Advice on progressive press

[ebitney1]

Whatever progressive press you buy get a Rock-Chucker anyway. I'd even say first. It will be handy for stuff the big press isn't. Triming cases, small batches load development, pulling bullets ect. I've been rolling my own for over 40 years and have 3 progressive but still find the rock-chucker very usefull.

Yeah I love mine. I picked up the Supreme kit from impact guns a few years ago for $199.

 

[bbbass]

I already have been using an RCBS kit for a few years now but it takes me too long. I just don't know what is out there that is reliable enough and will save me time.

A Dillon 550 is incredibly reliable, sturdy, speeds you up but still allows you control over the process. You can even use it single stage. That said, the 650 and up offer even more speed, but with more complexity and things that can go wrong. Any feeder of any type needs to be kept clean or it will give you problems. On my 550, the primer feed gets dirty often enough that I prefer to seat primers manually with a hand seater. (You prolly know this, for good feel of seating too, and on often reused cases like 9mm or .45ACP, don't forget to clean primer pockets on your brass every once in awhile or you will have seating problems no matter what.)

And the Ram tube... keep it lubed.

 

[ebitney1]

A Dillon 550 is incredibly reliable, sturdy, speeds you up but still allows you control over the process. You can even use it single stage. That said, the 650 and up offer even more speed, but with more complexity and things that can go wrong. Any feeder of any type needs to be kept clean or it will give you problems. On my 550, the primer feed gets dirty often enough that I prefer to seat primers manually with a hand seater. (You prolly know this, for good feel of seating too, and on often reused cases like 9mm or .45ACP, don't forget to clean primer pockets on your brass every once in awhile or you will have seating problems no matter what.)

And the Ram tube... keep it lubed.

This is exactly the type of advice I was looking for. Thank you! Having something to seat primers manually would be great! I have been scraping the primer pockets every time already.

 

[P7M13]

Give the OP a break, he just signed up last Christmas. Not everybody is successful using the clunky search engine.

I think he's talking about grubbers offering bricks of primers for (not quite) $1300.

 

[bbbass]

I think he's talking about grubbers offering bricks of primers for (not quite) $1300.

Ohhhhhhhhh. Thx!

I may be slow, but I'm really good at it!

 

[micdude]

If you're doing 308 based cartridges, Dillon.
I have a LnL AP and it flexes enough that I won't load 308 with it. 223, 6.5, 6.8 - it'll crank those out just great. The force of resizing the 308 cartridge tilts the platten enough that your B2O length can vary by as much as 10 mils.
I had one 308 get stuck once, and pulling the ram down it snapped the head off the ram platten. That's one of those "duh, duh, duh" moments - broken ram and stuck case at the same time. Hornady replaced it, free, that same day.

I have a Hornady LNL I get a lot of run out with .308 now it makes sense why!

 

[oremike]

I have the LnL and load just pistol cases on it, I load the bottle neck rifles on the Rock-Chucker. When I get time I'll do the prep work on .223 cases with the RC and then see how they load on the LnL.

 

[Ironbar]

So I'm thinking about getting a progressive press. I want to reload 223, 308, 9mm, 45, and 38 special. I want a user friendly setup that isn't fussy. I have around $1500 to spend. I realize that everything is hard to come by right now but it looks like Dillon is excepting backorders, I don't know about Hornady. What should I get? Any advice would be greatly helpful! Thank you!

Well, you could always hit up the guy in the reloading classifieds forum who's selling his Hornady Lock-n-Load AP progressive press for $400 over normal retail.

 

[Mikej]

I have the LnL and load just pistol cases on it, I load the bottle neck rifles on the Rock-Chucker. When I get time I'll do the prep work on .223 cases with the RC and then see how they load on the LnL.

Sorry to butt in on the gentleman's thread but...Is there something different about .308, more so than .30-06 or 6.5 x 55 Swede? I've done those two, and I'm using a Rock Chucker press. I expect to be doing .308 at sometime.

 

[ebitney1]

Well, you could always hit up the guy in the reloading classifieds forum who's selling his Hornady Lock-n-Load AP progressive press for $400 over normal retail.

Haha that's why I decided to buy a Dillon!

 

[ebitney1]

Sorry to butt in on the gentleman's thread but...Is there something different about .308, more so than .30-06 or 6.5 x 55 Swede? I've done those two, and I'm using a Rock Chucker press. I expect to be doing .308 at sometime.

You mean ballistically or why do I want to load it?

 

[Mikej]

You mean ballistically or why do I want to load it?

Well it sounds like, for some reason I'm not aware of, the brass of .308 is harder to size? Kinda like the difference between 9mm and .38 sp?

 

[Mikej]

Or is it just that the larger cases in general cause flexing?

