Help choosing a press

[Furncliff]

Have a Dillon and the Horn LNL AP. I prefer the Hornaday. Both have issues around the handling of primers. The ergonomics of the Hornaday fit me better, I prefer the Hornaday method of dispensing powder. Factor in the cost of those 500 .45acp bullets they are gonna send you (you get to choose the caliber) and the price looks real good. Both are quality machines with companies that back their product, we are lucky to have the "problem" of deciding which to buy.

EDIT to add that in the event you don't like what you bought...selling a quality press is never a problem.

 

[ssat1982]

I have noticed that LNL are hard to find used whereas I can find used 550 and 650's all day..

 

[GT1]

I'd guess because in high output reloading the LnL is the road less taken, the RCBS is even more rare. The guys at my pistol club almost all run blue presses, a few run Lee classic turrets. I don't recall anyone using a LnL or the RCBS but I am sure they are out there.

As stated above you, a good press isn't for sale for long.

 

[ssat1982]

Why is it the road less taken? Has the Dillon been around longer? Im sorry if Im asking noobish questions but I truly am trying to see what makes a Dillon Superior

 

[RustyFN]

I have never used a LNL but when I was looking for a progressive I read too many threads about primimg problems and the shaft that indexes the press snapping in half. I have heard from others that own a 550 and 650 that the 650 isn't much faster without the case feeder. I own a Dillon 550 and am very happy with it. It is a very simple press with not much to go wrong.

 

[GT1]

Why is it the road less taken? Has the Dillon been around longer?

Product support, supporting the industry(Go to any major pistol shoot, Dillon is there.), out of box experience.

Star was an early (viable home consumer grade)progressive press manufacturer. They made great presses, and some are still around going as strong as ever. They were not very flexible, however.

From the Dillon site(The history of Dillon):
http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/about_us.html

Edit: Far be it from me to wave any flag, I ain't drinking windex or blue kool-aid(gives me a tummy ache). I am happy we have so many choices. I have a Lee press sitting next to my Dillon(gasp!). I have RCBS and Lyman tools on my bench also.

I think the best press choice is subjective. Whatever fits one's needs and wallet. There are a boatload of folks loading on Lee Load Masters and Pro 1000s with no real issues and if you told them they were using junk they'd just laugh at you while they were cranking out their ammo.

 

[ssat1982]

Ok, do of the 550 and LNL, which will require less tinkering,produce consistent ammo and last

 

[kingmt]

If you catch the right threads then you see that people have problems with all brands. I'm one of the guys that would laugh at you if you told me my Pro1000 was junk. I load enough to keep my wife burning them up at the range with it. The only time I have a primer problem is if I forget to fell the tray. I have no powder leaks from my measure & I have yet to break anything on it. The ramp could use so improvement & I did mod the chain spring with a spring from a pen & the ejector with a piece of universal tool stock(paper clip) but other then that it is out of the box ready. I wasn't ready as soon as it came out of the box tho. I had to learn the powder measure & get the chain right. The hardest thing is to learn the watch the primer tray. It only needs filled every 100 but it comes up fast. I have even loaded 30-06 & 243 after moding one turret plate so the press didn't advance on its own. I would rather do the on a SS tho.

I got a AR so I may try .223 on the progressive again. You can make about any press work for almost everything but do you really want to. If you need to is one thing but your wants would probably change after you did it for a while.

 

[Master Blaster]

Here is a LNL measure for sale with the case activated powder drop for a great price:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180836558969?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

[Lost Sheep]

Dillon - Hornady - Lee (D.H.L.) Comparison?

An article sent to me by someone I met on another forum.

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

I hope this helps.

Lost Sheep

 

[rfwobbly]

Ok, do of the 550 and LNL, which will require less tinkering,produce consistent ammo and last.

I bought a 550 about 4 years ago. When my son moved out he bought a LNL.

• The LNL with the primer catch tube collects more of the mess. If you like everything super tidy, it's a consideration.

• My son has not had the primer issue, but his powder measure keeps twisting loose in the mount. He's come to hate the Hornady PM and wants to fit a Dillon.

• The Dillon case expansion/belling system is far better.

• The Dillon "strong mount" option lets you set the press further back on the bench top for greater support. You can also mount the press at a slight angle.

• The LNL lube system is superior.

• Dillon started with the 450 ~20 years ago. They fully support that press even though it's out of production. They even offer a kit to upgrade the 450 to a 550 if you want. Hornady fully supports the LNL, but no longer supports its predecessor from ~8 years ago.

