upgrading one of my presses input needed

which press

  • Dillon 550c

    Votes: 12 50.0%

  • Hornady LnL ap

    Votes: 12 50.0%
  • Total voters
    24
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JO JO

JO JO

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I am thinking of upgrading my dillon square deal , it just has such a small frame and small working window ,
I am considering a dillon 550c or hornady lock and load ap , I have not used either of these .
Not sure if the manual index of the 550c would mess me up as I have gotten used to the auto index of the square deal this is why I am considering the hornady lnl ap for the auto index ? The dillon 650 not an option for me at this time ,
I keep spinning my wheels on this choice of two presses and please this is a question on what fits me best NOT a blue vs red
can of worms
thanks
 
Had a 550 years ago, never got the primer feed to work right; sold it about 15 years ago and after many years bought the LnL with free shipping,. on sale and with the bullet deal
 
JO JO said:
I am considering a dillon 550c or hornady lock and load ap , I have not used either of these .
Click to expand...
I do have a Hornady LNL and load a lot on it. I have the case feeder since I wanted an auto indexing press and wanted to concentrate on bullet seating over powder. There's nothing wrong with a LNL, BUT while I currently load on red I am green with blue envy.
I am surprised if you're already a blue loader, unless dollars are an issue, but you are a blue loader... so, why not look at the 650? Don't get me wrong the LNL will churn out good rounds, but if I already was loading with a Dillon I'd probably stick with them. I am considering a 1050 in the future (maybe two) just to be done with it once and for good.
 
I keep spinning my wheels on this choice of two presses and please this is a question on what fits me best...
Click to expand...

That’s why we can’t be the ones that do the picking.

I avoided the 550 because of the 4 stations and manual index, I actually had a couple of all the other Dillon’s (and a couple LNL’s) before I finally bought one mostly just so I had an informed opinion vs just a feeling why I didn’t like them.

I use it a lot more than I expected, one can change primer sizes faster than any other progressive. The manual index part isn’t as big a deal as I had though either, from a safety standpoint. When loading you need a place to put another bullet and case, if you don’t index you don’t have a place to put either.

The LNL’s work fine too; however, if you are used to the loading sequence of your SD (case with right bullet with left) they will seem backwards to you and if you are a holder of the bullet as it goes straight up into the seat die, that too will seem odd as the case half indexes on the down stroke and half on the up stroke. I had been using Dillon’s for several decades before buying the LNL’s and just never could warm up to them.
 
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My advise would be to wait a bit while you save up the money for a 650.

Take a look at what a used LnL AP sells for vs a used 650. There's a reason one sells for 50% of retail and the other sells for more than 80% of retail.
 
lots of great info from you all and points I have not considered in making my choice , I appreciate all the info I can get it does help me decide,
The resale value of my square deal is higher then I expected I had a guy at the range I was talking with offer me $300 for it , and the point that I
am used to loading a case on the right and bullet on the left with full index is one I have not thought of , the Hornady will have a bigger learning curve
and the Dillon would be an easier learning curve by far , all input is good and helpful
 
JO JO said:
lots of great info from you all and points I have not considered in making my choice , I appreciate all the info I can get it does help me decide,
The resale value of my square deal is higher then I expected I had a guy at the range I was talking with offer me $300 for it , and the point that I
am used to loading a case on the right and bullet on the left with full index is one I have not thought of , the Hornady will have a bigger learning curve
and the Dillon would be an easier learning curve by far , all input is good and helpful
Click to expand...

The 650, even without a case collator, only requires the left hand to do anything. You can fill the case feed tube and pull the handle till it's time to fill it again.

Before I got my case collator I made some quick fill tubes out of PVC. I could load up 360 rounds of .45 ACP brass in the quick fill tubes, only took seconds to dump them from the tubes into the Dillon.
 
I think the answer on this revolves around whether or not a case feeder is in your future. And that question rests on whether your volumes in any single caliber warrant it. On a 550, the case feeder was a complete after-thought and so there aren't any glowing reports.
 
Hornady, has a very good warranty, No BS type for mechanical. Like most they do not warranty electronics and motors for more than 1 yr. They have replaced any part that has failed, on a single phone call. Thing you will like about the LNL-AP is how simple of a design it is. You feed the brass in at the back left station 1, and normally set the bullet when the round is right in front of you, station 4. Your right hand never needs to leave the operating handle. You can easily remove any round form any station buy just pulling it out, no pin to remove. Goes back just as easily, just hook the shell retainer spring with the base of the brass to stretch then insert.
 
JO JO said:
I have decided to go with the 550c
Thanks everyone for the input
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. I'll be interested in your impressions of the press and also your transition from auto to manual index.

Congrats on the new press!

Dave
 
Hope you enjoy your 550C. I have 2 of the 550B presses and love them. I was talking to a rep at the NRA show and he said he could have any press and his choice is still the 550. The manual index is a plus in my opinion. I load for 12 different calibers.on mine and have one set up for small primers and large on the other.
 
I think you either get conditioned to auto-advance or you don't. I know I wouldn't want to switch back and forth. Of those 2, I'd go with the Hornady.

You may also want to consider looking for a used 650. That's what I did.
 
My experience: At this point in life I'm not looking for any additional learning curves. Having a history of cascade screw ups with auto indexing presses of one sort or another dominates my landscape. It there was another press added here it would be another 550. We got a world of good machines to pick from. My pick is still the 900 pound blue gorilla.

Also, I have learned to swap calibers and primer sizes in a minimum time on the Dillon. Changing primer sizes is not rocket science. Adjusting the dies has all to do with the way I left them the last time that caliber was loaded.
 
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I'm a 550C owner also. Love the press! My biggest complaint is caliber conversions are too expensive. Buy 3 conversions and you're already at the cost of a nice single stage press.
 
I am another happy 550 owner. I agonized over the auto-index feature when I bought my press 20 years ago, since I was transitioning from a Lee turret with auto-index. It just wasn't a big deal and I like the control the manual indexing gives me.
 
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