upgrading to a progressive

[Dueling1911s]

well i'm finally at that stage of reloading when i think i'm ready to upgrade to a progressive press. i load nothing but cheap practice rounds for my pistols so its stupid not to upgrade. i have a rock chucker supreme currently

has anyone ever used the rcbs piggy back upgrade for their rock chucker? on midway it has mixed reviews.

or i was thinking of going with the rcbs pro2000 or of course the dillon 550b

i'm kind of limited to space on my bench to add another press so i would have to uninstall my rock chucker to put in a new press

advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[dihnen]

I have the RCBS Pro 2000 with auto index and I like it a lot. Caliber changes are quick and cheap. I load 38 spl, 45 auto, and 9mm on it. The only issue I've had is that I bought a softer spring for the shellplate (89 cents) for 9mm as the autoindex can kick powder out of that short shell.

Something to think about--the RCBS requires loading the brass and the bullet with the left hand, whereas I BELIEVE that the dillon loads brass and bullets from different sides. I don't know if that's any faster or not, I pick up brass and bullet in my left hand as I raise the ram with my right hand so I can go pretty fast.

 

[Deavis]

Two things. I am betting that there are people in Houston that would let you try out their press so you can make a decision based on actual experience rather than related experience on a forum. Maybe someone here or on Texas Gun Talk can chime in, if you are near Austin you can put your hands on my 650XL. It is comparable to the LNL and the Pro2000 with auto-index. Owned a Pro2000, sold it. Tried a LNL, it is nice. Own Dillon presses.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a progressive that isn't auto-index and doesn't have a case feeder but I believe strongly in efficiency when loading. Further, it is my opinion that auto-indexing, combined with a powder check, is far safe than the manual indexing and faster as well for the same quality of ammunition.

 

[Lost Sheep]

I upgraded from my progressives to a turret

I was never comfortable with multiple operations happening simultaneously, so retired my (admittedly primitive) Lee Pro-1000s for a Lee Classic Turret. I couldn't be happier.

Of course, I only load 50 to 200 rounds of each caliber at a sitting and swap calibers quite often (among seven I load for). Both those behaviors favor the turret. If you load 100 to 1,000 or more at a sitting and do not swap calibers very often, the progressive looks a lot better.

Look at your reloading needs and you will be able to shop better. But don't write off the turret. It can do batch processing like the single stage, but is equally facile at continuous processing as a progressive. (Turrets are definitely NOT progressive, but the auto-indexing ones are as close as you can come without having multiple operations to watch.)

Good luck

p.s. I will never get rid of my 35 year old RockChucker, but the Turret will be around just as long. My Pro-1000's are gone. They did not fit my style.

 

[BYJO4]

I added a progressive press to my bench about a year ago. It makes loading pistol calibers so much nicer as only need a fraction of the time to get the job done. I also suggest you get one that will auto index. The Dillon 650 or Hornady LNL AP are excellent choices. I ended up getting the LNL and have been completely satisfied with it. I know you said space is limited, but try to keep your single stage set up as it can come in handy from time to time.

 

[greyling22]

take a peek at the hornady lnl ap as well. If I was buying and could afford nicer than lee I would probably get one of those over a 550. They compare more directly to a 650.

 

[sugarmaker]

From my recent experience...get something that can take a case feeder. I have a LNL-AP and just HAD to get the case feeder.

LNL AP requires some mechanical aptitude, IMO, and if yoy are going to process brass get the Dillon as the Hornady isn't intended to do this (this directly from Hornady customer service). My Hornady will eject brass (.223) into the oncoming case from the feeder. Loaded rounds fall off OK. I added a removable part to the EZ-Ject that fixes this but again...mechanical aptitude is required. Once you fet it running it's great, but I think it may be easier to get a Dillon up vs the Hornady.

That much said, I machined an on press trim / chamfer / deburr on the LNL that could not be done on a Dillon, so overall my modified hornady is 2:1 faster than a 650 / Giraud combo for what I do, and the results are better.

 

[Aguablanco]

Progressive Press

I've had my Hornady LnL over a year now, and I couldn't be happier. Auto progressive, 5 stations, take the bushings so caliber changes are easy and the powder drop system is infinitely adjustable. On top of that, $250.00 less than the equivalent Dillon with the same warranty. You can add case and bullet feeders, although they are somewhat pricey. I hand feed everything and can still do 300+ rounds per hour with no problem. As for set up, the only problem I have had was the indexing pawls going out of adjustment. A little blue Loctite has solved that. When starting out, I broke a couple of parts, Hornady sent them within 2-3 days, no cost, and with the proper advice to avoid those issues in the future. Funny thing is I live about 20 miles from Dillon and still chose Hornady. One last thing, which ever press you choose, get Hornady's Powder Cop die, it really helps to check powder drop on every cartridge.
Good Luck,
RichH

 

[Blue68f100]

I have had a LNL-AP for close to 4 yrs now. Over 18k rounds of pistol ammo loaded with it. I did add the Brass feeder after the first year. Once the press is setup and all of the initial adj have been made, it holds if very well. No constant tweeking required like some press. The brass feeder is a little tricky to get it dialed in but once done it's sweet. Makes loading 500-600/hr easy work. It's also great when you want to deprime so you can use a liquid brass cleaner. I take less than 9 minutes to deprime 200 rounds.

Advantage of AP is that it will help from loading a double charge. I say help because if you short stroke it, you can still do it, FULL Strokes only. So if you use a high loft power it over flows the case. NO Tightgroup here. The down side if something gets off, correcting the problem can be a problem. The easy way is just clear the stations and continue on. Then run those back through the appropriate stations. If your interrupted, stop at a up stoke, then you know where your at. Try not to load when your being distracted, with multiple things happening at once it needs your un-divide attention. This is true with any press though.

RCBS makes good solid equipment. You can't go wrong with it. It will not be near as fast but may still meet your needs.

Dillon make good equipment too. There are a lot of small parts related with a Dillon that is not present on the Hornady. I still question why Dillon wants you to buy a small parts kit with there press since it has a no BS warranty. Hornady if you talk to there CS and just mention things are bent kinked or what ever will just send you the parts, FREE. Dillon may too so why buy the small parts. Except if something breaks you have to wait on the parts. There is also more plastic parts on a Dillon. Considering most of there press were design and built 30 years ago, there were designed pretty good.

Bottom line, all are capable of making good ammo. Just some are more troublesome than others.

 

[mallc]

Blue and Red

100s of thousands of rounds on Dillion 650s and have yet to open the spare parts bag. Thousands of rounds on Hornady LNL AP and no complaints at all. Hours and hours of fun on a Redding T7 and never a bad round.

Dillon has better safety checks. Hornady takes more attention. Redding rocks.

You really can't go wrong.

Scott

 

[dbarnhart]

I have a Hornady and love it, butI think the choice between Hornady Lnl vs Dillon 650 comes down to the number of rounds you load at a time and the frequency and number of caliber changes.

The 650 is optimized for high throughput rates (1500 rounds at a time) and infrequent caliber changes.

The Hornady is optimized for lower throughput (500-1000 rounds at a time) but more frequent and less costly caliber changes.

I suggest going to ultimatereloader.com and watch Gavin's videos as he does a caliber change on each press.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I love my LnL. Back when I bought it Hornady gave me 1000 free premium bullets. I got about 200 bucks worth of bullets for buying a $390 press.