using a progresive press for competition reloads ?

[Dusty Stevens]

"as USUAL poor definition of the question.
DEFINE THE WORD COMPETITION."


what part of "define the word competition?
don't you understand "
works fine for cowboy action shooting

Works fine for idpa too.

 

[rsmithsr50]

Works fine for idpa too.

ipsc too

 

[GSS]

what part of the question don't you understand ?
How many of you guys use a progressive press for accurate reloads ?

Accurate enough for M1 Garand in 200 yard games matches "Competitions" ?
or
Accurate enough for 1000 yard FTR "Competitions" ?
or
Accurate enough for 600 yard Benchrest "Competitions" ?

 

[Ranger007]

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...illon-550-prometheus-2.3901176/#post-36760921

Thank you.

 

[Hoser]

works fine for cowboy action shooting

Thats strange. I dont know many CAS matches shooting bolt action rifles at 1-2 MOA targets past 1,000 yards.

 

[Nature Boy]

I load everything on my 650, including F Class ammo. I’m using it in progressive mode for sizing but run it more like a single stage for primer, powder and bullet seating. As I think about it, it’s like having 2 single stage presses since the tool head is set up for all three operations. Works very well for me

 

[Nature Boy]

"as USUAL poor definition of the question.
DEFINE THE WORD COMPETITION."


what part of "define the word competition?
don't you understand "
works fine for cowboy action shooting

There’s some guy named John Widden and some other dude named David Tubb. They load all their “competition” ammo on Dillon progressive presses. Google their names if you’re curious. I hear they do OK

 

[Dusty Stevens]

There’s some guy named John Widden and some other dude named David Tubb. They load all their “competition” ammo on Dillon progressive presses. Google their names if you’re curious. I hear they do OK

A progressive works fine in their game. Theyre not limited by ammo, the conditions in which they shoot and the acceptable outcome far outweigh their handloading technique.

 

[Nature Boy]

A progressive works fine in their game. Theyre not limited by ammo, the conditions in which they shoot and the acceptable outcome far outweigh their handloading technique.

Fair enough, but it’s nonsense to say that all a progressive press is good for is cranking out pistol ammo, range fodder and cowboy action ammo.

 

[rsmithsr50]

no, it is silly to ask an open ended question with no criteria.
as in what type of competition.
seems I said that once before.
I have shot with david tubs in the 90's, and we talked just a couple months back.
where did we say "all" ,what we were implying was you had NO CRITERIA.

Fair enough, but it’s nonsense to say that all a progressive press is good for is cranking out pistol ammo, range fodder and cowboy action ammo.

 

[Cuando]

A Dillon 550 is capable of making the finest bench rest quality ammo with the right operator running it period. Full stop. End of story.

How’s that for CRITERIA?

 

[memilanuk]

The charge/seat portion... honestly doesn't look much, if any, faster than what I get with my 550 + AutoThrower + AutoTrickler. I've never timed or videoed myself doing it though, so I might be all wet on that.

Maybe, but I'm not sure the AutoTrickler can dispense in 6 seconds from empty. Would be interesting to see the comparison. As I was starting 'from cold' and thinking about video things I wasn't quite at my slickest in that segment.

I needed to load some ammo for a local/club 3x600yd F-class match this weekend, so I figured I should actually try timing myself and see how fast/slow loading on the 550 really is. This is just the prime/charge/seat segment, with an AutoTrickler v2 + AutoThrower on an A&D FX120i scale, putting 24.0 gn (+/- 0.02) N150 in a Lapua case behind a B85.5 Hybrid, and reaching over and tapping the lap timer on my phone every time I completed a cycle.

Reality was a fair bit slower than I had expected... about 20 seconds per cycle, on average, plus or minus 5, and the trickler was definitely the limiting factor as far as speed. It sure *seemed* faster than that, with all the hand motions going on - moving the power cup, placing the case, placing the bullet, rotating the shell plate, priming, etc.

Adding a case feeder and such to the mix would reduce the amount of manual handling of stuff... but it'd need at least another powder scale/thrower/trickler (or something speedy like whatever @rox is using) to keep up with it, if max throughput was the goal. I know a few people who have such setups for their PRS rigs... cool, but perhaps a bit more over-the-top than I'm willing to commit to personally.

Like I said before, I didn't really set out with the intent of breaking speed records - pretty sure a person who worked at it could probably do similar output with a tray of cases, a powder funnel, hand priming tool and an arbor press. I've been there, done that. It's a lot harder, for me at least, to maintain that kind of focus & throughput over several hundred rounds doing it all by hand - I usually have to take several breaks or mistakes start happening.