• The LNL has the lugs to mount a case feeder already present.


In truth, the best progressive press might be a LNL with Dillon accessories. It's just too close to call.

 

[captain awesome]

here are my thoughts.
I have reloaded on 5 different presses;

Lyman turret - press 6 hole no idea what model, but it was/is a good press with no found issues.

Lee hand held press - with the bushing. Had to tweak it a bit because it would stick when the ram was lowered all the way, and became hard to move back and forth, but now it works great. It's wonderful for doing small quick tasks when I don't feel like staying in the basement.

Lee 3 hole turret - Works fine though there is a bit of wobble in the shell holder. No other real complaints, it functions as intended.

Dillon 550 - I have a love hate relationship with this press. I do not like the fact that it only has 4 stations. It limits me tremendously and for the calibers I load on it I have to resize/deprime separately.(usually on the lee handheld while watching tv). I do not like the powder measure. I have had to jerry rig it do keep the screw that holds the piece that slides the powder charge bar back and forth in place, from backing out and causing rounds with no powder charge. I also don't like that you have to use there expander on some calibers to use the powder measure(44 mag for instance)
I do not like the priming system. it only functions half way decent when it is neither full nor nearly empty. It either feeds 2 primers, or none at all at those times, and sometimes they end up out of the priming cup behind it hindering rearward movement. Some times the primer slider doesn't line up correctly (this is after adjusting it and re-tighten it several times the recommended way, and other suggested ways and still it is a problem). The cup caches and compresses the spring to far and suddenly snaps free, and causes a primer to shoot up and turn upside down or sideways. Sometimes this locks the press up and keeps the shell in place until you can finagle the sideways crushed primer far enough in to remove the shell. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if I did my depriming on that station. Lousy design IMO.
I put up with all this because it was given to me for free. That being said I will never buy another Dillon unless it is the 1050, and even then it bothers me that it does not enjoy the life time "no BS" warranty. I am also not a fan of there so called terrific customer service which gave me a hard time about not knowing who had originally purchased the press or where they lived. Why he needed that information I do not know, but he seemed extremely irritated that I did not have it. They eventually sent me the replacement part I needed, but "no BS" is not the term I would have used to describe my encounter with them.

Hornady LNL AP - I mostly like this press. The LNL bushings are great, It has the 5 stations that I need, and the powder measure is easier to deal with than Dillons, and more consistent I have found. Hornady's customer service is very easy to deal with and pleasant. I needed to replace the pauls for the auto indexing. They chipped because of some crimped primer pocket 223 brass I ran through it and not had the primers seated fully before I tried to advance them causing stiff indexing (many times before the problem developed). They sent them out free of charge, no questions asked, an also asked if there was anything else on the press that needed attention.
The problems I have encountered with it are these; First when the press indexes it almost snaps the shell plate into the next station. It sometimes causes a small amount of powder to slosh out of the cases on certain calibers when they are close to full of powder before the bullet is put in the case. This causes the next problem which is with priming.
The precise fit of the primer slide causes it to fall short when anything gets in the way, such as a few granules of powder. When this happens the primer cannot be seated, and the the slide groove needs cleaned out, which can easily be accomplished by pulling it back and blowing into it with a straw.
The indexing has gone slightly out of time once but is very easily adjusted back into time. Once in a while a shell gets bound up on the ejector, its easily pushed out with a finger. I have reloaded several thousand rounds on mine an those are the only issues I have encountered. Calibers are easier to change on the LNL than the 550. Anyone who snaps the index rod I would be willing to bet did some serious forcing on the lever on a bound up press, which seems like a rather unintelligent thing to do, especially when the shell plate comes out with so little effort.

In short, I would choose my LNL again over the dillon 550.

 

[cfullgraf]

Ok, do of the 550 and LNL, which will require less tinkering,produce consistent ammo and last

Except for the priming system on my Hornady, no tinkering here. The priming system and i do not get along (same with the Dillon SDBs). But since I prefer to resize and tumble shortly after shooting, then store the cases away, not using the press mounted priming system is no big deal.

Once I have accumulated enough cases I then reload priming off the press with a hand primer. I can prime 100 cases about as fast as filling the primer tube.

I ran 1500 or so primers through the priming system before abandoning them. Since I really did not need them and I did not have the patience to work through the issues, I pulled them off the presses.

