[F_L]

..........are you REALLY getting out of your Dillon press?

I have an old 450, the functional equivalent of the 550. For pistol cartridges I can comfortably turn out 150 rounds/hr. The Dillon brochure says up to 550 rounds/hr. I know it's marketing bull, but that is a completed round every 6.5 seconds. My rate is 24 sec/round. That includes random powder and OAL checks.

I know its not a race. If I wanted to turn out large quantities I would have something with case and bullet feeders. I am just curious.

So assuming powder measure and primer tube full, how fast do you load them?

Thanks.
Fred

[lgbloader]

There are people getting 500 rounds out of their 550B's. Check you tube, there are some speed demons. I probably get around 250 - 300 once I get into a nice comfortable rythym. That includes having primer tubes loaded.
But I choose not to try to break any speeding laws. I look into every case for powder.

I could see doing more (faster) and maintaining safety but I am in no hurry.

I would say that 150 for you is okay if you feel comfortable with it.

Did you buy that 450 used? If you are just starting out with this progressive, which it seems you are (that's okay), it's good that you go slow. Take your time and you will get faster with it in a safe manner, and look into each case to check for powder before you seat your bullet.

Slow and careful is better than pushing the envelope of speed, no matter what press (or color for that matter) you use.

Cheers, Mate

LGB

[Sam1911]

With my 550, on average, if I'm loading one of my common competition cartridges (.44 Spc., .45ACP, etc.) I'll have 100 done in about 10-15 mintues, give or take.

I've loaded 9mm on a buddy's 650 with the casefeeder and that will easily do 500 in an hour. Of course, that's not counting stoppages when the feeder swallows a .40 case or a 9x17 case pops up... but when moving along smoothly it will.

-Sam

[GodGuns&Guitars]

I turn out about 350 an hour on my 550. I do stop and make checks on length, crimp, and powder charge every now and then. I could probably do a lot more in an hour if I did not stop to make those checks but just feel safer doing so.

[Ben Shepherd]

Straightwall pistol I run about 600/hr out of my 650. That's just a good steady pace. If I did not have a lot of primer tubes or the case feeder, it'd be substantially less.

[Walkalong]

I take my time (with a different color press) and crank out a round about every 5 to 7 seconds, but my cases are pre sized & pre primed. I am sure the Dillon could do just as well.

[Deavis]

Dillon's advertised rates are not marketing bull. I can easily push out 1200 rounds an hour on a 650XL or more on Super 1050. The 650 is actually faster because you can race that tiny shellplate around faster than the larger 1050 plate but the case feed isn't as positive. However, you absolutely need to have all your components out, organized, and ready to go. An RF100 and processed brass in your feeder makes a big difference. 2 seconds per stroke is not a very fast pace.

Like you said, it isn't a race. I do 1k an hour with powder checks and measuremet checks. Nice, easy, slow pace.

[alfack]

I do 100 rounds fairly quick, but then take a break to refill the primer tube and organize the bullets and brass. I like to load in 100 round increments because it makes things really easy to detect mistakes. If you run out of any 1 part before the other, you know you screwed up somewhere.

For example:

- Load the primer tube with 100 primers.
- Put 100 brass upside down in one of those plastic ammo boxes. Flip the box on the right hand side of the bench to dump 100 cases ready to go and in reach.
- Put 100 bullets, nose down, into the plastic case and flip it over on the left side of the bench.
- Go to town.

Using the plastic ammo boxes like this makes it so you don't even have to count the components.

[Jeff H]

For pistol cartridges I can comfortably turn out 150 rounds/hr.

I can easily do 150 an hour on a Lee Turret working at a nice steady pace, I would think 300+ should be what you could get our of a progressive without being in a hurry.

[F_L]

Lots of good info here. The 450 is new to me and I have only loaded about 1500 rounds with it so far. I think as I get more comfortable with it I can safely speed it up.
Thanks,
Fred

[The Wiry Irishman]

With no case feeder, I do 500-600/hr on my 650, including stopping to refill primer tubes, check various measurements, and refill the case magazine.

