dillon vs hornady prices

jon1985

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I have been talking to a few people around my range about reloading and what equipment they use. The majority say Hornady LnL progressive because they cant afford the price jump to the Dillon.

I have been doing a fair bit of research and pricing around and it seems like the Hornady LnL progressive and Dillon 550B are fairly similar in price. The main difference I notice between the 2 is the indexing on the Hornady.

I know there are lots of people that swear by both brands, and both have good customer service.

My question is, has Hornady gone up in price? or has the Dillon come down? Or am I not comparing 2 equal presses?

Any guidance would be great.

If it makes a difference I will be reloading mostly 9mm.

Thanks
 
After starting out on a Lee turret press I went Dillon and never looked back. I have no experience with the Hornady press, but have no doubt that it will get the job done.

Over the long term, I have observed that the Dillon presses hold their value. You will be able to sell it for as much or more than what you paid for it due to the warranty and the longevity of the design. The long term duration will be influenced by the exchange rate at the time of purchase and the time of sale, but if you wait long enough it won't matter. I could sell my 550b for as much or more than I paid for it 13 years ago.
 
I started with dillon 550b and am extremely happy. I picked the manually indexing on purpose as I can go as slow/careful as I want. also the space(especially the height) and the noise(from the case feeder) all were part of the consideration.
I would say both 550 & 650 will make you happy depending on your personal situation. when I have more space and shoot more(only 10K/year now), I might just pickup an extra 650 for high speed loading, and 550b for small batch load and load test machine.
 
I have the pleasure of owning a Lock N Load AP with electric case feeder and because of this, I don't think I'll ever need to look at another progressive press.
They are compatible with other manufacturers stuff too. As far as warranty, I had the thing for about 6 years before I actually got it set up to use. I was short a part and called Hornady to order a replacement and they ended up sending it for free (by global express mail) and it arrived in 3 or 4 days.
That in itself told me I had chosen the right product.
 
Between Dillon 650 and Hornady LNL (still have them both installed and used, side by side), I'd say go for Dillon. There are few things with LNL that drive me nuts. ;)
I used to have 550 and still recommend it to guys who reload multiple calibers (= cheaper and faster conversion than 650) and don't care for case or bullet feeders.

s>
 
yes. agreed on the comment on the multi-calibers. almost forgot. when I compared 550 & 650, the dies on 650 are so much more expensive(dillon dies are expensive to me on 550 already and thus I use LEE dies). I couldn't justify the cost as I reload 6 different pistol calibers.

Between Dillon 650 and Hornady LNL (still have them both installed and used, side by side), I'd say go for Dillon. There are few things with LNL that drive me nuts. ;)
I used to have 550 and still recommend it to guys who reload multiple calibers (= cheaper and faster conversion than 650) and don't care for case or bullet feeders.

s>
 
you are most likely right. It has been a while. I bought everything at once, down to extra lock rings, so I was counting the penny. :p

^^^^^^ Dillon dies are interchangeable on both the 550 and 650..... You must mean Tool Heads/ Conversion kits....
 
Love my BLUELAID!!!! If you do a fair amount of rifle, the 550 makes a bit more sense than the 650. Faster and easier to change form SPP to LRP

I use my 550 for .204, 243, 270 and 7mm. And the odd run of 9mm

The .40 has its own dedicated 1050, and the 357SIG has its own dedicated 1050. I thought about using a 650 instead of a 1050, but after trying both... the 1050 is were it's at :) Priming on the downstroke is heavenly, as is the ability to adjust primer seating depth.

Once you drink the Bluelaid....
 
OK now you guys have me confused. I will be reloading primarily 9mm right now. I am hoping to get into 3 gun next summer so will need to reload .223 aswell.

Since I have the equipment I would probably eventually load for .357mag and maybe .40s&w.

All that said, I suspect 9mm will be the vast majority of the reloading. Should I be sticking with the 550?
 
XL650 and don't look back 500-600 rounds per hour without breaking a sweat, if you really go at it 800 is extremely doable. If you shoot any type of competition you will need the volume. Price will be forgotten when you've pump out thousands of rounds with no trouble.
 
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