New reloading press choice

[Bigeasy]

Hey Guys

I am in the market for a new progressive reloading press, and have pretty much narrowed it down to a Hornady lock'n load or the equivalent Dillon.  I am looking for a speed / volume increase over my old single stage and manual turret presses.  Mostly for 45 acp, 44 mag, .223 and 308.

Any suggestions, or comments about either system?

Thanks

Larry

[Catfish]

The Hornady is a good press, but cannot hold a candle to a 550 Dillon. I`ve been loading on a Dillon since the early 1980`s and would have no other press. I have no idea how many different calibers I have load for on it, but I load for most of the common cal`s, and at present 7 different wildcat cal`s plus several different handgun rounds.

[hornady]

I am not going to get into the whole, which is better debate, I like the Hornady LNL auto progressive, I have added a link to Midway USA, with 114 positive reviews on the LNL.
And the Hornady has a lower price you also get 500 free bullets with the press.


http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=679228

[KansasPaul]

Man, I've been down this same road a dozen times in the past month..... here's how it shakes out for me:

Hornady has more bang for the buck out of the box - lnl bushings make change-over a snap and cost less as compared to the Dillon.
The Hornady powder measure is viewed by many as being superior to the Dillon.
According to Hornady, Lee dies are not long enough (crimp and seating die) to work in the Hornady but will work in the Dillon - if yo uhave a lot of Lee dies, you may have to buy new dies w/ the Hornady.
The Dillon has been around a long time and all of the bugs have been worked out - according to some Hornady owners, the L-N-L press can take some "tinkering" with set-up. 
The Hornady is auto-progressive while the Dillon is manual indexing.

I don't think you could go wrong with either.  For me, the Hornady has a lower cost to own and I likely would buy it before the Dillon (I also don't mind "tinkering").

I went cheap and bought a good used RCBS progressive instead. I'll see how it works out and may end up selling it in the future to buy one of the above mentioned machines.

[rdmallory]

I am thinking about going CHEEP with the Dillon. They now sell a basic without the primer and powder drop. I have a Lee turret and it looks like I can use the Lee disc powder drop and my dies on the Dillon. I prime all my brass by hand so the primer station is no loss for me.

Doug

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got 3 lnl progressives and on 550 and have owned a few square deals in the past. Heres my take on it. the lnl is a good machine and because its a true progressive is much faster to load on. Ill say its reliable with reservations. The case feeder is what causes the most headaches with it. If you want a case feeder on a progressive id step up to a 650 dillon. there much more reliable. the 650 was made to use a case feeder, its not just a add on design like the lnl. Only other problem with the lnl is the advance design. Seems like it likes to go out of time often and needs a little tweeking ocasionaly. It even needs adjusting sometimes when swapping calibers. This seems to vary from press to press. one of mine needs it more then the other two but all of them need it occasionaly. The 650s ive run never need ajusting. The things i like about the lnl over the dillon are the die swapping. Both dillon and hornady are easy to swap but i like the fact that i can change out dies in a second if i want to go from a standard die to a neck die or to a small base die. or in the case of the 44mag/44special or the 357/38 swap calibers by just snapping in a seating die. I also think the powder measure is much better then dillons. I like it so much that i bought one for the bench too. There real nice when a guy buys differnt ajustment stems and keeps them set up in a specific charge weight. Swapping calibers a guy can just snap in the right stem and go. They also seem to meter better then my dillons. Now for the dillon

[Lloyd Smale]

there is no press simpler to run then a 550. Yes there a bit slower but they are dead reliable. The fact that theres not an auto advance makes them more reliable. If i had to place a bet and needed to load 5000 round of ammo without one burp id hands down take a 550 to do it on. Another handy thing for some is without the auto advance its easy to use it as a single stage press if you want. If all a guy wants to load is a couple of differnt handgun rounds a square deal is a good press. They have a very short stroke and that makes them just as fast to load with as a 650. If i get into a good rythm and have components available nothings quicker to load with then a square deal. Downside to them is there it takes a bit more time to swap calibers (not alot though) and caliber conversions arent cheap. You also cant do rilfe rounds on them. Bottom line is there all decent presses. But if i had to admit it i would in a second trade all 4 of them for 650s with cases feeders. To me the 650 is the cadilac of the presses. Its not quite as good as a 1050 but is much easier to swap calibers on, much cheaper to swap calibers on and just eaiser to work on when something goes wrong. rdmallory
i dont want to critisize your opinion but if i had to go without the powder drop and primer feed i think id just buy a lee turent press as your taking the speed out of the game anyway. Kansas paul the lee dies work just fine in a hornady. Theres not enough thread left to lock them down but that isnt a  big consern as they dont go anywhere anyway. If it bothers you all you have to do is rough up the threads on them so that when you put them in a bushing they stay in place.

[Lloyd Smale]

The hornady is definately cheap. Especialy when you factor in the bullets but keep in mind when i bought mine they gave a 1000 bullets and that was the deal breaker for me but a year later all the bullets were gone and you still have the press. I wish i would have bucked up back then and just bought the 650s. Keep in mind though that for most the hornady is all the press you will ever need. I load ALOT! Just in the last couple days ive loaded 3000 45acps. Its a rare thing when my presses lay silent for more then a day at a time. I think for someone who does load as much as i do youd be better off bucking up for a 650 and i also believe that the best press for 90 percent of the guys looking for a progressive is a 550 dillon. 

I am not going to get into the whole, which is better debate, I like the Hornady LNL auto progressive, I have added a link to Midway USA, with 114 positive reviews on the LNL.
And the Hornady has a lower price you also get 500 free bullets with the press.


http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=679228

[hornady]

As I said the Hornady works well for me, how ever I only load pistol ammo on mine, and I too got in on the deal of 1000 free bullets.
I only added the link too Mid Way as a reference, and opinion of other owners.
As with anything in life, what is right for one person may not be for everyone.
I load all my Rifle ammo on a Redding Big Boss, or my 40-year-old Pacific.
Realistically I shoot about 500 rounds of pistol a week, and the LNL easily handles that.
My Rifle ammo I may shoot a hundred Rounds a week in the summer months.
Both the 650 and LNL are not cheap when you start adding calibers.
Some can justify the 650 some cannot.
I would read as many reviews as possible, and tailor your equipment to your needs.
 

[Bigeasy]

Thanks all for the feedback.  Lots of information.  I am leaning in the direction of the Dillon 550 for its reliability, simplicity,  and adequate speed as compared to an automatic indexing machine.  300 / 400 rounds per hour is plenty fast enough, as that is about what I might shoot on a typical weekend.  My time seems to have droped in value since I retired...lol

Larry

[mdi]

Thanks Mr. Smale for tht info/comparison of these presses. If I could shoot more I think I'd go with the Dillon 550 (I mainly shoot 45 ACP and my twins; .44 Mag).

Kansaspaul, I would be interested in a report on the RCBS  press though...

[Lloyd Smale]

well i hate to knock anyones choise in presses buy one of my friends bought the rcbs progressive last year. Ive load a few thousand rounds on his and dont care for it a bit. Seems like everything is backwards if your used to a dillon or lnl and i absolutely detest those strip primer things and having to load primers in them. I truely think rcbs makes some of the best loading equiptment on the market but there progressive isnt one of them. Maybe if it were all a guy ever had loaded on hed get used to it and its idiosyncracys but its not for me. Only good thing ill say about it is its hands down better then a lee progressive.