Progressive press questions

I had a bunch of Lee and Lyman stuff given to me when I first started out. Then I bought a used Dillon 550b setup.

Before I got the Dillon I worked with the old 3 position turret Lee progressive. I thought I was done with the Lee. But it became the main press again for almost 3 years when I moved and forgot to set aside the box with the Dillon. But I didn't so it sat in the pile for 3 years worth of renovations. In all that time I fine tuned the Lee so a buddy and I could use it. LOTS of little tweaks to keep things working smoothly.

At some point I thought I might go for a Lee Load Master when I found them on sale. But a few minutes on You Tube seeing all the tweaks needed to get various parts working well convinced me that it was just more of the same I had with the 3 hole Lee.

The Dillon was finally unearthed about two months back. I'm again one happy camper to have it back in the daylight. The well tweaked Lee has gone to my buddy's house with my blessings and sympathies.


OK, the OP said 1000 to 2000 rounds of reloading a month. That's childishly simple for a 550. We're talking about 3 to 6 hours worth of time over the course of a month. And that's with hand feeding both cases and bullets. And I don't even feel like I'm rushing at that pace. So why does he need a 650 again? And how much does a 650 save? A couple of hours to make it 2 to 4 hours of time?

With the dies already set up in the upper die holder changing calibers in a 550b takes at most 10 minutes. And for any of you overly frugal folks the die holder plate is under $20 more often than not. If that's too much then you have the wrong hobby.
 
thank you all for the input.

after reading all the posts and the accompanying links, I feel like I am leaning towards the Hornady Lock n Load AP or the Dillon 650. I like the auto indexing ability, but I think I could get by without the auto case loader and bullet loader. Ill just do those tasks by hand (hell that's half the enjoyment right there!). If in the future I feel like my output is not sufficient, I can always upgrade them with the extra parts.

(edit: In regards to the Dillon 550... while I do think that it sounds like an ideal setup, I like the auto indexing abilities of the LnL and the 650. for an extra $100 (Dillon lists the 550 at $439.95 MSRP) I can have auto indexing, as well as the ability to upgrade my production at a later date if required. The 550 is not designed for the case and bullet loaders, and from what I read online has difficulties doing rifle cases with the upgraded loaders available. Correct me if I am wrong)

Ok so lets turn this into a Dillon 650 vs Hornady LnL AP conversation. The Hornady and the Dillon (as per what I have read online) both have the following:

1) Quality customer service. Very important to me
2) No BS lifetime warrenty. My great grandkids can get these things repaired if need be
3) anywhere from 200-500 rounds per hour (based on user ability and manual case/bullet loading)
4) ability to produce upwards of 1000 rounds+ per hour (with the mechanical assisting upgrades)
5) Quality parts and precise loading capabilities. once you get them dialed in its pretty much bomb proof. No "tinkering around" like the Lees
6) Cost. Hornady lists the LnL at $536.29 MSRP. Dillon lists the 650 at $566.95 MSRP. Price difference is negligible, especially when you consider that the Dillon comes WITH the auto case loader, and the Hornady does not.


The differences that I have found (again, according to online reviews) are the following:

1) The Quick detach die bushing ability of the Hornady. Makes changing dies to different caliber faster then on the Dillon... although only a few minutes. Also reduces the need to re-set your dies (if you purchase new quick detach parts for each die)
2) The 650 comes with the auto case loader as part of the base model. Not necessary for my purposes, but is a nice extra feature, for a marginally higher cost. If I don't want to use it, I can still drop the cases by hand in the feeder tube
3) The Hornady has a very simply shell plate changing procedure. just a matter of loosening a screw and swapping plates. changing from one caliber to another literally takes a matter of a few minutes. Seems to take longer for the Dillon (I believe this is because the Dillons are intended to be a one caliber set up... buy additional presses for additional calibers.
4) the Hornady is Red. the Dillon is Blue.


Based on the comparison... the Hornady sounds like it has a slight edge for my purposes, as I intend to do multiple calibers on the same press. Other then that its pretty much Anyones game.

How would you all make a decision based on this match up? and are there any other major differences I have missed
 
Last edited:
The reason I suggested the 650 over the 550 is because of the case feeder. The feeder for the 550 was an after thought for Dillon. It was not designed for rifle cases - pistol only. I (as have others with 550's) have made modifications to load .223 on a 550 with the case feeder. It can be done, but was not designed for it.

As for auto-indexing, or lack of it, I love my 550. I can adjust powder/seating/crimping, etc without the machine indexing.

You may think you don't want/need the case feeder, but you do. You'll wonder how you lived without it. Go with the 650 - you won't regret it.
 
Spawn-Inc said:
If your loading the same load every time I agree, but if you change bullets etc or like to mess around but have a bulk load you can switch back and forth.
Click to expand...

The only items I can imagine wanting flexibility in is the powder charge and seating depth.
I'd recommend getting micrometer adjusters for both.

pmt said:
The feeder for the 550 was an after thought for Dillon.
Click to expand...

How does your's handle 9mm? Mine occasionally gets them stuck sideways in the tube -a royal pita.
I still have my 550, but I keep it for my large pistol primed pistol calibers.
 
Last edited:
alberta:

the dillon doesnt come with the case feeder. I think it's a +- 250$ extra. check the cost on dillon website.
you dont need the quick change bushings because you will be changing the whole toolhead when changing calibers anyway. dies stay put and adjusted.

I would get the dillon just because it' dillon.
 
beltfed said:
How does your's handle 9mm? Mine occasionally gets them stuck sideways in the tube -a royal pita.
I still have my 550, but I keep it for my large pistol primed pistol calibers.
Click to expand...

I have no problem loading 9mm. My case feeder was an early one - 2005? maybe. I don't know what changes they have made since then, but I also had issues with the cases turning sideways in the upper tube. Dillon had/has a metal sleeve that goes inside the upper tube to reduce the I.D. The other problem was cases turning sideways in the top funnel as they exit the hopper. Again, Dillon has a funnel insert to reduce the size.
 
the casefeeder on a progressive is the single best thing imo.

Just throw the batch in the casefeeder and crank the handle. Feeding brass doubles the time. Feeding the bullet isnt so bad I would say.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom