Time for an upgrade

[Jbird45]

So I have been satisfied with my cheap little Lee press until tonight when I resized 300 pieces of .45 Colt brass.

A single stage press is great for low volume rifle reloading but for high volume pistol it's about as efficient as square wheels on a truck.

I started off with the Lee whack a round because I wanted a cheap test kit to see if reloading was something I wanted to get into. I was able to get my feet wet for under $30.

Then after using that system i upgraded to a single stage and I was thrilled with the increase in efficiency. I was able to reload more rounds faster. Not a surprise when the competition involves a hammer

I am thinking my next logical step is to invest in a progressive press vs a turret press. I figure the turret only saves time in die changes.

Do I go straight for a Dillon or is there other quality presses out there such as Hornady?

Thanks for the input.

 

[kmw1954]

There are many great progressive presses and they are not all Hornady or Dillon.

First questions you have to ask yourself are what's your budget and then what is your volume. I budget is unlimited then buy whatever you want and makes you think it will fulfill every want and need for as long as you live. If budget is a factor then think hard about what your real volume is and what you anticipate what your near future needs will be. If you truly will only be loading a 1k a month then do you really need a Hornady or Dillon with a powered case and bullet collator? Sure it's nice, and fancy but is it really going to make your life better?

Guess what I'm getting at is this, is a Dillon 550 going to fill your needs or do you need a 750 or 1050? Or as I do a lowly Lee Pro1000 that I am now loading 5 calibers with. Nothing fancy but it fill my needs.

 

[mokin]

I'm probably not going to be much help. I've got a Dillon 650 that I really like. I'm sure that turrets are less expensive than toolheads but once you have a toolhead set up it doesn't take long to change cartridges.

I also really like the customer service whenever I've called Dillon. The thing is, I've had great service by Lee and RCBS as well.

 

[Jbird45]

There are many great progressive presses and they are not all Hornady or Dillon.

First questions you have to ask yourself are what's your budget and then what is your volume. I budget is unlimited then buy whatever you want and makes you think it will fulfill every want and need for as long as you live. If budget is a factor then think hard about what your real volume is and what you anticipate what your near future needs will be. If you truly will only be loading a 1k a month then do you really need a Hornady or Dillon with a powered case and bullet collator? Sure it's nice, and fancy but is it really going to make your life better?

Guess what I'm getting at is this, is a Dillon 550 going to fill your needs or do you need a 750 or 1050? Or as I do a lowly Lee Pro1000 that I am now loading 5 calibers with. Nothing fancy but it fill my needs.

I usually load 300 .45 Colt at a time. Depending on when I can get to the inlaws (range) I could go through that in 2weeks or 2 months.

Maybe I am over anticipating my needs.

My budget is preferably under $1000. I think a basic Dillion 650 is $650 at Scheels

 

[Jbird45]

I'm probably not going to be much help. I've got a Dillon 650 that I really like. I'm sure that turrets are less expensive than toolheads but once you have a toolhead set up it doesn't take long to change cartridges.

I also really like the customer service whenever I've called Dillon. The thing is, I've had great service by Lee and RCBS as well.

I have been looking at the 650

 

[Bat Rastard]

30 years of 550 happiness here. I kind of like the manual index, but i also envy the 5th station of the 650/750.
Lots of people like their Hornadys too.
Congrats and good luck whichever road you travel.

 

[Jbird45]

30 years of 550 happiness here. I kind of like the manual index, but i also envy the 5th station of the 650/750.
Lots of people like their Hornadys too.
Congrats and good luck whichever road you travel.

Why do you like the manual index if I may ask? That is kinda what is turning me off to the 550.

 

[kmw1954]

I usually load 300 .45 Colt at a time. Depending on when I can get to the inlaws (range) I could go through that in 2weeks or 2 months.

Maybe I am over anticipating my needs.

My budget is preferably under $1000. I think a basic Dillion 650 is $650 at Scheels

If that is again truly your budget then my opinion is spend the money and buy the press you want and if that is a 650 or 750 then do it. That is what your personal view is telling you. Make yourself happy, not any of us. Worst thing in the world is being in the spot of "I woulda, shoulda, coulda, didn't." when you already know in your heart that is what you want.

I don't follow the crowd, I follow my own mind. I'm not a Product fan boy. I buy what I feel will best suite me and my needs and in this case is an RCBS JR3, Lee Value 3 hole turret press with Auto Advance, Lee Pro1000 and a Lee Pro4000 ABLP. I use every one of these and all for different reasons and objectives. A Dillon 750 would be great to have but at my usage I would never utilize it's potential.

