fredj338
Member
From scratch or w/ sized/deprimed cases? I just don't see much more than 150rds/hr from scratch on a LCT.
Recommendations for a Starter Progressive Press
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^^^^ This ^^^^
FloridaFlier
Member
Dillon is the standard for excellence in the reloading world. It really is that simple. A basic 550 can be upgraded as much as you want. You will never outgrow it. While the 650 is a faster press, the 550 can change calibers faster. Dillon's customer service is astonishing. Others have bursts of excellent customer service, but Dillon just never stops trying to help. I once called in from Home Depot and had a 15 minute conversation about lubes and cleaning solvents. The Dillon rep must have known in the first 10 seconds he was not going to sell anything to me that day, but he was determined to stay on with me until I had no more questions. How do you beat that?
Wee Hooker
Member
Lee CLASSIC turret. It's semi progressive but only slightly slower than a full progressive. ( 150-200 rounds/hr) .Caliber changes take only a few minutes and are cheap.
It will slow you down just enough for you to see what's going on at all times. ( read harder to make a Kaboom). Quality and function is much better than the 1000's or old turret press. I personally got rid of my full progressive (Lee 100's and Dillon Square deal) to go to this press and am extremely happy with it. Read the reviews at midway for details.
p.s. You'll be closer to $250 on this press set up with powder measure and safety prime system and a set of dies so you'll have $ left over for a tumbler, scale,.....
Enjoy
mstuhr
Member
Just me
Hi all,
Personally, I wouldn't take two Square deals for any of my three Lee 1000's.
Set up on a sturdy bench and maintained they are a good, fast machine that produces quality ammo.
The price allows me to have .45, .38/357, and 9mm set up and left set up.
One is OLD and been used more than others but all of them have provided years of ammo for heavy competition.
The 45 machine for years of USPSA and bowling pin ammo since the 80's. the same for the .38/357 ammo for NRA action/Bianchi cup and practice since the 80's and now loading ammo for local PPC and pins. The 9mm machine is probably the newest but fed the comp gun for several years of bi-monthly, local steel and three Masters.
There have been times when they needed tuned. There have been times when they have needed rebuilt, but mostly they have run and produced ammo at a rate that would rival any lever operated press.
They get oiled and checked for tune at the beginning of every loading session and get put to work.
I could have bought any equipment I wanted over the years. I was given a pair of Square Deals that I tried and passed on to a buddy.
I have never felt the need for better gear than the Lee but I have never had the major problems others talk about.
I do think a lot of people don't put the Lee on a sturdy enough bench.
Who knows?
The last one I set up in the garage I got from a fellow who hated it. It has done nothing but run like a top for me.
I just thought I'd pop in and stick up for the Lee products a little.
Good luck in your search for a press
Mike
Hi all,
Personally, I wouldn't take two Square deals for any of my three Lee 1000's.
Set up on a sturdy bench and maintained they are a good, fast machine that produces quality ammo.
The price allows me to have .45, .38/357, and 9mm set up and left set up.
One is OLD and been used more than others but all of them have provided years of ammo for heavy competition.
The 45 machine for years of USPSA and bowling pin ammo since the 80's. the same for the .38/357 ammo for NRA action/Bianchi cup and practice since the 80's and now loading ammo for local PPC and pins. The 9mm machine is probably the newest but fed the comp gun for several years of bi-monthly, local steel and three Masters.
There have been times when they needed tuned. There have been times when they have needed rebuilt, but mostly they have run and produced ammo at a rate that would rival any lever operated press.
They get oiled and checked for tune at the beginning of every loading session and get put to work.
I could have bought any equipment I wanted over the years. I was given a pair of Square Deals that I tried and passed on to a buddy.
I have never felt the need for better gear than the Lee but I have never had the major problems others talk about.
I do think a lot of people don't put the Lee on a sturdy enough bench.
Who knows?
The last one I set up in the garage I got from a fellow who hated it. It has done nothing but run like a top for me.
I just thought I'd pop in and stick up for the Lee products a little.
Good luck in your search for a press
Mike
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jimkim
Member
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From scratch. This includes sizing/decapping, flaring/charging ,seating, and crimping. I pull the lever four times and I have a round. It's not as fast as a 650, but it's fast enough for me. The hard part was figuring out a way to use my priming tool. I don't have the Lee primer feeder. I'm using the feeder from my RS. I don't go quite as fast as this guy.
Lee Classic Turret press 5 rounds in a minute jeff shoots stuff - YouTube
I'd like this guy's set up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhOFUVaUy_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=BdLAZRW0QeY
Lee Classic Turret press 5 rounds in a minute jeff shoots stuff - YouTube
I'd like this guy's set up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhOFUVaUy_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=BdLAZRW0QeY
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scattershot
Member
personal likes and dislikes will enter into your decision, of course, but you might as well start with what you'll end up with anyway, a Dillon 550.
fredj338
Member
A turret is just that a turret. It is NOT a semi progressive. A progressive press, by definition, completes one round of ammo w/ each pull of the handle. A turret requires 2-4 handle pulls to complete a round of ammo. It's a good piece of gear, if the priming works & you get an adjustable measure, but it is still a turret. If you consider 150 vs 450 slightly slower, well, then I submit you have never reloaded on a good progressive press.
