Progressive Press Opinions

[rfwobbly]

I own a 550 and my son bought an AP. They are not equals, but are both good presses in different ways. The AP runs cleaner due to the spent primer recovery system. The 550 has less trouble with case belling.

Either press will make a good 250-300 rounds per hour at the slow "old man" pace I use. Once you set them up, either press will continue to make identical ammo until you run out of primers, powder, or the cows come home.

There is no "perfect press". The "best press" for you depends on your personal prefs.

 

[CozMoDan]

I think you made a good choice and I don't think, given the options, you could have made a bad choice as both are much better than what you have ( I struggled with the Lee and finally returned it).
I have two pieces of advise, pay close attention to the PRIMER SEATER PUNCH for both small and large primers. I have screwed it up a couple of times and had to get replacement parts. If you load in stages like de-prime, clean and so on the punch can get a piece of brass or dirt or whatever and get locked-up and trap the PRIMER SLIDE. Just make sure it is alway clean, for that matter make sure the whole machine is clean. And second if the stroke seems to be binding then stop right there and find out the problem. It can be as simple as a primer that has not been seated deep enough or brass or girt under the shell plate. Don't not continue if the up and down does not feel smooth and easy each time.
Enjoy it.

The Coz