Which progessive.?

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codefour

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I started reloading about a year ago. A good friend taught me and told me to learn on a single stage first which I did. I bought a Redding Big Boss II and it is an outstanding product. I think it is time to upgrade to either a Redding T-7 turret and put a case activated powder measure on it OR...

I was thinking of just springing for a good progressive. I have researched all of them and I can not decide. I like the Dillon 650 but the caliber conversions seem a bit pricey (I load for six handgun calibers and three rifle).

I was also looking at the Hornady LNL and the RCBS Pro 2000. I was just wondering if anyone with experience with these presses would chime in..?? I just do not want to buy one and have buyer's remorse wishing I bought the other progressive press.

I know this has been covered in previous posts but not recent posts.

Thanks in advance.
 
I think the Hordady is hard to beat. I've loaded thousands through mine now, and after deburring the primer feed components, have had no problems with it. The powder measure is one of the best on the market, and caliber changes only cost you a new set of dies and bushings.
 
I'm still on the fence with the Hornady.
I've had an issue with the large primer slider from day one.
A new one arrived last week but I haven't loaded any large primer rounds since then.

My main issue with this press right now is loading .223.

The first issue is that the rounds in station #1 flop around quite a bit ruining some of them when they contact a die body on the upstroke.

The second issue is that small rifle primers don't seem to be seating deep enough.

The third problem is that the cases want to tip inward on station #5.

and last but not least when the cases hit the EZ ject nub on the sub plate instead of being ejected towards the bin they crash into the incoming case on the case feeder shuttle knocking either the incoming or outgoing or both cases off.

It doesn't matter how slow or how fast I'm loading it happens just the same.

Hornady is sending me a new sub plate to see if that helps any.
 
Ditto what Presto said!
I have loaded on every BLUE press available and I still own the small Blue press. However, I prefer the operation of the LNL by a wide margin.

Both Blue and Red are excellent presses. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I PM'd you.
 
I had an RCBS Progressive Press back in the late 80's for about six years. I only used it for loading pistol cartridges - mostly 357's.

Once all set up, I could load 600 pistol cartridges an hour! That is, after I had cleaned the brass, removed all primers, trimmed all cases, chamfered the mouths and cleaned the primer pockets and flash holes.

The press took a bit of time to get everything adjusted just so, and then once set up, each pull of the handle would introduce a new case and drop a finished one in the box.

I was running (on average) one case being loaded every six seconds (10 cartridges per minute x 60 minutes per hour = 600).

That was at a time when another guy and I would shoot just about every night in an indoor range we built. I remember we liked the 158g Speer Lead Semi-Wadcutter Flat Point, we would buy boxes of 500 at a time and we would use Unique powder with CCI primers. On occasion we would shoot magnum loads of ball powder with jacketed bullets so we could see the flame about half the size of a small car.
 
Mr Four -
In that class of presses the list is very short. In no particular order they are:

Lee Loadmaster
Hornady LNL AP
Dillon Square Deal
Dillon 550
Dillon 650
RCBS 2000

* Some people might include the Lee Pro-1000 but in my book you wouldn't be happy with that press after owning a Redding.


Don't be fooled, ALL progressives....
• Have strong points and weak points
• Except for the Lee, have all-metal powder measures that are extremely accurate. Not all excel at the same powders.
• Require extra investment in some kind of proprietary "tool head" or "LNL bushing" to hold the dies, plus a shell plate for each case size, and possibly a powder adapter.
• Since the accessories are proprietary, if you decided to swap from one press to the other after 2 years, the price of all new accessories for the new press may be as much as the press itself. So choose VERY carefully.


The best way to shop for this is to clear your mind of rumors, brand loyalty and price restrictions (since they will ALL pay for themselves inside 1 year), and focus on a) the features you want and b) the expected volumes of ammo you need. Example: some of these presses excel at volume ammo like 1000 rounds at a time. But if you don't shoot 1000 a month of a single caliber, then that may not be the press you need.

