RCBS Pro 2000 Owners: Why not the less expensive Hornady LNL AP?

[g.willikers]

Not sure what the complaint is about the Dillon primer feed system.
On my Square Deal, and the other models, too, the primer to case seating, at the shell plate, is separate and quite a distance from the primer supply tube.
Has anyone suffered a multiple primer detonation with a Dillon?
I never have, not even a single detonation.

 

[GW Staar]

The latest one, click this:1050 kaboom, Nov. 3, 2013 reported on Bian Enos

Then the ceiling remodel.....this guy didn't get hurt, except for the ears:

from AR15.com

and from Calguns (Nov 2, 2011) Picture below....poster said, "Yesterday afternoon I was converting my 550 from .223 to .38 to do a small batch in my living room. I had used my primer pick up tube to grab about fifty primers and had it in my left hand, placed it at the top of the 550 primer magazine, and with my right hand started to pull the pin. Kaboom!




As Mad Magazine used to say, "What.......Me Worry?" All it takes is a mistake usually caused by inattention......and I'm perfectly able to copy them.......that's one big reason I opted for a safer system.

I also googled "RCBS Pro 2000 primer kaboom" all I got was a list of Dillon primer kabooms. So I tried "APS kaboom" and again the same list. I know I read a report where some guy managed to blow up 3 or 4 primers but I can't find it. Still that's safe compared to 99 primers.

There's a lot of primer kaboom cases....do your own google and see. The denyers are really denying that Murphy's Law is real and valid. Maybe it'll never happen to you.....I hope not, but as for me, I'm not willing to take the chance of me screwing up. Pure and simple I don't want it to be possible

Many years ago I read where a guy loading on an old Rock Chucker using a primer tube got killed, and that was with a much shorter tube. From that day on I put up my tubes and bought a Lee hand primer, and primed very easy and careful.....Lee tray's have blown up too. The APS strips were invented to stop dangerous kabooms. Too bad Dillon didn't invent it.......everyone would be using it if they had.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Now that looks like it not only hurts but it's going to hurt for a good long while too!

I don't have a progressive press and have not used either from this thread. It's a good read in case I decide i want one and from what I'm reading there isn't much a difference. (I own a RCBS Rockchucker and a lot of dies)

 

[cfullgraf]

Not sure what the complaint is about the Dillon primer feed system.
QUOTE]

On my Square Deal and Hornady L-N-L, i would get one or two primer miss feeds or miss seats in 500 seated primers. Without 100% primer inspection that is too many in my opinion.

Among other things, I would waste too much time cleaning up the powder mess or re-working the bad round. This would offset any benefit from priming on the press.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Your assumption is that the hornady existed when I bought the pro2000. 14 years ago, the hornady did not so I bought the Pro2000.

300,000 rounds later I have no regrets. Its a good press with its quirks that I have figured out. Now learned it works well for me.

 

[groundsclown]

I also googled "RCBS Pro 2000 primer kaboom" all I got was a list of Dillon primer kabooms. So I tried "APS kaboom" and again the same list. I know I read a report where some guy managed to blow up 3 or 4 primers but I can't find it. Still that's safe compared to 99 primers.

That would be me that set off 3 or 4 primers. My own carelessness & believe me when I say, all the planets aligned just right for me to do it.
I still have that burnt aps strip on my bench as a reminder.

I'm happy to say that according to my reload log, I've loaded just over 20,000 rnds since then without issue.

Crimped 223 brass & a heavy arm caused my mishap. Thought it was just a tight primer pocket...well, I guess it was, in a way.

 

[GW Staar]

Well, I knew I wasn't dreaming! Aren't you glad there wasn't 90 primers stacked in a row! Glad you figured out how not to repeat it! Thanks for chiming in. Peter's loaded more than anyone I know on a Pro 2K. Wonder if he's ever detonated a primer?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Not I. Never once in over 300,000 rounds loaded. I have buggered a few but normally you can just wiggle the shellplate a bit and get them to go in. I have bent the primer punch because I have pushed so hard getting them in but still never popped one.

In the end the APS priming system is what sold me on the RCBS. It is a safety feature that allows me to know I can't pop more than 1 primer and certainly not bomb a bunch into the roof like you can with tube systems.

I did another 1000 rounds of 38 super yesterday. Primers came preloaded in strips and it worked great. Just rip off the strips and feed the press. Gotta like that.

