Turret vs progressive

It's a lot easier to control the execution of every stage precisely with a single-stage press (turreted or not). It's a lot faster to produce your batches of ammo on a progressive press. Which characteristic is the more weighty one is something only you can answer.

I went straight to the progressive, didn't really want to spend for two presses.
 
I generally recommend new handloaders start on a quality single stage like the RCBS Rock Chucked, Forster Co-Ax or Redding Big Boss and then move up to a progressive after they get a little experience under their belt.

Depending on your shooting practices, a turret press may be a good compromise. However, buying a cheap press will prove false economy. If you opt for a turret, go pick up a new Redding T-7 turret press.
 
I purchased a Dillon RL 550 B for my 9mm production runs, and I have never looked back.

I now also load .308 / 30.06 / 300AAC / 300 WinMag and depending on what I am loading for, the progressive press still works a treat. If I want to produce match grade ammo, I have a single turret toolhead which allow me to focus on a key stage at a time.

Go Dillon 550 or 650 and you will never regret it. If reloading is not for you (and it is not for everyone) then you still have a valuable unit to sell.

Candocad.
 
Forster Co-Ax for precision. Lightning fast die change. Built in shell holder. Self centering design. Lots of leverage. Just need to buy dies (no plates or die holder require that can cost upwards of 100 bucks per caliber in progressive)

Progressive HDY LNL or Dillion for pistols cause a single stage would be painful. Every time you pull the trigger reminds you of the effort to load one round.
 
I suggest starting with a single stage. Size a bucket of brass, mouth open the bucket of brass, then powder charge and seat bullets in a bucket. Not terribly slow. The single stage does not have to be a fancy one. I still use a $25 Lee for depriming and sizing, and I prime with a Lee AutoPrime.

Once you understand all the steps, get a Dillon 550 for pistol. Get an extra tool head, so your dies remain perfectly setup.
 
You posted that you're shooting less than 1000 rounds per month. But just the fact that you called it "less than 1000" suggests to me that you're up around the 800 to 900 round level. To my thinking that more than justifies a proper progressive press for now and the future.

Someone posted that an indexing turret press is neither beast nor fowl. And I'd have to go along with that thinking. Yes they are faster and more convenient than a single stage. But EACH round requires three or four pulls of the lever depending on the die setup. What you get by going with a proper progressive is a true "one pull, one round". And that's a BIG step.

You asked about the Dillon 550b. Now that happens to be the press I've got. So I'll try to be as objective as I can.

The 550 is a bit unique because it's one of the few progressive presses that is manually indexed. But at the same time and due to how it uses retention buttons to hold the cases in position it also happens to be the most "single stage" like of any of the progressive presses out there. So while it means having to buy a $60 shell plate kit for each caliber you CAN use it for single stage loading almost as easily as you can with a proper single stage. The 550 is pretty much alone in having this ability to switch from using it as a progressive to using it as a pseudo single stage with the simple removal of the three retention buttons.

The other progressive presses CAN be set up to do this but only by taking more time to remove the auto indexing doodads and then replace them later. Or you live with removing the retention device and live with putting the casing in to one position and removing it from the other. Which is an option if this doesn't confuse you. Frankly I'd find it annoying. Particularly during setup where the casing I'm using as my test casing keeps moving away from under the die I'm trying to set up.

For my handgun loading on my 550b I'm running off around 350 to 370 per hour. This includes the time taken to stop after each 100 and load up another batch of primers. And if I'm really focused and ripping along I can push this to 400 or a touch more. But at that rate it isn't really fun any longer. So more and more I'm slowing down to around 350 to 370. So loading your handgun ammo would take roughly 2 and a bit hours per month.

On a single stage setup for handgun ammo with a big of work and setup for dropping the powder using a die mounted measure you could likely load around 180 per hour doing them in batches of 50 since that's what the loading blocks come made for.

A Lee auto indexing turret would likely put you somewhere between these two numbers simply due to not handling and positioning the casing two or three times due to the separate operations.

But the big one is the need to pull the lever three or four times each for the single stage and turret presses versus one pull per round for the 550b or any other progressive press.

So... it comes down to two factors. How much spare time per month do you have for reloading and what are you willing to pay to let you use less of your time for your reloading?
 
I started with a tiny single stage, and now have a classic turret (both Lee), and a truline Junior. I would have to go with a progressive if I was consistently shooting 1000rds per month of the same calibre. I love the zen-like feel of single loading for my rifles, but would go bonkers with that kinda need single feeding.
 
