What volume of shooting warrants progressive press?

[novalty]

Was informed I could start my own thread, so I figured what the heck. Sorry no fancy poll, because I couldn't narrow any numbers down. Just wanted to see what other members thought about the numbers of handgun rounds fired over what time period would warrant the purchase of a progressive press. Maybe this post will help some people looking to get started reloading, as the question does come up pretty frequently from new people looking to get into reloading.

 

[Moonman]

novalty,

They can go to BRIAN ENOS website.

Look under WHICH DILLON?

He has it broken down into How Many Rounds Do You Shoot A Month?

Then recommds the Dillon press that fits your needs.

You can look at the Spacific Dillon machine hourly round counts and also use that

info to compare with other manufacturers estimated round per hour counts.

 

[Titegroups]

It depends on how much time you habe to commit too, if I were loading more than a couple hundred rounds a week that would justify one. With the current situation of everything being in short supply and money being tight it wont be a consideration for me. For the time being Ive just stopped. I dont want to burn through supplies that may be more difficult to obtain with near future legislation.

 

[novalty]

Moonman, thanks for the information pertaining to Dillon Presses. For the sake of being informative, here is direct link to Brian Enos' website regarding "Which Dillon." Unfortunately, I didn't see a posting on how many rounds over a given timeframe, before buying a Dillon/Progressive. He does have his recommendation in regards to which press he would recommend based on number of rounds between caliber conversion, specifically relating to the 550, 650 & 1050

Rounds you will load before changing to another caliber:

550: 100 - 200+ rounds
650: 1000 - 2000+ rounds
1050: 5000+ rounds

 

[Maximumbob54]

Do I come across as such a troll??? Wait, don't answer that...

Maybe think of it less like how much do I need to reload to make it worthwhile, think of it in terms of how high a volume of shooting do you think you will ever get to doing and do you want to be able to get to that level right now.

If you go Dillon then the easy answer is usually most people will never outgrow a RL550 as you can load as slow as you want to pretty darn fast and high volume.

The biggest upgrade I see to stepping up to the XL650 is just less manipultion by your hands with the auto indexing built into it. But it's a heck of a price jump.

Also, don't forget the BL550 is a good start to later making it into an RL550.

For really close to the same money as the RL550 you can buy the latest fully loaded Hornady LNL AP and I happen to love mine. You can load pretty slow on it as well. I added the case feeder to mine and while I won't lie and say it doubles the speed I will say it's one less thing to touch so that couple of seconds saved can add up if you are loading in volume.

I will throw one word out for the Lee Classic Turret. I can load on that press all afternoon. With it only working one die at a time it's not that much muscle use compared to a Dillon or a Hornady or I guess the RCBS. But you do have to swing the arm four times before you get one loaded. I only mention this as a thought because some guys can't put that much pressure out anymore and it might be worth knowing.

Or you could try that crazy C4HD press...

 

[novalty]

Don't want to make the thread about which progressive. More about if someone is planning on purchasing equipment to reload and want a press recommendation and they shoot "X" number of rounds per week, month, etc. From a member's perspective that has been reloading awhile, what volume do you think the person asking for help should really consider a progressive to facilitate their shooting needs.

Or you could try that crazy C4HD press...

No I heard about a guy that had one...

 

[Maximumbob54]

It doesn't sound like you have hit that wall of "dang it this single stage press is SLOW!!!!" quite yet.

I just want to make sure you don't focus too hard on the volume and miss other options.

How hard is it to change out to a different caliber?

How is the priming done?

How is maintenance done?

What upgrades are available?

If you get too wrapped up in just how much does this one load then you miss a lot. I mean the Dillon 1050 is the fastest thing I know of with the most options built in but that final question is:

How much am I willing to invest?

 

[souperdoo]

Hi, my name is Tom and I'm a Luddite...

There, got that out of the way.

For me it is not about the number of rounds/session, but about the quality and intended use of the cartridge.

For my .357 and .44 I have developed a round for each gun. I use Keith bullets and 2400 and load them pretty heavy. Accuracy is what I'm after. Irrespective of how many rounds are going to be loaded, I will always do it on my singles stages so that I can inspect each round, regularly checking the charge, and so forth.

For my 9mm, I wouldn't load 50 rounds without using the progressive. Of course, each session with the 9mm is usually cranking out at least 500 rounds.

I'm not saying that a progressive cannot build quality rounds, as they certainly can, just that I'm more comfortable using singles for 'target' cartridges.

Tom

 

[Moonman]

HOPE THIS HELPS.

These are ADVERTISED QUANTITY RATES PER HOUR. DILLON MACHINES

SPEED should NEVER be your main concern with reloading.

From Brian Enos site,

DILLON SQUARE "D" 400-500 ROUNDS PER HOUR

DILLON RL 550-B 400-600 PER HOUR

DILLON XL 650 800-1000 PER HOUR

DILLON 1050 1000-1200 PER HOUR

I consider these per hour loading rates to be ADVERTISED RATES, and operating in a perfect world while reloading.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I should echo some of Tom's comment. I still only load magnum revolver ammo on the single stage. I'm not at max pressures but I do feel better loading slow with them. But then I also don't shoot nearly as much thumper ammo as I do regular.

 

[novalty]

It doesn't sound like you have hit that wall of "dang it this single stage press is SLOW!!!!" quite yet. Nope not quite there yet.

