71Rcode as far as annealers go, I have and recommend the Ugly Annealer. As far as torch based I don’t know that there’s anything better on the market. Of course Amp is the way to go but I’ve yet to justify it to myself.

Me too. I loaded some jacketed .45 AUTO last year but haven't touched anything but cast in a good while besides those. I use the LFCD on rifle and pistol. My experience is it either does nothing at all or helps. On an auto-advance turret and using pre-primed brass, it really doesn't add time.

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Yup. This is one of those old discussions. Some love it. Others hate it. There are better approaches for loading projectiles sized a little over actual groove diameter. In addition to having either a taper or roll profile in the top of the die, it also has a sleeve that uniformly sizes the case body of the loaded cartridge. Sizing the body of loaded ammunition is only necessary if your dies are incorrectly set up and are creating a buckle or bulge in the case. If you load over size bullets, they get sized too. Some prefer to smooth out the bulges till they will function rather than adjusting dies until the cause of the bulge is eliminated, particularly when sorting mixed brass may be required. Uniformly sizing the body of loaded cartridges with tapered cases like 9mm or 40 S&W removes the taper. I wonder why Lee is the only one that takes that approach?

Also, as far as scales. I have the RCBS MatchMaster. It is a good tool that can bet set up to run very fast and accurate. Unfortunately it’s unnecessarily complicated and you to have a secret decoder ring (book) to operate it.

When I bought it I was set to buy the Autotrickler setup but they were on back order with no specific delivery date available. If they were both available today I would buy the Autotrickler. If don’t mind the complication, the Matchmaster is worth the savings.

Both of these and a couple of other more expensive ones are way faster and more accurate than anything else on the market in the lower price range.

Best:
Franklin Arsenal hand priming kit
Chargemaster with insert
Lee Collet die

Worst:
don't own any of that any more

Thanks WP. I'll check it out!

I moment ago ordered the Hornady Powder Dispenser Pro from Precisonreloading.com for $314 with their $8 flat shipping rate coupon. Hoping this spring some more Precision to my high velocity bottle neck cartridge loading results... I probably end up using for all my rifle cartridge loading.

Best:
MEC Marksman Press
RCBS RC Supreme
RCBS RC Jr.
RCBS Competition Seating Dies
RCBS Bench Mounted Primer Seater
Kinetic hammer bullet puller*
Hornady Compactor & Bushings
F.A.R.T. tumbler
Mighty Armory de-priming die
MTM Hinged (2-piece) Ammo Boxes*

In-the-middle:
Inline-Fab base plates*

Worst:
RCBS Neck Turner
RCBS Hand Primer
Lee Hand Primer
Lyman Die sets*
MTM Fixed Hinge (1-piece) Ammo Boxes

*Notes:
1) I have a collet bullet puller, but for me the hammer puller is essential. If I over seated a bullet during die adjustment I can back it out a tad & then re-seat. Sometimes I only have a few bullets to pull so the hammer does it quick & easy without damage.
2) Ammo boxes that won’t stay opened on their own have to go!
3) Inline-Fab base plates work great but are over priced with shipping for a bent piece of metal.
4) Lyman dies are lousy & their customer service sucks.

I probably don't really belong in this thread due to my skillset and failing memory now but I do have one item I really like.
Not for anthing close to BR quality or even best possible attainable quality by any means.
But good enough and real fast for me is a possum hollow case trimmer in a cordless hand drill.
I had to learn the feel of it but once i learned that feel I could trim a boatload of .223 cases really fast with it that were plenty close enough on uniform range of case length.

I can't recall now what was the worst, but there were a few things along the way that qualified.
The worst I ever encountered a really long time ago was not by me but some cat running .45 acp out of a Dillon at an indoor shooting range in downtown Ft. Worth.
They were selling it and I bought about 10 boxes. Damn things would not go into battery on my Glock 21. Inspection showed that they were roll crimping the hell out of that ammo. I got my money back and learned about taper crimping in the process.

Worst? Wasn't that much but NOE bullet sizers don't work for me. Nor the nose sizers. Best and most $ is STM tumbler.

Best: RCBS Chargemaster Litte makes the process much faster. Hornady collet bullet puller is better than the anger-inducing than the kinetic puller. The semi-auto primer system for my Rock Chucker Supreme also speeds up the process. Hornady micrometer attachment keeps me from having to buy expensive dies.

Worst: RCBS crimp remover die. I still have to drill out the pockets to keep from destroying primers.

I don't think I have dealt with bulged cases and I don't load 40 S&W. I do build 9X19 but rarely and I usually use plated for those although I do have one mold.