Anyways, that is my feeling on this subject!

 

[Frulk]

I suggest you don’t get rid of your Lee Single stage if it has the safety prime. Use/load the primer tube style priming system for a while and see if you like that. I opted to deprime/size/prime full time on the Lee because of the ease of refilling the Lee safety prime vs the tubes on my other presses.

 

[cfullgraf]

I loaded on a single stage press for 29 years. I then bought a progressive so that several mindless tasks, such as mouth expanding and crimping, were performed while I was doing other tasks.

Personally, I do not see the advantage of a turret over a single stage press. I'd rather not buy a turret press and use the extra cash saved towards other reloading gear.

 

[Bat Rastard]

Why do you like the manual index if I may ask? That is kinda what is turning me off to the 550.

If i have one i want to pull out and look at, I can. It moves when I move it. I have opportunity to pull the case at the 1st station, look at the primer. I have time to glance in the case and check the powder charge. Nothing moves til I move it. I don't know, I'd be lost if it moved on it's own.
Your thumb pushes the index bar, it aint a thing.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I have both the Dillon 750...they don't make the 650 any longer...and the Hornady LNL AP on my bench. Also on the bench is my Lee Classic Cast single stage and the Lee APP.

I found the Hornady better for short runs (<1k) than the Dillon. It also allows more flexibility as to die placement. Either can turn out 300 rounds in less than half an hour

From your original description, the first press that popped into mind was the Dillon 550. The next one that came to mind was the Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro Progressive Press

 

[Jbird45]

I have both the Dillon 750...they don't make the 650 any longer...and the Hornady LNL AP on my bench. Also on the bench is my Lee Classic Cast single stage and the Lee APP.

I found the Hornady better for short runs (<1k) than the Dillon. It also allows more flexibility as to die placement. Either can turn out 300 rounds in less than half an hour

From your original description, the first press that popped into mind was the Dillon 550. The next one that came to mind was the Lee Auto Breech Lock Pro Progressive Press

Can I ask what you like on the Hornady better for short runs?

I am not loyal to any one brand, even though most everything I have right now is Lee. Lee was able to get me started and still have money left over for components.

I had been giving the Dillon thought because a friend of a friend who is pretty big into reloading was talking up his Dillon, but that may be because he is trying to justify his investment. He bragged about his $6000 custom bench rifle and tried to convince me because the .30-06 came out in 1906 that the .30-30 was introduced in 1930. I politely yet forcefully informed him the .30-30 was originally the .30 WCF in 1895 and Marlin did not want to have Winchester in the name so they called it the .30-30 because of the caliber and amount of powder, similar to older cartridges. He is one of those guys that because he has a lot of expensive equipment and read a few books thinks he is an expert.

Nothing wrong with Dillon by any means, but I am open to other options.

 

[bihj]

30+ years of Dillon 550 happiness here. You won't be sorry.

 

[Typetwelve]

My first machine was a Dillon 550, I bought that Jan of 2019. I load various rounds, but for me a 500 count of 9mm or 38 spcl is my max. For that, the 550 works perfectly fine. I often half process brass, like I'll do with 44 magnum. In those cases, the manual indexing 550 is perfect for me. A while back, I bought a RCBS Rockchucker and I'm glad I did. I much prefer loading small batch ammo like match 223 or now 460 S&W on it. I prefer re-sizing the harder stuff on the single stage vs the 550. Lastly, of the ammo that I de-prime before tumbling, I much prefer doing that on the RCBS as it's a really messy process and it can gum up the 550 unless you clean it often.

I've said this many times before, Dillion, their dies, and their machines are really made for mass production. If I ever get to the point where I want to load cases of 9mm in a single session, I'll invest in a 750 with the works. Until then, lots of <500 are perfectly fine on the 550. I'll add that Dillon dies are clearly "set and forget". They're well designed to disassemble for cleaning, but they complete lack any fine adjustment tuning besides undoing the locking ring and making adjustments there. They are made for mass production and do their job well. If you plan on swapping out projectiles, don't get Dillon dies. I use Lee/Hornady dies for other rounds and I've very glad I did that with the adjustments they have on board without moving the entire die.

 

[Charlie98]

I've got a Hornady ProJector... the predecessor to the current LNL progressive, I love it. One of the reasons I picked the Hornady was because it has 5 stations... and I needed that because I separately seat and crimp in most cases. Back when I bought the ProJector, there wasn't nearly the amount of progressive presses on the market, including Dillon, which I considered as well; compared to modern presses, my press is a dinosaur... but it still works fantastic after 30 years or so of loading.