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Whatever choice you make you can see that there are folks here with much experience using that brand. I'm a relative noob myself and have found there is a treasure trove of information in this forum and after everyone is finished defending their nameplate (Dillon
) people are glad to help in any way they can. I have learned a lot and regularly come back for more.
fredj338
Member
Sure, if you can sustain that rate over an hour, I doubt it. Most relaoders will time themselves for 100rds & then do the math, not realistic IMO. I can do 100rds in 5min if I have a good run on my 650, doesn't mean I can do 1200rds/hr. You have to refill primers, attend to hiccups here & there, why only 1hr of reloading should be considered. Anything else, one is just kidding themselves.
novalty
Member
Don't forget that after you buy the Dillon 650 you still need primers, powder and lead--oh yeah and dies. Glad your budget was able to grow from $350 to $566.95 + dies + accessories.
Main focus is the BIG BOLD link in the quote.
I did read it all and there is some good info there. Like the previous poster wrote-
. That is a lot but for good equipment as well. After reading the quote/18 page report/link in the original quote above, the Hornady is looking good for a first press.
Comments please on the LINK in the original quote.
This would be a good sticky for some IMHO.
AZ115
Member
I started with the Lee Classic turret...
I learned to reload from a friend with a Dillon 550. After budgeting and research, I knew I did NOT want a single stage press. I would realy like just about any Dillon press, I just dint know if I wanted to spend so much on my startup cost.
I ended up getting just about everything I needed from Midwayusa. I spent a total of less than $300 for everything. One Lee Classic Press, 9mm dies, powder measure, primer dispenser, scale, tumbler, media, calipers and a bullet puller. I have a decent work bench in my garage. Just mounted it on the edge, nice and sturdy.
I am really pleased with all the equipment and the final "product". I really need to get a digital scale though. I crank out 100 bullets in about an hour. Completed bullets come out really nice, clean, well made and shoot great!
I learned to reload from a friend with a Dillon 550. After budgeting and research, I knew I did NOT want a single stage press. I would realy like just about any Dillon press, I just dint know if I wanted to spend so much on my startup cost.
I ended up getting just about everything I needed from Midwayusa. I spent a total of less than $300 for everything. One Lee Classic Press, 9mm dies, powder measure, primer dispenser, scale, tumbler, media, calipers and a bullet puller. I have a decent work bench in my garage. Just mounted it on the edge, nice and sturdy.
I am really pleased with all the equipment and the final "product". I really need to get a digital scale though. I crank out 100 bullets in about an hour. Completed bullets come out really nice, clean, well made and shoot great!
The Hornady will serve you well. Fine machine.
The reviewer neglected RCBS??? A major omission, IMO.
The reviewer seems to echo what some folks do, that those of us who own Dillon are quite vocal about our praise of them. I agree but I challenge you to find any smarmy remarks like the reviewer quoted. Those remarks almost always come from someone who doesn't own a Dillon and for whatever reason, sees fit to trash Dillon owners.
The Hornady will serve you well. Great choice!
Have fun and be safe.
It's a complicated question to say the least. People who are into the whole casting and understand the principles of how to make lead work, can shoot cheap, cheap bullets with little or no leading at all. I get very little lead in my revolvers and my 1911 is completely lead free, only powder residue. Working on getting a glock to work right now, just got an aftermarket barrel to help with that.
I enjoy casting and everything around it and I shoot my own cast bullets all the time but I know what each of my guns wants / needs and I spent years learning and getting it right and I still have a lot to learn.
If you just wanna buy commercial lead bullets then you have a lot less in the way of options and thus not so many complicated things to keep track of. You can't control the hardness of bullets and most commercial bullets nowadays are too hard (too hard causes leading as much as too soft, if not more) and the lubes are often hard too, which is not suited for all bullets, but it makes cleaner looking bullets that don't get damaged as easily in transport.
What you can do if you are gonna buy lead bullets is slug your barrel and measure the slug with a micrometer, then buy bullets that .0005" to .001" over the size of the bores groove size. After that just experiment with loads and brands until you find something that works for you.
I have a Dillon 650 myself and it's a great press, I really couldn't live with less than 5 stations either. I use the 2nd station as a dedicated brass expander using Lyman M-dies, this is because I shoot lead.
I know two other guys who are both expert shooters and they both own a Hornady LNL. So you can crank out quality ammunition with one of those and unlike the 550 it has 5 stations, always great if you wanna add something later on (expander die, bullet feeder, powder check, etc).
edit: I would still recommend either a 550 or LNL-AP, both are excellent choices. Maybe the LNL is better since it's more like a 650 but for less money. Weird recommendation from a Dillon guy I guess
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Thank you-I was looking for a 5 die set so I can double check my powder for safety (being new). I think I will save $$ and get the LNL.
I also think I will start off w/FMJ bullets-can't really wrap my head around the lad right now.
Thanks for the help,
Jim
I also think I will start off w/FMJ bullets-can't really wrap my head around the lad right now.
Thanks for the help,
Jim
mikethebike67
Member
Good choice. Check out the RCBS lock out die. I like it better than the Dillon powder alarm. I have both. It is also cheaper. If the powder charge is either low or high it halts the press so you can find out what is wrong before you seat another bullet. Mike
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