Progressive presses run the gammet for 3 hole manual index to 5 hole auto index. All have there good and bad points. Being the owner of Ohio Ammo since 1988 and reloading since 1968 I think I have owned or seen them all. In this guide I will talk about die set up. I have had many new reloaders ask me why a press has 5 holes when a set of dies have only 2 or 3 dies and it's a better questio than you might think.

5 station presses allow much more versitility in die placement.  Let's start with pistol dies. Station 1 is for your resize decap die and should be a carbide die unless you want the mess of case lube. Station 2 is where most put the case mouth expander die but I don't. I put the powder measure there and do not expand since I only load bevel base bullets. This allows me to get creative with the other stations. Station 3 is then used for a powder check die. I use the RCBS lock out die. This die locks the press up if there is a double charge of powder or no powder is detected. I belive this is a must for safety. I once saw a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 Mag blow the side of the cylinder out from a bouble charge of Bullseye. Station 4 is for the bullet seating die. Now because the case mouth is not belled use a little more care to insure a straight start to the bullet and all will be fine. I do not crimp at this station. Station 5 is to again full length resize and crimp. Full length resize a loaded shell. Absolutly espicially if the ammo is for a semi auto pistol. And I only set the die to taper crimp unless it is for a Magnum handgun the I apply a moderately heave roll crimp. Crimoing is very important for uniform ignition and accuracy. I have found that the Lee factory crimp/taper die is the best on the market and it's price doesn't hurt either. Give some thought to how you arrange the dies on 3 and 4 station presses although die placement is more limited. In closing make sure your seating die die is constantly maintained especially if you load cast lead bullets. Cast bullets will leave a ring of lead around the seater plug which grows the more lead bullets you seat. This will increase overall cartridge length sometimes to the point of locking up a revlver and not allowint the slide to close on an automatic and this can kill if the round happens to go off while the slide is partiall open. Take the die apart and use a good lead and/or copper solvent every 500 rounds or so.  As always if you have a reloading question we at Ohio Ammo will answer them free of charge...just e mail through the eBay link. Hope this has put some ideas in your head and helps you make higher quality ammo...Good shooting and God Bless...Bear...Owner and Chief of Ballistics...Ohio Ammo