If I were to go out and buy a press today, I would consider the Hornady LNL... the only thing I really don't like about the LNL is, well, the 'LNL' part, I do NOT like the bushing insert system they have. Every press has it's strengths and weaknesses...

 

[Blue68f100]

There is not perfect AP, each has it's ups and downs. The 650 is designed around a brass feeder, without one it's is greatly handy capped. I have the LNL-AP for over 10+ yrs now. It is designed without a brass feeder and is easy to swap calibers if needed. I have the brass feeder on mine and it does speed up the process. The Hornady is a lot cheaper when it comes to caliber conversions than the Dillon. Both make good machines. The 650 has been discontinued and replaced with the 750. I like the bushing system some don't. I makes it easy to do custom configs on the fly, like only doing 1 step. Where on Dillon your have to change the head, which contains every thing loaded. Most Dillon users do not like changing primer size do to the time required. On a Hornady it takes less than 3 min. Hornady will not waste a primer like the Dillon if one is station is empty. One thing DIllon does is preset up the press when your buy it. So every thing is adj from the factory, just mount and run. With the Hornady you will need to do your own setup and adj. As with any if the adj are not correct you will have problems. Once adj correctly the all produce good ammo fast.

With your $1000 budget you will be at the max with a Dillon. You will have ~$300-$400 left over for supplies and addons with the Hornady.

 

[Erief0g]

I'm a Dillon 650 guy. I agree with others that the 1k budget will have you over budget quickly.

I saved for two years and took the plunge, now when I did it I had nothing so the outlay of money was much higher.

 

[Typetwelve]

Most Dillon users do not like changing primer size do to the time required.

I've read that about the 650, on the 550 I really don't think it's that bad to swap out primer systems. It does involve disassembling some stuff, I'll give you that.

Only reloading for about 1.5 years now, Dillon's approach to loading is very obvious. They excel at "set and forget". Setting up the dies takes some time, setting up their powder drop takes some time...and neither really like being adjusted for a large change (like a different projectile or different powder type/charge). I load Berry's 115g generic 9mm with a simple Tight Group charge, my 550 works like a charm like this. Swapping it over to load 115 HAP and Acc No 7? It was such a pain that I stopped doing it on the 550.

It's a learning process.

Question, for those liking the 5th stage, what do you do with it? I don't have any 5 die sets, some are 3. Are you using a powder go/no-go or something?

 

[Blue68f100]

Some add a lockout die or powder cop to check powder drops, others use it for crimping as a separate step. I do both since I use a PTX clearing up a station.

 

[Jbird45]

Some add a lockout die or powder cop to check powder drops, others use it for crimping as a separate step. I do both since I use a PTX clearing up a station.

So there's something I didn't think about. I prefer to crimp separate from seating. If I went with a Dillion will I have to use their dies?

Maybe the Hornady would be a better choice for my situation

 

[Obturation]

I've only ever had a single stage press, ok for what I do. I added the lee app and it has made brass prep a lot easier. I decap and size on the app, flare & charge , seat & crimp on the single. I've been thinking about using the app for crimping but haven't attempted the setup .
I'd like to get a turret press , I like the Lyman 8 station turret but I'm not in any rush, my volume of shooting is pretty low- I only load a few hundred a month typically but sometimes less or more. Just depends what you want to do.

 

[Walkalong]

Can I ask what you like on the Hornady better for short runs?

I load anything from one round up on mine, very easy to do small runs.

 

[Bat Rastard]

On my 550, in 9mm I use a lee crimp die on the 4th station. It takes away my option of a powder check die, which is why I envy those 5 station presses. No problems though, on each stroke I lean forward and look in the case.

 

[Typetwelve]

On my 550, in 9mm I use a lee crimp die on the 4th station. It takes away my option of a powder check die, which is why I envy those 5 station presses. No problems though, on each stroke I lean forward and look in the case.

I have a little series of checks that I do when loading 9mm, rotate position, look to the R and made sure the primer pocket is empty, place on empty casing, look to the L and made sure I can see powder in the case in the #3 station. It works well.

What doesn't work well doing that is 38 special. Only plopping 3.something grains of powder in there, there's no way to look into one. I had to rig a mirror on it so I can see down the case each time and even with that, it's not perfect. It's easily the biggest pain in the rear of anything I load.