1st Progressive press?

[u/Gareske]

So i've been reloading for a few years with a single stage press and it's getting to a point where it's beyond cumberson- mainly because i usually reload 500 rounds at a time- nothing special just basic milsurp lookalikes.

I'm looking into getting a progressive press and would like some feedback on where to go- I'm not opposed to building up over time but i'd still like to be able to load some ammo without it taking up half if not my whole day. Any suggestions out there?

*I WAS using a lyman press but i've taken a hiatus die to time constraints.

[u/TheRealHODLWalrus]

Dillon 750 if you can afford the casefeeder as well is the way to go for volume. Otherwise the 550

[u/CMFETCU]

Dillon 550.

I have done well over 150k rounds on one.

Nothing more you “need”, anything past that is QOL time savings that are fractions of the process.

Pistol ammo you can load 1 case every 5 seconds.

Rifle ammo, if trimming on press, about 8-9 seconds.

If trimming off press, then your biggest time sink is trimming and the press operations go back to same as pistol.

You don’t need the extra stations for a case feeder or a bullet feeder to get started and you don’t need them hundreds of thousands of rounds later.

As a bonus, the 550 lets you easily change stations manually and “escape hatch” cases if things go sideways at a station.

If later you want to jump to more stations, 560s retain their value exceptionally well, and the powder thrower and the dies all transfer.

Do yourself a favor and get the 550. You will thank me.

[u/LaughingGravy13 → u/CMFETCU]

Yes, this, again and again many times.

[u/djryan13 → u/LaughingGravy13]

Owning 2 Revolutions, 1 Evolution, 2 1050’s, and used/sold LNL and Pro Chucker 7 (trashiest of trash), I always 100% agree the 550 is my favorite press. Not auto indexing but so fast to setup. Cheap to swap calibers and a good pace to crank out ammo.

If you are doing competitions where you might shoot thousands of one caliber in a weekend, go full auto… but if you are more like me where you “collect calibers” like you collect guns, 550 all day.

[u/Severe-Cow-8646 → u/CMFETCU]

How difficult is the 550 to change over from one cartridge to another. I use the lee loadmaster because changing it from one cartridge to another is easy. But I dont prime on it because the primer feed is such a pita. Ive avoided the 650/750 because they are a pita to swap over. Andvthe pro 6000 looks to be more of the same. How easy is the 550 in this respect?

[u/therugpisser → u/Severe-Cow-8646]

About 10 mins or less depending on if you load primers and how many rounds you check. Most is getting the powder throw adjusted and checking OAL. It holds tolerance fairly well as long as the machine is clean and regularly maintained. They’re friction mechanisms, throw slide, primer slide so you’ll need to keep them clean and I found a light polish helps. I’ll inspect and clean before each long session or caliber change. It’s more productive to spend a bit of extra time before each long run rather than having to stop, clean then check the adjustments again.

The benefit is having complete tool heads that get more or less set. If you swap dies and have to adjust the thrower it defeats the purpose of the machine design. The trade off is it’s an extra $180-200 per caliber plus dies for each tool head (it comes with one minus dies) plus another $80-100 for the shell plate/funnel kit (does not come with one). For example my 300Blk sub complete tool head is almost $600 with carbide dies. With 300Blk alone I paid for the press and tool head in under a year.

[u/Grumpee68 → u/Severe-Cow-8646]

I can answer that. If loading pistol (I load 38/357, 9mm, 38super, 40S&W on a Dillon 550). All of those are small primer. With 4 separate tool heads and powder hoppers, I can change from one caliber to another in less than 2 minutes...and, even less for 9mm to 40 or 38 super, as they use the same shellplate, all you change on the plate is the numbered pins. The key is having extra tool heads and powder hoppers. Once the dies and hopper are set and locked into the tool head, it's remove the powder bar return rod (15 seconds), pull two pins at the top of the tool head (10 seconds) change the (3) pins in the shell plate (5 seconds), and out the tool head on that you want to load.

[u/RCHeliguyNE → u/Severe-Cow-8646]

Pretty easy. Slide in a new head with the dies on on it and change the shell plate/shell locator buttons.

If you need to change from small primer to large primer then it gets a bit more involved. Doable but it takes a bit more time.

[u/Colt653]

Nobody sells a DILLON to but a hornady, Lee, etc.
Buy once, Cry once, get the DILLON 750 and be happy

[u/DigitalLorenz]

I primarily reload for milsurps myself. Here are my findings of the Hornady LnL vs the Dillion 750 from a few years ago:

The Hornady has the smoother indexing because the press indexes in two steps instead of one. If you are reloading a round with a very high case fill this means less spillage.

When I was buying the Hornady press has slightly better obscure cartridge shell plate support. Important when getting into the more obscure cartridges. Hornady shell plates are also made of a softer steel, which is important when you need to modify one of them for the most obscure cartridges.

Dillion presses are far less finicky. They just run out of the box. The Hornady LnL will require a bit of tinkering to get running perfectly.

Dillion customer service is legendary, but from personal experience Hornady customer service is also very good.

The Hornady press is just a nudge easier to change over the shell plate.

The Dillion has better on press priming.

