Dillon 550B for Reloading Match Grade .308

[Topdollar]

Folks, I went with this setup:

http://www.cabelas.ca/index.cfm?pageID=71&section=1285&section2=1462&ID=22998

I do like the fact that the trim pro and the Chargemaster combo are included and think it would be awesome for reloading .308. I might not be able to keep up with the autoloader (LMT MWS) but once I get a bit more .45 brass, I think paring it with a Dillon 550 should work fine.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

 

[EC]

I have loaded over a half million rounds of match ammo on a Dillon 650 and about a hundred thousand on a 550.

Most of that was with virgin primed cases. Have never used the Dillon to deprime and prime cases. When using the Dillon to re-load cases, we de-prime, size on a single stage press and prime with a Lee Auto prime. Then the sized & primed cases get fed into the Dillon.

We use only ball powder. It throws dead on or plus, minus a tenth. For 308 I suggest Win748. Our press is set up slightly flare the case mouth using a M die. The bullet seater is a Forster co-ax and it does a good job, although the first one was worn out after 400,000 rounds. The crimp is set to be just enough to flatten out the mouth flare.

A single stage press can crank out a lot of ammo, if you do each step in a batch. You could make several hundred rounds in an evening. How much brass do you have? If you have several hundreds or thousands, it should be sorted by case weight.

Unless you are making a huge amount of ammo, I suggest getting a quality single stage press from RCBS. I loaded 200 rounds of match ammo on my single stage last night because I was loading 10 rounds at a time in 0.5gr powder increments. Easier on a single stage.

Ganderite,
Whats your system for loading on a single stage, I am relatively new to reloading and 200 rds in an evening would take me hours, thats with brass already sized and primed. Starting from scratch, I'd be up all night. Loading 10 rds at a time on a singles stage escapes me. Maybe I am not understanding you correctly. Any help would be appreciated, I enjoy shooting much more than reloading but it does take up a lot of time, thats the only drawback.

 

[paperslayer]

I always figured a progressive was a silly way to load match ammo. but I have rolled some very accurate loads , especially with ball powders. was gonna say tubb loads his on a 550 but someone else beat me to the punch

 

[tps50701]

David Tubb reloads his 1000 yard ammo on an RL550... 'nuff said!

He may use the 550, but from all accounts of what I've seen of his 550 is that it is heavily modified and he's also using a Prometheus powder thrower(to the tune of like $2500).

I'm using a Forster Coax press - very nice press and to tell you the truth, it's all I need with the amount of ammo I'll ever produce in my lifetime.

Use the Forster match dies and you're off to the races, because it actually helps eliminate most of the runout that occurs.

You'll only ever cry once when you buy quality equipment.

HTH, Carl