a progressive.

Another time-saver I have is a Lyman Electric case-trimmer, it has a pto on the back you can chuck primer-pocket brushes in. I can clean fifty pockets in about three minutes

Like everybody on here knows, I'm old-school when it comes to a lot of things firearm. If, for example, like you, I'm only wanting about 1000 rounds a month, I can't see spending all that money on a progressive setup, using it for two hours and then staring at it for the rest of the month. Plus, I don't care how good a progressive it is, it won't load as consistant a round as a single-stage setup where you control each step. SD on my 45ACP loads is 7fps, you won't get near that with a progressive. Now, that said, if you're not worried about great accuracy, a progressive works fine because you're not checking and trickling each charge. A couple tenths off won't matter unless you're charging at near-max on your loads. All it will affect is groupsize.

Don't think by all this that I don't like progressives, they definitely have their place. If you're competing and need to fire 1000 rounds a week, they're great. Most of the sports like that don't require more than 4 or 5 inch groups at 25 yards, Bullseye being the exception. You just pick a load that's safely under max and run em! Me? I don't compete. Haven't in a long, long time.

Whichever way you go, read first. A lot of guys mentioned the ABCs of Reloading. It's a good book but, I prefer the reloading tutorial in the front of the Speer Manuals. It's the most complete and easiest reading tome on the subject that I've read. It also has a comprehensive trouble-shooting section that lays out every mistake you can make and how to correct it.

After you get done reading, ask questions! Any of us here would be more than glad to help you, these are a great bunch of guys here.

Have fun with it!