The old progressive dilema

Boogsawaste

Boogsawaste

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Well I've been happily chugging along with my Lee classic cast for a few years now. But I have an old shoulder seperation rearing its ugly head lately and the extra 3 strokes per round might be taking its toll on me. :(

I had a deal on a square deal fall through recently and have spent the money on something else but may be regretting that decision now!

My issue is that I don't load a whole lot of rounds. I shoot a couple hundred a month of 9mm, 38/357, with a little 35 Remington sprinkled in. I know the square deal doesn't do rifle but for how much 35 I load I could keep the Lee or pick up a second hand single stage.

Is it worth it to save up for a progressive with my shooting requirements? I've even considered the Lee pro 1000 for price but it doesn't have positive feedback on the priming system. FYI, I prime with an auto prime 2 (usually a different day to keep the shoulder together!), so it really takes me 5 handle pulls to make a round. I like the idea of auto indexing also but it's not a deal breaker.

At this point I'm open to all options as far as presses/ideas. Be it used rcbs piggyback or pro1000 to possibly a 550 or Hornady LNL, maybe sell my classic turret to help fund? Just trying to stay on a budget as much as possible as money is tight and I don't want to give up shooting because it's becoming a pain to load!
 
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Forgot to add that the one thing I don't like about the pro1000 is its only 3 stations and I like to crimp and seat on different stations. Not a deal killer but something to consider.
 
Well, yes, a progressive is definitely worth it. You will never look back. Get the Square Deal if you can, the 550 is even better. I have loaded a great big pile of rounds on Square Deals, and a goodly number on the 550 and 650 as well.

Don't talk yourself out of it.
 
Thanks and that's what I'm thinking. Almost trying to talk myself out of it maybe. Time to start going through my junk looking for stuff to sell and make a couple bucks!
 
I have loaded on a square deal before and didn't like it. I have loaded 10s of thousands of rounds on a RL550 (4 of them actually) and feel these are the best value out there. I have used most progressives made and would choose something from Dillon over anything else, either a 550, 650, or 1050.
 
I bought the Hornady LNL first of this year as a total beginner. Yep, never loaded anything before in my life. Set up was pretty easy and within a couple days I was loading rounds. As of now I've loaded about 3k total of 380, 9mm, 38Special, 40S&W, 45ACP, 44Mag, and 223/5.56 ammo. I have run into a couple problems here and there, some I figured out on my own and others the folks here helped me out. While I did have a few problems none were the fault of the press and all were rookie mistakes.

I'm not a bench rest shooter and my loads are for target practice/plinking. I can easily turn out a couple hundred rounds in an hour taking my time and not rushing. If I did this all over again I can't see any reason to do it differently. Been 100% happy so far.
 
It's absolutely worth getting a progressive with a shoulder problem. I have a similar issue with my shoulder.

I have a Lee turret that did everything I needed, but I had to schedule my reloading sessions around my shoulder.

I still use the turret for two low volume calibers, and a progressive for my higher volume 9 and 38 spl.

It's worth saving up... that repetition can really wear on our bodies.

Will
 
I use a system that I have named "semi-progressive" because I had a goal in mind and some strict guidelines along the way.

I had loaded single stage for 20yrs before making any change. I was (still am) shooting a LOT of handgun ammo and full progressive was really where I "needed" to be, but here were my roadblocks:

I load a huge array of different calibers. More than a dozen, though some rarely. To set up a progressive press for ALL those calibers was going to be a ridiculous price tag no matter which progressive machine you choose.

I also am very much in love with my Lyman 55 and my single stage technique/process. Basically, it's VERY important to me to hold a tray of 50rds and inspect them for powder level. And nearly as much, the feel in my press lever when seating bullets is something very important to my process.

What I wanted was a new way of sizing, decapping, priming and flaring brass that saved me lever strokes -AND- saved me the repetitive & exhausting small hand motions of picking up brass, sliding in to a shell holder and removing from shell holder.

I went with a Lee Pro-1000. With an array of shell plates (cheap price!) and both small/large priming setups, I now use this machine to prep all of my brass.

There isn't one single thing about a Lee Pro-1000 that matches up or beats a Dillon progressive EXCEPT the night & day difference in price. And the fact that my ammo is fantastic.

My log says I've loaded over 8,900rds so far in 2016. I have prepped somewhere near 100,000 pieces of brass on this machine. I'm currently able to prep .32 Mag, .327 Federal, .380 Auto, .38 Super, 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Mag, 40cal, 10mm, .41 Mag, .45 Auto, .460 Rowland and .45 Colt.

I do leave .30 Carb, .357-44 B&D, .460 Mag and .500 Mag for the single stage.

The Pro-1000 is "fiddly" just as many have reported. It's cheap build quality is geared with a budget in mind. But when you learn it's quirks and keep an eye on things, it is absolutely capable of serious production.

Making a lot of ammo is still a lot of labor, no doubt. And my process is definitely slower and more work than a full progressive, for sure. But when it's time for me to make ammo, I reach for a container with several hundred pieces of brass that's already clean, sized, primed and flared. All I do is charge and seat/crimp and I'm ready for shooting.

