progressive presses - opinions & advice

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I'm with the rest of the Smurfs here, go blue;)
I've got the Dillon Rl 550 B. Have I got complaints, sure couple of trival things, but all in all it is well constructed, well designed, and easy to operate (and easy to check what you are doing as you go along).
Yeah, keep the Lee for case prep on the .30-06 and other rifle, but you will end up loading them on your Dillon as well.
Come on with the Dillon they even teach you the secret handshake so that you can be recongnized by the rest of the Smurfs:evil:
 
I spent a lot of time researching different progressives on all the gun groups and google. I bought a LNL and have been happy with it. Until the other day, I'd never been around a Dillon. I checked out a friend's 550 and remain satisfied that I bought the best loader for me. Dillon and Hornady both have very good service and make good presses but I liked the way my LNL worked better than I did the 550.

You might want to look at: http://www.cs.odu.edu/~rtompkin/hornady/blue.php

Cloudpeak
 
BTW - For any of you who are still using single-stage presses: Converting your single-stage press to Lock-N-Load bushings makes it a MUCH more useful machine.

The conversion kit can be bought from Midway or several other suppliers. Install a bushing on each of your dies and it then becomes possible to change them out quickly without loosing your settings.

I'm a Dillon reloader, but I am impressed with Hornady's equipment. This little system will revitalize your single-stage press.

Sorry for the semi thread hijack. :D

stellarpod
 
RCBS Pro 2000. I've used them all and all of the progressives are good. But, my wife bought me a Pro 2000 and in that case you love it. I do, it is so darn easy even I can turn out 400 9mm rounds an hour. :)
 
I had just purchased a Dillon 550 from Brionenos.com...There is an excellent buyers guide thier for Dillon presses...That said, I have produced about 200 rounds with my Dillon..I cannot seem to find consitancy with it...(Bullet seating, powder) Dont get me wrong its well within tolerances. I guess my point it, I am stopping so often to re-adjust and tinker, I would have been better off with a single stage...Perhaps the more experiance I gain the less the samll differences will make...So thats my take on a progressive !!! :D
 
Owned a Dillon 550, didn't like it, got rid of it and got a Hornady LnL. Buddy of mine owns the Dillon 650 and I reload on it regularly. In it's current rendition, the Hornady LnL is a better progressive than the 550 and generally has better features than the 650 for less money. Having reloaded on both presses and on another buddy's Lee Loadmaster, I'm happy with my LnL, but wouldn't feel undergunned with the other presses.

Bottom line though is if I had to make the same decision today, I'd focus more on how many rounds I planned on shooting per week and make my decision based on that rather than on which brand. After I figured out how many rounds, I'd pick a press based on the features I liked and go from there. It's tough to make a genuinely bad decision on the "bigger" progressives.

Dave
 
The Lee Pro 1000 absolutely sucks. It was my first progressive years ago. I could not prime at all with it. I celebrated the day I threw it into the garbage. I now have the Dillon 550B and the Dillon Square Deal. Both are excellent presses with many available upgrade options. You can't go wrong with a Dillon.
 
I probably don't shoot as much as some of you. I've been on vacation for the past 10 days so I've been shooting more than usual.

But, alas... I'm back at work full time now, so my shooting will be back to normal.

I would guess that I will be shooting 2 guns every other weekend, maybe 150 rounds total if pistols, or 100 rounds total if I'm shooting rifles.

I was interested in Progressives in order to load up enough rounds on one weekend to last me several weekends shooting. As it is now, with my reloading bench in someone else's garage, I go over there, load up 100 rounds or so, then shoot them next time I go shooting, and then I have no ammo again...

So I would rather start using a progressive in order to load a lot more at one time, so it will last me several shooting sessions.

Based on the replies here, and the customer comments at Midway, I'm leaning towards the Hornady LnL, or the Pro 2000 RCBS.
 
One last pitch for the Load Master. If you follow direction in the videos on the website it sets up and operates perfectly. It is also the least expensive of them all. I have now loaded over 3000 rounds with mine in three calibers and couldn't be happier.

It is the best price/performance in the industry, IMHO.
 
If I were to buy an progressive, it would be to mass produce .223 plinking rounds.

I just can't figure out if it is worth it.

I would still have to decap and size on my single stage, then trim cases. Only then is brass ready for the progressive, right?

Would it save that much time to make it worthwhile?
 
I like my pro 1000. I got into reloading with this as my first press and it took a bit of work to learn to "deal" with it. I read all the reviews on midway and didn't want to spend the extra on the dillon or hornady. My guess is each of us will get used to whatever they have and after awhile "choose" that over another system. I have reloaded about 2500 rounds of .223 and am justing starting to load 9mm. Like everything the more you spend the better features you get. An ar15 shoots better than my keltec su16. The only issue I've had that was a real pain, was the priming part, but since figureing out how to deal with it, it isn't bad at all. I can change powder drops in 1/2 min., (great for finding best load) and I realistically load about 120/hr of .223 going carefully along. I'm sure the press won't last as long as a more expensive one but I will save money in the long run reloading on it compared to buying milsurp. There are guys loading 350-400 pistol rounds/hr with it and it won't do larger rifle rounds (will do ak or ar, tho'), if that's important. Caliber changes are inexpensive also. Good luck.
 
I would still have to decap and size on my single stage, then trim cases. Only then is brass ready for the progressive, right?
Click to expand...
Wrong. If that were the case, nobody would use a progressive.

