Help. Getting into reloading.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Shooters in Oz should take another look at the "rejuvenated" Simplex line.

The old Simplex 5/8", 3 and 6 hole "turret" presses are handy for neck-sizing bottle-necked rifle cases, for processing small pistol-sized rounds, or, as "filling" machines, but are hopeless for full-length sizing a "proper" rifle cartridge.

Their "Master" press is a rugged "O" frame job.

Their dies are as good as anybody else's.

One thing that KILLS presses is lack of regular cleaning of the ram and compound leverage. The "guilty party" is the gritty residue from ejected primers. This stuff is like valve-grinding paste to a press. OK, it might take you ten thousand rounds before the ram alignment becomes too sloppy to accurately align straight-sided cases like .357 Mag or .45-70. If you only ever load bottle-necked cases, it may never even be noticeable.

If you get heavily into rolling your own and then emptying them in weekly competition, the press AND the dies WILL wear. It is just one of those things. I am on my third full-length sizing die for .308 and my second for .223. Bear in mind, that covers forty years of steady use, not just by me, but by other shooters "learning the game". My 1977-vintage Simplex master was retired from "serious" work about 6 years ago and replaced with a slightly larger and very much "tighter" RCBS Rockchucker.

Keep EVERYTHING, especially the fired cases, CLEAN and as grit-free as possible and your loading gear will last a VERY long time.

As for dies, ya' pays ya' money and takes ya' chances. I have RCBS, Simplex, CH, Lyman, Redding and Lee on the shelf. Lee dies have never let me down and, in "slightly off-beat" cartridges, like 7.5 Swiss, are often considerably cheaper than other brands that sell anything "non-mainstream" as a "special", with an appropriately "special" price.

Loading gear is like any suite of tools. Buy those appropriate for the application, don't abuse them, keep them clean and appropriately oiled / preserved and they will give good service for a long time.