Go progressive or not?

[Flash]

Two fails here.

The 550B is a progressive press, sorry. A turret press uses a ram setup that only holds one case at a time, and only does one process with each pull of the handle. The 550B performs four processes with each pull. Just because it doesn't auto index does not mean it's not a progressive press.

The Loadmaster is, from almost everything out there on it, a piece of junk that requires constant tinkering to make it work.

And as far as your arrogant "better luck next time" remark, I haven't purchased anything yet.

Wow.

(Emphasis above MINE, for clarity)

"WOW", indeed!

And not hijacking the thread (see title, above), but the discussion has been so far, only Dillon.

Honest, Dave, that is not really the case ("...piece of junk..."). True, LEE Loadmasters do not cost as much as the Dillon. True, you often do "get what you pay for", but equally as true, "sometimes you do not get all you think you are paying for" either.

The LEE Loadmaster is a great piece of engineering, and can (and does) produce thousands of rounds troublefree, with accuracy, repeatability, and relaibility as good as or better than any other progresive press in the market.

Like every piece of complex machinery, progressive loaders have their advantages and disadvantages (note previous mentions of the little fiddly bits on Dillons that require repair and replacement and in one post, sending back to the factory - and they also sell repair and replacement parts for the LNL as well as the L-M and the Dillon).

Like every other loader, they require attention to detail for proper operation. I don't think you could just put any mindless 'droid on ANY of these machines and expect good ammo, do you? What, really, is a buyer's expectation: that he could just bolt it to his bench, pour in powder, brass, primers and bullets and make one round with only one stroke of the handle and put in no other thought for the operation or product at all???

The purchase decision is always very personal and subjective, and it rests on each buyer's own individual cost/benefit/tolerance/willingness-to-fiddle-or-put-up-with equation.

While there may be poor recommendations of LEE Loadmasters "out there", they are not normally written by those who take the time to learn how to use them properly. I might add, Dillon's most entheusiastic adherents have invested an enormous amount of time and effort to learn and perfect theiir machine, process, and output - and well it should be so.

Side note - I have had a Loadmaster for a number of years, and it performs thoroughly well for me - repeatable and reliable in every regard - and I spent about as much time and effort to learn its operation as did most of these folks who use Dillons to churn out thousands of functioning, accurate rounds, just like I do.

Flash

[tEN wOLVES]

Howdy All

I have a Hornady LnL AP, and I couldn't be happier with it, but that was my choice after a couple years of looking and asking questions, there are a lot of good to excellent presses out there these days, I have several friends that have LEE presses and swear by them, and I've seen the ammo they make, and they look great and shoot even better, I also have friends that use Lyman turrets and Redding the same way with great results, it's funny but it was my Buds that pushed me to look at the Hornady LnL AP, some of them had switched over to them from Dillon 550's & 650's, I was glad I listened the LnL was everything I was looking for in a loading press and more, but just because this press was right for me, it might be more than someone else would need, you can get the LEE Load Master for about $150.00, you could buy several of these and set them up for your most used calibers, and be money ahead of some of the other offerings, Dillon makes fine loading presses and accessories and have a solid name for reliability and warranty, and so does Hornady and most of the others, we're lucky to have so many choices, and prices that will allow most to start reloading without breaking the bank, in we all seem to add more presses to our benches as time goes by, but we have to start some place, so don't feel bad about what you get, and they all seem to produce fine ammo.... IMHO


Regards

tEN wOLVES

[animalmother85]

Dave,
I tell ya what, if you can wait about 2 months for me to rotate back to the real world and move into my new place, you can come by and reload till your heart's content on my dillon 550. You will see that it is pretty much the man...or not. I don't think you'll be disappointed, and most of the people on here saying its not worth it, don't have one(here is comes, i can see some members saying, "I had a dillon, it was junk, raaarrrr!"). I can attest that they are not junk.

I think some people are starting to get their panties in a ruffle because you called their press a POS. Who cares, unless your getting paid for endorsing a specific product, what does it matter what other people say about your press as long as it works for you, right? I love my dillon 550, I also love my redding ultra mag.

So like I said, if you can wait, but if not, and you buy a dillon, I can bet you won't be upset with it. If you are, you could find another member on here that will take it off your hands probably for what you paid for it anyhow.

[Brick]

In time component supplies will catch up and return to normal.

I have been using a (the same) RL550B since 1991. I don't reload .223, but I do reload .308 Win and 6.5 Swede with no problem, along with .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .44 Spec., .357 Magnum and .38 Spec.

A little care and attention to detail and you'll do fine with it.

[arjohnson]

My suggestion would be to get the 650 over the 550, I had a 550 and sold it to get the 650. The auto indexing alone is worth the extra money.

[bogey1]

In time component supplies will catch up and return to normal.

I have been using a (the same) RL550B since 1991. I don't reload .223, but I do reload .308 Win and 6.5 Swede with no problem, along with .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .44 Spec., .357 Magnum and .38 Spec.

A little care and attention to detail and you'll do fine with it.

there getting better, i just bought 5000 wolf large pistol primers for 175.00 +28.00 shipping. not bad considering people are still selling 1000 primers for 60.00

[jtl1952]

I bought a Dillon 550B & would do it again.
There are some personal considerations between buying a 550 vs 650. I wanted manual indexing so I had better control. Sometimes, I don't want the shell plate to move. I would have liked the ability to use the powder check, but manual indexing was more important to me. Cost was not an issue & I could have just as easily bought the 650. The 550 can crank out 1000 rounds of whatever in an evening - plenty fast for me. Others that shoot alot more would be better off with the faster 650.
Dillon has great customer support & the machine is well built, so support is seldom needed. Mine has been flawless.
Resale is another angle to look at when considering the cost. I you ever wanted to sell the Dillon, you'll get most of your money back.
No doubt, buy a Dillon. The tough part is choosing which one.

[BerksCountyDave]

I'm definitely going to have to get a progressive of some sort. I just sat down and loaded 500 rounds of .223 on my Lee classic turret and it took entirely too long.

[levib]

I'm definitely going to have to get a progressive of some sort. I just sat down and loaded 500 rounds of .223 on my Lee classic turret and it took entirely too long.

Yea, that is why I went progressive. .223 flies down the range too fast for a turret press.

[jcabin]

Dave, just keep in mind that you will still want to use your turret/single stage press for target/match grade ammo.

Why would you say this?