12 Progressive Press Comparison Shootout

[Louisiana Shooter]

I LOVED this video and article!!!!!!!

VERY informative!

https://bulletin.accurateshooter.co...ies-12-progressive-press-comparison-shootout/

 

[Forum Boss]

Thanks for noticing this feature in the Daily Bulletin. Gavin Gear of UltimateReloader.com did a TON of work, getting a dozen progressive presses together for comparison.



The main video is 79 minutes long, and there is an extensive 17-page article covering the features of the 12 different presses. There is a wide range of options, from the fairly basic 3-station LEE Pro1000 to the high-end Mark 7 Apex 10.

 

[Beiruty]

I have a loaded AP with bullet and case feeder.
All presses have their own issues and they need to be setup correctly and maintained regularly.
I wished Hornady would make a 7-stages press. Otherwise, I mastered the machine and I know if something goes wrong, what is the problem and how to fix it.
Pick a press and stick with it.

 

[drop_point]

I have a loaded AP with bullet and case feeder.
All presses have their own issues and they need to be setup correctly and maintained regularly.
I wished Hornady would make a 7-stages press. Otherwise, I mastered the machine and I know if something goes wrong, what is the problem and how to fix it.
Pick a press and stick with it.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I have two of the Hornady presses. I learned about properly timing the press, setting the primer shuttle arm, and tweaking the case feeder. I love what I can do with the press and have been using them for about eight years now. My buddy bought a Dillon second-hand without any directions and he's clueless on making it run smoothly. We've tinkered with it, and at the end of the day, we just use my Hornady over his "superior" 650XL. I'm not saying that the Dillion isn't a good press, or even a better press, but knowing the Hornady and its quirks is better than any progressive you don't know.

I also agree, the Hornady would do well to add a couple stations. I'd love a decap station in one, FL sizing body-only station in two, a neck-only in station three, an expander mandrel in four, a powder funnel in five, a powder cop in six, and seating in seven.

Even for my pistol rounds, five stations doesn't allow for a powder cop.

 

[DiffEQ]

My buddy bought a Dillon second-hand without any directions and he's clueless on making it run smoothly.

Funny. The Dillon isn't that hard.
I started on a Lee Loadmaster, gave it away after tens of thousands of trouble free pistol rounds.
Bought a LnL AP. It had some issues, and I can say Hornady support was superlative. To me, the press was a complete 'meh'. The index system would cause powder spills from the case, the primer feed was arbitrary and capricious in its performance. While I thought the quick change die mounts were ingenious, I tested and confirmed that they, coupled with ram head flexure, created up to 6 mil variance in B2O when loading 223/6.8 AR type rounds.
I had scoffed at who I considered to be "blue snobs." Then I found at a gun shop, a 650 on a strong mount, missing some pieces and a "make offer" sign. I offered $500. It came with three tubs of stuff, including three complete caliber changes with heads and Dillon dies, and all the missing parts. I'm now up to six heads, five with powder drops. My Kool-aid is blueberry flavored now.

 

[drop_point]

Funny. The Dillon isn't that hard.
I started on a Lee Loadmaster, gave it away after tens of thousands of trouble free pistol rounds.
Bought a LnL AP. It had some issues, and I can say Hornady support was superlative. To me, the press was a complete 'meh'. The index system would cause powder spills from the case, the primer feed was arbitrary and capricious in its performance. While I thought the quick change die mounts were ingenious, I tested and confirmed that they, coupled with ram head flexure, created up to 6 mil variance in B2O when loading 223/6.8 AR type rounds.
I had scoffed at who I considered to be "blue snobs." Then I found at a gun shop, a 650 on a strong mount, missing some pieces and a "make offer" sign. I offered $500. It came with three tubs of stuff, including three complete caliber changes with heads and Dillon dies, and all the missing parts. I'm now up to six heads, five with powder drops. My Kool-aid is blueberry flavored now.

Sounds like you never did figure out how to make the Hornady run. Mine doesn't spill powder, and for total runout, I may get 3 thou. It actually loaded straighter than my Rockchucker with the same dies. I'm not saying the blue press isn't good, but I've just messed with one enough to learn it.

 

[PRR1957]

I used a Dillon 1050 with a Mr Bullet bullet feeder. My concern was the press has eight stations. I felt that after the gunpowder is dropped into the cartridge case, the next station needs a gunpowder level checking device/alarm if the gunpowder is under or over charged. Double Alpha has a electronic gunpowder level checking device that can be adjusted for a under or over charged. Double Alpha also offers a simple device that is a small brush that attaches to the press frame that keeps the gunpowder filled cartridge case from being jostled flinging out gunpowder from certain cartridges as the shell holder is rotated. This will cause uneven under gunpowder levels. I saw this while loading 9mm Luger cartridges as there was gunpowder accumulation on the press’s frame and shell holder.

Getting back to the 1050 having eight stations is that if a gunpowder level checking device like the Double Alpha is installed after the gunpowder station with a bullet feeder as the next station, the last station would have to combine the bullet seating and crimping operation in one die. The concern to me was if copper plated bullets are used, the bullet seating stem cup can deform the bullet nose or side as the bullet is almost completely seated as the crimp is applied because those types of bullets the copper plating are usually only 125 microns/.005” thick. In my opinion the Dillon 1050 should have nine stations so the bullet seating and crimping are two separate operations.