I find reloading goes easier if I decouple the resizing from the reloading process. Others think I am crazy and wasting the benefits of my progressive but it works for me.

Bottom line, think outside the box when setting up your progressive press process. Using the press as it was intended might work fine, but if not, adjust your process to work for your. My Hornady is alot more flexible than I thought when I first purchased it.

Finally, a major item is if the press jams, do not power through it. Find out what caused the jam before proceeding. If you power through the jam, something will break or get out o time. It will not take but a few strokes to know what normal is.

I cannot comment on the Dillon 550 but my SDBs have been tinker free as well. Also, I do not have a case or bullet feed.

 

[ssat1982]

I would call priming off the press counter productive and in my case unacceptable. I can admit I am now more confused than ever.....

 

[ssat1982]

I did just find a local store that is a stocking Dillon dealer and has some setup, may make a trip over there to have a gander, cant find anyone with hornady stuff out of the box

 

[cfullgraf]

I would call priming off the press counter productive and in my case unacceptable. I can admit I am now more confused than ever.....

Whether you work with the priming system, or not. is your choice. Lots of folks have success with it. I choose to prime off the press.

I hate rework worse than trimming. I could not see a way to make the priming system 100% reliable or a way to inspect the priming process before charging with powder. One botched primer in 1000 is too many in my book.

Hand primers have their issues, but i do not miss priming a case or seat an upset primer. I catch the problem before going on to the next case.

I find by decoupling resizing from reloading, the reloading process goes slick. Most of my stoppages and upsets are in the resizing or priming sections of the press.

It is the way I choose to reload on the Hornady. I still reload more rounds in a short period time than I can shoot.

It may not work for you.

 

[ssat1982]

I appreciate the honesty Chuck, and if I go with the LNL I want to use the priming system. I just went and tinkered with a 550 and 650 and did find a place to go see and tinker with a LNL. How is the case feeder for the LNL?

 

[Flintknapper]

I suppose it depends upon how much time you can devote to reloading.

If your free time is limited....the Dillon 650 with case feeder sounds ideal.

If you can steal a little time on weekends or at nights, the 550B without a case feeder and manual index will suffice.

I have separate tool heads set up for each caliber I reload for on my 550B and manually feeding cases and indexing doesn't bother me (second nature after awhile).

But, I can devote an entire day (on a weekend) to reloading...if I want to, (though I usually just put in a couple of hours a few nights during the week whenever I need to replenish my stock).

It can be expensive getting set up with the Dillon presses....but their customer service is beyond excellent... and if you ever decide to sell your equipment (to upgrade), you can get nearly what you paid for it...back.

 

[joed]

I would say its between the 550 and the LNL. The 650 while nice would cost a mint to get set up. How easy is it to remove the case feeder for the 550 to load rifle? Or is it even worth it to get it for the 550?

The 550 really doesn't do badly without a case feeder or auto advance. Compared to the 650 it really isn't a huge difference in production rates which surprised me. The 550 is an example of a good design. Once you start producing ammo you understand what I mean.

What I didn't realize when I bought the 650 6 years ago is there are a lot of add ons. There's the case feeder, strong mounts, roller handle, bins and a few other odds and ends. Think it may have come to $750 total. I paid $900 for the used 1050, that's $150 more for a press that will run circles around a 650 and is cast iron.

If you're going to load rifle get the 550. I don't really load rifle on the progressive and still use a Rock Chucker. You just don't shoot a lot of rifle so I see no need of loading it on a progressive. Loading for an AR is another story. A progressive press excels when you need large amounts of ammo. For 50 to 100 cartridges you're wasting your time.


Don't think I covered caliber change overs with the Dillons.
The 550 takes maybe 10 minutes to change over, could be less if you keep the same size primer.

The 650 is probably 15 minutes and is a little more involved.

The 1050 is about 30 minutes to do a change over and that is not changing the primer size. However, I don't care what press you have, if we started at the same time, I could change the caliber on this one and probably pass you on ammo output within the first hour.


It would be great to find any Dillon or LnL used as I did with the 1050. But you just don't see them anymore. That tells me they move quickly. At one time I used to see them on Fleabay but anymore it's distributors selling new.

I would have no problems buying a used press and have done so. And I would do it again.


I also tend to agree about not priming on the press being counter productive. That is why I keep asking those that do not use the press why. More then anything I think they just got used to doing it that way. I have always primed on my presses without a problem or incident.