Best Progressive Reloader

[JeffVN]

I have a Dillion 550 as does my brother. Were I doing it over again, I'd consider the 650 to get the auto indexing, but feel no need to step up in price to anything above that. I load between 200-300 rounds of .45acp an hour with what I have and don't shoot much more then that in a month. My brother also uses his for reloading his F-Class .284 ammo, so I konw its capable of mking accurate ammo.

JeffVN

 

[mo]

I've been loading with a Dillon 550 for about 15 years. Works great, and fast on changing calibers.

 

[CentreHit]

Hi Mortgage man,

I've just updated to the Hornady Lock-N-Load Automatic Press and I LOVE it!

My previous one was the Hornady Progressive (I used it for some 16 years) - had some issues with the primer feed on it at times so that was annoying. Upgraded the powder throw system to a 'case activated' version and that saved a lot of spilt powder. The only thing to break on it was a small roll pin that holds the rotating rod on the shell holder, pretty minor for all of those years I think.

So, the new version L-N-L A.P. is great - Hornady have addressed all the so called 'issues' I used to experience on the older version and changed/updated the design somewhat - so that is good. I load 357SIG, .308Win and 44Mag on it - just great. I have found I can actually load quite a bit faster with the new press than the old version and the process is very smooth.

Cannot comment on the Dillan though.

Cheers.

I have been doing alot of research on the different progressive reloaders out there and I was wondering what you guys thought was your favorite? I did a search on here but didn't turn up much in results on this particular subject. I am leaning towards a Dillon because I have read alot of good things about them. I have also heard good things about the Hornady too though. What have you guys found to be the pros and cons of each? Thanks in advance for your help. I am going to do a poll for those that may want to vote and because they are fun sometimes.

 

[mo]

I've done a few test on the range with my Dillon 550. I really didn't think that using the auto powder dispenser could produce as accurate round as hand weighing each powder charge. Conclusion out of the 3 rifles I tested group sizes stayed the same. Best powders to use are ball powders or short cut powders. The long grained powders do not work well in the auto powder measures so I didn't test any of them .

 

[Viggen]

I have been using Dillon 550's for the past nine years for various pistol calibers and 223. Great for pistol, OK for rifle.
With the standard setup you are not going to get a real consistent powder charge. Can't say why but after years of using them that's just the way things are. The rifle ammo can be accurate enough for things like High Power or or 3-Gun - staying under 500 or 600 yards with big targets but it's not near the qulity of ammo made on a single stage. As for Tubbs and the 550 - he is a great shooter and can maybe run looser on certain things than most folks because of his great ability.
And with the 550 I still do resize and deprime on a single-stage, then case prep.
For bigger medium calibers I would stay with the single stage instead of a Dillon. A friend loading 7-08 on the 550 ran into problems with the shellplate bending or tearing out.

 

[bwaites]

Having read a lot of Tubbs articles over the years, I find it hard to believe that he uses a porgressive for his competition loads. Maybe he does, but his attention to detail doesn't seem to jive with using a progressive for competitive shooting.

I, too, am looking at progressives and this thread has been very helpful!

Bill

 

[B23]

I have a 550B my dad has a new Hornady LNL AP. Bang for the buck, in my opinion, easily goes to the Hornady LNL. The powder measurer is better on the LNL and it auto indexes where as the 550 does not.

I don't think you can even compare the 550 to the LNL AP cause the LNL is more like the Dillion 650 but for less money and you get 1000 free bullets with the Hornady LNL AP.

You can't go wrong with either press but for the money, I think, the Hornady is the better choice.

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Another Dillon fan here. Superb products and the best customer service in the industry, a hard combination to beat. As far as David Tubb using progressives to load his match ammo, I assure you, he does. Not exactly an out-of-the-box set up, though. David's an inveterate tinkerer, and tends to modify everything to suit his needs. His progressive presses are no exception. He was (and probably still is) using a Prometheus system on his RL550, meaning that all the charges were weighed on a lab-grade scale and trickled to the tenth, precisely. Not too bad for a progressive press!

