Best Press for Bulk .223?
- Thread starter Slug870
- Start date
Henry Nierychlo
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Surrey, B.C.
A Hornady Lock n Load progressive press is the best deal for your money. They now make a bullet feeder for .223 so you can really pump out the ammo. Look into an Ammo Plant if you really want to go hog wild. It's a lot cheaper than a Dillon & Hornady will also send you some Free bullets if you buy their Press & dies.
The changover time with a Hornady is a lot less too.
I have all of those in stock & ready to ship.
Regards, Henry
The changover time with a Hornady is a lot less too.
I have all of those in stock & ready to ship.
Regards, Henry
I load and shoot around 4000 rounds of .223, 5000 of 9mm and about 1000 .45. Amongst small runs of other stuff mixed in per year.
My .45 (and 10mm) is handled on a 550 with case feeder and the small primed stuff is done on a 650 with case feeder.
I don't feel hampered or limited by the equipment and I can afford a 1050 - just don't feel the need.
My .45 (and 10mm) is handled on a 550 with case feeder and the small primed stuff is done on a 650 with case feeder.
I don't feel hampered or limited by the equipment and I can afford a 1050 - just don't feel the need.
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- Location
- Halifax - NS
Actually less than an hour on my manual 1000, 1.5 hours on my motorized one.
I reload because I have to. No one makes 128 PF 9mm 147gr ammo with N310, nor do they make 170PF 9mm major with 124gr bullets and 3N38.
I despise the brain-dead, dull, repetitive task of doing it. I hate even more having to frig with the gear to make it happen.
I'd much rather be doing something interesting; shooting, driving, spending time with my daughter making money, even watching grass grow - but I'm stuck with it.
I need somewhere around 25K round a year. (It was around 45K, but Dad passed away last year and I don't need to load for him anymore)
The 1050/1000s I have solve the problem as best possible. Fast, perfect ammo without any screwing around.
If it cost me more to be there, that's life - some things are worth it.
Sorry to go off topic - I know someone who does 223 on his 650 - says it works great.
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Frequently guys will circle back to the argument that you only need to swage the primer pockets once.
They are not wrong.
They also shoot on ranges where their brass falls in perfect piles, and never get a stray round of someone elses brass in their bucket.
Besides .223 Rem and 9mm, there are a lot of calibers that periodically appear with crimped primers, or primer pockets that are so tight and square shouldered that the swager really pays for itself.
While I may have spent a ridiculous amount of money for my reloading set up, it's after 12 years of settling for less and dealing with the consequences.
My first progressive was the Hornady Projector, the father of the current Lock and Load AP. It was a great rifle press that also did a good job as a pistol press.
I hated the way the spring loaded pawls would fall out of time.
I hated the primer pick up tubes lack of a cotter pin.
I hated the early automatic powder system and it's need for attention.
I hated the priming system and it's afterthought method of operation.
I hated the shell ejection system and it's indifferent operation.
For 500 rounds it could work well. After that, I could count on having to stop and address an issue.
I trust the upgraded Lock and Load addresses most of these issues.
I tried the 550, and quickly realized it wasn't an improvement on the Projector, and was possibly a step backwards.
The manual advance just meant too much time spent with your hands moving between controls or brass and bullets.
The 650 was nice, but felt a little frail. (Hard to define, but it just didn't seem as solid and sturdy as the Projector)
It was definitely an improvement in ergonomics for me.
When I sat down with the 1050, it just fit. Yes, there is a lot going on, and setting one up and understanding how things work together can take a little while. It's the reason they come set up for one caliber from the factory.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Yes, I am able to offer Dillon.
Sizing is done in the single stage press so the lube can be cleaned off.
