Been reloading for 30 years with a RCBS single stage presses.
Got a bunch of AR's and cannot keep up with the grand kids

I use the dillon and get along great with it.

Although the Dillon is top notch and will get the most votes as best I went with the Hornady and would buy it again I do believe.

Dillon is definitly the best on the market hands down IMO but if you want the best you're gonna pay for it.

How much are you looking to spend, and do you plan to do any other calibers on it?

If your talking the best progressive reloaders you are talking Dillon. I have the 550B and can say nothing but great things about it. The machines are easy to change between calibers, there as fast as you feel you can comfortably and safely reload, they make very consistent reloads, and there customer service is second to no one.

I have a couple of Dillon 550's and an RL1050. I use the 550 for relatively small runs...500 rounds or less. What I like about it is that it is relatively inexpensive for set up and change overs. That being said, the 550 with a case feeder would be pretty amazing. You can also load almost anything on it. On the 1050, it is hands down super fast and smooth! The down side is that everything is pretty expensive. If I had to do it over, I would probably have gone with the XL650 as it is pretty fast and easy to use for my high volume stuff like .223. It all depends on how much time you have to do the loading.
One last thing....the 550 is really easy to set up whereas the other two do have a little more tweeking to get them to run right and also require more maintanence.

I loaded 50-60,000 223 rounds on my Rock Chucker over the years.

Now I have a Dillon 1050 set up for 223. I don't have to worry about crimped primers or swaging primer pockets, all I do is load the hopper and go.

Dillon

I know alot of people like the Dillon. And it is a very good press. But the Hornady Press is also a very good press with more features for less money. So I am not sure how anyone could say the Dillon is superior "hands down" the best press??

Plese present some facts to prove that.

Dillon has spectacular customer service, but so does Hornady and RCBS.

The Dillon does a great job, but so does the Hornady.

The Hornady has more features than the Dillon, and for a better price. So please present some facts as to why the Dillon is superior to the Hornady??

I spent alot of time researching both the Dillon and the Hornady. I could not see spending extra money for the Dillon in order to receive less options.

My Hornady has performed flawlessly. I really like it. But I would not say it is hands down" better than Dillon. At least not until I loaded a god bit with the Dillon.

I doubt if most supporters of one, have much experience with the other. So "hands doen" does not apply as a description of the differences. Unless you consider price and features as the purchasing decision. That category goes to Hornady as "hands down" the best deal. So lets compare the press?? Tom.

Dillon 550B

I load on a Dillon 650 and load .223's in two steps first step press is setup with sizing die and power trimmer cases are cleaned and lubed with spray lube and ran through the press they get sized deprimed and trimmed then cases are tumbled to remove lube.
Then I switch to the second tool head with a universal dipriming die in the first station to nock cleaning media out of the primer pocket then cases are primed and I have a redding BR-30 charger setup in place of the Dillon charger as I load a lot of varget and this charger works better for me then bullets are seated.
I will run 2000-3000 cases through the fisrt step and then load from them as needed.

I'll be following this thread...been thinking about a progressive for a while now...

My dad has the dillon 550. I bought the hornady. Customer service is a toss up between the two. I can change dies faster and can go to bass pro or one of the other sporting goods stores and buy accesses. Be has to call and order them. Totally happy with my hornady.

I have 650 @ the shop
and lock-n-load at the house with ez eject
if I get any more it will be lock-n-load you can't beat $ and works great

I have a Dillon 550B that I have had since 2000. No problems and works great!

I have likely owned every progressive on the market. I like Dillon presses, and with a little automation, the 1050 will crank out some ridiculous amounts of ammunition. At home when loading ammunition for my own consumption however, I use a Hornady for things that need a progressive. It is easy to set-up. It is easy to change dies and priming components. Both companies have extremely good customer service and good product support. In short, you are not going to go wrong with either one.
John

I have been to 4 commercial reloading shops.For high volumne pistol reloading they use camdex machines, virtually all rifle reloading is done on super 1050's. Nowhere will you see a hornady machine, I wonder why? Not really!!!!

Personally, for handgun ammo, the Ammo Load machines are by far a better deal than the Camdex (especially at $10K less). For rifle ammo however, the Camdex systems are king (unless you can find a used plate press). And by the way, my "shop" does have a couple Hornady presses; so I have no need to wonder....
John

Hornady Lock and Load is great and it is a lot cheaper than BLUE. Escpecially when getting multiple conversions for it. I have the Red and it is rock solid, built like a tank and it only takes me 5-10 minutes to convert to another cartridge.