Even using a "stock" press, they're capable of turning out some veery good quality ammo. Dillon also makes an adapter that allows the use of other powder measures, since theirs admittedly has some issues with some extruded tubular powders. I don't want to have my powder selection dictated to me by what a measure will or will not function with, thank you very much. I use an old RL 450 for virtually all my short range ammo, but that's with Redding seating dies (on brass that has been sized and inspected in a separate operation) and fitted with a Redding BR-30 measure using one of Dillons adapters. Not exactly what most would think of as a true "progressive" but I still get a bit anal about some operations. Hey, we all modify our procedures and our equipment to suit our particular needs, don't we?

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

 

[AJ Peacock]

I've loaded somewhere around 200,000 rounds on my Dillon 650 and it is an amazing machine. I wouldn't however EVER use it for large cartridges, I don't think the shell plate is sufficient for resizing/pushing shoulder's back.

My long range rifles (7mmRM, 300WSM, 338 Edge and 338 Allen Magnum) are not the type of rifles that will stand for extended range sessions (I'm not enamored with barrel changes).

For 'Long Range Rifles', I don't see the necessity of a progressive press. I could load enough ammo in a few hours using a single stage press to severely erode the throat/barrel on any of my 'big boomers'; why would I spend the effort of setting up a progressive for a run of less than 1000 rounds?

For rifle rounds out to 500yds or so (308, 223 etc), I am sure my Dillon 650 would be fine (I typically use it for 40SW, 38spcl, 357mag, 9mm etc etc).

AJ

 

[bwaites]

Another Dillon fan here. Superb products and the best customer service in the industry, a hard combination to beat. As far as David Tubb using progressives to load his match ammo, I assure you, he does. Not exactly an out-of-the-box set up, though. David's an inveterate tinkerer, and tends to modify everything to suit his needs. His progressive presses are no exception. He was (and probably still is) using a Prometheus system on his RL550, meaning that all the charges were weighed on a lab-grade scale and trickled to the tenth, precisely. Not too bad for a progressive press!

Even using a "stock" press, they're capable of turning out some veery good quality ammo. Dillon also makes an adapter that allows the use of other powder measures, since theirs admittedly has some issues with some extruded tubular powders. I don't want to have my powder selection dictated to me by what a measure will or will not function with, thank you very much. I use an old RL 450 for virtually all my short range ammo, but that's with Redding seating dies (on brass that has been sized and inspected in a separate operation) and fitted with a Redding BR-30 measure using one of Dillons adapters. Not exactly what most would think of as a true "progressive" but I still get a bit anal about some operations. Hey, we all modify our procedures and our equipment to suit our particular needs, don't we?

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

Kevin,

Thanks for that clarification! I can see David using a progressive especially arranged for his needs, and I should have been more specific about what I meant.

Bill

 

[Kevin Thomas]

AJ,

Have to agree with you there. I use mine for HP Service Rifle ammo, which means many, many thousands of rounds per year. For hunting ammo (other than varmint stuff, of course), I wouldn't bother with a progressive. As I'd described, even when I use the Dillon for Match ammo, it's not being used as a truly progressive press. I've never sized my rifle cases on the Dillon, and modify my methods to achieve what I want.

There's a time and place for everything!

Kevin

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Bill,

Glad that helps. Hey, as I'd just explained to AJ, I have a single stage press on my bench too, and wouldn't trade it for anything. I use the hell out of it, even in conjunction with the progressives. The progressives are nice, really great for some applications, but they're not the answer to every situation. They can be a pain to set up, they require an extra large dose of attention in operation, and you can turn out huge amounts of bad ammo in a hurry. I got a call from a guy one time who'd loaded something like a thousand rounds before finding that they wouldn't chamber in his rifle. Like I said, large doses of attention to detail!

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets

 

[BountyHunter]

Kevin

Last I knew, which was a time ago, David Tubb was using the Promethius Powder measure system ($1200) for his LR loads. I am sure you are familiar with that system.

Like you I have a 450 that Dillon converted to a 550 and it makes decent loads but the powder measure is the big hinderance and I have not found any measure to include my $280 Harrels that will throw consistent LR loads.

I measure each LR load on a Denver instruments digital to .01 grain.

BH

 

[rfc2307]

I've owned them all (progressives), and the only one I have left is a Dillon XL650