Don't listen to a word I say, cause it will cost you..... $$$
Only because I already have all the Dillon stuff laying around to own an extra case feeder here and there.... but I spliced one onto a Lee APP press once because I just wanted to play around with one and decap several thousand pieces of accumulated brass from 30-06 down to 9mm. Just to see what the Lee APP could do.
I ran something on the order of 5k pieces of 223, 2k pieces of 30-06, 2k pieces of 45 ACP, and around 4k pieces of 9mm on the first session with the machine on a rainy winter day.
I learned the strengths and weaknesses of their little piece of automation, but in general they do work. A few friends had them right when they came out but I held off till I saw one of theirs in person. The combination of a case feeder and the APP is about as fast and slick as it gets for a single tool pass.
Most Lee products that are complicated are also a little fiddly so I am not going to say it doesn't require some capability on the part of the operator to iron out the little bugs, but then again, all progressive machines have little quirks if folks are being honest.
Primer dust and dirt pollute the moving parts, some of which require cleaning, some of which are plastic, most of which will require a nudge to keep them adjusted for smooth operation, but that is true of all automation that ingests cycled brass. (If you are not good at maintaining moving parts, or you get frustrated with jams and bugs, automation and progressive machines are not for you.)
The irony is that the Dillon case feeders cost factors more than the little APP machine.
For snickers and giggles I went on the Dillon web site and clicked all the option boxes for the case feeder plus 6 different size bullet trays including the magnum kit and it rolls up to $740! The little spring feed chute, adapters, and stand parts to connect the Dillon to the APP run about $45 off of EBay. That would be near $800 for the case feeder with all the bells and whistles, which can also drop to just $355 for one size plate and the $45 for the adapters, so call it $400 for the Dillon Case Feeder option, where the little Lee APP machine runs just $140.
I'm not saying it is The Way, but the little Lee APP did surprise me in a good way.
It can do several different types of work, including things like cast bullet sizing and bulge busting, as well as de-priming and light duty sizing. A Lee APP normally has what I call a tubular magazine case/bullet feeder option and I don't want to feed each piece by hand cause life is too short for that at my point in the timeline.
Even the little Lee Classic Cast turret press impressed me enough to where I have set up some beginners with them recently. I got one for myself just to play with the things and they work very well for beginners on a budget. (Would you believe me if I told you Austin Buschman loads all his PRS ammo on one?)
Because I already have Dillon stuff laying around, I usually just bulk dump brass into the case feeder and pull the lever as fast as the machine and tooling allows. I don't want to tell you what my poor wife or kids will be stuck with when I'm gone, so don't listen to me unless the kids have their trust funds all topped off in advance.
Dillon stuff isn't about cheap or economy, it is about automation and historically tends to be more reliable than the other options. There are now some new offerings that are trying to compete with Dillon but are too new and I have no opinion on them yet. I can say this much, those are not about cheap either.
Another less mentioned method is to use a single stage press like a Rockchucker (or others) and add what was called a case kicker. These aftermarket devices kick the case off the press on the down stroke.
You orient the shell holder in a favorable direction to work with the kicker and organize a bin to catch the brass as it is kicked out. It adds lots of speed to the use of a single stage press when you just feed brass into the shell holder instead of feed and remove.
So, there are some good options out there that can take a little of the drudgery out of batch processing by adding automation. Some of these options are not cheap, and others are very simple. If your budget allows it, look at the Dillon 750 with a case feeder and several tool heads. If that makes you blink, there are other ways with less cost. YMMV.