One exception to this would be that you have a neighbor or shooting buddy with the same machine and you could save money by swapping accessories with him once a month. That's the only way I would let money sway my decision.

You can see all these presses in action and compared side-by-side at:
http://ultimatereloader.com/

Hope this helps! ;)
 
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Thanks everyone

Well, I decided to wait on the progressive press. I just ordered a Redding T-7 Turret Press. I am going to put a Hornady LNL powder measure with a case activator on it. I got the idea from those awesome videos on UltimateReloader.com. Man that guy has been a wealth of knowledge.

I thought about it. I have been sustaining my ammo needs (500 to 800 rounds a month) with a single stage.! So I think the simplicity of a turret press will do untill I get some more experience.

If I get back into USPSA or something down like that down the line, I think it will be progressive time. I used to get a soo much ammo for free at my job but not anymore B/C of budget shortages.

Thanks for all you help. This forum rocks and is soo helpful.
 
The Redding will serve you very well. And if you ever decide to part with it, you will get a large chuck of you cash back.
 
I don't want to hijack this thread, but I've seen similar progressive press threads on this and other forums in the last few months, and I need to vent on this subject. In the early '80s I purchased an RCBS 4x4. It is a completely manual progressive press, rock solid, easy to set up and operate, easy to clean, I can change calibers in less than 15 minutes, it takes any standard set of dies, and with it I can make up to 150 rounds an hour rifle rounds checking about every 3rd round without rushing. It loads even more in pistol calibers. I have to manually throw each powder charge, load each case and flip a primer into the primer seater. Yet, the only thing I'd like to see different is automatic indexing. I learned on this press, I've never loaded on any other press. It seems to me the vendors have gotten away from making stone simple, easy-to-use machines into expensive one-press-does-everything-with-a-single-pull machines that are cantankerous to set up and maintain. I think there's a market for a solid, simple progressive press.

Okay, off my soap box and stop ranting.
 
I have never owned the RCBS progressive but have 5 of the Dillons and an LNL. I like the 650 better than the LNL.
 
codefour said:
I was thinking of just springing for a good progressive. I have researched all of them and I can not decide. I like the Dillon 650 but the caliber conversions seem a bit pricey (I load for six handgun calibers and three rifle).

.
Click to expand...

I have a Hornady Lock-N-Load progressive but I spent a long time looking at the Dillon 650 and the Hornady before finally buying. The Hornady suited my preferred process better.

Outfitting for a progressive for numerous cartridges gets expensive. I elected to move all my handgun cartridges plus 30 carbine to the progressive. About $240 for all eight shell plates. While you could thread dies in and out of the toll head or L-N-L bushings, it is more convienient to permanently mount the dies. That is another $15-$20 or so for each caliber.

I have found that if I am not planning to load 300 or more rounds, there is no sense in firing up the progressive. I can load less than 300 rounds faster on the single stage press when you consider all of the non-loading, non stroking the press activities that are part of a loading session.

So, except for 55 FMJ 223 Remington blasting ammo, my rifle rounds are still loaded on the single stage press. I rarely load more than 100-150 cartridges at a time for rifle. I have dies and stuff to do 30-06 for my M1s on the progressive but haven't decided if I will do it yet.

If I ever go on a prairie dog hunt, I may load some more rifle on the progressive since I will need tons of ammunition. But it would only be 223 Remington.

Finally, I prefer to clean my brass between resizing and reloading. My choice and I accept the loss in production. I prime with a hand primer because I do not have confidence in the priming system and it allows me to concentrate on the powder drop and bullet seating steps. I don't lose too much production time as it only takes a minute or so longer to prime 100 cases as it does to fill a primer tube.

But, one of the great features of the progressive presses is you can tailor the process to your liking. The presses are quite flexible in that respect and can keep you well supplied in ammunition.
 
mineralman55 said:
Yet, the only thing I'd like to see different is automatic indexing.
Click to expand...

That's the main feature that I couldn't care less about. It does nothing but add to the complexity. Certainly doesn't speed things up and it makes setup more of a chore.