 

[ebitney1]

Well it sounds like, for some reason I'm not aware of, the brass of .308 is harder to size? Kinda like the difference between 9mm and .38 sp?

I'm not sure. I don't have any experience reloading 30-06.

 

[Retired Guy]

Just wanted to add another vote for the Dillon. I have been using a 550B since the early 90s. I especially like that it is manual indexing. I can stop at any time and use it like a single stage press. It's not as fast as some of the other presses but I loaded 100 rounds of 5.56 the other night in about a half hour. I should add the cases were already sized and trimmed. I did prime on the press. I don't need much faster than that.
I have loaded 7.62, 30-06, and even .338 Win Mag on my 550.
My suggestion is to get the basic press (whichever one you choose) first. Use it for a while before you start buying accessories. Get to know it before you make it more complicated. You may find that you don't need or want some gadgets.
Someone mentioned carbide dies. For handgun, absolutely! Get carbide dies. Cost a little more but saves you the messy step of lubing cases. On rifle cases like 5.56 or 7.62, you will still have to lube.
If you get a Dillon, don't forget that anytime you run into a problem, you can call them. They are great at diagnosing problems over the phone. Break a part or lose it? Call them.

 

[Mikej]

I'm not sure. I don't have any experience reloading 30-06.

Common sense tells me they will feel very close. I have sized/decapped .223 and it was quite easy compared to the larger .30-06 and 6.5 Swede.

 

[oremike]

Sorry to butt in on the gentleman's thread but...Is there something different about .308, more so than .30-06 or 6.5 x 55 Swede? I've done those two, and I'm using a Rock Chucker press. I expect to be doing .308 at sometime.

For me loading pistol calibers I de-prime wash and then run thru the 5 stations of the LnL, rifle cases I take my time and do 50 at a time, one step at a time on the RC. I'm going to try bulk loading .223 when I get around to it. Bottle neck cases are bottle neck cases I just take more time and extra steps with them. Plus 100 300 win mag or .270 Win lasts me way longer than 100 pistol rounds so I don't feel the need to go into full production runs.

 

[ebitney1]

Just wanted to add another vote for the Dillon. I have been using a 550B since the early 90s. I especially like that it is manual indexing. I can stop at any time and use it like a single stage press. It's not as fast as some of the other presses but I loaded 100 rounds of 5.56 the other night in about a half hour. I should add the cases were already sized and trimmed. I did prime on the press. I don't need much faster than that.
I have loaded 7.62, 30-06, and even .338 Win Mag on my 550.
My suggestion is to get the basic press (whichever one you choose) first. Use it for a while before you start buying accessories. Get to know it before you make it more complicated. You may find that you don't need or want some gadgets.
Someone mentioned carbide dies. For handgun, absolutely! Get carbide dies. Cost a little more but saves you the messy step of lubing cases. On rifle cases like 5.56 or 7.62, you will still have to lube.
If you get a Dillon, don't forget that anytime you run into a problem, you can call them. They are great at diagnosing problems over the phone. Break a part or lose it? Call them.

Great info! Thank you!

 

[Helocat]

#1 make sure you have primers to feed that progressive press.

#2 see #1,


If the components are there, Dillon 750 w/a case feeder will fit your price point. Since you already have been doing the single-stage I would skip the D550. The 750 auto indexes and has the extra station (5 stations over the 550's 4) so you can down the road have it grow with your use. Way easier down the road to add a Mr. Bullet feeder and kick your output up considerably.

The 750 also uses the lower-cost tool heads (vrs. the D1100) so setting up for multiple calibers for quick change will not break the bank.

The only Dillon press I ever sold, (550B, 1 of 2 that I had) sold for MORE used than it cost new, as over time the new ones just go up in cost. It also sold to the first person I offered it to. Demand for a used Dillon is always there, regardless of current demands.

 

[ebitney1]

#1 make sure you have primers to feed that progressive press.

#2 see #1,


If the components are there, Dillon 750 w/a case feeder will fit your price point. Since you already have been doing the single-stage I would skip the D550. The 750 auto indexes and has the extra station (5 stations over the 550's 4) so you can down the road have it grow with your use. Way easier down the road to add a Mr. Bullet feeder and kick your output up considerably.

The 750 also uses the lower-cost tool heads (vrs. the D1100) so setting up for multiple calibers for quick change will not break the bank.

The only Dillon press I ever sold, (550B, 1 of 2 that I had) sold for MORE used than it cost new, as over time the new ones just go up in cost. It also sold to the first person I offered it to. Demand for a used Dillon is always there, regardless of current demands.

This is kind of what I was thinking too. Dillon 750 with at least a case feeder. As of right now I have about 3000 LRP, 3000 SRP, and 2000 LRMP. I'm hoping it'll last me until things calm down. Thank you for your help!