Ooops I just broke the press handle

[andyo5]

Ihave six, the RCBS is up anything you want, but if you want to load a lot of pistol but you can't go beat a Dillon. by the way I have loaded a lot of223,6.5--55, 308 and 30-06 mtch ammo
on the Dillon.

Yeah...what HE said.
Plus, all Dillon hardware has a lifetime, no BS guarantee. I broke the aluminum body of my Dillon 550 while loading Lake City 30-06 cases (also gave myself a case of tendonitis). These cases are hardened brass intended for use in machine guns. I no longer use them. Anyhow, Dillon had me send the whole press back to them and they rebuilt the press with a new body. I had it back within a week. No charge. I also noticed that they had changed the design of the body by adding strengthening ribs. They are a first rate company to deal with.

 

[novalty]

People like to beat up on Lee stuff all the time. I have found most of it to be unjustified unless you either don't know what you are doing or are just rough handed. About the only way I see breaking a Classic Turret is short stroking the arm and coming down too fast on the plastic bit that make the auto index work. Other than that I think you will find many happy Classic Turret users out there. But I still have a lot of respect for Dillon's equipment despite the fact that I chose the Hornady option. But the fact that Dillon is smart enough to offer the BL 550 that you can slowly build into the RL 550 is genious. Had I know about that before I bought my Classic Turret then I might be singing a different tune and not bought my LNL AP. The biggest thing that holds the 550 back (IMHO) is the fact that it's a four station tool head. I like the option of having that fifth hole to add a powder check die or be able to crimp in another station after seating. I came really close to buying the RL 650 but the lower cost + 500 free bullets + the fact that caliber change can be done in less than a minute on the LNL AP is what made me stay with a red press.

My comment wasn't meant to be a knock on Lee. I wouldn't steer someone away from Lee for reloading. Just generally when you see reloading equipment recommendation threads, usually people are bad mouthing Lee, and Dillon is put on the pillar.

Out of curiosity, you being a LNL AP owner, why did your previous thread only mention recommendations for the Lee Classic Turret and Dillon 550?

 

[Maximumbob54]

My comment wasn't meant to be a knock on Lee. I wouldn't steer someone away from Lee for reloading. Just generally when you see reloading equipment recommendation threads, usually people are bad mouthing Lee, and Dillon is put on the pillar.

Out of curiosity, you being a LNL AP owner, why did your previous thread only mention recommendations for the Lee Classic Turret and Dillon 550?

What you said is hardly Lee bashing. I have heard far and beyond worse talk than that.

I didn't mention the LNL AP since I thought this was all about a starter level entry press. The LNL AP is pretty easy for me to set up and run, but a new person might have issues with getting everything running in proper order and still pausing to examine the powder drop. The Classic Turret or the BL 550 as they come are pretty simple setups that can have all kinds of bells and whistles added. The Lee is just cheaper and will never have the quantity pumping from it. I just think they are a good starter since you can "grow into them" and not just have a single stage collecting dust at some point. I still like my Rock Chucker and use it, but not like I use the other two...

 

[novalty]

Thanks Maximumbob54. I had almost been tempted myself into the Hornady LNL, but was concerned about all the setup, and quite frankly my production needs don't really warrant a progressive. Glad that your's is going well, have heard a lot of positive feedback on the LNL AP. Bet a lot of people are wishing they still had their initial "Get Loaded" promotion of 1,000 leads with the AP purchase.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I'm still getting 500 for free with mine. They have that offer on much of their equipment right now for smaller amounts of bullets with smaller purchaces. Even without it I would still have bought the LNL AP over the 550 or 650 though. In my view having used a 550 it takes a 650 to be the equal or better to the LNL AP and the 650 costs a lot more. A LOT... And the thing is just so smooth in auto indexing while you have to spin the finger wheel on a 550 each time. The 550 is a good unit though, I don't mean to bash it. And many people like the manual index of the 550. I just feel like it had way too much play in it and the priming just wasn't as positive to me. You can still do some pretty decent volume loading on the Lee Classic Turret or you can slow down. The turret head does lift up a tiny bit but does it in a uniform manner each time. If you are doing your best to make shoot the wings off a gnat at a hundred yards style ammo then you want a good O type single stage. The Forster Co-Ax has been used to make some of the best match grade ammo but that's not to say just about any properly adjusted O type can't make some amazing ammo. Even a simple lowly Lee Loader kit will make great ammo if you follow the directions. And the "No BS" thing about Dillon is pretty impressive but I feel like it's a little beyond abused. You can dig a rusty thrown away Dillon press from a dump, call them, and the next day you will have a return mailer coming to you for free repairs. It's nice in a way, but then again maybe that is why their stuff is so over the top in pricing. But it is good stuff. But even if you go single stage with an O press, by batch loading with your components you can still have a lot of ammo made. I used to do everything in stages. I even used to deprime with a universal decapper, polish the cases, resize them, flare the case mouth, and then store them in a bucket. Then I could prime, powder drop, seat bullet, crimp and box them another day. The only real rules to follow are consistancy and safety. As long as you find a safe way that works and stick with it then you will make lots of good ammo.

 

[rrockefe]

I use a Dillon Square Deal because I only want to load pistol cartridges and like the auto indexing. Seems to be no way to double charge a cartridge unless it is really intentional. I broke the handle and they sent me a new one, no charge. Couldn't talk me into changing!