My system is not for everyone. But if someone wants a fun mathematical exercise, try and outfit a Dillon 550 to run those 13 different chamberings. Not including the dies that I already owned, I have around $300 in to my Pro-1000.
 
Thanks guys. By the way, not looking for the best press on the planet, but I want something functional. There's no need for a 1050 or anything. More than likely I'll be buying second hand to keep the cost lower.
 
One of the great things about any progressive is the work saved, one handle pull, one round. Go fast or slow, you are still saving work. If speed isn't an issue, then a 550 or LNL, no case feeder. I would avoid any Lee, unless you just like to tinker. Too many worry over initial cost IMO. Consider what factory ammo costs today, even a 1050 is cheap over 5-10yrs, even for lowly 9mm.
Side note, last weekend I needed 800rds for a training class. On my 650, it took me less than 2hrs total reloading time. So when you need the volume, it's nice to have options that no Lee can really give you. I could also have done it on my 550, maybe 2.5hrs, but I was going pretty slow on the 650.
 
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we bought a used Dillon 550B back in 2000, after doing all our reloading for better than 20 years on our Rock Chucker. my teen aged daughter had grown to love shooting center fire pistols and it was just too hard on me & my wife to reload for her on the Rock Chucker...

Heck the first night we had the Dillon... after we got it set up.. the girls loaded 485 .38 spec LWC's rounds in about 1 hour. I loaded the primer tubes for them.

My wife advanced the index & put in the new case & worked the handle each time... while our daughter eye balled the powder level in the case on station 3 & put the bullet on the charged case each time... and we do all of the crimping on station 4..& we've kept to this method ever since for nearly all of our loading on it. Though I do some handgun loading on it by myself, though at a much slower speed.

We load .38 spec, .357 mag, .44 spec, .44mag, .45 ACP, .45 Colt(Long Colt), 9mm para and all .223 Rem intended for 600yard shooting or less are all done on the Dillon 550B. The Dillon is flat out easy to use once you've set up the dies for it... it takes us about 30 minutes to set up a new set of dies & adjust the belling on stage 2 & to adjust the powder thrower for each caliber from scratch...

Once that's done.. switching to another caliber with the same sized primer is a snap... switching from small primers to large is easy... once you get the hang of it.. but keep your Dillon instruction book handy.. it is very well written & is easy to understand.
 
I have owned a L-N-L AP and could not get it to work properly, and got rid of it! That was 2+ years ago. I have had a 4 position Dillon (450)since 1984. When I bought it, you had to manually push the primer bar forward and manually push the powder measurer. Those items and others have been updated until I am using a current model (550b). If you find an older model, It Is Still Under Warranty. It can also be updated as far as you wish! I have gone with the changeable tool heads with several permanently set up for a cartridge. I also have a few I leave empty, to set up for limited runs of over 150-200 minimum. Over the years I have loaded 2 batches of 9mm that were just over 10,000 rounds 1 batch of 223 that was 20,000 round, and about every 2 years a batch of 45 acp that are over 5,000 rounds and occasional batches of 2000-3000 of 38 special, 44-40, 45 Colt. Along with 1000-1500 round batches of 44 Special, 44 Russian, 45 S&W, 45-70 and a few others. The truth is I don't own enough brass to make 30-30, 35 rem, 22-250 and the like worth setting up, so they are loaded in small batches on my T-7 turret or 50+ year old Rock Chucker. I still have about 6500 round of 223 for the AR and the bolt action 223's each get a special loading.

A complete chance of dies, powder charging, shell plate and priming takes about 20 to 30 min once you are use to it. If you have changeable tool heads you save the easiest part, about 5 minutes. the shell plate is about 5 or less. The powder adjustment is the time user! but spare powder measurers are $77.95 each. I think I can make several adjustments for $78! There are several tricks for making fewer adjustments, but now isn't the time to hash this out.

The important thing is get a progressive press and load lots of ammo, shoot it up, then turn around and load it again.

Ivan
 
I forgot about the 450's. Something to consider!

I'm not in this for monstrous piles of ammo manufacturing as I was more than happy to load 150ish in an hour. However that's 750 handle pulls on the turret (remember I prime with auto prime 2). With a progressive it'll be a lot less obviously. Spending the money to make such small batches for me is a hard pill to swallow, until my shoulder starts tensing up. I'm only 35 and this isn't getting any better so it is what it is. Thanks everyone.
 
Let me be the first, and maybe last, to say my loadmaster is great. Lee has fixed the old primer issues. The things that go wrong are caused by operator error.It "is" a good thing to maximize production per effort. Prior to loadmaster I was using the hand clam. The weakest,most vital QC link is the powder measure. Even the most reliable, need to be monitored. At the risk of sounding like a pitch man, the Lee auto drum is very consistent at the most reasonable price. Currently I am loading 9mm, 380 and 32 acp. As always use care and due diligence.
 
For your needs the Dillon 550 is the way to go, easy to learn, price is right, great service and tech support.
 
Thanks again. With the exception of the square deal I can just use my dies and I have a couple uniflows set up as case activated so I'm set there. Just need a press and shell plates for it and I'd be good to go.
 
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