Damon555
Member
As many of you know I just got the press late last week. I've loaded for 15 or so years on a single stage press and was just getting tired of it taking so long to crank out handgun ammo. I'd never shot much handgun in comparison to rifle but a few recent additions has me shooting handguns much more often.
My initial impression was WOW, there are a lot of parts! Thank goodness the more complicated stuff is already assembled and ready to go. The directions are laid out well and are intuitive. Although some of the pictures left me scratching my head a quick YouTube search turned up plenty of backup material for the initial setup. I wish they had included some mounting hardware with it but since reloading benches vary so much it would be difficult to know what lengths the mounting bolts needed to be.
Once set up the priming system is as easy to use as it gets. I had read a few mixed reviews about changing primer sizes but I had no issues at all switching it around. I've loaded on my brothers RCBS progressive and can tell you that the Dillon system is much more user friendly. The system appears complicated but it really isn't. I did learn on thing the hard way....Set up the powder measure to throw the desired charge before setting up the priming system! If you don't, you'll be taking it off so you can set the charge weight without feeding primers.
The powder charging system also seems very complicated. But it's all put together and pretty much ready to go right out of the box. Setting the charge weight is as easy as turning a bolt. Just make sure you've got the correct belling set up before you tighten everything down. I had to readjust this once I had everything else set up.
Setting up the dies on the toolhead is no different than setting up 3 different single stage presses. I was apprehensive about not having a 4 die set but it turned out to be a non-issue. Seating and crimping in the same step didn't create any problems.
Setting up the different shell plates was not difficult either. I suspect since it's brand new things will wear in and become much smoother. But to tell you the truth, it still ran quite smooth right off the bat.
All in all things went pretty well. It did take some time to get it set up but once I did everything makes complete sense. I suspect having reloading experience already made the learning curve pretty steep. I didn't run into many of the problems that other people reported. It's pretty amazing how this thing works. I have a feeling I won't save any money from owning this thing. I'll probably be shooting much more.
A word of caution to those who have never reloaded before and are thinking about getting into it: This machine is not for beginners. I couldn't imagine how confusing it would be trying to set this thing up on your own with no idea how the actual loading process works. Start out with a single stage press and learn the process first. You will be glad you did!
My initial impression was WOW, there are a lot of parts! Thank goodness the more complicated stuff is already assembled and ready to go. The directions are laid out well and are intuitive. Although some of the pictures left me scratching my head a quick YouTube search turned up plenty of backup material for the initial setup. I wish they had included some mounting hardware with it but since reloading benches vary so much it would be difficult to know what lengths the mounting bolts needed to be.
Once set up the priming system is as easy to use as it gets. I had read a few mixed reviews about changing primer sizes but I had no issues at all switching it around. I've loaded on my brothers RCBS progressive and can tell you that the Dillon system is much more user friendly. The system appears complicated but it really isn't. I did learn on thing the hard way....Set up the powder measure to throw the desired charge before setting up the priming system! If you don't, you'll be taking it off so you can set the charge weight without feeding primers.
The powder charging system also seems very complicated. But it's all put together and pretty much ready to go right out of the box. Setting the charge weight is as easy as turning a bolt. Just make sure you've got the correct belling set up before you tighten everything down. I had to readjust this once I had everything else set up.
Setting up the dies on the toolhead is no different than setting up 3 different single stage presses. I was apprehensive about not having a 4 die set but it turned out to be a non-issue. Seating and crimping in the same step didn't create any problems.
Setting up the different shell plates was not difficult either. I suspect since it's brand new things will wear in and become much smoother. But to tell you the truth, it still ran quite smooth right off the bat.
All in all things went pretty well. It did take some time to get it set up but once I did everything makes complete sense. I suspect having reloading experience already made the learning curve pretty steep. I didn't run into many of the problems that other people reported. It's pretty amazing how this thing works. I have a feeling I won't save any money from owning this thing. I'll probably be shooting much more.
A word of caution to those who have never reloaded before and are thinking about getting into it: This machine is not for beginners. I couldn't imagine how confusing it would be trying to set this thing up on your own with no idea how the actual loading process works. Start out with a single stage press and learn the process first. You will be glad you did!