Opinions wanted: Progressive reloaders!

[Tcox]

Im looking into a progressive reloader to load mainly 9mm, 45acp, 5.56, and 7.62 nato. My main concern is load consistency and how user friendly the press itself is.

I want your opinion. Both from experience and what you know by you own homework. Please don't recommend a press simply because you have it. Im here to learn!

Lets hear what you have to say!

 

[Rod Snell]

I've had half a dozen presses, and if I had known then what I know now, the only choice would be between a Dillon 550 and 650. The SDB is for pistol ammo only, and would not do your 5.56 and 7.62.

To address the question of ammunition quality and consistency, the Dillon presses produce ammo as good as any for most purposes from a quality single stage; they just do it faster.

I've heard good things about the new Hornady press, but never used one.
Although the simpler Lee presses are OK, the Lee progressives are far more touchy and demanding of the user than a Dillon.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/customize-reloader.html

 

[NikatKimber]

If you want cheap entry level press with decent speed, the Lee Turret is great. If you want a progressive... my Dillon 550 has been awesome. I don't have experience with other progressives, other than playing with them at stores.

 

[natgas]

I spent the past 3 weeks reading and learning everything I could about presses and reloading before I jumped in and purchased a 550; I did this after consulting with a lot of long-time loaders as well as Brian Enos about what would be best for me.

In the end, the 550 made the most sense as well as being recommended the most for it's simplicity and efficiency.

I'm waiting on it now and it should be here within the next few days. I have already purchased everything needed to begin reloading 9 and 45; my plans also include 38 at some point but no rifle.

Also, I visited Heartland on Friday and one of the guys took me into the back and demonstrated the 550 (as well as the 1050). It made a lot of things much clearer to me to actually see it in action.

 

[Old Fart]

Have you reloaded before?

 

[alank2]

Hi,

Do yourself a favor and go with the 550. It is as simple as a progressive comes. To save some money you could consider the Lee Classic Turret, but the 550 really is the way to go.

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#which

Good luck,

Alan

 

[Tcox]

never reloaded before but im fairly knowledgeable about the process

 

[Buzzdraw]

never reloaded before but im fairly knowledgeable about the process

To keep things simple and safe in the beginning, I'd suggest you treat your soon-to-arrive Dillon 550 as a single stage for a while. By that I mean run with only one piece of brass on the 4-position shell plate. That will limit what you have to pay attention to in your initial learning process.

When you've done that a while, go to 4 pieces, but with a SLOW cycle rate.

Once you've learned all the "happy press" sights and sounds, you'll be ready to up the rate to 400-500 rounds an hour. If you try to go too fast too quick, you'll make a bunch of junk ammo you'll get to pull apart.

 

[338Shooter]

I like my Hornady Lock N Load a lot. Buying a case feeder for it soon so I can really speed things up.

 

[chuter]

I started reloading 45ACP about a year ago and started out with a Hornady Lock N Load autoprogressive and still use it.

I don't like the primer feed/install function so I manually install my primers.

I also have powder check die for peace of mind.

Other than the primer issue I'm pretty satisfied with it, though I haven't used any other brands to compare with.

There a a lot of videos on youtube showing its operation; just search for Hornandy Lock N Load.