In honor of Rule3's which press thread...

Which progressive press do you use THE MOST!!!

I bought the Hornady LNL AP and I love it. But there are several good ones out there so it's time for a popularity contest...

New York Times Just kidding I like my dillon square deal b

I ONLY have 6 progressive presses.
3 Square Deal Bs
2 XL650s
1 RL450B with the powder and primer conversion



And an entry level Lee Classic Cast Turret press which my wife bought for me one Christmas and believe you me, she keeps track of the Christmas presents she buys!

She says: "Honey, where is that red thing with the handle thingy with the whatchamacallit that goes round and round? You ARE still using it, aren't you my love?"

I reply: "Yes, my little buttercup! It has a permanent place, right here, on my reloading bench, sugar! Thanks for getting it for me, my little turtle dove!"

BUT, if I ever get another press, of course, my blue ones will last until I'm dead and gone, it WILL be a RED one! The Hornady LNL-AP!

They just look cool!

What about CH4D's 444 X Pistol Champ?

Dillon Square Deal B here

Dillon Square Deal B x 4 on a turret vise. Love 'em!

I voted the Dillon XL650 cause that is what I have. Now, if the poll had been for single stage presses I would have to vote RCBS.

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Non illegitimae carborundum

RCBS green machine

When I use a progressive, I use a Dillon RL300. I guess that, and the squirrel suit, makes me the oddball.

And adding that to the bottom of the list in Rule 3's poll on THR makes the numbers absolutely irrelevant. Some might have just clicked that and not put what their specific press was. Maybe all of them went to Lee or maybe Dillon. At this time, if the numbers from that selection were added to any other single press, the poll would be entirely different in it's outcome!

Oh, and I have several accounts over there. Is it okay that I voted more than once?

This is America, vote as often as you like.

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S&WHF 366

Well it is Bob's poll and he is from Florida!

I know it's early but I hope to see at least a few votes for Rock Chucker...

"Rock Chucker"

Isn't he that far right guy from Arizona?

Nah, he was a character in The Flintstones.

I dont use a single station all the time but when I do I use a Bonanza Co-Ax

I voted 650 its my main press over the 550. I had a few Square Deals but they were collecting dust so I sold them off.

It's my understanding that these aren't true progressive and are more like a turret in that you move the case or cases from one shell holder to the next.

I didn't include this as it's no longer made. I also didn't include the Ammo Master Progressive for the same reason. But I do think they are both interesting and I like the Green Machine from what I've read about them.

Same as the above and I didn't include the RL450 for the same reason again. I did almost add the BL550 but that's more of a turret press sort of and it's really just a building block of the RL550 anyways.

If I did this right then you should be able to select more than one but I really wanted to hear which one is used the MOST... The idea is for guys that have more than one design to really throw down and admit which one they actually prefer to use more often, put up with caliber change, which one is just more versatile for the MOST use of all of them.

I did add the Piggy Back... Is that close enough?

That's what I'm hoping to hear from more people.

They have press A, B, and C but only really use A, B collects dust, and C was used so little that it was parted with.

I use Lee PRO1000's

Here's why (and I've had Dillon and RCBS progressives in the past)

I can have a separate press for every caliber that I shoot:
45ACP
45LC
9mm
41mag
38/357

I have them lined up in a row on my bench in the gun room. To change calibers, I move my chair.

With the 1000's, the operator has to be a little bit mechanically inclined. The priming system sucks - I've learned little modifications to make it better.

At $150 each, including dies, my 5 pro1000's aren't as expensive as a single 550 with all of the above caliber conversions. No change times.

Never had much luck with 223 and a 1000. I use a loadmaster for 223 with great success.

I'll post a pic of my bench when I get home from work.

It's my understanding that the Dillion 550 isn't a true progressive either...ooops did I type that.

Dillon 550B I've had since the late 80's.
No idea how many thousands I've loaded on it..

And a RCBS single stage for some of the rifle calibers I don't shoot much.

The best that you are going to get me to agree to is that it is it's own animal. Yes, if you put a case in the first station, pull the arm, move that first case to the second station and add a new case to the first, so on and so forth you can load in a progressive press manner.

A) you are talking about a press that is about as slow as a single stage press used for batch loading as you have to handle the cases way too often

B) the one guy I've known that had one of these told me he only loaded one at a time and would move them through the stages until complete as it was the only way to not knock cases over

C) the Dillon RL550 is progressive in that with a pull of the arm each station is used however it is not auto indexing which has nothing to do with being progressive in a reloading press

For small batches or to test out a new load, I use a RCBS JR single stage press that I started relaoding with, bought in the late '70's...For bulk reloading I use the original Hornady progressive, the Pro-7 (later called the Pro-jector) bought in '86.

My contention is that the 550B has to be manually indexed, unlike the 650 or Hornady's LnL AP.

A. I only mentioned CH4D's 444 X Pistol champ as it is a semi-progressive press. That is the way it is advertised, and yes the term includes the word progressive. Now if the definition of progressive includes an auto-indexing then the 550B would not be progressive, but semi-progressive.

B. I know a guy too...

C. The same would hold true for the CH4D 444 X Pistol Champ, wouldn't it?

Dillon 550B for me. I used a Lee 3 hole turrent for years but after finally getting the Dillon theres no way I would go back to the Lee. Hard to complain about 100 rounds loaded in 10 minutes.....

