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Old 07-30-2010, 01:35 AM
310Pilot 310Pilot is offline
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You will be well-served by either a Dillon 650 or a Hornady L-N-L AP, both are very good machines, and both firms have terrific customer service and "no questions asked" warranties. In my view, there are two major differences between the two - cost, with the Dillon being quite a bit more expensive, and speed/ease/expense of caliber changes. The Hornady uses their Lock-N-Load bushings, so, once you have the dies properly indexed in their bushings (which remain on the dies), changing calibers is a matter of twisting out one set of dies (quarter turn, not screwing them out), inserting the new set with quarter turn each, and, if necessary, changing the primer feed system from small to large primers, or vice-versa, also a very straightforward and easy change on the Hornady. The Dillon primer changeover is, IMHO, more difficult, and to change calibers involves mounting dies in dedicated toolheads, which are changed as an assembly.

I have known Mike Dillon for quite a few years (from our mutual love of flying and, particularly, warbirds), and he builds a great product; however, I have been using a Hornady Pro-Jector (the predecessor of the L-n-L AP) for many years, and I am considering turning it into a caliber-dedicated press, and buying a new L-n-L AP for use on a number of other calibers, due to the speed and ease of changeover it offers. All things considered, I believe the Hornady slightly edges out the Dillon 650, and has a major advantage when price is brought into the picture.

Whichever you choose, I know you'll be happy. Both are good presses, and will churn out a lot of quality ammo in a short period of time.

Another thought - I noticed you said you were new to reloading, or going to get started soon. Many will argue that you shouldn't start with a progressive press, as it is too easy to make mistakes on it (especially when you have little reloading experience). There is some merit to that position. It may be better for you to start out on a single stage press in order to reduce the potential for making mistakes. If you don't wish to do so, at least use the progressive as though it were a fancy single stage press for a while, loading only one round of ammunition at a time through all the cycles. BTW, you might want to start with a single stage, anyway, because you will probably find there will be many occasions that you want to do something that is better handled on the single stage press. I recently bought a new single stage, as it offers flexibility in many operations that a progressive really doesn't lend itself to. Just food for thought.

Last edited by 310Pilot; 07-30-2010 at 01:42 AM. Reason: Added comment.
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