2 Dillon 650 or 2 Hornady LNL AP or Both?

[LiveLife]

I will be relocating before my retirement in about 2 years and planning my reloading room.

The 3 Pro 1000s may go to our son (I may keep one) as wife is thinking about getting replacements as my retirement present.

I will be loading 380Auto, 38Special, 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, 223, 300 BLK, 308 and 30-06 to start.

The question is should I get 2 XL650 or 2 LNL AP or one of each?

 

[Katitmail]

I know right answer

But I think you should get one of each so you won't be biased giving advices in a future

 

[cfullgraf]

I like my Hornady L-N-L. Individual placement of dies makes it flexible, as opposed to a die plate. I only put the dies in the press that are needed for the task at hand. It is easy to pull the powder measure when it is not needed. Note, I resize at one time, usually shortly after shooting, then load at a later time when I have a large cache of prepped cases.

Also, I like on the Hornady that I feed bullets and cases with my left hand as opposed the Dillon where you feed one with one hand and the other with the other hand. (I've modified my Dillon SDBs so that I feed cases and bullets with my left hand).

But, the Dillon probably has better case and bullet feeders if you want the optimum automation. I find the case retainer spring on the Hornady tends to tilt taller cases like rifle where as the Dillon button retainer system would not. But, my case retainer spring has more kinks than Carter has liver pills so maybe if I wasn't so cheap and replace the spring once in a while tilted cases may not be an issue.

I have started to load rifle (300 BLK, 204 Ruger and 223 Remington at the moment) on an RCBS Pro2000. By the way, i feel the APS priming system on the RCBS superior to the tube type systems on the Dillon or Hornady.

Maybe one Dillon and one Hornady and get the best of both worlds.

But my opinion and $5 will get you an overpriced designer coffee.

 

[tcj]

IMHO you're better off keeping them the same so that you know the press and can have common spares (springs, bushings, etc.).

If money was not a consideration I would get a couple of 1050's.

I think that they're both good presses. When I got into it I bought a Hornady as the costs/features for the way I wanted to use the press, #of calibers, etc. fit my needs better.

 

[Weber]

I went back and forth between the dillon and LNL ap.

I bought the ap, and I'm very happy with it.

I don't think you can go wrong with either, both have pros and cons, are good products, and have great support.

For me, money wasn't a concern. I choose what I thought fit my needs better, and what gave me the most bang for my buck.

 

[BYJO4]

Both are excellent presses and you will find many posts on the subject. I would stay with the same model regardless on what you decide to buy. This way if something should break, you have spare parts on hand while waiting for new parts to be sent. Both have excellent customer service. For what it is worth, I decided to buy 2 LNL APs about 2 years ago and they have been excellent. I don't use case or bullet feeders so I cannot comment on that factor. Changing calibers is quick and easy which is important to me as I shoot 3 or 4 different calibers every week.

 

[Blue68f100]

Either will serve you well. Both have excellent customer support if needed. I went with the LNL-AP amost 6yr ago, boy does time fly. Back then I only paid $250 and got 1k bullets free to boot. I think Hornady is still offering 500 free. Not sure if it's limited to 1/household.

If your considering adding the brass feeder I would probably go with a 650 if money in not a problem. But the simplicity of the LNL makes it easy to use.

 

[RustyFN]

I would go with the Dillons.

 

[GarySTL]

I have both a 650 XL and a LnL ap. I like both and bought the 650 primarily for loading lots of 9mm. I load 40 and 308 on the LnL. I prefer the priming system on the LnL over the 650 because primers don't run down the ski jump onto the floor. Die swap is easy. Not as fast perhaps as the 650 with a tool head swap, but LnL bushings are cheap. If you do t need a case feeder the LnL will do a fine job. If you want a feeder, go Blue.

 

[Weber]

I haven't had any issues with the case feeder on my lnl, works flawlessly and switching calibers is easy.

I plan to buy the rifle bullet feeder when it comes out next year.

I have not used the case feeder for pistol, so I can't comment on that.

 

[GT1]

I think it doesn't much matter between them. What color do you like? I would get 2 of the same no matter, it will save you when you have an issue with one and have back up parts/whatever you might need to pull off the other to get you through.

I haven't tried, but I doubt either one would be fun to load 30-06 on.
Of course if I had a BAR I might think differently.

