Which Progressive Press

[SD44]

I have been reloading on a RCBS Rock Chucker for about 15 years now. I reload for for 9mm, .223, and .308 mostly and would like to spend more time shooting than reloading. I don't know anything about a progressive and I'm looking for suggestions on which progressive press I should get started with. Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks

SD

 

[snert]

Dillon 550

 

[bheadboy]

I have no problems with the RCBS ammo master ii

Bob

 

[Berger.Fan222]

This is accurateshooter.com.

It is hard to beat the Rockchucker, because loading one round at a time allows inspection for all those quality issues. Is the primer seated right? Is the force to seat the bullet the same every time? How's the powder charge? Did that step feel right?

Progressive presses can crank out the ammo, but I doubt they can really match the accuracy and quality of a Rockchucker. Ammo is like fine wine: the best takes time.

I'm sure the folks at AR-15.com can advise you on your question.

 

[Scott Harris]

Dillon. 550 or 650, nothing wrong with other progressives, but the Dillons have some nice aftermarket upgrades. I prefer the manually indexed 550, but plenty use the 650 because it offers automated case feeding

Berger fan....your comments are not accurate. Some of the best target shooters in the world use progressives

 

[IPSCNUT]

When it comes to progressives, Dillon blue prevails. Start with a 550!!!!!!!!

 

[LitLBoy]

Dillon 550

 

[Jdne5b]

How many rounds do you load a month or year?

If you load a bunch of brass with crimped primer pockets, get the 1050. I can't imagine loading progressively with anything else now.

 

[snowpro440]

Dillon 550 or 650 .. you choose . Doesn't matter what you load your ammo on , it only matters if you take the time to inspect/measure each loaded round when your done.

 

[SD44]

I do reload quite a bit and spend hours with case prep which is why I'm still using a single stage press. I appreciate everyones suggestions and will take a hard look at the Dillion progressive presses.

Thanks Again.

 

[asauer]

Like you, I have grown tired of doing all my loading on single stage. I recently bought a Lee classic cast turret. I'm very happy with it. I don't shoot enough to sit and load tons of ammo of one caliber, so I do small batches. To me the Lee was the best option for the money, increased speed over single stage, yet wasn't going to spend half my time in setup. I can do about 225 or so an hour with pistol. Good enough for me, and the system is dead simple. No tinkering required.

 

[OIF/OEF]

Dillon 550 here the 650 was too busy for me and the primer issues I had with the 650 well I just traded straight over for the 550 and love it. Be kinda cool to do a test to see how accurate of ammo it could load

 

[Rpbump]

Dillon 550/// That said I also use and old Lyman Spartan T, a Lee Classic cast iron press, and a Lee hand press.

Rpbump

 

[alintx]

Tried the lee route. It's out behind my shop with a few 44 mag wounds in it. Your welcome to it. (lol) Even the Dillon square deal (cheapest) is so far superior it shouldn't even be in the same building ! Buy a Dillon and never look back. Unless you have to much hair and need to lose some ! (might save $ on those haircuts)

 

[missed]

Another vote for the 550. I got the Whidden floating tool heads to be able to handle the match ammo. There are quite a few that load there match ammo on the 550.

 

[rtpnc]

I have been reloading on a RCBS Rock Chucker for about 15 years now. I reload for for 9mm, .223, and .308 mostly and would like to spend more time shooting than reloading. I don't know anything about a progressive and I'm looking for suggestions on which progressive press I should get started with. Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks

SD

Nothing wrong w/Dillon presses, but I'd also look at the LnL AP, and possibly the new RCBS presses.
If you're going progressive, why would you want a manually indexed 4 station 550?
If you don't plan to get a case feeder, I'd definitely give the nod to the Hornady.
With case feeder - the Dillon and Hornady case feeder plates interchange (buy whichever you can find cheaper), but the Dillon's is easier to get to ~99% across calibers, as it uses more case-size specific parts. I made a few inserts for the case funnel for my LnL feeder, and a few minor mods and it's close...but out of the box, Dillon's is better.

The new RCBS 5 or 7 station presses look promising, although as of yet, no case feeder, yet and the primer slide seems to be a bit 'overly' sacrificial (does this mean it's suicidal? ) from the long review on arfcom...and not sure where their price will settle out to.

Personally, I prefer the LnL bushings to Dillon (or others with similar setups) toolheads, prefer the LNL priming system > 650, and the Hornady PM > Dillons. I'd rather have the Dillon case feeder, and fit and finish is slightly better on the Dillon. YMMV as always.

 

[asauer]

Tried the lee route. It's out behind my shop with a few 44 mag wounds in it. Your welcome to it. (lol) Even the Dillon square deal (cheapest) is so far superior it shouldn't even be in the same building ! Buy a Dillon and never look back. Unless you have to much hair and need to lose some ! (might save $ on those haircuts)

I agree, I've heard the Lee progressives were finicky. The turret press has really nothing that can absolutely stop it from being usable. You can booger up the square indexing piece, which is less than $1. You can screw up your priming devices, but both things will still allow the press to be used and not lose a ton of speed. You'll just have to manually place a primer (uses the common tilt-out system on the ram) and manually index the turret.
Just saying it's a cheaper alternative to the big boy systems. I don't need a million rounds an hour, and the ease of caliber change was more important to me. I can change calibers in about a minute, including dumping powders and refilling. Can you do that with your Dillon or Hornady?

 

[waltk]

I recently purchased a Hornady LNL progressive press. I use it to load .223 for service rifle only so far. I'm glad I got a auto indexing press. If you get a progressive press you do not want to be indexing the shell holder by hand. At least I don't so I would rule out a Dillon 550. This is my first progressive press so I can only comment on the LNL. Check out the many videos on You Tube concerning your selections. Very helpful. There is a learning curve so be prepared to do a bit of adjusting and head scratching. There are pros and cons concerning both presses. I think you get a bit more bang for your buck with the LNL. I finally purchased the case feeder and bullet feeder and I'm glad I did. So you may want to shop around for the complete package and save money right from the beginning. Once you go progressive you'll really appreciated it. At least I do.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

This is accurateshooter.com.

It is hard to beat the Rockchucker, because loading one round at a time allows inspection for all those quality issues. Is the primer seated right? Is the force to seat the bullet the same every time? How's the powder charge? Did that step feel right?

Progressive presses can crank out the ammo, but I doubt they can really match the accuracy and quality of a Rockchucker. Ammo is like fine wine: the best takes time.

I'm sure the folks at AR-15.com can advise you on your question.

Wow. Relax buddy. He's just asking a question. Plus, as Scott stated, you're wrong.

EDIT: I will say though, that in my opinion, it takes more initial work to setup a Dillon 550 to produce match quality ammo, over just going with a single stage process.

 

[Erud]

This is accurateshooter.com.

It is hard to beat the Rockchucker, because loading one round at a time allows inspection for all those quality issues. Is the primer seated right? Is the force to seat the bullet the same every time? How's the powder charge? Did that step feel right?

Progressive presses can crank out the ammo, but I doubt they can really match the accuracy and quality of a Rockchucker. Ammo is like fine wine: the best takes time.

I'm sure the folks at AR-15.com can advise you on your question.

Another vote for you being wrong. A 550 can produce better ammo than people can shoot. And I don't just mean you, either.