Jerry
It's funny because .223 is cheaper to buy than reloading (the norc stuff)
There is definitely savings in reloading everything else but 12ga shot, especially the larger pistol and rifle rounds
There is definitely savings in reloading everything else but 12ga shot, especially the larger pistol and rifle rounds
Might just be my little circle of stores around me, but I tend to think 223 is actually cheaper to buy full rounds by the case than it is to reload them. I seem to have a hard time finding bulk projectiles. I load mine simply for the fun of it, but dollar for dollar, its the same money, not including my time on top of it. 9MM is almost the same. you need to shoot many hundreds of rounds per week to outweigh the cost of the press and supplies for only 9mm and/or 223. Also, you need quite a gun and/or shooter to see a difference between factory and reloaded ammo accuracy.
with reloading 9mm and jacketed rounds the cost per box is about 8-9 bucks, assuming you have the brass already. factory can be 14-15. So a savings of 6 bucks a box. 120 bucks a case. Rough guess on a 550b Dillon press, dies, scales, flip trays etc...1000 bucks with tax, keep going with brass shakers and media, case gauges, trimmers, primer pocket cleaners. that's kinda close to 10 cases of ammo before you break even. Feel free to dissect my math, just spewing words to make a point here.
I reload because I want to. The skills and knowledge I have gained from reloading makes me a better shooter. I recommend everyone who shoots regularly be a reloader. But if you reload just to save money, I would recommend not making the investment in reloading supplies, and put it into buying ammo by the case and not one box at a time. It is tedious if you don't enjoy doing it
now 45ACP, or god forbid 454 casull or other large rounds, you can recoup your cash a bit faster.
For 9mm bulk loading, the Dillon Square deal is very good.
I load a few calibers in bulk, so use a Dillon 550. It is easy to change the tool had and the indexing plate. I suggest two powder measures if you load rifle and pistol, so you don't have to change the powder bar in the thrower.
I do not size and prime as part of the loading cycle. I size on a single stage press, buckets at a time, then prime all the cases with a Lee Autoprime.
This means the loading goes very smoothly on the 550. I used to have problems getting it to prime 100% smoothly.
The 550 is much faster than a single stage, but for true speed, for large volumes, I use a 650 with a case feeder. It has loaded over a half million rounds of 308/7.62. It gets fed factory primed brass and spits out a loaded round every pull of the handle.
I load a few calibers in bulk, so use a Dillon 550. It is easy to change the tool had and the indexing plate. I suggest two powder measures if you load rifle and pistol, so you don't have to change the powder bar in the thrower.
I do not size and prime as part of the loading cycle. I size on a single stage press, buckets at a time, then prime all the cases with a Lee Autoprime.
This means the loading goes very smoothly on the 550. I used to have problems getting it to prime 100% smoothly.
The 550 is much faster than a single stage, but for true speed, for large volumes, I use a 650 with a case feeder. It has loaded over a half million rounds of 308/7.62. It gets fed factory primed brass and spits out a loaded round every pull of the handle.
You can reload 2000 rounds per hour? That seems insane, it is one round every 1.8 seconds for an hour straight. How big are the case and bullet feeding systems to support that?
I agree with that, you are loading in the range I said would be my breakpoint to get a 1050. I load 2000-2500 rounds per year if I shoot a fair bit and the turret press is fine for that. I do 100 rounds per hour without hurrying and can easily find 20 spare hours in an Alberta winter to get this done (just avoiding TV saves way more than that). I could never find 20+ spare hours every month to load that much, so a 1050 makes perfect sense in your case.
I wasn't criticizing those that use 1050's or saying that there isn't a place for them, I just found the idea that 2000 rounds per year was a huge amount of reloading and justification for the cost of a 1050 somewhat funny.
Mark
same. the 1050 is a fine machine for sure. I personally reload less than 2000 rounds a year of mixed calibers right now so it would not make sense.
I do totally agree that for someone who reloads a ton of a single (possibly crimped) caliber like 223 or 9mm, it's probably worth it.
If I reloaded many thousands of 223 rounds a year, I might consider a 1050 with a dillon trimmer.
Since I reload 99% of the same brass over and over again, and since it's been swaged already, a 650 would do the job just fine for half the price, and for caliber changes at half the price also...
I do totally agree that for someone who reloads a ton of a single (possibly crimped) caliber like 223 or 9mm, it's probably worth it.
If I reloaded many thousands of 223 rounds a year, I might consider a 1050 with a dillon trimmer.
Since I reload 99% of the same brass over and over again, and since it's been swaged already, a 650 would do the job just fine for half the price, and for caliber changes at half the price also...
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I loaded my .223 ammo for a Colt AR15 match rifle I assembled on a 1050 Dillon that would shoot into 1/2" at 100 yds using Dillon dies.
