.308: Single Stage or Progressive?

ASTRYX

ASTRYX

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Hi,

I am reloading .308 for hunting, not for match/target.

Does anyone have any ideas, opinions or suggestions regarding what press I should use.

I have Dillon RL 550B.

I could by the dies and the quick change kit ...

OR

I could by a single stage press.

Kind of confused.
 
I had a 550B for loading match/target ammo and found it would not throw Varget as well as I needed it to (+-2 gr) . Went back to a single stage and weigh everything.
You could use the 550B as a single stage.
 
Depends on your budget, if you want an upgrade as well as a single stage press, consider the Forster Co-ax press, the best out there that loads the most concentric ammo.
 
What type of hunting do you do?
If you're a 50-150 yards deer or moose hunter, any press should give you 1.5-2 MOA accuracy if you use easily flowing powder.

Personnaly, I use a single stage press for bolt-action rifles simply because I'm looking for better than 1/2 MOA accuracy and can't control quality between the different reloading steps with a progressive press!

Alex
 
Unless you're doing some high volume hunting, a good single stage is good if you don't have one already. Buy a universal decapping die and universal neck expanding die to add to its usefulness :)
 
ASTRYX said:
Hi,

I am reloading .308 for hunting, not for match/target.

Does anyone have any ideas, opinions or suggestions regarding what press I should use.

I have Dillon RL 550B.

I could by the dies and the quick change kit ...

OR

I could by a single stage press.

Kind of confused.
Click to expand...


There is no reason you cannot use your 550B to make reloads for practice and hunting. There is no burning need for quarter inch at 100 m accuracy for hunting, despite what many would tell you. As for worrying about plus or minus .2 grain of powder, that might be vital for 1000 yard shooting, but is pretty close to irrelevant for most of us out to 300-400 yards (which is a long way in the hunting field).
If the conversion makes sense for you and your setup, go for it.
 
the other upside is the 308 and 45acp use the same shellholder plate- just a simple matter of changing your top end - i've had a 550b for years and used it for many hundreds of rounds- trick is to use a free flowing powder- personally, i like a ball like ww748, 760 etc- stay away from the long kernel powers as you might encounter some cut kernels which will vary your burn rate
 
I vote single stage. I reload everything including lots of pistol rounds. You might not be looking for target accuracy but there is more control with the single stage press.
 
what "control" are you talking about-? it's all mechanical- you can tell each stage by feel-and it takes nothing to watch the powder level drop or use a graduated cylinder- remember , the 550 is NOT an auto-index- you HAVE CONTROL with each step along the way, it's only with the SWIPE OF THE STARWHEEL that the unit advances- that also makes it vulernable to a DOUBLE STEP- where the only problem might be a double charge, but if you're using rifle powder and double charge it overflows anyway
btw, with the dillon and the right powder, it IS POSSIBLE TO GET .1 variance over 10 loads- i've done it with ww748-weighed each charge, 10 charges and had a variance of .1 or less- done with a beam scale- now i just measure the first, about 10 charges in, then every 10 thereafter- and it's at least .2 variance, some are .1 and bang on
 
The 550 works just fine for the vast majority of rifle reloading requirements. I have put together .223 ammo that shoots approximately 0.6 MOA 10 shot groups out of my CZ 527 Varmint. Of course, you will want to choose a powder that meters well for best results.
 
i have always used a single press for many years and cranked out many thousands of rounds and my ammo shot with great accuracy.
 
my poor old 550 is a 92 issue- your point is?- the only reason i would get a single stage is to gain an extra station like a lube die if i was too lazy to spray or roll-
 
I bought my Lee Loadmaster most for reloading for pistol rounds but also wanted to be able to load for my 300 WM. As I didn't want to buy two presses as the time, it worked flawlessly in doing both jobs. I don't use the progressive when loading rifle rounds (other than 223 for my AR), just do one stage at a time like a single stage. Sense then I now have a Lee single stage but I do a lot of sizing of cast bullets and that's a pain in the butt with a progressive and now use it to do my 300WM. If all your going to do is a minimal amount of 308 I don't see the need for a second press unless you have the cash to.
 
There is no reason you can't use your Dillon 550B for precision handloads. I use it all the time with great results.

Admittedly though I got around the cylindrical powder issue by buying an RCBS Chargemaster so each load gets metered / weighed thru it. I don't mind though... I use the extra time to inspect / measure more brass for my precison rigs!

Regards,
 
I've thought about using my 550 for 223 reloads but every time I convince myself I chicken out and go back to my single stage press. It would probably work fine with ball powders but I'm fussy to a fault and not weighing every charge would probably give me a rash.
 
BUM, I hear you and am compulsive obsessive about details when hand loading for just about anything. Comes from a competitive trait I have. I didn't worry about it much until I started shooting Hunter Bench Rest. The best thing that ever happened to me was the fact that .1 - .2 grains of powder one way or the other didn't make even a little bit of difference, right out to the 300 and 400 yard targets. Mostly 300, the 400 yard targets were for side bets and tie breaking, if the range was adequate.

I to have been seriously looking at some way to cut down my time at the loading bench. The Dillon 550 and 650 seem to be the cadillac way to go. I need to talk up close and personal with someone that has used different types and answer a few questions. My biggest problem is that I load for to many different rifles. They each require different settings and in some cases, I even buy a separate set of dies for each. The set up time alone might just be a killer.
 
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