I'm amazed!.....This thread actually has posts from Dillon owners who admit their presses don't always work perfectly.
Kidding aside, there are many reasons for picking a progressive press......even green ones. I love my four green presses....2 progressives and 2 single stage. Would I recommend a green progressive to a novice right now.....probably not. And that's not because they are bad. It's just that I can't until I can get as good with my new Pro Chucker as I am with my Pro 2000 and can help a novice with it. (the green cast iron tank, the Pro 2000 is not for sale any more so I can't recommend that any longer either) But I see a lot of potential in the new one.....and RCBS is responding to their early adopters gripes.....a bit slowly for some....at least for us, computer degenerates, not known for much patience.
Dillon 550's have been with us for a lot of years....most all the gotchas are either fixed or easily worked around. Personally, I want more than 4 stations. The 5 station 650 is more complicated, but it too has been around the block for years..... both have been improved by Dillon and tweaked by the smurf hoard (customers
) to the point that good help is easy to come by.
Hornady is almost there.....thanks to Nature Boy and others who are just fantastic fanatic (in a very good way). It's been around a long time too, and has been improved and improved. Remember, it's had time to be improved, Hornady customers, who love that LnL feature have been a patient group. Hornady has an advantage they share with Dillon (unlike RCBS) .... they don't have a parent conglomerate breathing down their necks....freedom to progress on their own terms.
Lee is limited by their chosen market....they have to stay inexpensive. Patience is a virtue for their customers and a mechanical aptitude is a big plus. Lots of people load lots of ammo with Lee, and for the most part they can make it better than commercial.....so if money is limited....patience is present.....why the heck not?
One last point.....features: # of stations, manual or auto-advance (full stroke or half stroke), case feeders, bullet feeders, tool heads or LnL bushings, powder measures, even motor drives. All those things are as individual as we are. Research is necessary to make expectations happen. No press is perfect, and the imperfect press that fits you best may not be the imperfect press that fits your best friend.
I think we ought to be more tolerant of each others choices.......
As for the new RCBS's? They are new.....that means you need to be brave, patient, and constructive if you buy one.....there are some new features not found in other progressives, like seven stations, new powder measure options, "M" die/bullet feeder combos that are really neat, and there's an extremely good customer oriented company behind them. If that doesn't intrigue you, buy one of the others.....and remember "New" means not much customer experience yet.