I've been looking at new sizers and I love the quality of the Redding stuff, any real disadvantages of the new Redding/Saeco sizers other than die cost?
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I've been looking at new sizers and I love the quality of the Redding stuff, any real disadvantages of the new Redding/Saeco sizers other than die cost?
I'd consider a Star before any other and if that doesn't do it for you, go RCBS...much easier and cheaper to get dies and top punches.
They are a good solid machine. If your not into real high volume shooting and never intend to, then you would be well served. I think everyone should have a good basic sizer. The price of dies shouldn't deter you. Dies aren't cheap for any sizer except Lee. I would suggest that you try to find someone on the forum near you that has more than one type of sizer so you can see first hand what each type can do. I don't know where you are located, but if your in socal I'd show you what I've got. Good Luck on your purchase. Rod
I can see no reason whatsoever not to consider a SAECO. I personally have (1) Lyman, (2) RCBS, (2) SAECO and (1) Star. The Lyman and RCBS's collect dust (I should sell them). The Star is loaded with a home brew lube and is used strictly for handgun boolit lubing and sizing. One SAECO has the same lube as the Star and is used for rifle boolits, and the second SAECO is loaded with a homebrew BP lube used for both BP rifle and handgun boolits. I endorse the Star for sizing concentricity and speed and the SAECO for sizing concentricity. Yes, the SAECO dies and top punches do cost more, but over the long haul it is a small price to pay for better sizing concentricity of boolits. There is a possibility that all of my lube/sizers may get minimal use in the future depending on what kind of performance I obtain from 45-45-10 tumble lube, which is something I am about to experiment with on my boolits.
ive had lyman , rcbs , redding , sold them all after i bought my first star about 30+ years ago! since, i have also bought a extra magnma /star ! the only way to go when shooting alot of cast bullets as i do . accuracy is excellent in every caliber! i could not imagen another sizer doing a better job.
my second choice would be a redding
Read some of the reviews on the Midway site. I recall when I was looking, something about lube leaking from around the bottom of the reservoir reported by more than one user.
get a star
Saeco
$182 for sizer (no dies or top punches)
$37 for dies
$16 for top punch
Total saeco investment to do one boolit $235
Star
$250 for sizer
$42 for dies
top punch included
Total is $292
Difference is $57
yes, on the star you might need additional punches but for the most part two sizes will do most boolits.
I have four SAECO luber sizer's and love them. If I was shooting a pistol bullet that required no gas check I would invest in a Star. Most of the bullets I shoot require a gas check and the SAECO has a built in gas check seater and most of my shooting is for target accuracy.
I have owned a Lyman 450, now gone, and a Star. The Star is by far easier to use, and faster to use. Changing dies and punches is about 30 to 45 seconds, not so with a Lyman 450. Gas checks seated with my Star are flat and smooth and completed seated, not so with my Lyman 450. Concenticity of bearing surfaces to boolit nose with a Star is superior to that of a Lyman 450.
when lube/sizing bevel base boolit there is no lube squeezed onto the base of the boolit, not so with a Lyman 450. In my Star I get lube in the lube grooves I want it in, not into the crimp grooves, not so with a Lyman 450. In short there is nothing a Lyman can do that a Star can't do better. No matter how little or how much size/lubing you will do, money spent on a Star is money well spent.
I also have a Redding sizer. Bought it new in the 1980's , ran about 1500 boolits through it, and promptly retired it. It still sits on the shelf in the original box.
If you intend to only size a handfull of boolits, by all means get a Redding. It is a well made piece of equipment. It is not as user friendly as the RCBS and has no warranty to speak of. The RCBS is warranted forever.
If you intend to size more than a handfull.. get a Star. I now have 6 of them, 4 standard and 2 " Tall Boys". The tall ones are factory and hold 3 + sticks of lube.
What's this about no warranty to speak of...?Quote:
Originally Posted by sagamore-one
I have a pair of Saeco sizers and the leather seal in the lube reservoir (yes they are that old...) finally gave up on one and was in pretty bad shape on the other. I simply called Redding and they sent me a pair of new seals post haste. No charge. One of them was missing the die retainer nut when I got it (they are both second hand at least). I called Redding then and guess what - there was one in my mail box in a few days again at no charge even though I explained that I got the sizer from a guy on evil bay.
Quoted from the Redding web site:
All Redding Reloading Equipment has been carefully inspected prior to shipment and is fully warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for life. SAECO products that are now manufactured by Redding will carry our same warranty.
All of the dies I have are advertised size or at least extremely close. Of course, boolit alloy and initial vs. final size have a lot of bearing here but I have been extremely pleased so far. The spring loaded pressure setup is nice as well, minimizing futzing with the lube pressure.
On the down side, they will leak a little lube out the bottom around the die retainer nut if you get it too warm and get a little too happy with the lube pressure but common sense operating fixes that. Maybe a thin, pliable material gasket would help, but the problem has never been bad enough to make me want to try. Also, when sizing longer boolits like the 311299 or 311284 you have to put the boolit a little sideways - nose in the top punch first and then rotate the base into the die. The clearance between the top of the die and the bottom of the punch could be just a bit more for easier operation with these.
On the whole, I would recommend these sizers very highly for lower volume sizing. If I needed to start doing more than 300 or 400 at a time, I would consider getting a Star.
The SAECO sizer is one of the designs that SAECO picked up when the bought out Cramer. It is a good machine. The only downside I can see, is that it used proprietary dies and nose punches. They don't interchange with RCBS, Lyman or Star. Neither does the Star machine. For the most part Lyman and RCBS interchange.
In my experience the only negative aspect of a SAECO, it is not so left-hand operator friendly. The design engineers had to have have been ambidextrous. I have two, one a Carpentaria the other a Pasadena machine.
SAECO's simpler, fewer moving parts operation is much less prone to linkage failure than are RCBS or Lyman. The only surviving Lyman boolit press on my bench is a No. 45.
No argument against Star, it is hands down a fine machine for production.
I have had RCBS, still have a Saeco and a Star. Once I got the Saeco I ditched the RCBS. Once I got the Star I found it to be the one I use the most. I keep the Saeco since I have dies for every caliber under the sun and find it a bit easier for low volume and GC'd stuff. It is a good machine but as said before the dies are unique to it (but then so is the Star's).
Hatch makes a good point when you look at the price. For ~$50 more I would go with the Star if I could only have one.
R.
I agree with most of the above posts. My Star is ideal for high volume, non gas-checked sizing and I use the old SAECO for gas checked and other low volume (rifle) boolits. Both are well made and have their uses.
The only down side to saeco is the dies are higher.
Expensive non-interchangable dies.
Bill
I too sold my other sizers after I bought my first Star. The thing is I've recently gotten involved with pointy rifle bullets and while not impossible to do on a Star, I find it a real PITA. So I picked up a second hand Saeco and am very happy with it.