I am looking at starting on reloading to provide accessable (more affordable) sources for some less common types like 351WSL 401WSL 35 Rem 45-70 8mm Lebel etc.

Also want to be able to do other rifle and pistol.

Is there any issue with availability or compatability with various dies, shell plates etc etc that could cause problems depending on what press I pick?
 
Like a majority of people I started with a single stage RCBS Rockchucker and still use it for most of my rifle cartridge reloading. A couple of years later I bought two Lee Loadmasters (one for small primer cases and one for large primer cases) which I still use regularly and (despite what some complainers say) have given me good, dependable service for not a lot of money. I use these for handgun calibres (9mm, 38 Spec, 40 S&W & 45 ACP) that I shoot thousands of rounds of a year.

Recently, however, I purchased a Lee Classic Turret press (the heavy duty one) to load handgun cartridges that I shoot less of like 44 mag & 45 Colt, rationalizing that the single stage was too slow but changing calibres on the progressives took to much time for cartridges I was only to load by the hundreds, not thousands. It has been everything I hoped it would be. Very rigid, loads consistent ammo, the Lee Safety Prime system is fast and virtually problem free and calibre and primer size changes are very quick. Plus I bought the Inline case ejector system to speed things up and it's a great little addition.

If I were to do it over again I would go the same route only get the turret press earlier. Progressives are not for rookie reloaders at the beginning of the learning curve. Once you are confident in what you are doing a progressive (be it Dillon, Hornady, Lee, etc.) is the way to go to maximize production. The turret is neither fish nor fowl and I always thought the original Lee turret was a little cheesy but the classic cast is top notch. if you can only afford one press I think it's the way to go. Disconnect the auto index and you've got a single stage press. Connect it and you've got a semi-progressive capable of turning out a couple hundred rounds an hour. Not progressive speed but worlds ahead of a single stage.

And remember, if you maintain and take care of your press you can always recoup a significant portion of the cost when you sell it if you want to upgrade.
 
Milanczar said:
I am looking at starting on reloading to provide accessable (more affordable) sources for some less common types like 351WSL 401WSL 35 Rem 45-70 8mm Lebel etc.

Also want to be able to do other rifle and pistol.

Is there any issue with availability or compatability with various dies, shell plates etc etc that could cause problems depending on what press I pick?
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Those sort of calibers would likely lean you towards a single stage. You can set up a die mounted powder volume drop measure such as the Lee Accudisc to use with the WSL ammo for good "accurate enough" plinking ammo and then really go OCD on the charges by weight on the other rounds. With an Accudisc measure sitting on the powder and flaring dies for the WSL ammo and using a rapid swithcing press like a Hornady Lock N' Load or a Lee Breechlock press you should be able to push out 180 to maybe 200 rounds of WSL ammo per hour. Yet the single stage press gives you the stability and accuracy to produce first class accurate rifle loading for when you need to.

Another option to make sure your dies retain their setting when switching frequently during batch processing on a single stage is to use a regular screw in style press but to fit the dies with the Hornady pinch style locking collars. The pinch style collar self aligns with the threads on the die and locks in place better than friction fit Orings like Lee uses or the set screw that just buggers up the threads while letting the locking ring sit cockeyed like some other die makers use. The Hornady pinch collars makes the thread style mount of presses from RCBS and Redding into "fast enough" die swappable presses by avoiding the need to re-adjust each time or suffering from tilted dies with ruined threads.
 
Milanczar said:
I am looking at starting on reloading to provide accessable (more affordable) sources for some less common types like 351WSL 401WSL 35 Rem 45-70 8mm Lebel etc.

Also want to be able to do other rifle and pistol.

Is there any issue with availability or compatability with various dies, shell plates etc etc that could cause problems depending on what press I pick?
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For a Dillon 550, at least, you should be able to find the right combination of conversion parts for all of the above. Refer to the conversion chart in the manual, cartridge drawings, and a shellholder chart to work out the right shell plate/button combination for the ones that aren't specifically listed by Dillon: find which other cases use the same shell holder as the one you want to load and see if you can find one of those in the Dillon chart.

http://www.dillonhelp.com/Dillon Manual PDFs/Dillon-RL550B-September-2010.pdf
https://www.grafs.com/uploads/technical-resource-pdf-file/15.pdf

I would use a .30 Carbine powder funnel/expander for .351 WSL, so as to flare the mouth only without expanding the neck ID. A regular 9mm or .357 funnel might be too big on the parallel portion.
 
