I started out years ago with an RCBS progressive. I don't remember the model. After a divorce, I had no place to put it and the bench with all of my gear, so I sold it. Several years later, I started getting the itch to reload again, and my new wife got me a Lee turret press and I later got a progressive. I wasn't impressed.

I bought a new Dillon 550B a while later. I couldn't believe how much more I liked it than the RCBS. I found I preferred indexing by hand as it gave me a better opportunity to check my powder drop and primer seating if I felt there was a problem.

After a while, a friend came to me and said he was given a Dillon 550B by another Deputy. He said it had been out in a barn for a long time, and was rusted to the point that the ram wouldn't move. However, it came with a bunch of dies and four more powder drops. There were four die plates fully equipped, although a little corroded. I put the press in a bucket of diesel for three months; checking it occasionally. I also stripped down all of the other components and cleaned all of the corrosion off of them. Naval Jelly became my closest friend.

After three months of soaking, I removed the press and started to work on it. I took a dead-blow hammer and got the ram freed up. I then disassembled the press and began cleaning and replacing parts. Dillon sent me everything I requested to complete the project. After I was done, I had a fully operational press. I set up the new press for small primer loads, and the refurbished one for large primer loads. Both have been working well ever since, with and occasional cleaning. I have loaded about 12,000 rounds on the two of them since I started with the. The Dillons are the best out there, IMHO.

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Dave Frost