Obviously there is a huge preference thing when it comes to presses. I've got dies and other tools from just about every company out there. I LOVE my Dillon 550b and I'll probably buy a second to keep from having to swap between the large and small primer feeds even though the changeover only takes a minute or two. I currently load 4 pistol and 5 rifle cartridges on it.
 
I got my first progressive when I started shooting 200 to 300 rounds a week. I couldn't keep up with a single stage so started looking at alternatives.

Best advice I'll give you on deciding which brand is ask owners of the presses about their press. Most will tell you good and bad things.

Lee owners are on the fence from the info I got from them. Some said they were satisfied others aren't.

Honady is a good one but I keep seeing the same complaints over and over. Thump_rrr's complaints are what I see from the Hornady owners as well as timing issues. Friends of mine that have the Hornady aren't seating primers on them because of problems. I wouldn't have a progressive press that can't do all the steps on its own.

The only complaint I ever see on Dillon is price. Never see any mechanical issues with them. I currently own 2 Dillons, a 650 and 1050. I'm happy with them.
 
Auto indexing is one of the main features that I like about the L-n-L compared to the 550. I don't see how it makes things more complex. It certainly helps lower the chance of a double charge.
 
joed said:
Friends of mine that have the Hornady aren't seating primers on them because of problems. I wouldn't have a progressive press that can't do all the steps on its own.
Click to expand...

I fiddled with the priming system on my L-N-L and quickly gave up on it. Not really a big issue for me as I prefer to load only resized and cleaned cases.

I do not like that I cannot see that a primer has been placed in position for seating.

I recently bought a Dillon SDB press to play with. I plan on trying the primer system on it but I don't really hold much hope for it either. One advantage, I think I may be able to insert the resized and clean case in station 2. I will be able to see if the primer is in position.

I know lots of folks do not have problems with the priming systems. When i was researching progressives, the priming system seem to be the most problematic part whether a Dillon or Hornady.

ColtPythonElite said:
Auto indexing is one of the main features that I like about the L-n-L compared to the 550. I don't see how it makes things more complex. It certainly helps lower the chance of a double charge.
Click to expand...

I agree. Lack of auto indexing was what ruled out the Dillon 550 for me. I have not had any issues with the auto indexing on my Hornady. Never had to adjust it. I am not sure what folks are doing to get the indexing out of time. I am sure over time, parts on mine will wear and I will need to adjust the timing.
 
I've got a Hornady and initially (like others) had some some setup problems. I've only had mine for a couple of months.

The Large Primer Feed Tube had some issues and CS sent me a new one. I've not had an issue with it in nearly 4000 rounds. Tuning the primer feed system requires a little time, but from when I was researching, the primer feed system (just like all the other progressives) required a little tuning.

The ball on the handle is pretty small and occassionally causes my hand to get cramps or symptoms similar to Carpal Tunnel. I've since changed the small ball for an 8-Ball Pool Ball from a member on another forum (should be noted, this same ball fits on I believe every progress out there). This has vastly changed the dynamics of pulling & pushing the handle.

The auto-indexing and placing new case and bullet on the left side definitely speeds things up. I don't do enough volume to justify a case feeder (at least not yet). Being able to place a new case and then a bullet with the left hand and never having to move my right hand from the handle is pretty quick and efficient. Once I get a rhythm going, I'm able to plow through some rounds.
 
I began to research reloading and talked with a good friend of mine who guided me to the Dillon RL 550B. Setting the dyes, reloading, changing calibers are all so easy. The progressive reloader is so easy to use and Dillon's service/sales Department has been top Notch. I believe the RL 550 B handles up to 160 different calibers.
 
Was loading a batch of .45ACP when a part I do not have on hand let go. As I won't have time to load during the week, I needed to get a batch loaded for the AL state next Saturday. So...

Fortunately, I have a conversion for my 550. Transferred the dies and and measure and changed the primer bar. Took about 20 minutes (haven't done a swap in a few years) just over an hour to load 500 rounds.

While things went smoothly, I'll be glad to get the 650 back in action.
 
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