My only thoughts are if you are going full boat, the blue press was designed to operate with the matching case feeder and it is pretty much flawless, the red one is known to be fiddly.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I'm a big fan of standardization with interchangeability so I will be buying a second Hornady LNL-AP to replace my pro1000 that I just took out of service permanently.

My first LNL-AP w/case feeder has been fantastic for me with the semi-autos calibers.

You can't go wrong no matter which brand you choose. LIke others have said, both Hornady and Dillon have their small peccadillos.

 

[Katitmail]

I have both a 650 XL and a LnL ap. I like both and bought the 650 primarily for loading lots of 9mm. I load 40 and 308 on the LnL. I prefer the priming system on the LnL over the 650 because primers don't run down the ski jump onto the floor. Die swap is easy. Not as fast perhaps as the 650 with a tool head swap, but LnL bushings are cheap. If you do t need a case feeder the LnL will do a fine job. If you want a feeder, go Blue.

There is a mod sold on eBay which is a bottle catch for ski jump. This part was really annoying for me but after this mod live is good.

650 comes with a case feeding mechanism already (not like Hornady). Without collator you fill tube with 20-25 cases and just add bullets with left hand. Casefeeder is a must IMO, makes it really crank out ammo.

I had zero issues with 650. Everything works as it should. If you spill powder - you have problem with priming, so don't spill powder Takes about a minute to take shell plate out and vacuum.

 

[joed]

I've had Dillon for 13 years now. Never had an issue with the 3 presses I've owned. The only press they make that I haven't owned is the SD. The service is what keeps me. Even the 1050 which is commercial hasn't used $20 in parts in 7 years.

 

[GarySTL]

Yeah, I've been meaning to make one of those, but on a $1100 machine I shouldn't have to make anything.

 

[Katitmail]

Yeah, I've been meaning to make one of those, but on a $1100 machine I shouldn't have to make anything.

Agree.. I've seen Dillon response to that. They say it's a safety issue. If you accumulate primers in a bottle like with this mod - it's not safe. I guess makes sense from their perspective.

What really annoys me is jumping spent primers. There is no exuse for that one

But really those are not issues... If you paid 1100 you can add $25

 

[wlkjr]

Cut a piece of 1/2" clear plastic tubing about 3/4" long and slide it over the end of the ski jump. It will catch about 6 or 7 under the tubing. I bought the mod on ebay to make it even easier. I'm really liking this 650.

 

[GarySTL]

Never had the spent primers jump, but Unique Tech has a fix for that http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1346-650

 

[rtp]

RE: LnL Casefeeder
I believe Hornady made a recent silent change to the case feeder, from someone posting about Hornady sending him a newer one. From the pictures, the right hand side opening in the collator is much more vertically aligned with the right hand side opening of the drop tube/funnel.

I like my LnL (with apparently 'new' style case feeder), but I'd probably be tempted by a pair of 1050s. It would also be interesting to have one of each, maybe leave one set up for small primer, the other large, or rifle vs pistol, then change off after 6 months.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

I have an LNL-AP to which I have added a casefeeder.

One point in favor of the Hornady is price but once you add the casefeeder the total cost is not that much less than the Dillon.

I do think that the Hornady is quicker to change over between calibers (and perhaps at less cost) than the Dillon 650.

Some of the Hornady parts are untreated steel that tend to rust over time. A minor point perhaps but a little disappointing.

 

[Saleen322]

Dillon has great customer service but the Hornady is newer technology. I would go with one LNL as they are really quick and easy to change over from one cartridge to another then get a quality single stage press also. For precision loading of medium to large rifle rounds, you can't beat a single stage "O" frame press for quality.

 

[hAkron]

But, my case retainer spring has more kinks than Carter has liver pills so maybe if I wasn't so cheap and replace the spring once in a while tilted cases may not be an issue.

Call Hornady, or email them. They will replace your spring, and pretty much any part of your LnL AP for free. Hornady and Dillon both have great warranty fulfillment.

 

[cfullgraf]

Call Hornady, or email them. They will replace your spring, and pretty much any part of your LnL AP for free. Hornady and Dillon both have great warranty fulfillment.

I have three new retaining springs in my spare parts kits.

 

[gahunter12]

Dillon! Nuff said! I prefer the color Red, but big Blue does a fine job loading ammo.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have neither, running on a 550 and a 1050, so will not pick from 650 or LNL, but Saleen322 has a good point. No matter what progressive, I would not be without a good single stage for careful loading of target rifle ammo.