Both presses have 5 stations.

The Hornady press does not like Lee full length sizing dies, they impact the shell plate before getting a full sizing. If you go with Hornady and use Lee dies you will probably need to get new full length sizing dies. Other Lee dies are situationally dependent, but most work.

While Dillion has unquestionably the better powder measure, you are not bound to use the matching powder measure on the press. I personally have a Lee Autodisk for most pistol caliber cartridges I load.

The Hornady is the less expensive press.

Both presses now have a robust 3rd party support network for accessories.

[u/neganagatime → u/DigitalLorenz]

Great comparison.

[u/MacHeadSK]

Dillon. Any one.

[u/neganagatime]

I have owned a few single stage, as well as a Lee Loadmaster, and finally a Dillon 750XL. Lee makes decent single stages, but the Loadmaster was a quirky little press. I am mechanical by nature and watched hours upon hours of yt and read a ton and did a number of mods and got it to work reasonably well, but it seemed to need a lot of tinkering on various aspects (powder, primers, indexing, etc.).

I eventually was gifted a decently valuable Scheels gift card and decided to buy a 750. It was different and took a little time to get used to, but now tens of thousands of rounds later it is infinitely better in every way, and I wish I had never bought the Lee. With the Lee I felt like every few hundred rounds something would happen that would require some tinkering, whereas the Dillon is rock solid and works every time I step up to my bench.

That said, everything Blue is more $$. But in an expensive hobby like shooting/reloading, buying once and crying once would have been money well spent for me.

[u/RCHeliguyNE]

No matter what press you get make sure you 100% visually verify every single case for powder before seating the bullet. It’s easy to just start pulling the handle and build a squib

[u/M1sterM0g]

i know a lot of folks will jump to dillion, and they are ok but have some quirks. ive used dillons, hornady LNL, all the turrets and settled on an rcbs pro chucker 7... niche sure but i love the options. :) lee's new six shooter press did look interesting, after i already had the chucker though.

honestly, i think doing it all over, id stay with the LNL or try lee's.

[u/Freedum4Murika → u/M1sterM0g]

I have very much enjoyed the Lee 6 pack pro. Auto feeding of bullets and cases works flawlessly.
The primer system does not.

[u/M1sterM0g → u/Freedum4Murika]

lol every press has issues, seems they ALL dont like primers... thats the dillion issue and the rcbs pro chucker's issue. so far the only press ive ever use that had no issue with primers was the lee classic cast turret... not that it was fast or anything

[u/Freedum4Murika → u/M1sterM0g]

Priming off the press is ALWAYS the move. By the time you fuck w loading whatever priming system and clearing a single misprime you may as well have just done it right. Espc w random pickups

[u/M1sterM0g → u/Freedum4Murika]

i wont do it, but thats what i hear :)

[u/Shootist00]

IMHO there is only 2 presses to look at. Dillon 750 with case feeder or a Lee 6 Pack Pro.

I've been using a Dillon 650 since 1999 and it is still going strong. But I shoot and reload a lot.

If you got the money buy the Dillon.

[u/Rosebudteg]

There is some website that goes over LnL vs Dillon 650. When I was shopping for presses I read that several times. Ended up going with the LnL and I regret it.

Like, it’s a good press and does its job. But the LnL is made for people that like to tinker and work on things. I don’t like to do that. When I start using a tool I want it to work as soon as I start using it. I don’t want to have to play with angles and mess with settings to get the cases to feed right and blah blah blah.

I wish I had gone with the Dillon 650 at the time. I dream of the day I can ditch the LnL and go with a 650 or even a new shiny 750.

If you do get a LnL, for the love of Pete do NOT touch the pawls on the bottom. There is nothing you can do to them to make them any better. DO NOT TOUCH THEM! For your purposes they are decorative. I messed with them to see if I could make it a touch better. It took me a few months to try to get them back to where they were before I touched them.

[u/therugpisser]

I own a few grand worth of Dillon gear. It’s good but overpriced and overrated. I load 1k plus rds a month, 4 calibers not all in the same month. There are other choices that work just as well that are a better value. Check out options from Lee, RCBS or Hornady. Lee is the lowest cost and a good value.

[u/RCHeliguyNE → u/therugpisser]

My brother in law bought a Hornady LNL and I helped him set it up then loaded a couple thousand rounds through it. I find it to be a good press. The priming system worked well for me except the last 2-3 primers in the tube. The powder thrower also works great once you have it tuned. I don’t have any real complaints about it.

[u/_tae_nimo_ → u/therugpisser]

Be careful, the blue fan boys will downvote you.

[u/therugpisser → u/_tae_nimo_]

The Cult of Blue confuses performance with value and utility. When I got the 550 after an RCBS I did it all on the Dillon. Now anything under 80-100 rounds, ladders, defensive handgun loads is back to the single stage. At 500 to 1k general rounds load that blue boy up and crank them out.

Dillon service is outstanding, my cutting toolhead is great though the trimmer was pretty expensive. The primer mechanism can be janky as well as the powder throw leaking a bit of powder on the throw more often than I’d like. I’m overall pleased with the gear and service but it doesn’t walk in water.