I'll kick this one off.
Biggest lemon I have had, a Lyman Turbo turret press. I never could get to like this one. Handle throw didn't work for me. Press didn't have enough leverage to size a 9mm in an undersize carbide die. I tried to like it, couldn't.
Lyman was a pretty big name in reloading equipment years ago. RCBS tipped Lyman's playhouse into the water, and after that others came into the field. The orange brand isn't innovative or popular much these days. I got a deal on the Lyman press and it didn't work out so I found another home for it.
Something I bought when I first started 35 years ago, an RCBS powder trickler. For me, totally worthless. Won't do anything a simple plastic powder dipper from Lee will do.
On-press priming equipment with single stage presses. Awkward and tedious, you're way ahead of the game by getting a cheap hand priming tool like Lee makes. I've used the Lee Auto Prime tools for decades, now the Lee Auto Bench Prime. Somewhere along the line, I bought an RCBS hand priming tool because it took shell holders that weren't made for the Lee (which takes its own design). The RCBS cost quite a bit more than the Lee and was more awkward and cumbersome to use. It mostly still sits in the box it came in; I don't think I've touched it in years.
It took me a while to decide how best (for me) to trim cases. My first tool for this was a Pacific trimmer, made by Hornady using old Pacific tooling after they bought the latter company. I guess it served its purpose while I was using it, but there are better ways to trim than using those little mini-lathes.
Oh, I can't forget this one. The RCBS Little Dandy power measure. It takes steel rotors with pre-set cavities drilled into them. I don't know how many different rotors there are, about 30 I think. You use a chart to determine which number rotor drops a given amount of powder. Theoretically, you could use multiple rotors and do multiple passes in powder dropping to get a given charge of your choice. Which is some trouble considering the change from one rotor to another. The cost per rotor is relatively high. If you reload a lot of different cartridges and bullet weights, you can have a lot of money in rotors. If you are a target shooter who shoots one load and only one load, might make more sense.
I got the Little Dandy measure as part of a package deal of used stuff. It came with two rotors; I was tempted by it, so bought several more rotors. My use of it has been very scanty. The powder chart for these is updated once in a great while, but is always out of date because new powders come along (you can through your own experimentation determine correct rotors for charge weights of your powder of choice). Now my Little Dandy sits, unused and unwanted. This is one item of reloading gear that I happen to know is close to wasted money. Resale value is very low. Which says a lot about its utility.
Biggest lemon I have had, a Lyman Turbo turret press. I never could get to like this one. Handle throw didn't work for me. Press didn't have enough leverage to size a 9mm in an undersize carbide die. I tried to like it, couldn't.
Lyman was a pretty big name in reloading equipment years ago. RCBS tipped Lyman's playhouse into the water, and after that others came into the field. The orange brand isn't innovative or popular much these days. I got a deal on the Lyman press and it didn't work out so I found another home for it.
Something I bought when I first started 35 years ago, an RCBS powder trickler. For me, totally worthless. Won't do anything a simple plastic powder dipper from Lee will do.
On-press priming equipment with single stage presses. Awkward and tedious, you're way ahead of the game by getting a cheap hand priming tool like Lee makes. I've used the Lee Auto Prime tools for decades, now the Lee Auto Bench Prime. Somewhere along the line, I bought an RCBS hand priming tool because it took shell holders that weren't made for the Lee (which takes its own design). The RCBS cost quite a bit more than the Lee and was more awkward and cumbersome to use. It mostly still sits in the box it came in; I don't think I've touched it in years.
It took me a while to decide how best (for me) to trim cases. My first tool for this was a Pacific trimmer, made by Hornady using old Pacific tooling after they bought the latter company. I guess it served its purpose while I was using it, but there are better ways to trim than using those little mini-lathes.
Oh, I can't forget this one. The RCBS Little Dandy power measure. It takes steel rotors with pre-set cavities drilled into them. I don't know how many different rotors there are, about 30 I think. You use a chart to determine which number rotor drops a given amount of powder. Theoretically, you could use multiple rotors and do multiple passes in powder dropping to get a given charge of your choice. Which is some trouble considering the change from one rotor to another. The cost per rotor is relatively high. If you reload a lot of different cartridges and bullet weights, you can have a lot of money in rotors. If you are a target shooter who shoots one load and only one load, might make more sense.
I got the Little Dandy measure as part of a package deal of used stuff. It came with two rotors; I was tempted by it, so bought several more rotors. My use of it has been very scanty. The powder chart for these is updated once in a great while, but is always out of date because new powders come along (you can through your own experimentation determine correct rotors for charge weights of your powder of choice). Now my Little Dandy sits, unused and unwanted. This is one item of reloading gear that I happen to know is close to wasted money. Resale value is very low. Which says a lot about its utility.