I chose the Hornady LNL AP over the Dillon 550B because of its auto-indexing. I've had good results with it over the years. I still have my "old reliable" RCBS Rockchucker from over 30 years ago when I first got started in handloading and still use it for rifle cartridges and small lots of handgun ammunition.

Note how it does not have the word "auto" in front of indexing.

INDEXING:

Index | Define Index at Dictionary.com

"to rotate (work) on a milling machine in order to repeat the milling operation at a new position."

The RL550 has a star ratchet that you rotate to index the cases to the next station. The RL550 as it comes uses each station for action done on a case with each pull of the arm with indexing done after each pull is complete. That was the logic I thought about applying when I was going to add the BL550 however a 550 is a 550 with or without priming and powder dropping. If I had used that logic then I would be splitting hairs over trying to get away with the Lee Classic Turret being "semi progressive" because with its additions and auto indexing rod you don't touch a case and with four pulls of the arm you have still loaded a case. But I chose not to go that route as that's pretty flim flam even to me and I place the CH4D in the same catagory because of it's complete lack of indexing.



A) See my above thoughts. I'm kicking a dead horse at this point.

B) Do you require I use a full name when I refer to someone other than myself? This is the guy that showed me how to setup a progressive press. He had the CH4D and a Dillon RL550 along with a couple of different single stage presses. At this point I don't know why I'm even explaining myself any more than I have.

C) Please feel free to start your own thread.

I've never heard of the Ten-X TX-40 progressive press. Can you shed some light on it, as I am curious about different presses.

Apologies for all debating posts prior, didn't mean to hi-jack thread. Will re-post another great members song of truce.

Touche!!!!

I put that one in there just to see if anyone would say anything about the TX-40...

It's a progressive for .50 BMG for the big kids to load their ammo. As far as I know it's the only non single stage press for loading the big one.

Hmm do you have a link, I'd love to see another 50 BMG press.

The only TX-40 I could find on the web was for reloading 40mm dummy training rounds, and it looked pretty laborious.

Brilliant... I was a digit off... It's the TX-50 press.

Ten-X Ammunition Home Page

Holy Press!

Thanks for posting that info!

Hmm, nobody is using 1050, or maybe they are too busy hauling boxes of ammo away for storage

So far the scorecard on this poll looks like the Alabama/Notre Dame game - ROLL SMURF!!!

I had to vote Hornady L-n-L AP, although I am actually using its predecessor, the Pro-Jector (since the mid-80's), it just keeps on ticking and turning out excellent ammo. I am, however, considering purchasing a L-n-L AP and turning the Pro-Jector (from which the L-n-L was developed) into a dedicated press set up for .45 ACP. Remember, a man can never have too many guns or too many tools!

After looking at the Dillons, I opted for the Hornady LocknLoad.

I bought the contraption and the price of 9mm & .45acp promptly cratered - I couldn't buy bullets for what Wolf was charging for complete cartriges.

Now It's time to get the contraption set up. I've accumulated a bunch of brass, which it'll probably make short work of, once it's set up.

Janet, you have a lot of accumulated knowledge available from some veteran reloaders here. (I'm not one of them). We kid around but when the rubber meets the road, these folks have your back!

Where are you trying to buy bullets that you can buy loaded ammo for less? They are charging you a pretty high price. There are a lot of bullet sellers that are far less than Wolf prices.

Ah, but the real beauty Janet is this: I will NEVER have a bullet shortage, NEVER! Why?
Because I cast my own!

As long as the neighbors have cars and don't like their tires to bounce down the road, I will have bullets!

All kidding aside, if I was going to shoot competition, I would cast all winter whether I needed the bullets or not. Reload in the spring and shoot all summer and do it all over again.

If I shot indoors, I guess I would have to buy plated bullets. If I had to......I would.....But I would hate it!

There are a few calibers I shoot that I do not cast for BUT, should things get sticky, I can load every single handgun, several carbines with lead bullets and be very well armed.

FWIW

p.s. If you cannot get that LNL AP to work satisfactorily, box it up, without the dies, but leave the shell plates, ship it to me, and I will give you what you have in it if you pay the shipping.

Fair enough?

Skip, you may yet drink from the cup of red Kool Aid...

Hornady red progressive Kool Aid but NEVER Lee red progressive Kool Aid!

Although, I do like my Classic Cast Turret Press my wife bought me........"Right, Honeybunches?"

She's standing right behind you, isn't she?

...Niiice!

Hornady LnL AP, a couple of 550.

Dillon XL-650 x2 for the shipmate! Lol navy guys will get that.

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Rob

Why is the Lee Turret missing form the line up ?

And they say the Dillon line up is not THAT popular.

I use a Hornady Lock-N-Load AP because that is what my son bought while he was still living at home. We have a good deal going, he leaves the press here, and I do all the loading for the both of us. Since we use the same loads for the majority of our shooting it's just a matter of loading larger quantities. He is busy with a young family, and I find the reloading relaxing. If he ever decides to take it to his house, I would not hesitate to buy another Hornady. However, I must admit that all the good reviews I read regarding the Dillon machines, it makes me want to try one.

I still use a RL450, but I guess I do not fit within you box. ;D

And (1) RCBS fan? The only thing I can conclude is that PRO 2000 users don't care for S&W.