Also. The Mr Bullet bullet feeder takes some tweaking to get it too drop bullets like 9mm 115 gr round nose FMJ without dropping the bullets upside down. The one adjustment was to shorten the flexible coil spring bullet chute to not sag as the bullet slides through the chute. Another small fix was too add a rubber band to ballbearings collet so it would reset more positive. Every so often the collet would drop two bullets. The most amount of tweaking was to get the bullet to come out of the feed nose up all the time. Once it’s adjustments where set if another brand of bullet is used, the adjustment process starts again.

 

[Forum Boss]

I have an older RCBS 2000 progressive press that I used to load many thousands of rounds of pistol caliber ammo for IDPA and Cowboy Action. Sadly this press, with its innovative APS strip priming system, is no longer made.

With this system, primers are held in plastic strips, which advance horizontally. So there are no columns of primers, stacked one atop the other (where they could cause a chain reaction).





I believe that APS priming was a superior, safer, easier-to-change system and that RCBS should bring it back. APS is certainly SAFER, plus faster to change from large to small primer types. WAY faster.

Before I purchased this RCBS 2000 press, I tested Dillon and Hornady progressive press alternatives extensively. At the time, many serious progressive press owners had TWO Dillons because it was such a PIA to change primer set-ups from small to large (or vice-versa). By contrast, I could switch from large to small (or vice-versa) really easily in under 5 minutes.

I also concluded the RCBS and Hornady powder measure systems were considerably more precise (and trouble free) than the Dillon system with the sliding bar. I did quite a lot of testing to confirm that. The difference was quite noticeable with extruded powders.



I do recommend that anyone using a progressive press run a lock-out die if you have enough stations. This stops the press from advancing if the powder charge is too high or too low. My lock-out die did "save my bacon" a few times.



The lock-out die can be used on Dillon and Hornady presses as well as RCBS progressives.

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

That Mark 7 Progressive is IMPRESSIVE! If I had been born rich instead of good looking!!!!

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

I use a lot of Lee products. They are cheap but do good work after the bugs are worked out. I've loaded 10's of thousands of rounds using them. Like any of the various brands, you going to have to learn their quarks.

I like to deprime and size using the APP press using the larger case collator. It'll deprime and size as fast as I can pull the lever. I then do the priming using the APC press in the same manner. After all of my cases have been deprimed, sized then reprimed, I use the Breech Lock Pro with a bullet feeder and the 4 tube case feeder to finish the loading process.........fast and cheap. Makes tons of pistol & 556/223 ammo.

I still use a RCBS single stage for most of my precision rifle ammo using all the stuff that has worked for years. On occasions when I'm looking for ultimate accuracy, I use Redding body dies along with Wilson neck dies and seaters with my arbor press with my old RCBS 10-10 scale.

I would really like to get that fully automated Mark 7 though!!!!! Would need to get an ammo manufacturers license to pay for it. That thing is impressive!

 

[farmerjohn]

I LOVED this video and article!!!!!!!

VERY informative!

https://bulletin.accurateshooter.co...ies-12-progressive-press-comparison-shootout/

+1, thanks Boss, John

 

[Bamban]

On one 650 grafted a BR 30, the other used 2 pistol bars to split the charge. I never prime on these, prefer priming by hand.

This is an old picture. The 550 is no longer there gifted it to a junior shooter. The single powder dispenser now has bullet feeder.

Station 1 on both have 21st Century universal expanding mandrel die. All mandrels are melonited. Mandrels have been sitting there for years. Bought the steel mandrels when the die first came out and included them in the melonite batch.

 

[Gun Smith]

Kudos to the RCBS Lockout Die !!! Great invention.

 

[ed308]

Gavin’s video is one of the best videos comparing reloading presses. I started my reloading journey around 12 years ago when I bought a Dillon 650. One of my main reasons for buying the 650 was Dillon’s Powder Check System. I produced thousands of rounds on that press without a single squib load. I then purchased four different single presses made by Hornady and RCBS to reload my precision rounds, like 6.5 Creedmoor. I eventually decided I didn’t have the time or desire to reload on a single stage press and sold all of those presses for a Dillon 550. I currently use the 550 with a A&D Fx120i scale and a Auto Throw/Auto Trickler system. I also use a Arbor press at times with that system. I love the speed and accuracy of that systems produces. Only negatives, I’ve had a couple of squib loads on it. I eventually sold the 650 and replace it with a Dillon 750, deciding I liked the 550’s priming system better than the 650’s priming system. I recently added a Foster Co-Ax press on my bench to tinker with in my retirement. We’ll see if the Co-Ax tightens up my precision loads and earns a permanent spot on my reloading bench.

 

[ebb]

I have a friend that was injured so severely that he can't reload because of his eyesight. he gave me his Dillon 450, i have since almost made it into a 550. me and a couple of friends decided to try to make it run when i first got it. we got stuck at a 3 on a Saturday afternoon. decided to call Dillon and see if we could get an answer by next Saturday. A tech answered the phone and told us all we needed to know. we adjusted and loaded a few that day and had replacement parts for next weekend and loaded thousands then.