Looking at buying a 1911.

****81 said:
Any thoughts on the Dillon reloading system?
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Lots of Dillon fanboys in this forum, justifiably so. Great machines, great customer support and lifetime warranty, reasonably priced if you need the high production capacity and you got the budget. IMHO, the easiest progressives out of all the brands, to set-up and use would be the Square Deal and the 550B.
 
Ya I've been looking at the 550B. I'm a total rookie when it comes to reloading aside from talking to a few guys at the gun club.
 
If you can find somebody to walk you through the set-up and actual reloading process, it would be a lot simpler than reading reloading books and manuals, but reading up is the best way to start.

Seeing how it is done just makes everything easy. I learned on my own and it was a challenging learning curve. With a "mentor", would've been easy as pie.

If you want to start on a smaller budget, you could go with a Lee Classic Turret Kit. Easier to learn the process, as well.
 
colt are always a decent choice
or sti ranger/trojan are nice.. for ranger can be had for undet $1000 and trojan for about $1100-ish.. and is upgraded model...
the remington looks nice, but haven't seen one in person or know how much it costs..looks nice.. any reputable brand name should be fine.. though I've heard that springfield is not up to par with it's manufacturing... but maybe just hearsay...
try your best to see any of the guns you're considering in person and possibly shoot at your club from other shooters before buying..
 
Dillons are great kit, but they are progressive machines which means you won't get the same feel, they also come with a big league price tag - in comparison the Lee Turret is pocket change. The advantage that the turret has is that it's quicker than a single stage (loading pistol ammo on a single stage is truly painfull) but not so fast that you can lose your way in the reloading sequence. When you eventually get your Dillon (which will probably end up being a full auto 650) you can still use the turret for rifle stuff - I use mine for high volume 303 Ball.
 
****81 said:
Ya I've been looking at the 550B. I'm a total rookie when it comes to reloading aside from talking to a few guys at the gun club.
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I was brand new to reloading up until about a year ago. I have seen the Lee in action and it is a good machine, but I bought the 550b and it is a better one. The Lee takes tweaking, the dillon is perfect out of the box and much less likely to make a mistake (like no primer). It is not a true progressive, you auto index it, meaning you turn the turret by hand, which gives you a second to visually double check to ensure the powder looks right. I think the 550b is a great machine because it is simple enough for beginners, quality enough for "experts", super easy to change calibers as you go, and it will last you a life time. There are lots of youtube vids.

When doing your budget remember you will also need:

a decent scale
a bullet puller (for when you make a mistake it pulls the bullet apart so you can redo it)
Calipers (good ones go on sale at crappy tire all the time)
at least one reloading manual

There is tons of information in the reloading section here.

A 1911 and a dillon 550b and you are on the road to happiness!
 
I've had a Kimber Custom Target II in .45 for a few years now. Mainspring housing has been replaced with an Ed Brown housing/magwell; it's had a trigger/action job done; and I replaced the barrel with a BarSto. Nothing wrong with the factory barrel, but I had the BarSto lying around. Heard the quality on Kimbers has gone south in the past couple years, but mine has been flawlessly reliable. As mentioned in another post, the finish leaves a bit to be desired and wears quite quickly.

Also have an STI Trojan in 9mm. Replaced the mainspring housing with a factory housing/magwell; the front sight with a Dawson FO; and had a trigger/action job done. Original owner had ordered the pistol with the factory adjustable combat sight instead of the usual Bomar-style that it comes with. Finish looks similar to that of the Kimber, but so far seems to be wearing better.

I would rate the fit/finish on the STI to be a bit better than the Kimber. Slide/frame and barrel/bushing fit were definitely tighter out of the box on the STI. Other bonus on the STI is that parts/service are available from Freedom Ventures who are great to deal with.
 
enefgee said:
Reading the instruction manual so you don't look like an asshat with a blown up press = intelligent enough to be reloading in the first place? (PS in actual fact it's the Pro and Loadmaster that have the "No Fed" warnings.)
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easyrider604 said:
Yup, the Lee Turrets with Safety Prime or not, are totally safe with any brand of primer.
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Perhaps not as safe as you guys may think.

Over coffee a couple of months back we were talking about reloading and one of the guys mentioned that with his Lee setup he managed to "pop" a primer somehow. The shock of that one under the insertion pin going off set off a few more that were in the little chute leading to the seating pin. The shock blew apart the primer tray and chute and he was finding primers all over the area for weeks after. Not to mention what it did to his hearing for a couple of hours.

This is something that would not have happened with a Dillon given the shuttle style design they use to move the single primer over some distance to the pin for insertion.
 
Lots of nice 1911's around for that price tag. Much is down to personal taste. There's fanboys/haters for each make, so just go with what you prefer.

I was in a similar place to you, and decided on a Sig 1911 (they fit leather holsters and a couple of Kydex). It's been brilliant, great finish and extremely accurate, breaking it in with hardball ammo and not one FTF so far. I love it. And it's a Sig..... ;)
 
BCRider said:
Perhaps not as safe as you guys may think.

Over coffee a couple of months back we were talking about reloading and one of the guys mentioned that with his Lee setup he managed to "pop" a primer somehow. The shock of that one under the insertion pin going off set off a few more that were in the little chute leading to the seating pin. The shock blew apart the primer tray and chute and he was finding primers all over the area for weeks after. Not to mention what it did to his hearing for a couple of hours.

This is something that would not have happened with a Dillon given the shuttle style design they use to move the single primer over some distance to the pin for insertion.
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What Lee "set-up" was that?
 
My turret is close to 30 years (and almost 50,000 rounds) old - the only thing moving primers on it is my hand, one at a time. Honestly there is no comparing a Dillon Progressive to a Lee Turret - there's no comparing the price either. For that matter though, any equipment can have issues and I personally believe someone new to reloading is more likely to have an issue with a progressive or semi-progressive press than they are with a turret, simply because with a progressive you have four or more stations working at one time, while the turret has one station working.
 
i have never handled one but i have heard great things about the new remington R1. If it were me, i would get the R1 or an STI trojan. it might be a bit more but i love my kimbe3r custom. beautifully fit.
 
Another vote for an STI trojan. I haven't read anything bad about them EVER! (unlike Para - yikes) and my experience with STI has been outstanding.

I also have the 550B and yes its big money up front but I am at the 3000 mark of 45acp and its paid for itself by now for sure.
 
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