High volume reloading
- Thread starter birddog1
- Start date
Birddog1,
i just recently got a progressive for christmas thanks to my wife. i did alot of reading...I wanted the Dillon 1050 (of course) but they are too expensive. i load too many different calibers and i could not justify the expense per caliber. Also it takes a little bit of time to change calibers over. i am sure it gets fast as you get better at it. i elected to get the Hornady AP. the Ammo Plant (includes a shell and bullet feeder, plus more accessories) was still too steep right now. The AP went on sale at midsouth for $384.00 with a rebate of 500 projectiles. i boulght an upgrade kit from midway manufactured by Inline Fabrication. awesome kit, and i highly recommend it. i since have acqured the bullet feeder. i was going to get the case feeder first but thanks to 7stubby here in the forum, i now have the bullet feeder. still working on the shell feeder. the AP just recently got some upgrades in design that fixed some glitches. Even at this point dont regret going red instead of blue.
the nicest thing that i like about the dillon was that it swages military brass and has 6 stations. both companies have awesome customer service and stand behind their products. their is a learning curve with the progressives, not too bad but take your time and ask questions. FWIW my buddy went Lee and my friend has the 1050, and my daughters coach uses a 550 in .45. ask yourself how many calibers you want to load and calculate the cost of the gear per caliber to see if it is worth the dough. I the AP is meant to compete with the Dillon 650 not the 1050, and i think they are very close with the nod going to Hornady when it comes to changing calibers. IMHO the 1050 is in a league of its own, but with the Hornady ammo plant can come close with ALL the options added on. and you will still come out of it with some cash. Go to dillons website and answer the questions "which press is right for you?" Redding, Lyman, and especially RCBS deserve and look too. The forum boss wrote about his RCBS (i think) and he loves his. I hope this helps and did not muddy the waters too much..be warned the "blue" guys are extremely loyal and zealous ;D good luck brother.
cheers,
Doc
i just recently got a progressive for christmas thanks to my wife. i did alot of reading...I wanted the Dillon 1050 (of course) but they are too expensive. i load too many different calibers and i could not justify the expense per caliber. Also it takes a little bit of time to change calibers over. i am sure it gets fast as you get better at it. i elected to get the Hornady AP. the Ammo Plant (includes a shell and bullet feeder, plus more accessories) was still too steep right now. The AP went on sale at midsouth for $384.00 with a rebate of 500 projectiles. i boulght an upgrade kit from midway manufactured by Inline Fabrication. awesome kit, and i highly recommend it. i since have acqured the bullet feeder. i was going to get the case feeder first but thanks to 7stubby here in the forum, i now have the bullet feeder. still working on the shell feeder. the AP just recently got some upgrades in design that fixed some glitches. Even at this point dont regret going red instead of blue.
the nicest thing that i like about the dillon was that it swages military brass and has 6 stations. both companies have awesome customer service and stand behind their products. their is a learning curve with the progressives, not too bad but take your time and ask questions. FWIW my buddy went Lee and my friend has the 1050, and my daughters coach uses a 550 in .45. ask yourself how many calibers you want to load and calculate the cost of the gear per caliber to see if it is worth the dough. I the AP is meant to compete with the Dillon 650 not the 1050, and i think they are very close with the nod going to Hornady when it comes to changing calibers. IMHO the 1050 is in a league of its own, but with the Hornady ammo plant can come close with ALL the options added on. and you will still come out of it with some cash. Go to dillons website and answer the questions "which press is right for you?" Redding, Lyman, and especially RCBS deserve and look too. The forum boss wrote about his RCBS (i think) and he loves his. I hope this helps and did not muddy the waters too much..be warned the "blue" guys are extremely loyal and zealous ;D good luck brother.
cheers,
Doc
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
I went with the rcbs pro2000 due to the ease of caliber changes and its more suitable for loading rifle ammo. The only reason I went with it over the hornady was half of the indexing happens on the way up and this causes you to have to hold the bullet in the seater die while the case comes up or the bullet will get knocked of (rifle ammo only). Just seemed like a pain.
Dillon seemed very nice but the caliber conversions aren't cheap and changing them is slower.
For me it came down to,
Loading a lot of one caliber- Dillon
Loading a few hundred of many calibers- RCBS
Loading a few hundred of many pistol calibers- Hornady
Dillon seemed very nice but the caliber conversions aren't cheap and changing them is slower.