 

[johnc486]

Early last year, I wanted to purchase a RCBS 2000 but none were available, so I bought a Dillon 550B (I had owned 2 550s and a 650 in the past). Friday night I received my RCBS 2000 from Midway (ordered Wednesday and received Friday, now thats fast shipping), after 3 hours, I had it set up. Yesterday, I put it through its paces loading 500 bullets without a glitch. The one item I really like more so compared to the 550b is the powder measure, real consistent ( this was with Unique). All I can say is I wish I had been able to have purchased it last year, I do like the 550B but wanted the auto advance to help alleviate the possibility of a double charge. I am not saying one is better than the other, both have great no BS warrantees and great workmanship, will outlast me and my grandchildren I'm sure. This press is built like a tank just like my Redding T7 Turret press, to each his own but I think this press is going to become my favorite.

 

[warhwkbb]

I'll chime in...I've loaded approximately 90k on my Pro-2000. I load 26 separate calibers so I change out dies often. No other press changes out faster that I am aware of. It is not perfect and has a few quirks, but overall it is a well built heavy duty press that will last several lifetimes.
I inadvertently detonated a primer once. Yup, just one...and it was user error.

 

[Mark in GA]

I have been using a Pro 2000 for around 10 years. This may sound crazy to some, but I got rid of my single stage and a turret press and do everything with the Pro 2000. I have the manual index and would not want the auto index. The manual index gives me super flexibility. Have had an auto index press before, and it wasn't for me. I have had Lyman, Lee, RCBS, and Hornady reloading gear in various forms. There are still a few items from each that I really like, but 98% of the tools on my bench currently green and I don't expect that to change. No one does a warranty like RCBS!

Mark in GA

 

[stubbicatt]

WOW!

You detonated a primer in the APS system? Holy Moses! How did that happen? I've been using the hand held APS tool for little more than a year, and it seems the safest system I have seen.

I have also used the "on the press" setup, the Lee Safety Prime on the Classic Cast turret press, as it seems highly difficult to detonate more than one at a time with that system.

Seeing that guy's hand like that has reinforced for me at least how inattentiveness can be very dangerous in this hobby. Makes me think...

 

[cfullgraf]

You detonated a primer in the APS system? Holy Moses! How did that happen?

Seating a primer is seating a primer regardless of the system used. A primer can get detonated for any number of reasons during the seating process.

The benefit of the APS strip system is sympathetic discharges of one or two adjoining primers is minimized or prevented by the strips. No launching tubes into the ceiling or primer trays turning into shrapnel bombs.

I know the current manufacture RCBS and Lee hand primer tools shield the primer seating area from the remainder of the tray to prevent sympathetic discharges. I am sure the other current hand tools have something similar.

Also, the lack of such protection was one of the reason the original round tray Lee Auto-Prime was discontinued.

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I owned and advocated the Hornady LnL for many years, having purchased a press with a serial number close to 7000 that did not have bosses for mounting the case feeder. When I got a case feeder, I had many issues due to the poor Hornady instructions and kludge design with poorly labeled parts. Hornady technical support was really lacking and less than friendly. After contacting Hornady upper management and getting a response back, I decided it was time to explore trying out another brand.

I bought an RCBS Pro 2000 auto advance and had some issues due to the one I received had a defective machined sub plate. RCBS technical and customer service was superb, better and more friendly than Dillon customer service/support (I've used both.) Got my new parts and following advice from GWStarr and PeterEick, I got my press running with the new subplate. And run it did. I ran off about 4 thousand .223 cartridges without a single glitch of any kind. And the press continues to run like that. The rotation mechanism isn't quite as smooth as the Hornady out of the box, but can be tuned and operated in such a manner as to have zero problems without any drama.

Having owned a Dillon 550, Hornady LnL and RCBS Pro 2000 Auto Advance and having operated a Dillon 650 on a frequent basis now, my thinking is this:

I would buy the RCBS Pro 2000 over any of the above listed presses unless I needed to load a massive volume of a single caliber cartridge on an extremely frequent basis. If I needed to do that, I would buy a Dillon 1050 just for that cartridge and have it set up with a case feeder and bullet feeder.

If RCBS comes out with a case feeder adapter kit for this press or perhaps adds a 7th station, the competition is over. This is the best of the progressive presses out there from a reliability, safety and customer support standpoint.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

I have a Dillon 650 which I love, but if RCBS had a case feeder option for their Pro2000 then I would have bought that instead.