whats the best reloading press?

I started reloading on my friend's Lee Loadmaster. I bought the Hornady LnL a few months later. He bought the LnL 4 years later and wonders why he spent all that time working on his press instead of making bullets.

If you are going to shoot a few hundred bullets a month you might be OK with a single stage. If you are going to shoot 2-300 per week you are just kidding yourself.

Learning on a good progressive is simple. I've taught a few guys on mine. Set it up. Insert the dies. Load one round. Watch it go through all the stages.

You cannot do that on a single stage press.

After you have loaded a few, maybe a few hundred, load two at a time. Most of my friends are comfortable going to two after 50-100 rounds of singles. Load three until comfortable. Load four, load five.

I like the LnL because it auto indexes, advances the shell plate with the pull of the handle.

Go slow. I routinely make 200 per hour including the filling of primer tubes. I can make more, but it feels like work, and it is a hobby.

One of my friends was loading for pistol on a single stage. He came over to my house and ran my press. He ordered one that day.

My 2 Cents

I have been reloading since 1962, using mostly RCBS presses.

I started with the "Junior", then the "Rockchucker", then the A2, A3, and A4("Big Max"). The big winner turned out to be the Rockchucker. That was the best value among them, which is the only one of that group that is still in production. The A2 was the heavyweight, useful also for case forming and swaging, but was replaced by the A3. The A3 had the shortest life, and was replaced by the Big Max (A4). The A4 was a giant, but had design flaws and some weird annoying features.

In my opinion, the 2 best quality ones were the original Rockchucker and the A2. The later Rockchuckers are not as well made as the early ones. The older ones can be identified by the dull green powder rough surface coating. Later ones have the shiny green paint. If you can get one in very good used condition, GRAB IT! Then clean it up like new, and check the fittings. It will last forever.

Start out with single stage reloading on a Rockchucker, and learn SAFETY, checking powder charges visually. Don't watch TV or chat while reloading, for the same reason not to drive a car and use a cell phone at the same time.

Later on, use an inexpensive Lee turret press for faster pistol reloading. A Rockchucker and Lee turret are a good combination to have.

Dillon presses are expensive, and only necessary for shooters that are engaged in very high volume shooting in a few calibers. However, Dillon itself is fantastically great in backing up their products and customers.

Now for the elite of them all ----- Redding. The Redding turret press is a compact and heavy press that can do it all. If strength and quality is what you want, this is the Rolls Royce of reloading presses. It is in the $300 range. The turret is rotated by hand, so you can use it as a single stage or as a progressive method press. RCBS and Lyman make similar presses, but they are wimpy compared to the Redding. If you buy the Redding Turret press at the start, you don't need either the Rockchucker or the Lee Turret.

It comes with one turret head that handles 7 die stations. You can buy additional heads for about $50 each, and they each have 7 die stations. It takes about a minute to change heads, so you can leave the dies in each turret head, similar to the Lee Turret. The Redding can easily do case forming, sizing, pistol, rifle, etc. It has solid, rigid alignment, and power.

By the way, Redding makes the best dies of all. Hornady is #2, and RCBS trails. RCBS used to be the best, before the original Huntington family sold the company years ago.

On accessories, Redding and Sinclair are the quality leaders. Sinclair has some very exotic gadgets, like micrometers, neck thickness gauges, etc. Both companies have beautiful FREE color catalogs. Call them on the phone, and you'll get the catalog in 3-4 days.

Good luck,
Alan Dash

I started with a simple single stage press in 1967 and it's still going strong. I have no idea how many rounds it's loaded but it's in the tens of thousands. Buy the best dies, powder measure and scale you can afford they are the most important components!

Lee Classic Turret

You can run it as a single stage or semi progressive. Will deliver 150+ rounds /hour if you need it too. Very well built and thought out.
I sold my square B to buy mine. Square B was troublesome and used only dillon pistol dies. Teh Clasic Turret will even do rifle .
Read the reviews and you will be convinced.
Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press - MidwayUSA

btw> The Classic Turret is 1/2 the cost of the Dillon and comparable in cost to a single stage.

my $.02 that is worth what you paid for it...

I greatly DISLIKE single stage presses. If I started reloading on one I would never continued, I would have given up and never did it again.

I started with the Dillon Square Deal and I still like the press. I have moved on to a 650 but the SDB is a great machine.

As others have stated it does matter about the users mechanical ability and reading and understanding technical manuals. Some folks are better at this than others.

To me reloading is a simple process that can be a challenge to master, if you will. It is like many things a skill and like most skills they can be learned and improved upon.

After many years of using the SDB and 650 some one locally was selling a Rockchucker. I somehow felt I was missing out on something by not having one. So I bought this machine set it up and decided to make some 45 acp on it. My goal was 50 rounds, I got them deprimed, sized then lost interest. Way to tedious for me to even think about.

On my 650 I have loaded everything from 38 S&W to 30:06. I find it easy to set up and use.

I did sell off my SDB, when I bought the above Rockchucker I got another SDB from the same guy. That little press is a joy to use, heck I made about 500 rounds just having fun using it. There is something about the SDB that is nice to use. I traded this machine off, but Id buy another one in a heart beat.

heres a funny you tube video

‪Dillon Square Deal B 45 ACP‬‏ - YouTube

550B is the best all around press you can buy
and it will hold up its resale value.....Id avoid the Square Deal press

I started with a lee and felt like I wasted my time and money
and went right to the 550......now I wish I had a 650 but thats another story......

Go progressive or go home

Each tool has it's proper place in the scheme of reloading. There is NO real one size fits all here.

Shooting needs, mechanical aptitude, personality and a host of other things make our choice of press a personal one. That is one reason that some feel so strong about the one that they have chosen.

