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progressive reloading press's

2K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  george in KY 
#1 ·
i know exactly jack shit about them..other than a 9000G mec....so advise me people i'll be doing mosley 9mm for now but would like the option to do 223.
 
#2 ·
Well here is my experiences. I started out with a Lee loadmaster, piece of junk, they sent several replacement parts , no luck. I sent it back and they sent me a new one, which I promptly sold. Next was a Hornady LNL, could not keep it adjusted, sold it and lost $50, best money I ever spent. I then sprung for a Dillon 550. It took me 20 minutes to set it up, and it ran perfect, right out of the gate. I usually load about 200 an hour, but 300 is doable. If you want to load new .223, it is a cake walk, same as pistol ammo. If you decide to load used brass, you have 2 options. You can go ahead and trim all cases to the minimum trim length, size and load. Or you can size them and check the length overall and trim those needed. I have done option one with no issues. I cleaned up the cases with alcohol on a rag after done. A buddy of mine did 1000 .223 with no issues. I am currently loading .38/357 mag on mine, a buddy has the 9mm, 45, 40 and .223 set up in their own tool head with individual powder measures on each one. The powder measures are the best I have ever seen, period. Hope this helps.
 
#3 ·
I would have to agree. First press was an RCBS rock chucker. Then RCBS 4x4, Then a Hornady LNL, next up Dillon 550, then Dillon 450, lastly a Dillon 550. Still have & use all of them except for the Hornady.
 
#4 ·
I have an old rusty Lee I got real cheap from Fuzz. I had to do quite a few mods on it to get it to "work" and I don't even use it to deprime or prime, just totally unreliable. So I deprime and size on a single stage, hand prime then run them right thru the Lee. It was cheap and it works. I only load pistol cases, but i suppose I could do 223 if I needed to. I don't trust the powder dispenser enough to try it. Stupid slider disc thingy. Too easy to double/miss a charge. Last thing I need is a squib or a kaboom. And the charges aren't very consistent. I use a bright light directly over top of the press when I do pistols so I can visually look at each charge in the case as I drop.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I bought my Dillon 550B back in 1991, and it has been absolutely great. I load for 19 different calibers with it, from 9mm to 45/70 and 458 Win Mag. I use separate tool heads and stands with the dies set up. I have three powder measures, and keep them assembled with a small, large and magnum powder bars. With ball powders, the measures will usually throw a charge with a 0.1 grain variation, not a ±0.1 grain. Fat or long stick powders do crunch in the measure, and variation is usually 0.2 to 0.3 grain. I load a lot of pistol calibers, and small rifle, the 22 Hornet and 223 Rem. Rarely load any long action caliber rifle, but it can do that without issues. Just keep the press clean and it will run a long time. Changing between small and large primers takes a few minutes, but is not hard. I had to dissemble and re-grease the press lever mechanisms a couple of years ago, but that was after 60,000+ rounds. Had one part break, part of the primer system once, and Dillon sent me the part for free. Several friends also have 550s, with a lot more rounds through them. All love them. P.S., the Dillon carbide pistol dies are the way to go, even if they are a bit more $$ than normal dies. Don't need to lube for the straight wall pistol calibers. Hope this helps.
 
#6 ·
I have the Dillon 650. Dillon is the only way to go. I know people that like the Hornady but I bet if you asked them would they do it again most would get the Dillon. So how many of you would get a 650/750 with a case feeder and two tool heads or spend the money on two 550s?
 
#8 ·
For years I did nothing but single stage. My cousin gave me a brand new Hornady Projector Press which I believe was the forerunner of the Lock N Load. It was OK but priming was unreliable so I got to where I would resize and prime on the RockChucker and then drop powder and seat bullets with the Hornady. It was still faster than doing it all single stage.
A guy at work introduced me to the Dillon 550B and I just had to have one. I bought a new one right away and picked up a used one a year later. I use one for rifle cartridges and the other for pistols. I consistently load 300 rounds per hour but have done 400 at times. I have both of mine mounted on the Dillon strong Mount.I don’t have an automatic case feeder or any of the fancy bells and whistles, other than the low primer buzzer which is standard equipment on them. When you get in the zone, it is hard to believe how quick you go through 100 primers. Swapping tool heads is as simple as pulling out 2 small pins and changing the shellplates only requires loosening one Allen screw and removing another.
I still use my RockChucker for a lot of cartridges and I haven’t tried a new Hornady or RCBS progressive but I am 100% satisfied with both Dillons I have.
 
#9 ·
, but that was after 60,000+ rounds. Had one part break, part of the primer system once, and Dillon sent me the part

George, you gotta get something else....I know you gonna load over 60,000 rounds.
WTF? You throwing out that old Lee loader?
 
#11 ·
You gonna outfit the 9mm with one of those fancy gatlin gun crank thingy's?

