Progressive Press?

[olghoat]

Looking at getting a progressive press.  Dillon 550 or Hornady?

[sgtt]

Dillon

[PA-Joe]

Hornady and you get 1000 bullets free!

[GRIMJIM]

I have had no problems with my dillon 550.

[Davemuzz]

Look,

You can get into another post of a Dillon Blue vs. a Hornady Red until your purple in the face. Then someone else will jump in with a "Redding Turret is the best" comment, and of course, there are the dye-in-the-wool "single stage or nuthin" guys.

I have the Hornady LNL with a case feeder. I've had it for 4 years now and it's still runnin like a clock.

I just wish they had that darn free bullet deal when I bought mine!!

They are all quality products. Get the one that's going to cost you "net-net" the least amount of up front cash. Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL QUALITY PRODUCTS!!!

MHO

Dave

And if you really want to see more yappin about "who is the best"...just do a search of progressive press on GB's forum and you should get about a zillion hits.

[Hairtrigger]

Here is some interesting reading. also google "dillon ve Hornady"  Both make solid machines.
http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

Hornady has the biggest advantage in Initial cost and Cost for caliber conversions,

[cwlongshot]

My first choice in a progressive is a Dillon machine. but I have herd some good things about Hornady as well. Difference is I KNOW DILLON is good....

CW

[gypsyman]

I've got a Dillion 550, couldn't be happier. A friend of mine has the Hornady. Excellent press. You couldn't go wrong with either one. Now, I'm going to ask you a question, only you can answer. How many rounds a month, do you plan on reloading? If it's 500-600 rds. a month or less, do you really need a progressive? I use to do that in a week with an RCBS rock chucker single stage.
Point I'm making, if you have money to spare, get whatever blows your skirt up. But, in reality, if you shoot say, 2,000 to 3,000 rds. a year, do you want to spend $500 on a press,(or close to it), when you can get a brand new single stage from just about any company for under a $100, to just around $130.
Why buy a race car, when your just driving to the supermarket. gypsyman

[securitysix]

I've got a Dillion 550, couldn't be happier. A friend of mine has the Hornady. Excellent press. You couldn't go wrong with either one. Now, I'm going to ask you a question, only you can answer. How many rounds a month, do you plan on reloading? If it's 500-600 rds. a month or less, do you really need a progressive? I use to do that in a week with an RCBS rock chucker single stage.
Point I'm making, if you have money to spare, get whatever blows your skirt up. But, in reality, if you shoot say, 2,000 to 3,000 rds. a year, do you want to spend $500 on a press,(or close to it), when you can get a brand new single stage from just about any company for under a $100, to just around $130.
Why buy a race car, when your just driving to the supermarket. gypsyman

You have a valid point.  It's possible to do 500 to 600 rounds a month on a Lee hand press, for that matter (I've done it, and I can't say it's particularly fun).  If you shoot 500 to 600 rounds a month, every month, a progressive can be nice.  Even a good turret press can be nice.

Rather than spending the bulk of your free time for most of a month to put out 500+ rounds, it can be nice to just sit down one evening a night or two before you're going to the range and reloading that same 500+ rounds.  Then you can spend the rest of your free time during that month hanging out right here on GBO...or, you know, doing something else.

Which reminds me...I need to either start working on some .357 Magnum reloads or con my dad into switching his Dillon 650 over from .45 ACP and letting me borrow it for a couple of hours. 

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got both and like both. Bottom line though is if i could have only one press on the bench it would be a 550. Its just a simpler and more reliable system. Its manual indexing which makes it a tad slower but its the manual index that makes it more reliable.

[Hairtrigger]

One thing That rarely comes up in the arguement of press brands is the ergonomics (sp?) of each press. Some you insert the case with the right hand others your left hand. For me it is a matter of what I have been using for 20 + years so all else feels wrong.
If you could try both before purchasing...
And to be fair to your orininal question, the Hornady closely compares to the 650 not the 550

[Lloyd Smale]

its kind of a toss up in that respect for me. Im more used to the dillons but find the lnl especially when not using a case feeder a little faster to use because your putting both the case and the bullet on with your left hand and it allows you to keep your right hand on the handle all the time. Now put a case feeder on and i probably like the dillon better. Mostly its a wash and in a couple hours a guy gets used to the one hes using and either will load smoothly.

[Tommyt]

I used a RCBS Rock Crusher I then got a Dillon and started shooting and loading  hand gun cartridges
I am new to the Dillon but so far its love and first session
I know look to load things seems all I want to do is shoot and sit down and enjoy loading
Thai is not the normal me
Dillon is for me

Tommyt

[Dave in WV]

I don't have a progressive press. The only thing I can share about them is I've never heard anyone say I wish I had bought one from "X" instead of a Dillon. I have heard more than one person say I wish I had bought a Dillon.  YMMV

[Davemuzz]

I don't have a progressive press. The only thing I can share about them is I've never heard anyone say I wish I had bought one from "X" instead of a Dillon. I have heard more than one person say I wish I had bought a Dillon.  YMMV

I would say that you don't read every post concerning progressive presses then.

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,88553.msg536334.html#msg536334

[Dave in WV]

You are correct. I also stated "heard" as in have been told by owners.

[GregP42]

OK guys,

I can only tell you about the Dillon as that is what I use. I have a 550 that I have had for ever, like just over 20 years. I have used it to load everything from 30-06 to 32-20 and besides the setup the first time for each round it is easy to use. I have looked at the Hornady and it looks like a nice press as well, but I have not been able to use one or see one in action, just one on display.

There have been horror stories about bad customer service from Dillon by some folks, but I have never had a problem with them the few times I have had to call in all the years I have had my press.

I wish I could tell you about the Hornady as well, but I can't. If you have any questions about the 550 I am sure one of us that use them can answer them for you.

Greg