Recommend me a progressive setup

T

Taurkon

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I started hunting for more .223/5.56 this week and seems I'll be paying between $0.55 - $0.60/round in bulk IF I can find ammo. It appears we are heading into a situation our brothers and sisters south of us have been contending with since last March.

My wife and I shoot weekly, it's one of the things we do together as a hobby. Both my son-in laws have also started shooting and my daughters shoot occasionally. Here are some of the details:

Monthly round count for the family:

.22 - ~ 1000 (out of scope here)
9mm - ~ 1000
.45 - < 50
.225/5.56 - 300
.308 - < 50

These numbers will likely increase by ~ 20% over the next year with the new shooters in the family.

I am not (yet) shooting precision, but may in the future. At this time, undecided and not sure what caliber I'd shoot but likely .308 to keep my ammo calibers to a minimum.

Objectives:

1. Eliminate - reliance on purchase of ammo from retailers
2. Decrease - cost/round of shooting
3. Decrease - possible tracking of future ammunition purchases by the feds
4. Maintain - highly reliable reloading system

So, in summary I'd guess I'd be reloading about 15-20K rounds annually. From what I've read, I should likely be looking at a progressive press and it seems to come down to Dillon, Hornady, and Lee. I've watched and gone through the sticky on these presses with Hornady coming out on top by a hair, but that was 13 years ago.

It seems the Dillon XL 650/750 is favored by a significant number of reloaders. I am looking for opinions that would confirm or suggest other presses. Also, aside from the press, what and where do you spend money on additional equipment for reloading? Tumblers, trimmers (I think the 750 does this) other??? Are dies generic or specific to manufacturers?

One last question.... does the price of powder and cases increase linearly with ammo prices generally? I have about 6K each of bulk .223 & 9mm so I figure I will have brass for a while.

Thank you in advance for feedback.
 
Do you have someone close that you know reloads that can mentor you? You can learn a lot with the manuals (a critical first step), youtube and other media but there is something very positive about going through the process under someone that can walk you through it and answer questions in real time.
If you bypass that, spend $1000-1500 on a progressive and just start, you will be disappointed and frustrated. With a progressive you have at least 5 operations happening at once not including aspects that must be monitored ever pull of the handle. You need the experience to know what feels/looks normal and what isn't. If it doesn't go smooth (and even the blue machines are not perfect) do you know what operation is not right, how to clear it, how to fix it and how to ensure it doesn't happen again. It isn't out of the box and into 400 rds/hr.
You have done your homework and realistically set your requirements which is a great start. I currently own a Hornady AP and Dillon Square Deal, both amazing machines but they both require attention. I also I have a RCBS Rockchucker that I used for 30 years before I bought my first progressive, loading rifle and pistol.
Welcome to reloading and enjoy the hobby.
 
tbhupe said:
Do you have someone close that you know reloads that can mentor you? You can learn a lot with the manuals (a critical first step), youtube and other media but there is something very positive about going through the process under someone that can walk you through it and answer questions in real time.
If you bypass that, spend $1000-1500 on a progressive and just start, you will be disappointed and frustrated. With a progressive you have at least 5 operations happening at once not including aspects that must be monitored ever pull of the handle. You need the experience to know what feels/looks normal and what isn't. If it doesn't go smooth (and even the blue machines are not perfect) do you know what operation is not right, how to clear it, how to fix it and how to ensure it doesn't happen again. It isn't out of the box and into 400 rds/hr.
You have done your homework and realistically set your requirements which is a great start. I currently own a Hornady AP and Dillon Square Deal, both amazing machines but they both require attention. I also I have a RCBS Rockchucker that I used for 30 years before I bought my first progressive, loading rifle and pistol.
Welcome to reloading and enjoy the hobby.
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Thank you for your response. No, I don't have a mentor and don't know anyone personally that does reload. I appreciate your informed opinion on first learning the basics and steps involved in reloading; I am sure my range could recommend a few folks that would be willing to spend some time mentoring me. There is a gentleman there who's retired and I chat with weekly who is a reloader, that might be a good start if he is willing.
 
I jumped in and started with a Hornady LnL AP for pistol shooting. No big deal. I’m fairly mechanically inclined, and set up one die at a time. Then found little details like the seating depth should be fine tuned with all stations installed. Take your time, double check everything, esp powder charges. If you use a battery powered caliper, have spare batteries handy. :)

I recently set up a single stage press for precision, and don’t regret doing the progressive press first.

....now as for the press itself, if I were to do it again, I’d go with Dillon 650 or 750. I have a ton of brass that needs the primer pockets to be swaged. Fed primers get mangled in them too often. The Hornady cannot do swaging on pistol brass.

As mentioned, any brand of progressive will need fiddling, so this is something you’ll need to keep in mind.
 
Might be a little late to be getting into reloading as components are becoming scarce for now.I'd be hoarding that and get presses and dies later.
 
Once you start reloading, your preliminary volume estimates may very well go out of the window.

With your requirements on the number of calibers and the expected volume (<1000 rounds per session), Dillon 550 is a good economic option.

A fully progressive press, e.g. Dillon 750 is a better solution for higher volumes, it has an extra die station for powder check and more space for bullet and case feeders, but the initial investment is quite a bit higher. You will need a conversion kit and a tool head or two for each caliber, and 650/750 parts are more expensive than 550.

Long term, Dillon is great, their no BS lifetime warranty covers pretty much everything and it doesn’t matter if you are the original owner or bought the press second hand.

I would skip single stage altogether, unless you demand sub-0.3 MOA accuracy. More handling = greater potential for human error. Once you fine tune the loads to your rifles, hand loaded ammo should yield better accuracy than factory ammo even with a progressive setup.
 
Taurkon said:
Are dies generic or specific to manufacturers?
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Most dies are generic. The Dillon Square Deal press uses dies specific to that press, IIRC.
With 9 mm dies, pay attention to the crimp type (taper vs “factory”).

does the price of powder and cases increase linearly with ammo prices generally? I have about 6K each of bulk .223 & 9mm so I figure I will have brass for a while.
Click to expand...
The biggest cost is the projectiles, then primers. Powder is cheap, per round.
 
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