dillon / lee / hornady progressive comparison

ElmerFudd said:
It really shakes on that "bench" though. Or were you showing how it works even on a bad bench? ;)

I gotta get one of those Vibra primers though. Where? How much?

Seems weird not seeing the bullet being placed! :)
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LOL! I have a low ceiling in the loading area and built a low shelf out from the 'bench' (a recycled kitchen countertop, reinforced) so the case feeder would clear the light and HVAC. Shakes like Elvis doing his thing - if the case and bullet feeder work on this, it will work even better on a solid bench.

The only place I know of that ships Vibra-Primes to Canada is these guys: http://www .gunaccessories.com/FrankfordArsenal/ReloadingAcc.asp - almost double the price of Midway. Shop around, you might find it for less. FYI, the 'quality' on these things is variable - mine works since I discarded the plastic attachment on the end of the tube and just held the tube against the tray. Before that, frustration. Now that it works, it's great.

Yeah, for the first while your hand will automatically reach for a bullet!
 
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redhead said:
For those that are interested, here's a link to some more discussion about the LNL and Dillon...
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Good writeup - you may want to edit the post to reflect the release of the powder-through expanders. I assume you have a set now - mine work just fine.
 
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whitbyman said:
Put my order in for Lock-N-Load today, will post review in a few weeks. :D
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I went for the Dillon 650 - hope to pick it up this Friday. I felt slighted by being excluded from Hornady's "Get Loaded" promotion. I can understand them not wanting the hassles of trying to ship bullets across the border, but they weren't interested in cutting me a deal on the case feeder as a substitution. Also, I found a Dillon instock so I won't have to pay shipping.
 
From watching your video it looks like Hornady took a lot of ideas from the Lee Pro 1000 and beefed it up a fair bit. The Lock-N-Load looks pretty good but when I bought my Dillon 550 over 15 years ago there wasn't really anything else comparable on the market. I tried a friend's Pro 1000 and it wasn't even worth considering in my opinion.
 
This is a great thread, and worth bringing back to the top.
As I'm just getting into the reloading end of the hobby, there's a lot of usfull information to be had.
How much info I will be able to use is yet to be seen, as I'll probably start with a single stage set-up for now.
Thanks for all the work you put into this, crash.
 
Is the Hornady made out of Aluminum? What metering chamber comes with the setup? The Hornady website says:

For extremely precise measurements, the Micrometer Pistol Insert allows you to dispense one grain at a time.

*In order to use this insert, you must have the NEW Pistol Rotor and Standard Metering Insert, Item #050128.

Do I need to get the new pistol rotor and standard metering insert to use the micrometer or is it already included? What is the range of powder charges the system can throw? What do they mean change charges at a push of a button. Do you change inserts?

Also what is the deal with the ejector system not working with non Hornady seating dies? How are their dies different from others?

Looks like a nice unit but they sure don't give details.

Thanks
 
hawk223 said:
Is the Hornady made out of Aluminum?
What metering chamber comes with the setup?
Do I need to get the new pistol rotor and standard metering insert to use the micrometer or is it already included?
What is the range of powder charges the system can throw?ht
What do they mean change charges at a push of a button?
Do you change inserts?

Also what is the deal with the ejector system not working with non Hornady seating dies?
How are their dies different from others?
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Yes.
The basic, rifle-charge-weight non-micrometer one.
Yes. Pistol rotor and pistol micrometer insert. Or use the included rotor with the rifle micrometer insert. (on new pistol micrometer inserts. Older ones fit in the rifle rotor).
Pistol inserts throw pistol weights. RIfle inserts throw rifle weights (down to maybe 5gr).
They mean you push a button and remove the insert.
Yes, I move from old pistol insert to rifle insert. With the micrometer inserts, you don't need to change unless you're moving from old pistol to rifle.
It's the crimping dies that don't work with the Hornady ejector, since it is a relatively thick wire.
The Hornady crimping die is shorter than other brands.

Some of your questions are answered in the writeup, so I suggest you read it with some attention to detail. Or just call Hornady tech support, they've always been quite helpful.
 
I'm planning to order one tomorrow. I just have to get my head around the approximately $1000 price tag. I want to get the case feeder, plates for both large and small pistol, the pistol micrometer upgrade, powder cop, and some shell plates at the same time plus a few other items. I doubt I'll ever reload rifle on a progressive as I am all about details and accuracy there. I don't even know why the LNL AP comes default with a rifle insert for the power measure.
 
Neck expanders

For those of us using lead bullets, and coming from using Lee pistol dies, Hornady has Powder Through Expanders that bell the case mouth in the powder measure die, Part #290040-290048 for most used calibers from .355 to .50. Hornady dies sets have a separate expander die.

I would have been knee deep in loaded .38spl wadcutters I f I knew about this last week!
My S&W M52 is hungry!
 
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