YMMV,

Monte

 

[XTR]

I've used my Dillon 550 for 223 F-TR loads.

• Anneal before starting
  
• Station 1 - FL size, decap, prime
• Station 2 - Expander mandrel
• Station 3 - Powder from the Auto-trickler(funnel in the powder throw holder)*
• Station 4 - seat bullet

It's faster, by a lot, when compared to size/decap - expand - polish - prime - powder - seat in separate steps. I've never gotten around to doing it with the 308s, but I need to.

* PITA stupid stuff, dumping powder in the funnel while the ram is down.... Makes a mess.

Dillon primer seating doesn't have the feel of a hand primer.

 

[rox]

* PITA stupid stuff, dumping powder in the funnel while the ram is down.... Makes a mess.

Did you see my solution for this (in the video at the bottom of this post)?
Apart from just preventing a mess, and perhaps more importantly, it allows smooth press cycling (not interrupting the cycle at the most critical point - the exact moment critical seating is finalized).

One aspect of my approach to consider, though, is the possibility of tipping a charge into the hopper when already full - another way of making a mess (or worse). I mitigate this with a camera looking into the powder hopper that displays on a screen in front of me.

Dillon primer seating doesn't have the feel of a hand primer.

I'm not sure what the 550 is like, but on a 1050 I can certainly feel the slightest deformation of a primer, and the adjustment mechanism gives me complete confidence that the primer is bottomed-out in the pocket.

 

[rebs]

is anyone using a Hornady L nL progressive press ?

 

[memilanuk]

Did you see my solution for this (in the video at the bottom of this post)?
Apart from just preventing a mess, and perhaps more importantly, it allows smooth press cycling (not interrupting the cycle at the most critical point - the exact moment critical seating is finalized).

I don't know about @XTR or others like @Scott Harris and @Jay Christopherson, but on the 550 I tend to lower the handle (raise the ram/shellplate) to where I *just* feel the bullet seat fully - and then I lift the handle about an inch, and let it drop again, to give the seating a final little 'bump'; it seems to help with the consistency.

I've used the RCBS case-activated powder drop in the past; IIRC that thing has some hefty springs on it. I could easily see that masking the 'feel' of the seating process. Granted, the 1050 has so much else going on it might not even be noticeable; I don't know. If you're getting consistent results, then it's a moot point, but I'm not sure I'd like not being able to feel the bullet seat.

I'm not sure what the 550 is like, but on a 1050 I can certainly feel the slightest deformation of a primer, and the adjustment mechanism gives me complete confidence that the primer is bottomed-out in the pocket.

I can feel the primer seat fully, but based on my experience, you'll have a hard time feeling a 'loose' primer pocket near as early as you will with hand priming. That's more or less my main hang-up with priming on-press... and competitive FTR loads tend to be hard on primer pockets, even with Palma brass.

 

[Tim-o-thy]

I use a Hornady Lock N Load Progressive press with the exception of my primer seater.

I seat and de prime on my progressive ap too, I size on a single stage. I hate the cam over properties of the ap for that step. It’ll size though, just don’t like the way it feels

 

[Papa Charlie]

is anyone using a Hornady L nL progressive press ?

Yes, I do all my die work on the LNL AP. I don't use it as a progressive though, even though I feed the shells in and the shell plate is always full.

1) Tumble in Walnut Shells
2) Decap (Lyman die in Station 1 of AP)
3) Trim (RCBS, with 3 way cutter)
4) FL Size and Bump (Redding FL die in Station 1 of AP) and Neck Size (Redding Comp die Station 4 of AP). These stations are the closest to the post for strength
5) Remove water soluble lube and dry
6) Clean primer pockets, chamfer and debur (RCBS Case Prep)
7) Seat Primers (Grizzly Precision Priming Press)
8) Load Powder (Sartorius)
9) Seat bullet (Redding Comp die in Station 4 of AP)

 

[Longtrain]

In my XTC days all 200 and 300 yard ammo was done on a Dillon 550, using mainly 69 or 77 SMK’s using RE-15.
600 yard line loads were loaded and weighed one at a time.

 

[GSS]

is anyone using a Hornady L nL progressive press ?

Yes,
I average around 4000 rounds of 223 service rifle ammo a year on a Hornady LNL progressive.

The ammo is at least as good as the ammo my friends that use blue painted presses load and the warranty / service after the sale is just as good as the blue painted presses.

Either color press is fully capable of loading good to great ammo depending who is running them
Red just cost less up front to buy.

I'm still fairly new here but i would wager the search function would find dozens of threads in the archives here about Quality of Hornady and Dillon machines AND comparing Hornady to Dillon for which is bester...

George