I just want to make sure you don't focus too hard on the volume and miss other options.

How hard is it to change out to a different caliber?My 2 main calibers are 45 ACP and 38 Special, both of these are set-up on my Redding T7 Turret. I added the Hornady quick change bushing to my RockChucker II for reloading my rifle rounds, which makes changing over dies quicker. Shoot only a couple hundred rifle rounds per year. Does Dillon offer a 25-35 WCF caliber conversion?

How is the priming done? RCBS Automatic Bench Primer

How is maintenance done? I lube the rams. Clean off any priming debris.

What upgrades are available? Piggyback is obtainable, but I can't validate price versus effectiveness. No offense to anyone running the Piggyback option on RockChucker's, Just the last few Piggyback conversions I have seen sell for over a couple hundred.

If you get too wrapped up in just how much does this one load then you miss a lot. I mean the Dillon 1050 is the fastest thing I know of with the most options built in but that final question is:

How much am I willing to invest? Excellent question, as I think this would go hand-in-hand with the question I posed.

To be honest, I have on several occasions considered selling my Redding T7 to purchase a Hornady LnL AP. Guessing I am going to give the Redding a little more time once I get my RCBS Case Activated powder linkage set up on it.

A lot of factors due play role in reloading equipment needs. Living in Maine, I only get between say April and November to shoot outside. Last year I shot about 600 rounds of 45acp, about 200 rounds of 38 Special, and about 300 rounds of 9mm. So I have several winter months for case prep.

Right now I have a couple hundred rounds of 45 loaded to start the year, and about 1200 cases that have been: cleaned, sized/deprimed, and ready for primers, powder, and seating new lead.

Have about 100 rounds of loaded 38 special loaded and 1200 cases prepped.

Need to get more 9mm bullets, as I don't have any loaded, but have almost 1500 cases prepped.

About 100 357 Magnums loaded, and over 1,000 prepped cases.

 

[souperdoo]

...Living in Maine, I only get between say April and November to shoot outside....

I lived in Waterville for a few years. Sort of 'nine months of winter and three months of poor sledding with black flies'.

With all of that time, couldn't you just cozy up to the Franklin stove and use a Lee loader? ;^)

Lessee, 1 finished round every minute, for three hours every evening, times 300 evenings... yup. You don't need no stinkin' progressive.

Tom

 

[Moonman]

novalty,

It does come down to how much do you want to invest.

You could step up to STAINLESS STEEL MEDIA ROTARY TUMBLING for cleaned brass that looks band new.

A Dillon 650 or a Hornady LNL would load your yearly supply in several hours.

That leaves more time for SHOOTING, but I find reloading to be relaxing.

Some Competition shooters need 500-1000 rounds a WEEK for practice and competition, a progressive is a necessity for them.

Some of us just like to ACQUIRE STUFF, and WE DO.

Look at the thread about reloading benches or rooms, some folks REALLY HAVE STUFF!

 

[Maximumbob54]

When I mention options sometimes it's non factory stuff that really gets fun. I bought a Powderfunnels.com PTX insert instead of using the Hornady made version for the powder station and the aftermarket one is lightyears better and is universal while the factory one is caliber specific and not even as good.

Maybe investing in bullet casting gear is a different option?

 

[Moonman]

Maximumbob54,

BULLET CASTING.

Another whole realm and a GREAT HOBBY TOO.

 

[venomballistics]

one must also factor time you can dedicate to loading.
if you can only carve out an hour between range sessions, a progressive begins to make sense at low round counts

 

[forestswin]

turret vs single stage

I have a question that falls in between the lines here - but it seems appropriate the way the thread is going.

When loading on a turret - do most perform one stage for all rounds to be loaded? then go to the next stage?

or

load one case and perform all stages on it, spinning the turret - to assemble a complete round before going to next round?

I load on a Hornady LnL Classic Single stage with their bushings - allows the dies to remain locked down- it seems to equate to the benefits of a several turret heads to me.

I am mainly doing all load development at the present with different calibers, bullets, powders, primers and cases, etc. Learning and having fun. So single stage is great for me - most of the time. I do however have a few very good proven loads that I assemble at least 100 at a time and use to practice my shooting techniques and reloading them is getting a little tediuos. So my interest in progressives is growing. I know eventually I will get one- so I guess it will come down to a time issue.

I just got a Redding 10x Powder measure - as I learn to trust it - that should really speed things up. I've weighed each and every charge on a Ohaus 1010 up to now.

 

[novalty]

I use my Redding T7 for single stage just for the sizing and de-priming. When I need to load up some more rounds, I prime everything on my RCBS Automatic Bench primer, and then run the round continuously through the expand/powder, and turn turret, then seat bullet. On YouTube I have seen the "Ultimate Reloader" videos where he runs the round completely through each step, and primes using the Redding Primer tube assembly.

 

[flgolfer29]

From my perspective; I currently use the Lee Classic Turret.

I am very pleased with everything about the press and complete approximately 150 rounds per hour (sometimes), typically tho, I load in 100 round sessions.

I'm not a high volume shooter, so the press has worked well. However, I've undergone 3 shoulder surgeries over the years. Because of the stresses on the shoulder I am now shopping for a progressive just so I can have fewer pulls on the lever to get the same 100 rounds per session.

Perhaps something to consider for others in the future.

joe

 

[arjay]

More than a hundreds rounds a week on a regular basis would do it for me .