I have loaded TONS of ammo on the 3 Square Deal B presses that I have had. All of them set up at the same time on the same bench too! Why? Ease and extra money at the time, plain and simple. I was loading for two that were shooting weekly competition though so I had an excuse!

My point is that that scenario would not suffice for the fellow that shoots Military Rifle competition on the same schedule because the press, while a good choice, cannot do rifle cartridges at all!

For some, pulling a handle 4 times to get 1 bullet is relaxing. Okay, I got it. When I want to head to the range though, I want that 1 pull to give me a bullet.

Now, all of that being said, when I get a new to me caliber, I am really thankful that I have a single stage to build them on. It slows me down and makes me pay attention to every detail. Something that should be done always but especially when building or working up a load for the first time.

Again, my 2 cents and like WG28, you get what you pay for!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and opinions i am in compition shooting doing about 6 different shoots a month and firing around 600-800 rounds at them alone not including practice. so i'm really wanting a progressive and im not into rifles shooting. don't even hunt with a gun Tradition bow hunter/compition. man do hobbies cost alot. I did go to a friends place and learned and used his dillion progressive 650 and if I have questions i have someone close by that can help. Once again thanks alot

For the Dillon to work fast you have to pay the helper.

‪Reloading‬‏ - YouTube

I prefer the Ammoload Mark X
Surprised Skip doesn't have one??


‪Ammoload Mark X Loading 9mm for EvergladesAmmo.com‬‏ - YouTube

I'd buy a dillon 650 with powder check. Simple.

I bought my first single stage press in 1971 and tried several makers C-type presses in the first five years. Then I discovered Forster's Co-Ax press and quickly came to believe it's the best single stage press available.

Along came Dillon with his first progressive press. I bought one of the first 450s for pistol rounds. When the 550 came out Dillon offered an upgrade kit for the 450s.

I use the Co-Ax for rifle and small batches of pistol rounds and the Dillon for large batches of pistol rounds.

These presses have served me well for over 30 years.

Rule3 said:

For the Dillon to work fast you have to pay the helper.

‪Reloading‬‏ - YouTube

I prefer the Ammoload Mark X
Surprised Skip doesn't have one??


‪Ammoload Mark X Loading 9mm for EvergladesAmmo.com‬‏ - YouTube

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I did have one, the wife. She or I did real well until she would slow down and I didn't!

After 2 or 3 times of getting her fingers pinched, she suggests I get an XL650! Now I have two of them!

Still have one Square Deal left but am. Thinking of selling it.

njbmp40 said:

Thanks for all of your thoughts and opinions i am in compition shooting doing about 6 different shoots a month and firing around 600-800 rounds at them alone not including practice. so i'm really wanting a progressive and im not into rifles shooting. don't even hunt with a gun Tradition bow hunter/compition. man do hobbies cost alot. I did go to a friends place and learned and used his dillion progressive 650 and if I have questions i have someone close by that can help. Once again thanks alot

Click to expand...

At that rate a Square Deal B would be the minimum I would suggest. The fact you have help close by is a big plus. My second XL650 was purchased from a doctor that couldn't figure out how to set it up and run it!

What calibers are you loading? If it is one of the short auto cases, the SDB is perfect for your needs.

The ONLY caution I have is if you go to expand your caliber selection. While you are tie to Dillon for dies, the do come with the caliber conversion that includes everything you need to run the round. The XL650 is not that way. You can use anyone's 7/8x14 dies but the caliber conversion costs around $80, last I checked. So, $130 per caliber change.

The LNL may be cheaper but I have no experience with them.

Sorry, on the iPod, will fix when I get to a pc!

OMG! How many rounds an hour can that Ammoload Mark X load? I think I could load a months worth of ammo in a few hours with that but how the heck can you afford to keep it fed? lol

When I walk up to my XL650, I am reminded of the old Cadillac commercial:

"When you turn on your car, does it return the favor?"

Dillon - the Cadillac of Progressives

blujax01 said:

"When you turn on your car, does it return the favor?"

Dillon - the Cadillac of Progressives

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oh man that gives me the mental picture of Plastic Nancy Pelosi standing next to the press... eeewww....

I think we need to no longer call the presses "progressive". Perhaps "semi automatic" reloading press or "multi station indexing press"

Take it from someone with 35 years of experience and a former owner of a Hornady LNL. BUY a single stage press. My preference, Forster co-ax press. There is absolutely nothing wrong with RCBS or Redding products either these are top quality and will provide a lifetime of reloading. I prefer Redding dies but that is me. I could go on and on but, this is a debate that cannot be won on the internet. My advise is to seek out someone local and watch them load a significant amount of ammo, a caliber change, a priming change, a case change, a powder change, a powder charge change.

BEST RELOADER

njbmp40 said:

Hello everyone. I am looking to get into reloading i am looking for a press for pistol ammo. I have been told by a friend to get a dillon square b progressive press, but i had another friend say he hated it because it never loaded right and had alot of weak bullets jam. Is the dillon square b the best choise or is there something bette out there. I'm looking around right now. but looking to spend $500 maybe a little more if would be the better way to go. Thanks!

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DILLON 550 FOR THE MONEY

wheelgun28 said:

oh man that gives me the mental picture of Plastic Nancy Pelosi standing next to the press... eeewww....

I think we need to no longer call the presses "progressive". Perhaps "semi automatic" reloading press or "multi station indexing press"

Click to expand...

That's the beauty of the Dillon. Long after she's gone and the Dem's are calling themselves yet something else, the XL650 will still be cranking out ammo.

cass said:

there are some bad times ahead, and ammo/components may be too expensive in the very near future.

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Zombie Apocolypse?