Thanks again everyone for all of the information.
It's much appreciated! Helps a newbie reloaded like me to gain some insight from all of the experience out there.
 
Magellann said:
I use the Lee Turret press, and it works excellent for pistol calibers, once the dies are set up in the turret its a simple job to switch between calibers. For rifle loads, I do the same except I remove the indexing rod, and turn the turret by hand when I want to proceed to the next step.
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This is exactly how I do it as well with me LEE turret.
 
Having just bought my first pistol, it being in .45 acp, I realized that ammo was one thing I didn't give a whole lot of consideration to. Bought about 200 rounds of new in box to start start with to make sure the pistol is ok, but now realize I'll have to broaden my horizons a little in order to feed it. That'll mean casting, and eventually a progressive. Leaning toward dillon, but money is tight at the moment, so I quit smoking and will put $10 or more a week in a jar to save up.
Lots of good info here.
 
Good luck TedNugent! It'll definitely pay off when you have a shiny new press and more bullets to put downrange.


Could anyone recommend a single stage or turret press that has a primer bar in it? It seems like I could cut out a lot of time if I had the automated primer injection.
 
S1icedBread said:
Good luck TedNugent! It'll definitely pay off when you have a shiny new press and more bullets to put downrange.


Could anyone recommend a single stage or turret press that has a primer bar in it? It seems like I could cut out a lot of time if I had the automated primer injection.
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The only really good single stage primer setup I've seen and like is the one that Redding uses. The rest all seem a little Mickey Mouse like they would need frequent re-adjusting or you need to tip them in at an odd time during the cycling of the arm or they require some fiddling around with the primers. All of that takes up time. Time which, for me, seems to be better spent using the Lee hand held primer tools so I can prime the cases and get on with the next step.

That priming by hand is included in the 150/hr rate of production I mentioned earlier for loading handgun or other volume measured ammo. Primers are in trays of 100 and I load in batches of 50 at a time since that's what the loading block holds. So I only have to stop and fill the hand primer every other batch. But that's all in the time for production per hour.
 
BCRider said:
The only really good single stage primer setup I've seen and like is the one that Redding uses. The rest all seem a little Mickey Mouse like they would need frequent re-adjusting or you need to tip them in at an odd time during the cycling of the arm or they require some fiddling around with the primers. All of that takes up time. Time which, for me, seems to be better spent using the Lee hand held primer tools so I can prime the cases and get on with the next step.

That priming by hand is included in the 150/hr rate of production I mentioned earlier for loading handgun or other volume measured ammo. Primers are in trays of 100 and I load in batches of 50 at a time since that's what the loading block holds. So I only have to stop and fill the hand primer every other batch. But that's all in the time for production per hour.
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I simply use a Lee Ergo and forgo trying to add that to the press.
 
Pr589 said:
It all depends on how much you're willing to invest up front, and how many rounds you want/need to reload per hour. The Dillon is more expensive (press, parts and accessories) but more productive. The turret (and by this I mean an auto-indexing turret) is less expensive (can be 1/3rd the cost) but only about 60% as productive as the Dillon 550B. This is in reference to pistol rounds loaded in full progressive or auto-indexed mode.

For rifle rounds, depending on your loading process, the 550 and turret will load the same volume/hr. This is because most rifle loading processes combine on-press and off-press steps which causes either press to be operated like a single stage.

That said, a single-stage offers some advantages for accuracy-oriented rifle loading and is a press that can be used for many special purposes (decapping, bullet pulling, swaging, etc.) that can make it a long-term addition to your bench. A great combination is a single-stage for rifle and a progressive for pistol.

Unless you are a committed reloader, do you know that you will be using the press enough to get your investment out of it? Many prospective reloaders find that they lack time or ongoing interest within a year or two.
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As an owner of a 550 I agree with these statements. For pistol I produce about 400 rounds an hour. Nice and simple works great but with rifle it becomes a multi step process and the advantages of the progressive reduce significantly. I produce about 200 rounds an hour of 223. If you are predominantly doing handgun ammo the 550 is great unless you shoot very high amounts in which case you will want either the 650 or 1050. I shoot 1000 rounds a month or so and can keep up no problem with the 550. If you are just doing rifle I would recommend the single stage press.
 
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