General Concept on a Dillon RL550B:

1. Tumble cases until clean.
2. Trim cases to length. I find it easier just to put cases in the trimmer rather than measure them. If they're longer than the max length set in the trimmer, they'll be cut. If not, there's no resistance and you move on to the next case.
3. Lube cases. I use the RCBS case lube that comes in the small squeeze bottle.
4. Put case into shell plate. Run handle down and up to size, decap and recap.
5. Advance shell plate one position.
6. Insert another case. Run handle down to bell case mouth of first case and fill with powder. Step 4 is repeated with second case.
7. Advance shell plate one position.
8. Insert bullet in case mouth. Insert another case in the shell plate. Run handle down to seat bullet and repeat steps 4 and five with second and third cases.
9. Advance shell plate one position. You have ejected your first loaded round.
 
Some of us use a single stage press and universal decapping die to decap the cases before tumbling so the primer pockets get a little cleaning action too.Doing this also keeps the gritty primer crud out of the progessive press where it's harder to clean out from under the shell plate.
 
2. Trim cases to length. I find it easier just to put cases in the trimmer rather than measure them. If they're longer than the max length set in the trimmer, they'll be cut. If not, there's no resistance and you move on to the next case.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Forgive my ignorance though. Isn't it the resizing that actually makes the case grow? I always trimmed after I resized, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'd REALLY love to get a progressive and make lots of .223, but all this time I figured it wasn't worth it.
 
General Concept on a Dillon RL550B:

1. Tumble cases until clean.
2. Trim cases to length. I find it easier just to put cases in the trimmer rather than measure them. If they're longer than the max length set in the trimmer, they'll be cut. If not, there's no resistance and you move on to the next case.
3. Lube cases. I use the RCBS case lube that comes in the small squeeze bottle.
4. Put case into shell plate. Run handle down and up to size, decap and recap.
5. Advance shell plate one position.
6. Insert another case. Run handle down to bell case mouth of first case and fill with powder. Step 4 is repeated with second case.
7. Advance shell plate one position.
8. Insert bullet in case mouth. Insert another case in the shell plate. Run handle down to seat bullet and repeat steps 4 and five with second and third cases.
9. Advance shell plate one position. You have ejected your first loaded round.
Click to expand...
forgot a step.

10. Tumble loaded rounds to remove case lube.

Most people size then trim cases. Resizing is what lengthens the case.

People use progressive presses to load rifle ammo and often start with sized, trimmed, deburred, and cleaned brass.
 
10. Tumble loaded rounds to remove case lube.
Click to expand...

I read a caution against doing that at Varmint Al's:

CAUTION: There is a serious problem with tumbling loaded ammo. The coating on the powder grains, that controls the burn rate, could be abraded and this would change the powder's characteristics. If you were loading ammo near maximum, after tumbling, you might have created a dangerous pressure problem. I merely wipe each of my reloads clean with a cloth towel to remove all of the grease and dirt.
Click to expand...


Most people size then trim cases. Resizing is what lengthens the case.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought.


People use progressive presses to load rifle ammo and often start with sized, trimmed, deburred, and cleaned brass.
Click to expand...

That's what I'd have to do too, I guess. I wonder if it's worthwhile?
 
I just ordered a hornady lock and load progressive press about an hour ago. $299 at Wideners. I have a Lee pro 1000 set up for 40 S&W now. The primer system is a pain in the arse. Out of the first 100 rounds I loaded, I bet I had at least 10 rounds that didn't get primed and it makes a mess out of the press with bullseye powder (real fine flakes). After a while, you get a feel on whether or not the case got primed and you can stop and take the case out but it really slows down the process.

Here is what I was thinking for doing rifle brass on the progressive. I will eventually get the case feeder for it. Take out all dies except for sizing die. Run the press just as if you were loading. You get deprimed and sized brass. Tumble and then put all dies back in except sizing die and load them. Does anyone do this?
 
Thanks. Forgive my ignorance though. Isn't it the resizing that actually makes the case grow? I always trimmed after I resized, but maybe I'm wrong.

I'd REALLY love to get a progressive and make lots of .223, but all this time I figured it wasn't worth it.
Click to expand...
I trim before I resize. If you trim to minimum length, there's no way that resizing will take them over maximum.

Your way isn't as efficient, but it's not "wrong". You'll end up with proper length cases. You just won't do it as fast.
 
Just make sure the case lube is off before shooting the round. I seem to recall the tumbling ammo myth has been debunked but just won't die. I load 223 progressively using processed mil brass so no sizing the first time. When I have a large batch that needs sizing/trimming then it'll be a seperate step for consistency.

With rifle brass ready to load, I use all 5 stations of the press (LNL-AP). #1 is the sizing die backed out a few turns; the expander still goes through the case neck and the decap pin makes sure the primer hole is clear. #2 is the powder measure. #3 is a powder check die. #4 is a seating die. #5 is a crimp die (for semi-auto use). I put a bunch of cases in the casefeeder then load 223 just like it was pistol ammo. Progressive loading makes sense if you need volumes of rifle ammo.
 
djpullen said:
Here is what I was thinking for doing rifle brass on the progressive. I will eventually get the case feeder for it. Take out all dies except for sizing die. Run the press just as if you were loading. You get deprimed and sized brass. Tumble and then put all dies back in except sizing die and load them. Does anyone do this?
Click to expand...

Yup. The case feeder is what really makes the difference. When doing it that way I put a Lee universal decapping die in station #1 to make sure the flash holes are clear on the second go-round.
 
"Yup. The case feeder is what really makes the difference. When doing it that way I put a Lee universal decapping die in station #1 to make sure the flash holes are clear on the second go-round."

That is a great idea. I will start doing that as well. Even de-primimng LC military brass I have found the standard sizer/de-primer to work just fine, but I am always concered about a corn "seed" in the primer hole when I am re-loading.
Thanks, Matt-man!
 
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