I plan on about 1k rounds a month but it could be less or more. Mixed rifle and 9mm.Originally Posted by GNiner
Lee Classic turret, take your time and learn
Hornady AP, you can do it!
Lee Loadmaster, speed on a budget
Dillon 550, the safe choice, just save up for it
Mods here are shit
I plan on about 1k rounds a month but it could be less or more. Mixed rifle and 9mm.
#RESIST
Which ones specifically?
#RESIST
Dillon is really the way to go if you can afford it. I can't.
I run a Redding T7 turret press and I like it a lot. The turret is nice and smooth. Mine is currently set up for 9mm and I can crank out a lot of ammo in a short amount of time.
Jesus paid a debt he did not owe,
Because I owed a debt I could not pay.
I make under 40K a year and most of that goes to bills and I could afford it
Once you factor in the money saved from loading in-house ammo it becomes easier to digest.
Semper Gumby, Always Flexible
Oh, PM inbound soon
#RESIST
To reload enough to make it worth it financially, you have to spend enough on components that the cost of the press is long forgotten by then. Says the guy who wants a 1050 but can't quite make the leap.I make under 40K a year and most of that goes to bills and I could afford it
Once you factor in the money saved from loading in-house ammo it becomes easier to digest.
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LL, I understand your budget concerns. However, your indicated calibers are three rifle cartridges and a tapered pistol cartridge. Unless you're shooting them in a bolt gun, you will have to full-length resize those rifle rounds... and that can be problematical on a progressive machine.
I have friends who load bottle neck rifle rounds on their Dillons, but they all have, after lots of trial and error, settled on prepping the brass prior to actually assembling loaded cartridges. To wit, they full-length resize/deprime on a single stage press. Let's break that down:
1. You really need to use case lube for this, even if you have a carbide sizing die. So if you do it on the first station of your progressive, the case will have residual case lube on it as it moves through the process. Aside from being messy, this can induce an issue or two via picking up crud/etc. on the case as it moves through the stations. This WILL be transferred to the inside of the other dies, and it doesn't take much imagination to see where this could cause some problems; especially in the neck expansion/powder drop die. By "prepping" the brass on a single stage press, which entails resizing/depriming (and reaming the primer pocket to remove the crimp if necessary, along with trimming the case mouth if necessary), then cleaning the brass- via tumblimg/washing/whatever- you now have clean, ready-to-load cases that will move smoothly and effortlessly through your machine. IOW, you seat the primer at station one. With no die there, the case is free to move smoothly on the upstroke, is primed on the downstroke, and then advanced to the next station...
2. ...which expands the case mouth to receive the bullet and drops the powder. You then advance the shell plate, place a bullet in the now-charged case...
3. ...seat the bullet, advance the shell plate...
4. ...crimp the bullet. Of course, you're also repeating the other processes on each stroke of the handle as you go. And the result is cartridges that are ready to shoot, as opposed to cartridges that need to be cleaned of case lube.
These guys all tell me that the 550 is tailor-made for this procedure, and is actually less hassle than a 650. Dunno, I have no experience on a 650, but mucho experience on the 550. If I was inclined to load rifle cartridges, this is the way I would do it.
And if 9mm was the only pistol caliber I intended to load for, I'd get a Dillon Square Deal for that. This is a great little tool that has one caveat; you set it for one load/powder charge/bullet type, and LEAVE IT ALONE, because it is somewhat of a PITA to adjust. But to sit down and crank out practice ammo in quantity, there is nothing better IMO.
By trying to load one pistol and three different rifle cartridges on one press, you are going through a complex dance of changing things every time you switch calibers. Not that it cannot be done; it certainly can. But it will get old. You will perform that dance, to a lesser degree, when changing from, say, 5.56mm to .308.
I realize that I'm talking about two separate machines here, with the attendant extra cost, but I'm also talking about saving yourself a LOT of time and aggravation. I'll add that IMO, the weak point on the Dillon 550 is the priming system. Every time to change from small to large or vice versa, you will have to carefully re-time the mechanism.
Regarding brands of machine... Lee stuff is cheap, is made cheaply, and while okay to get your feet wet on... well, opinions differ. The Hornady progressive didn't impress me at all; the one I looked at (not sure which one it was) used a coil spring to retain the cases, and its owner told me he was constantly having to fiddle with case positioning during the process.
You simply cannot beat Dillon for value received. They are well-engineered, and if something breaks they will replace it; no questions asked... ever.
I hope this somewhat muddy post didn't confuse you. Keep in mind that there are lots of ways to skin this cat. I long ago determined that the extra effort required to produce good bottle neck cartridges was more effort than I wanted to expend. After many years, reloading has lost its thrill, and now is just another chore to be accomplished to facilitate my shooting habit. So I'm big into eliminating any unneeded effort on my part. I just grit my teeth and cough up the bucks for factory 5.56/.223. I do not own nor shoot any other centerfire rifle cartridges.
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I've tried a number of progressive presses over the years, but I've settled on the Dillon 550b for my high volume loading(I use a single stage for precision rifle). Think of a Dillon 650 or Hornady Progressive as a Remington 11-87 semiauto shotgun, and a Dillon 550b as a Remington 870. The 11-87 will operate faster if everything goes well, but it is more complicated, and can be harder to deal with malfunctions due to the complexity. The 870 is pretty fast, but not as fast as the 11-87. However, the 870 has a much more simple manual of arms, and it is much more versatile in that it can quickly adapt to changes.
With the Dillon 550b, I usually churn out about 100rds of 9mm every 15-20min and that includes recharging components and pulling the occasional casing to swage out a tight primer pocket. It is very easy to stop the assembly line, and even back track if need be on the 550b.......not so easy on a full progressive. Caliber changes are also cheaper, and easier on the 550b than on a full progressive.
The dillon 550b was the sweet spot for me on the price, quality, simplicity, efficiency spectrum.
I do 9mm and 223. I still do 223 brass prep (size, decap, swage) on an old single stage and only do the priming, powder, seating, crimping load steps on the dillon.
For pistol loading everything is done on the dillon.
Must have accessories:
Extra primer pickup tubes
Extra toolhead (with powder funnel die) and toolhead stand for each additional caliber you plan to load.
I built my own custom bench out of spare materials from finishing a basement for optimal standing height.
Last edited by EMC; 02-10-2016 at 01:06 PM.
Caliber changes are actually VERY cheap and easy on the Hornady. That, the smooth indexing (1/2 advance on the way up, 1/2 on the way down), and its feature parity with a Dillon 650/price parity with a Dillon 550b, are, in my mind, its major selling points. The LnL quick change bushings are ~ $20 per caliber IIRC, and shell plates are inexpensive as well. Swapping calibers is 1 minute or less if you have separate powder measures pre-set per caliber, 1 minute + adjusting the powder measure otherwise.
LL, the Hornady is about $25-35 cheaper bought from Midsouth than at your Amazon link, if that makes a difference in your purchasing decision.
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