Press recommendation

[Nickjc]

Hi All,

Asking this question may elicit some personal opinions and that is what I am looking for. So I am also making it a poll !

I have always used an older lyman turret press with lee dies to reload some .38/357 and .30-30. I have been successful and turned out some good rounds.

I want to move to progressive and have researched Dillon, Lee and Hornady. Price is a consideration and I plan on now reloading, .45ACP, .38/357, 9mm, .45colt, .44mag, .223, .308 and .30-06. My prime concern is the pistol calibers not really the rifle.

Plus this will be a group use machine among 4 friends....we hope to turn out about 1000 rounds per month each of each caliber that we use...

It seems...:

1) The square deal b seems fine but you gotta buy allot of 'options' and the dies are proprietary and can't do rifle..in case I wanted to.

2) The RL550B also seems fine...but is a manual index only

3) The lee Load all and the lee pro 1000 are all reviewed as finicky to setup and need constant maintenance

4) The hornady seems to be the best bang for the buck and can do it all. Plus I can utilize all the dies I already have.

Can you please interject your opinion and thoughts....!!

Thanks

Nick

 

[The Bushmaster]

Can't help ya there. I have been using a single stage press and a turret press for the last 23 years and don't plan on a progressive in the future...

My present set up is a Lee Classic Cast single stage and a Lee Classic Cast turret.

 

[helg]

Lee Load All, unlike others, is a shotshell press. Did you mean Loadmaster?

 

[Walkalong]

Of those choices, Hornady LNL or Dillon 550B.

I lean towards the LNL, cause that is what I have, and I like it a lot. Many very happy Dillon owners as well though.

 

[depoloni]

Don't own any of the above progressives either - or one at all for that matter. My father has a 550B (three, actually, each for 9mm/40/45) and I can attest that they work very well - anytime I need to crank out 1000 rounds in an evening I head over there.

A good friend that I shoot with regularly bought a LnL last year about this time, and has had a good time of it. Probably a little more versatile of the two (read: rifle) but both have their advantages and work well.

Gotta be honest, go with whichever of these two particularly rattles your cage - nearly everyone I know or have met that has one or the other speaks very highly of it in either instance.

 

[jaybr]

I'm new to reloading and use a Hornady and have been very happy with it.

 

[jcwit]

I'm with bushmaster, tried turrent presses and went back to 2 sgl. stage presses mounted side by side. It just what I like and works for me.

 

[Wilburt]

LNL user here. I still learning the presses quirks... But it is nice and does the job. A more acurate comparrison to the LNL would be the dillon 650, not 550. The 650 auto-indexs. I bought the LNL over the 650 purely on price. Both have there advantages but I got my LNL for $320 plus 1000 free bullets. A 650 would have cost me over $500. Some days I wonder if the dillon would be better but for the price?

 

[broham]

Forster coax for rifle and Lee classic turret for pistol.

 

[lgbloader]

1) The square deal b seems fine but you gotta buy allot of 'options' and the dies are proprietary and can't do rifle..in case I wanted to.

2) The RL550B also seems fine...but is a manual index only

3) The lee Load all and the lee pro 1000 are all reviewed as finicky to setup and need constant maintenance

4) The hornady seems to be the best bang for the buck and can do it all. Plus I can utilize all the dies I already have.

If I am reading this correctly, it looks to me like you already made up your mind. Don't forget to check out the new RCBS 2000.

LGB

 

[Sport45]

I would get the LnL. I have a 550b and while it's a good press it's not the be-all end-all of reloading machines. The lower price and free bullets would put me in Hornady's camp if I was buyng now.

 

[9x23]

Dillon fan...

I started progressive loading with a Dillon 300 which was probably the most basic progressive press made. Manual indexing with manual prime and manual powder charge buttons. It still is a solid press and I leave it set up in one caliber, but Dillon hasn't supplied parts for it for many years. It was old when I got it in 1978 - If anyone knows when they were first made I'd really like to know!

My next press was an inline by Champion Auto. The manual said that all you had to do was pull the handle - not so! It was really finicky but I got used to it and produced tens of thousands of terrific .45s with it and I still use it for that caliber only. I would not have bought it if my next press had been available.

Enter the Dillon 550 (Upgraded my to a B when the conversion became available) and never found a need to change to another. I prefer NOT to have manual indexing because for me it presents more problems than it's worth - just my prejudiced opinion.

I love the quick caliber change feature. I have 11 tool heads set up in individual calibers and two tool heads standing ready for some future ones!

I've never needed service, but the service personnel are always ready, willing and able to answer your questions. One time I asked to speak with Mike Dillon about a suggestion I had and in short order he was on the phone with me. Looking back it was a naive idea but Mike was polite and went the extra mile to explain why without being condescending. A good product, a good company headed up by a good man - can't ask for too much more.....9x23

 

[callgood]

I like the Square Deal for pistol. Since I started with a CoAx, I still use it for rifle and small runs of pistol (working up loads).

I have Square Deal tool heads for 9mm, 10mm and .45ACP


After loading on the CoAx for a number of years, I felt the first run of 9mm off the Square Deal deserved to be recorded for posterity. Did around 800 in an afternoon.

 

[dmazur]

The manual indexing of the 550B is not a detriment if you are reloading rifle cartridges...it let's you deal with indexing when you want to, not every time you pull the handle.

For example, if you use station 1 for resizing instead of doing it on a separate press, you just insert, resize (possibly reprime), then remove brass if you want to check case length, clean off excess lube, etc. Once you have a batch all prepped and ready to go, you just insert at station 1 again, but index before pulling the handle to skip station 1.

With auto-indexing presses, you have to disable the indexing mechanism to do the same thing, I believe.

 

[Mags]

Stay with the turret I love my Lee turret press and can't imagine loading any faster in a safe way.

 

[Clifford]

9x23, Dillon is located in Scotsdale, Arizona. I voted Dillon but thats because its the press I use.

 

[Eric F]

holy smokes thats 8000 rounds a month.

I would seriously look into the dillon 550 actually the 1050 would be better but with 8 diffrent calibers that would be way expensive. For the money I think I would but 3 presses.
1 por1k for 9mm and 38.357 1 pro1k for 45 44 and 45colt
and a lee clasic cast for the rifle stuff.

The brian enos site has all the solutions for making the pro1k work flawlessly.

I have owned all the lee stuff and I also own a 550b the 550b is a way better press but super expensive and a pain for caliber conversions.

 

[Clarence]

I don't have any experience with the Lock-n-Load, but I have a 550B and couldn't ask for a better press.

 

[50calshooter]

press

started with Lee turnet, Lee 1000 than Texan, square deal ,then 550 now Hornady LNL wish I would of bougth it first 18 years ago. easy press to change over, the auto case feeder is a get to learn type deal. But after you learn how wow. I could load 800 rounds a hour if I could keep up with primers. Run around 500 a hour not hurrying.

 

[oldreloader]

Cancel the vote for the Load All.I clicked too quick