Progressive Presses???

Crunch

Crunch

New member
Thinking about upgrading to a progressive press, but wanted to get some thoughts on it before I decide. I am looking at the Hornady lock and Load verus the Dillon.
I am wanting to do more handgun shooting and thought the cost of making my own would help justify the need/want of a progressive.
Also, for rifle , are the rounds loaded in a progressive just as accurate as one loaded by my curent method (measure each powder charge then place in a single stage press)?
 
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The only issue that you need to be aware of is on the powder measure on any progressive press. Long extruded grains will give variations is charge weight. You can however find powders that meter well for both pistol and rifle loads that will give you as accurate loads as a single stage but at a much higher output rate.

I have a Dillon and have never thought about getting anything else.
 
DILLON, DILLON, DILLON, DILLON, DILLON... ok, I guess you get the hint.

There is no comparison period! The Dillon no BS warranty is one of the best and they back it! Right now, I could take my Dillon RL550b to the freeway and let a truck run over it and Dillon would replace it no questions asked. Oh yea, my press is 10+ years old! Try that with the Hornady....
 
Trust the concensus. Dillon. I use the 550B for loading my .45's. Easly does about 300+ an hour. And very accurrate. I need to bite the bullet and buy the other plates and start using it to load for the rifles below.
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I own a Dillon, but I have a buddy with a Lee progressive that has really been put to the test and it just keeps spitting out rounds. I prefer the Dillon personally. Spherical powders(Hodgdon) for some of the rifle cartridges meters well through my Dillon. BL-C(2), H335 and H380 are the powders I have used with good consistency.
 
Another Dillon fan here. I've found the powder measure to be very consistent with just about any of the powders I've used. It's a great press.
 
I can't speak for the new Hornady progressive but I two of the original Pro 7's. They have loaded around 750,000 rounds between them and are still going. Never had a problem with them. Since I retired from competition several years ago they don't see as much use as they did. The problem I see with progressives is the powder measures. I am sure they are much better than before. I used a Little Dandy RCBS powder measure on these presses to load my .45, .38 Super, and .223 rounds. Ball type powders will be your best bet for good feeds and consistent charges.

On the Dillon's, they seem to be great machines with an exceptional warranty. A couple of things noted over the years, have seen lots of handguns blown up using the 550 models that do not index the rounds themselves. This is stricky an operator problem not the machine. One forgets to index the round with a light charge and double charges the round. If one is careful, this should not happen but seemed to be a re-occuring situation.

Next, costly add on's, caliber change requires extra's other than dies, and can be timely set up change over. My take on these progressives would be they are great if you set them up for one caliber and load that exclusively. I love the 650's and 1050's. Not sure how much you want to put into a press system.

On accuracy, many a match is won using progressives and if they did not work champions from all disciplines would not be using them.
 
Go Blue, don't even look elsewhere!
As far as double charging a pistol case with a 550, I've heard of it happening, seen it once. Cop from PA trashed a STI .40 at the Area 8 match the last year we had it at Fredericksburg. I'm still fuzzy on how he could have done it. Most of the powders suitable for the 40 S&W will take over 50% of the case volume, a double charge should have overflowed the case mouth. He should have noticed when he placed a bullet on that case prior to seating.

To my way of thinking, if one pays the proper attention, avoids distraction while loading, and uses a powder that occupies at least 50% of the case capacity, double charging a case just ain't gonna happen!!
F1
 
Dillon is the only progressive press that there is no competition for.

Why buy a Hornady, Lee, RCBS etc. when you'll end up with a Dillon anyway and wishing you'd started there?

Progressive presses aren't all that expensive but buying all the heads, powder measures, etc. can end up costing you a small fortune.

It's very important to buy what you really want up front rather than thinking of trading up (won't happen) later.

Get a Dillon now and you won't waste money like most reloaders that work their way up through the ranks and have a garage full of rusty junk that nobody will buy for any more than a few cent's on the dollar.

$bob$
 
Just bought a Dillon XL 650 last Friday. I love it. More press than what I need but it is so fast and smooth. It is a little intemidating to set up but once it is set look out. FYI make sure you have alot of brass. I ran out in an hour
 
I had a Lee Loadmaster and after a while the primer feed got real contankerous. I got an RL550 and love it however...if I had it to do again, I might have to try the LNL.
 
Here are a few things to consider: Price, reliability, consistency. I sold allot of Dillon reloading equipment and let me say that they are first rate but they are expensive.

When I was younger and on a budget I opted to try the Lee Pro 1000 for $120, Still got it and still use it. The press did a few things the Dillon 550 didn't like AUTO-index and it won't feed a primer unless the shell is there. The Lee is not the same quality as the Dillon but the Lee is built to serve you for many many years for less then a quarter of the price of a similarly equipped Dillion.
 
If you are on a budget and loading handgun ammo, look at the Lee 1000. I have one I've used for years loading my competition handgun ammo. I've just started reloading my rifle ammo and still use a single stage until I get comfortable with using a progressive and then will try to convert my Lee over to the .223 and .204.

I agree that Dillons are nicer, especially the 650XL, but that's a hefty price if you are not loading a lot of rounds. As I age and slow down on my shooting, I would have a hard time justifying the additional cost.

We all would like the best on the market, but personal factors (finances, time, shooting amounts,etc) have to be considered.
 
Crunch,

Funny you posted this.....

After 20 something years, yesterday my Square Deal B chewed a primer slide roller.
I had to call Dillon for a new one this afternoon, and since the press was made and shipped back in 1984-85, the Tech. Rep. said that my press was too old and he'd be sending me a whole new priming system..........NICE !

Everytime I've ever called them, even with credit card in hand (from stupid accidental mistakes) I've never had to pay for one thing. They basically said they didn't need my info, it was under warranty.

I have 3 machines, 1-550, 1-converted 550 from an old 450, and the good old SDB.

As far as profressive presses go, and the little extra that some cost, it's well worth it....even over 20yrs. later.

FWIW,
Bob
 
I agree!!! A few years ago I moved from one house to another. You know how things "disappear" during moves, well some of the items that turned up missing was part of my Dillon RL550. DAMN!!!!

I called with Credit Card number in hand and told them what I needed. They looked me up and said, its covered under warranty. I said, how could that be, I LOST THE PARTS!!! Within a week I had the parts and was back to reloading. Expensive as they are, you pay for what you get, not only in quality but also in peace of mind.
 
They (Dillon) replaced my entire priming system on my 550. The old ones just had the tapped hole in the botton of the body where it attaches to the press. After 10 years of changing from small primers to large, the threads stripped out. I called them on a monday, The tech said the new ones have a heli-coil in them and he would get one right out to me. I had 80 dollars worth of replacement parts on the doorstep 3 days later.

Go Dillon
but gets lots of brass, bullets, primers, and powder. Those machines have an appetite.
 
These guys are right on the Dillon service. Mike has always been exceptional on that. I have several Dillon 2000 brass cleaners. The first one was 15 yrs old before it quit working. I sent it back and they sent me a new one. The new ones don't last as long as the first ones as I have sent some back 3 times already for repair. Just got another one back that only lasted a year. All free except for me paying the shipping to send them back for repair. Roughly $50 or $60 bucks. No where near the cost of one unit.

However, most of the big names will stand by their products as well but not to the point that Mike Dillon does. As stated before sometimes cheap is not the best.
 
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