For me it came down to,
Loading a lot of one caliber- Dillon
Loading a few hundred of many calibers- RCBS
Loading a few hundred of many pistol calibers- Hornady
Here is some reading material for your enjoyment and enlightenment.
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3787233.msg36072087#msg36072087
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3756449.msg35905094#msg35905094
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3793469.msg36106675#msg36106675
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3787233.msg36072087#msg36072087
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3756449.msg35905094#msg35905094
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3793469.msg36106675#msg36106675
My experience regarding customer service with both Hornady and RCBS has been excellent but the lock and load progressive has been a bit of a disapointment, uneven and unreliable primer feeds and a little hard to fine tune index. Tried 2 different ones then considered Dillion 650 and thought their service was good but, maybe unfairly, didn't like it that aftermarket die holder plates were thought to be necessary. Bought the RCBS pro 2000, about 100 bucks higher than Hornady but I like it better than the lock n load. Primer feel is excellent & it gets more done for me without rejects. I load 223, 38super,45acp,& 9mm. Powder measure drops for all I use it for without changing drums while my lock &loads had to be changed out for 223 but Hornday dropped light pistol loads more accurately than RCBS. Hate to go against Hornady but love the pro 2000 and have no regrets. I use a Lyman single stage for all other rifle cases.
I've used Dillon 550 to load 10's of thousands 9mm and .223 Rem. @ 425-450 rounds an hour yearly since the early 90's and it's never let me down. I have extra shell plates/dies set up for 25 acp, 38 acp, 38/357, 40, 44mag, 45 acp and 45 LC for fairly easy change overs when I need something different.
As I said it may have been an unfair assumption, but I wondered why Sinclair and others would sell Whidden Gunworks replacement toolheads that are stated to be more precise and make more consistant ammo. I know Whidden has a profit motivation but I wondered if there wasn't something to the claims. Also kinda waited for some kind of response from Dillion to the introduction of this new product, see if they came out with an improved version of their own toolhead or rebuted Whitten's claims. I might have made a mistake but pro 2000 sure is a good one for me.NCFrank said:
I have a Dillon 550B that I load everything on, rifle and pistol.
Everything from 9mm to 45 ACP in pistol and 22 Hornet to 6mm BR in rifle. Most of my powders are IMR 8208 XBR, A2230, A1680, TAC, Lil' Gun, and Benchmark for rifle. The powders for the pistols are W231, Power Pistol, and Unique.
Everything goes through the Dillon 550B. I do start with brass that has been prepped before hand. I shoot 4,000 to 7,000 prairie dogs a year and probably a total of 10,000 rounds in a years time. At any one time I have around 15,000 rounds loaded and ready to go.
Most of my varmint guns will shoot 1/2 " or better groups at 100 yards. Some even better, and some worse. I've had a number of people say "You can't get good enough accuracy with a progress press". No, it's not bench shooters accuracy, but it's MOPD (Minute of Prairie Dog).
I sure would like to get into shooting some of those ground squirrels that the guys on out West shoot. There are times I shoot 300 to 400 rounds a day at prairie dogs, but 500 to 1,000 WOW!!!! I might have to go to a 1050 for that, maybe someday.
Will
Everything from 9mm to 45 ACP in pistol and 22 Hornet to 6mm BR in rifle. Most of my powders are IMR 8208 XBR, A2230, A1680, TAC, Lil' Gun, and Benchmark for rifle. The powders for the pistols are W231, Power Pistol, and Unique.
Everything goes through the Dillon 550B. I do start with brass that has been prepped before hand. I shoot 4,000 to 7,000 prairie dogs a year and probably a total of 10,000 rounds in a years time. At any one time I have around 15,000 rounds loaded and ready to go.
Most of my varmint guns will shoot 1/2 " or better groups at 100 yards. Some even better, and some worse. I've had a number of people say "You can't get good enough accuracy with a progress press". No, it's not bench shooters accuracy, but it's MOPD (Minute of Prairie Dog).
I sure would like to get into shooting some of those ground squirrels that the guys on out West shoot. There are times I shoot 300 to 400 rounds a day at prairie dogs, but 500 to 1,000 WOW!!!! I might have to go to a 1050 for that, maybe someday.
