Olympus said:
Lee Deluxe dies, the set that comes with 4 seperate dies. Will those work with either the 550 or the LnL.
Yes. The 3rd die is a combination taper crimp (for semi auto calibers)/bullet seating die and the 4th die is the Factory Crimp Die which is essentially a taper crimp die with a carbide sizer ring at the bottom. If you want to seat and taper crimp separately, especially with larger sized lead bullets to not shave the sides, you may want to get a separate taper crimp die so as to not post size the bullet. For jacketed/plated bullets, combination seating/crimp die works fine and many use FCD like the crimp die as the smaller sized jacketed/plated bullet diameter is less affected by the post-sizing carbide ring.
Also, when using Lee dies on Dillon and find there's not enough threads left on top for the lock ring, you can use the lock ring on the bottom side of the toolhead.
Olympus said:
I'm thinking either the 550B or the LnL.
Since I use a 650 with a case feeder, I would cheer for Dillon but Walkalong and many others like the LNL AP. I think the main difference between the 550 and LNL AP is the manual vs auto index. I was trained to reload on 550 and Pro 1000 and I chose the Pro 1000 mainly due to the auto index feature. With a case feeder, operating the ram lever with right hand and setting bullets with left hand makes the reloading much faster without the chance of a double charge.
Just keep in mind that 4 station press allows you to seat and crimp in separate steps but 5 station press allows you to add a powder check die (I can seat/crimp in separate steps on 3 station Pro 1000 by using resized brass).
I like the four Pro 1000s I have each dedicated to specific caliber/bullet so I can simply walk up to a press and add powder/primers to start reloading. Even after I bought the 650, I would not give up my Pro 1000s.
If you load multiple calibers and do frequent load developments, caliber change on 650 will cost extra while it will be cheaper on LNL AP.
Between 650/LNL AP, I think you will like both based on owner reviews and I may still end up getting the LNL AP later.