[Uncle Chan]

100/15 Minutes

[The Bushmaster]

Just plain not in a hurry. I usually start reloading and discover that it's bed time. My how the time passes when yer havin' fun...:D

[jfdavis58]

Ten filled primer tubes, clean work area, fully adjusted and locked down 550. 45ACP; 1004 rounds in ninety-two minutes (655 rounds per hour). Been doing this caliber/these components for 12 years.

[coloradokevin]

Well, I don't use a Dillon press, so I can't even begin to comment on that. I actually load on a Lee Classic Turret press, which reportedly has the capability to load around 150-200rds/hr. I've never come close to that speed myself, but I really don't care. I'm not in a race when I'm loading; sometimes it wouldn't hurt to go faster, but I'd rather do it correctly and not blow up my guns!

I have considered stepping up to a Dillon press in hopes of loading pistol faster, but I also wouldn't be looking to reach the 500-1000rd/hr mark (200 in an hour is plenty for my needs in pistol calibers).

[ArchAngelCD]

I also use a Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press and I can load 180-200 rounds/hour safely. I don't rush and I don't try to load fast. I like to reload and enjoy the time I spend reloading. Safety and quality are much more important than speed IMO. Reloading is one hobby which actually makes another hobby (shooting) better and more affordable.

[Afy]

I use a single stage, and will process 100 cartridges in about 100 minutes at best. Then again thankfully I dont shoot a lot of pistol ammo.

[Ben Shepherd]

The key to turret presses is organization and batching.

Get all your components out and ready, the do the brass handling steps in batches. Size ALL the cases at once, bell all the cases at once, etc. It's about efficiency and lack of wasted motion, not speed really.

When loading on my 650, I do so from a standing position. This allows me to see in the case for the powder charge as it comes around. For me, using that press in a seated position is a nightmare. It has a long stroke, and I've got short arms.......

So I found an efficient way to use it(for me)

[rfwobbly]

I go slow, check every case, lube every case and I'm doing about 100/hour. But then my product is excellent and rejects are very few.

[Redneck with a 40]

With my pistol ammo, weighing every charge, I get about 50/hour on my Lee 4-hole turret. My rifle ammo, by the time I prep all the brass, weigh every charger, I'm looking at about 30/hour, lol! Fortunately I'm not conerned with rounds/hour, but a quality product and I have plenty of time.:D

Since I only shoot about 250/month out of my pistol and about 200/month out of my 223, 60/month out of my 308, I can easily keep up with this round count.

[Ben Shepherd]

Curiosity here-

Those that weigh every charge, do you purposely load a touch light and then trickle right to the weight you want?

And- How often do you find your thrown charge varying more than 2/10ths?

Mostly I want to know how many of us insist on match quality out of every round we load.

[jfh]

Lee 4-hole turret: about like the others--i.e., 180-200 rph.

Lee Load-Master progressive: 420-450 rph is a nice consistent pace--but one I prefer to do for no more than an hour at a time. That's assuming I'm organized--i.e., extra feeder tubes prefilled, three extra primer trays filled, spare catchbins on hand, bullets in place.

With both machines, powder dispensing is done on the press, using a Lee Pro Auto Disk with an adjustable charge bar. With the powders I typically use--231, WSF, #5, True Blue--that's accurate to +- one tenth grain, and just fine for my handgun shooting.

Jim H.

[The Bushmaster]

Ben...I also weigh every powder charge I drop. I use a Lee Classic Cast Turret with Lee dies and Lee Auto Disk dispenser. Scale is an old (22yrs) RCBS Powder Pro. My Auto Disk usually dispenses .1 to .3 grains shy. I use a Midway battery powered trickler to make up the difference. When loading rifle cases I use a dipper and trickle up to the charge I want.

As I said above. I'm in no hurry...