One of these days I'll get a progressive press. I used a Dillon .223 case trimming set up it sized and trimmed the case at the same time but the neck was too tight but sure did make trimming easy.
 
#13 ·
I have been using a Dillon 550 for 33 years (wow am I getting old). Unknown how many rounds I have loaded on it. Enough that about 2 years ago the powder measure had a crack in the base. Sent it to Dillion and they replaced the measure for free. I load 9mm, 38 spl, 357, 44 mag, 45 acp, 300 Blackout and 223 on it.

With the rifle rounds I size them on a RCBS single stage press so I can tumble the lube off the cases, then seat primers with a Lee hand primer and use the Dillon for powder and bullet seating. If you know your brass, especially 223 stuff, is the right length and doesn't have crimped primers you can do all the loading steps at once. I don't like wiping lube off loaded rounds so size separately.

As already said, you want to use ball or flake powders. Extruded powders for rifles are going to crunch some when you run them. And if you are going to load different calibers buy a tool head for each one. Makes change overs very quick. Only slow part, relatively speaking, is changing for primers. Had a friend complain about this and told him some people buy a second press so they don't have to make that change. That is what he did. Not sure what he told his wife when she saw the second press set up.

If/when you get a progressive press, start out slow and develop a process of how you operate the press to be sure everything is working as it should and you can develop a rhythm for inserting a case, placing a bullet and rotating the shell holder. If you buy a press with an auto rotating shell holder, case feeder and bullet feeder, then all you have to do is monitor powder and primer levels.

With handgun ammo I can load 4 to 500 rounds an hour without pushing hard. Sure beats the old days of using the Rockchucker JR to load large volumes of ammo.
 
#14 ·
I use a modified loading process for rifle rounds, similar to what acpchuck said. I segregate the brass to each rifle, so I can neck size only. I use an old Herters C-press to neck size separately, and then use the Dillon 500 to prime, charge, and seat bullets. I can usually reload rifle brass several times before I have to trim brass to length, depending on the rifle and caliber.

P.S., don't leave powder sitting in the measure, always put it back in the proper cannister.
 
#15 ·
I started with a Lee. I just started shooting pistol matches at that time. It took me longer than I'd like to load ammo for each match. I then got a Dillon 550....WOW, what a step up! I then got a second one so that I could have one set for large and one for small primers. Life was good! Then I stumbled onto a great deal for a 650 with all the goodies! I didn't know life could be so easy. Now I have 2 650s and kept one of the 550s (For small batches) I load 24 different calibers currently. The case feeder on the 650s is a huge improvement! One can pay closer attention to other things since there's one less thing you need to do.With 9mm, I can load about 6-700 rounds per hour with care.
I keep mine set-up to load for one reason....It seems I can't walk by it without pumping that handle until it runs out of primers, even if I didn't plan on reloading!
For rifle, I just use the sizer and run all my cases thru. The case feeder speeds this up tremendously! I then trim, chamfer, deburr, etc. Then I clean the lube off and run them thru the press with a decapping die in place of the size die, just to make double sure no media is in the flash hole.
I would suggest looking for a used 550 or 650, that's what I did. I have way less than the price of a new press in both of my 650s combined. And even after telling Dillon I broke something on my second hand press, they didn't care! Same incredible service! If it breaks, they will make it right with you!

Steven
 
#16 ·
I started with a Lee. I just started shooting pistol matches at that time. It took me longer than I'd like to load ammo for each match. I then got a Dillon 550....WOW, what a step up! I then got a second one so that I could have one set for large and one for small primers. Life was good! Then I stumbled onto a great deal for a 650 with all the goodies! I didn't know life could be so easy. Now I have 2 650s and kept one of the 550s (For small batches) I load 24 different calibers currently. The case feeder on the 650s is a huge improvement! One can pay closer attention to other things since there's one less thing you need to do.With 9mm, I can load about 6-700 rounds per hour with care.
I keep mine set-up to load for one reason....It seems I can't walk by it without pumping that handle until it runs out of primers, even if I didn't plan on reloading!
For rifle, I just use the sizer and run all my cases thru. The case feeder speeds this up tremendously! I then trim, chamfer, deburr, etc. Then I clean the lube off and run them thru the press with a decapping die in place of the size die, just to make double sure no media is in the flash hole.
I would suggest looking for a used 550 or 650, that's what I did. I have way less than the price of a new press in both of my 650s combined. And even after telling Dillon I broke something on my second hand press, they didn't care! Same incredible service! If it breaks, they will make it right with you!

Steven
I think I've settled on a 750....saving penny's
 
#17 ·
Believe it or not, I got one of my 650s (with 3 tool heads, 2 sets of Dillon dies, 2 Dillon powder measures and case feeder) like new on Face-crack market place for $550
Worth while to keep your eyes open for deals...
(they will support the 650s for decades to come)

Steven
 
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