On the topic of removing crimps, best investment was the Dillon Super Swage. So quick compared to cutting it out. Worst investment was the RCBS crimp swaging dies. They worked well enough to swage the crimp, but I always had to slam the handle to pop the case off the die. Just not a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Other best investments include a Dillon 750 with case feeder and bullet feeder. Bulk reloading got so much easier.

Best:

Giraud trimmer
RCBS Rockchucker presses
Forster dies - their sizing die reduced runout to 0.001” with careful setup with the neck expander still in, which Redding dies mostly would not. The ability to use their neck expander saves having to fool with a mandrel. Like the seating dies too.
Starrett calipers
Peterson and Lapua brass
Collet bullet puller
AMP annealer (after trying two other brands that use propane torches)

Worst

Redding bushing dies
Neck turning tools - huge waste of time, buying better brass is the better answer

Interesting.

I don't like Forester dies.

And have not had a problem with Redding bushing dies.

Worst decision from a financial point of view: start to reload

Now that once you start there is now way back..,

Worst: Lee hand priming tool, Lee FCD, Lyman hand case prep tool, Kinect bullet puller
Best: hornady AP, FA bullet puller, Chad’s powder, RCBS rock chucker, FA hand priming tool, FA bullet seater die

Redding bushing sizing dies neck expander would not consistently produce low runout for me, so I had to use a mandrel to finish the case.

Forster dies use a different shape neck expander that is capable of low runout so I do not have to fool with a mandrel.

I do still use one Redding non-bushing sizing die, which consistently produces low runout results with Redding's neck expander, but overall Forster's neck expander has worked well and better for me than Redding. RCBS dies are only used for one cartridge not offered by either Forster or Redding. I do use Redding dies for pistol.

Another good investment, Inline Fabrication press stands.

I swage them then cut them.

Dillon 550 & RCBS chargemaster lite are the best by far.

I hate my Hornady trimmer - it doesn't stay where it's set for more than a handful of rounds.

Sounds like I need to get a giraud trimmer

Not even a close call, do it.

Good info to know or at minimum be aware of...historically, I mainly use bushing dies on brass that has been neck turned and therefore no need for an expander.

p07 - at minimum look into the Henderson trimmer...it and the Giraud seem to be the top of the heap. I've not looked deep but I don't believe it requires on going pilots for all the cartridges...that would be the only negative to the Giraud and the AMP annealer (although last I bought the AMP pilots were 1/2 the cost of the Giraud)

Best:
Lee classic turret press. Probably got close to 100,000 rounds on it now and it just keeps working and working and I keep hoping it breaks to try something else but it doesn't

Lee factory crimp dies. When loading a bunch of rounds for competition, I want them to fit in the gun and they always do when they go through a Lee factory crimp die. Yes I only load cast that I cast myself

Casting equipment. It's a pain in the [censored] and I hate doing it, but I do like being able to have bullets for what I shoot and being able to shoot even some rifles for not a lot of money. Even slugs

Worst:

Lee loadmaster, there was nothing good about that damn press

Dylan square deal. I've loaded on a 550 and they are great, but I had nothing but issues with the square deal. It would sometimes throw light charges, sometimes flip primers upside down, and if you ran into a crimp primer pocket you didn't see it would sometimes break the damn center bolt on the shell plate. That same piece of brass on the turret press gets loaded with no issue. You could clean that square deal and get everything working right and it would be just fine for a few hundred rounds and then throw primers upside down again etc. The turret press might be a hell of a lot slower but it's simply throw the dies in it and go




One quick note on the Lee factory crimp. I don't really love it for revolvers, I have had bullet tumbling issues and bad accuracy when using them in a couple of different revolvers. But in Auto loaders it's never been a problem and that's where 99% of my reloading is done

Dillion best/Lee worst

Yeah I looked up the price of the Giraud. Nearly $600. I just don't reload nearly enough to justify that. The Henderson is a little more affordable, but I don't know anything about it.

At this point I'd be better off financially finding someone with a giraud and paying them for trimming whenever I need it, which at most might be once a year.

I'm still new to this and don't have a lot - just the basics pretty much. But I don't know what I don't know. I like my Coax though. And my Lee universal decapper! Everything else, while not blowing my socks off, simply does what I expected. Oh, I learned I don't care to wet tumble, so that equipment is a waste. Well, I guess I can at least tumble some rocks to make hippy necklaces to sell on Etsy. For $5 more I'll spritz the leather necklace with Patchouli oil.

Still haven't decided on the Giraud vs Henderson trimmer. And maybe I'll upgrade my Chargemaster 1500 though I don't have an issue with it.

possum hollow case trimmer - didn't know he was still in business. Works great for 30/30 but haven't done any in yrs.