Question regarding buying a first progressive stage.

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saxsaxsax

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Hi all,

I've been reloading for a bit now and I'm getting the hang of it, now I'm considering a progressive press for pistol.

I was looking at a couple of presses including the Lee 1000 Pro, and Lee LoadMaster, both look awesome, but I've heard that it's a pain in the butt to change calibers on the 1000 Pro...Just curious as to how is it any- different than converting any other progressive press to other calibers? (The lee pro is like $250 and the LoadMaster is around $300, the absolute cheapest presses I could find, is there a reason for it?)

Most people have been recommending RCBS and Hornady for me, which usually ranges up to about $600-800, is it really worth paying more than double the price for a press? what would be the benefits of them? (Seriously....the Lee progressives are VERY inexpensive comparing to other brands). Are the more expensive ones easier to change calibers? easier to operate? last longer? (LoadMaster also has a life-time warantee I think). Other perks?

Any input on this would be awesome!

Thanks in advance!
 
saxsaxsax said:
Most people have been recommending RCBS and Hornady for me, which usually ranges up to about $600-800, is it really worth paying more than double the price for a press?
Click to expand...
Yes; having owned and used both a Lee "Amateur" 1000 and a Lee "Jammaster" and now using Dillon progressives, I can tell you with all certainty getting a decent press is worth the money.

Do some searching on this subform; this subject comes up monthly. The cheap vs. good argument will never end; problem is most of the comments you'll get from the cheap side have never tried the good side so they have bliss in their lack of experience. (Yes, I'm on the good side)

I'll end the post by saying 2 things;

1. Try to find someone that had a Lee progressive, bought a more expensive one (Hornady or Dillon) and now wishes he'd kept the Lee.
2. You wouldn't buy a car that you are expected to fix while you're driving it, don't buy a press that has that criteria.
 
used a lee 1000 for years and upgraded to a Dillon and don't know how I used the lee for so long
a caliber change with the lee was about 10-15 minutes if you have another tool head and a shell plate carrier or 30 minutes without the shell plate carrier
but for the price of the lee buy one for each caliber you wish to load or better yet buy quality once
 
The biggest headache I had with the 1000 was the priming system. If I sat down to reload 5 boxes of 9mm (450 rounds) I can expect at least one jam relating to the priming system. When that jam would happen it would take about 15-20 minutes taking the shell plate off, cleaning all the powder that had dumped and re-timing it once everything was back together. It got so annoying that I actually started just depriming and sizing on the first station and priming only on the second station. That way I wouldn't have to constantly be fighting with spilt powder and cleaning. I would run all my brass thru this way and then I would attach the powder measure and finish off the reloading. I tried all the tricks to get the priming system to be more reliable, polished the priming ramp, tilted the base, added tape to the arm that bumps the primer assembly to help move the primers more in the holder. After fighting with this thing for nearly 6 years I started to search for something better.

I was getting remarried and I thought I should buy something before that time because you never know what is in the future. I did the Hornady/Dillon comparison and to be honest they are very close. I found a dealer in the US that had a sale on Dillon stuff so I took the plunge and bought a 550 with components to do 8 caliber changes, separate die holders so conversion is quick. I have totally changed my outlook on reloading pistol ammo, it is no longer a chore that has to be done to actually enjoying it. No primer jams with powder dumping everywhere, no crushed brass just completed rounds quickly with no fuss. I can get that 5 boxes of 9mm done in about 40 minutes, I was averaging about 2 hours on the 1000 with all the fiddling and cleaning I had to do.

I have found a use for my old Lee 1000. I have converted to the stainless steel pins wet tumbling method and I always remove the primers before tumbling. Now I just use the 1000 to deprime brass first and it works slick for that application. Just dump and handful of brass in the bowl and away you go.
 
You get what you pay for.
I don't do calibre changes on Lee 1000 presses I just buy a used one in the calibre I want.
I'm keeping one eye peeled for a 9mm.
You don't have to pay me to take it; just the shipping.
 
If you go with a Lee make sure you buy one for each caliber that way you should always have enough spare parts to get one of them to work...

If you just want to get your feet wet in a progressive for pistol only then find a Dillon square deal, if rifle rounds such as .223 are an eventuality then the 550 is an excellent place to start... Buy once cry once.
 
If you handy and fixing things, the Lee's will work fine for you if your not shooting tons of ammo. I have 3 so I don't have to switch calibers. I will upgrade to hornady or maybe a dillion at some point but for now the lee works just fine.
 
You didn't mention what-all calibres you were planning to reload. If you're only reloading one or two calibres, and only for common pistols, the Dillon Square Deal B is most likely the press you're looking for.

- And though I hate to have to say it, I'm currently reloading just about everything on a Hornady L&L AP; if I had to do it all over again, I'd've gone for a Dillon 650. Personal experience... :(
 
Dillion 550

My first press. I did so much reading. Hours of research.

Pay once and buy quality. Love Dillion's warranty
 
I'm very happy with Dillon 550. I started with a Lee turret press for pistol, worked ok. Made the switch to 550 and really like it.
 
Dillon 650 FTW. The 550 is good, but having to turn the shell plate, drop in a bullet with the left hand is more work than I ever want to do. The auto indexing on the 650 works beautifully. Then add a case feeder and you'll be laughing. The other nice thing with Dillon is they have lots of goodies you can add to make your work space more efficient. The primer filler is one good example. Love the Dillon, I do still use an RCBS single stage for 338LM, so they can't do everything you'll ever want to do, but they do come close. The auto index and the case feeder are prolly the 2 biggest time savers for me.

As others have said, buy once, cry once. Save up the money and buy quality the first time.
 
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