Will
my first volume loader was a Star, then a second, wow there are/were great, hi quality but expensive dies, etc.
The next were two RCBS ammo masters, good fast but not as precise as the Star,
now i have the Hornady LNL, not elec or auto brass/bullet feed, but well worth the money. accurate, fast and repeatable results. dies normal cost, shell plates reasonable, and never had a need to go to for help.
Bob
The next were two RCBS ammo masters, good fast but not as precise as the Star,
now i have the Hornady LNL, not elec or auto brass/bullet feed, but well worth the money. accurate, fast and repeatable results. dies normal cost, shell plates reasonable, and never had a need to go to for help.
Bob
I load my prairie dog ammo on a Dillon 550.If its any less accurate than my carefully crafted ammo from my single stage press,my very accurate factory rifle can't tell it.The trick is to find a powder that shoots well and runs smoothly thru the measure. I can't quite reach the published volume of the 550, or at least I can't maintain it, but I can come close. Hope this helps, Lightman
Most reloaders who use progressive presses load pistol calibers, but some progressive presses work well for rifle calibers as well.
My Hornady LNL AP with the auto case feeder works very well for high-volume loading of rifle cartridges. For caliber changes just change re-adjusted dies using the Hornady bushing system, then change the shellholder plate, and last, adjust the case-activated powder measure using a micrometer-type adjuster. Very quick and easy. Hornady's customer service is excellent, and there is a lifetime warranty.
I have loaded very accurate .223 and 6HAGAR rounds on the Hornady LNL AP, good enough for a 200/16X score on the MR31 slow fire prone target at 100 yards and for high scores at 200 and 300 yards as well.
Links to a couple of videos that show the operation of the Hornady LNL AP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qMg5ysaPz8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AfKR5cyqi4
I have no experience with Dillon presses, but many guys swear by the Dillon presses. To compare these to the Hornady LNL AP, make sure that you compare to an auto-indexing press. I think (check this yourself!) that the Dillon 550B is manually indexed, and the 650 is auto-indexing (like the Hornady LNL AP). To compare apples to apples, also check which models include the automatic primer system and a case-activated powder measure.
Link to Dillon video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0__OViMcaA&feature=youtu.be
My advice is to do your homework - do a lot of research. Compared to a single-stage press, there is more of a learning curve with the progressive presses, and you don't want to spend many hours and realize that you may have made the wrong choice.
Here is a link to an EXCELLENT comparative review of the Hornady, Dillon and Lee progressive presses:
http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf
Pay particular attention to users' experiences with the powder measures of the Hornady vs. Dillon systems.
I'm very happy with the Hornady LNL AP with the automatic case feeder and case-activated powder measure, and can recommend it highly.
Randy
My Hornady LNL AP with the auto case feeder works very well for high-volume loading of rifle cartridges. For caliber changes just change re-adjusted dies using the Hornady bushing system, then change the shellholder plate, and last, adjust the case-activated powder measure using a micrometer-type adjuster. Very quick and easy. Hornady's customer service is excellent, and there is a lifetime warranty.
I have loaded very accurate .223 and 6HAGAR rounds on the Hornady LNL AP, good enough for a 200/16X score on the MR31 slow fire prone target at 100 yards and for high scores at 200 and 300 yards as well.
Links to a couple of videos that show the operation of the Hornady LNL AP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qMg5ysaPz8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AfKR5cyqi4
I have no experience with Dillon presses, but many guys swear by the Dillon presses. To compare these to the Hornady LNL AP, make sure that you compare to an auto-indexing press. I think (check this yourself!) that the Dillon 550B is manually indexed, and the 650 is auto-indexing (like the Hornady LNL AP). To compare apples to apples, also check which models include the automatic primer system and a case-activated powder measure.
Link to Dillon video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0__OViMcaA&feature=youtu.be
My advice is to do your homework - do a lot of research. Compared to a single-stage press, there is more of a learning curve with the progressive presses, and you don't want to spend many hours and realize that you may have made the wrong choice.
Here is a link to an EXCELLENT comparative review of the Hornady, Dillon and Lee progressive presses:
http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf
Pay particular attention to users' experiences with the powder measures of the Hornady vs. Dillon systems.
I'm very happy with the Hornady LNL AP with the automatic case feeder and case-activated powder measure, and can recommend it highly.
Randy
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