Primers on progressives- differences between brands?

[stilly]

Yeah I was at Reload OC today, It was just down the street from where I was (Ontario) so I thought I would give it a shot. I got to finger a 650 and look at the priming system. THAT is a cool store and Brian is a cool guy. He said he likes the 650 and in some cases it is made of similar materials as the Loadmaster. They both have delrin case feeders, but they just work differently. I saw the priming system and he was telling me about the low primer alarm when it gets down to about 10 or so. I think it would be nice to get a tube holder that can rotate up to 6 tubes in for a 600 shot magazine but hey, maybe later I can think something up. Now I just need to see the priming system on the RCBS PC7 before I make my decision... Or who knows, maybe if things go as planned, maybe both...

[tylenol9999]

Yeah I was at Reload OC today, It was just down the street from where I was (Ontario) so I thought I would give it a shot. I got to finger a 650 and look at the priming system. THAT is a cool store and Brian is a cool guy. He said he likes the 650 and in some cases it is made of similar materials as the Loadmaster. They both have delrin case feeders, but they just work differently. I saw the priming system and he was telling me about the low primer alarm when it gets down to about 10 or so. I think it would be nice to get a tube holder that can rotate up to 6 tubes in for a 600 shot magazine but hey, maybe later I can think something up. Now I just need to see the priming system on the RCBS PC7 before I make my decision... Or who knows, maybe if things go as planned, maybe both...

When did you turn to Dillon, I thought you were always against them due to them being overpriced for what they are? I have only ran CCI and WSP primers in 550, but no issues with priming on the press.

[jericho89]

.... I think it would be nice to get a tube holder that can rotate up to 6 tubes in for a 600 shot magazine but hey, maybe later I can think something up...

To tell you the truth I never felt the need and I would load 1000 in just over an hour on he 650. That did not include the time it took to preload 10 primer tubes, but when I would get started I would have a hopper full of brass, powder system full of powder, 10 primer tubes per filled, and a box full of projectiles. I had also machined a powder check system for station 3 long before Dillon offered one (darn should have patented that). Get into a rythem and go, when the buzzer goes off pull the primer rod, dump he primers, reset rod and go go go. Would loose about as much time as it would take to load 5 rounds... I would run slower on the rifle stuff, but when I put my mind to it I could have some great production. I can honestly say of the tens of thousands of rounds I had reloaded I never has a squib or FTF, call it lucky or good machine and reloading practices. I would not sweat the 100 primer capacity as long as you have pickup tubes you can preload it will not make a difference.



Oh and GO BLUE

[Eljay]

It really just takes a couple of seconds to dump in another 100 primers. Inline Fabrication makes a nice little hanger if you want to have them all ready to go. Holds a dozen of them. I have ten so if I really want I can do a thousand rounds without pausing. As a practical matter my arm gets tired before then and I'd rather do shorter runs.

[stilly]

That is all good to know.

I like quality things and I like giving the underdog a chance. But in this case, I had my fun with the Loadmaster, but I want to see about the grass on the other side of the fence and whether or not it is blue grass or greener grass... Since I was playing with a Dillon today, it DID feel pretty nice, I personally do NOT hate on dillon, just the fanboys out there. Someone needs to keep the balance. But I also like the way that RCBS does things as well and I am willing to bet they have a nice winner with their PC7. I like that the 1050 has a swager for primer pockets, but I like RCBS a bit more because of their excellent CS they have given me. Lee too, which is why I would consider getting a pro-1000 now, but if everything pans out well for me, I can get a 650 and a PC7 both fully loaded and that will only be like half a paycheck so I am still in the green. THAT will not be for a while, but I am planning things out now. At least I am fingering the blue presses anyways...

I DO like how the 650 has the adjustable charge bar that is similar to the Lee charge bar. I also like that I can see the primers and I can tell if they are flipped or not and I like the tolerances on that whole priming setup. If RCBS is anything like that then I will like that press too.

[jericho89]

Just an FYI the 1050 is nice but it is deemed a commercial machine and it does not hold a lifetime warranty, I think it is a year. I have never seen an upside down primer come through as long as you are picking them up the correct way (human error is the curse of all brands systems). I do know a few people who have had primers go in sideways, but that was because they had the shell plate holder too tight and it was not putting the shell in the right place. If you were closer I would make a few phone calls and get you behind a machine to turn out a few rounds of your own. But is sounds like you are trying to do all of your homework and I am sure you will make the right decision that works best for YOU...

[Eljay]

The warranty thing on the 1050 is overblown. If you own one and call them with some small part that needs to be replaced, they replace it. They just reserve the right to cut you off if you buy a half dozen of the things and are calling once a week (and probably running them on auto drive...)

[stilly]

The 1050 is probably out for the most part. I hear you on human error.

Another thing that I also have to look at is the footprint and extra space needed for extra parts. I know the PC7 is going to be a tad large and those 550s look a tad like Pro-1000s but blue instead. (size I am speaking of) so once I see a PC7 in person that might steer me one way or another, but until then, I guess I should start looking at parts and extra heads. I do not wanna have multiple dies for progressives and single stage/turrets, but damn, I now have TWO 9mm sets and TWO .45 sets... I need to build my box to hold my sets now.

[jericho89]

The 650 is not that big of a foot print on the deck, it does get tall with the case feeder, but you will love the fact that you just dump and go. The 650 and 550 are similar, but you do get an extra position on the 650 and the bigger thing is auto indexing.

[stilly]

The 650 is not that big of a foot print on the deck, it does get tall with the case feeder, but you will love the fact that you just dump and go. The 650 and 550 are similar, but you do get an extra position on the 650 and the bigger thing is auto indexing.

Yeah, I am NOT going to buy any progressive WITHOUT an autoindexing feature...

If the 650 had 6 or 7 spots, I would have one now. :\

[rmatt]

I have a Dillon Super 1050. The part of the machine that seems to have caused the most irritation of the years has been at the priming station.

And of the issues 50% seemed related to using crappy brass. The other half seems to be the machines preference for all but Federal primers.

This has been my experience with loading 9mm spp and 45acp lpp. That said, I still love having a 1050S and couldn't imagine loading on any other machine.

I still don't bother to sort brass. And when I need to use Federal spp, I choose to use the Gold Medal Match ones and have much less issues.

[Tom-ADC]

get a dillion 550 or 650 and use winchester or CCI or even the russion tula stuff and sell all other press's.

They (do not know who) say that federal are too soft for a dillon but I have used them with no problem.

And yeah going from a lee anything to a dillion is like comparing whoopie goldberg to Kim K, OK

I've been using my 550 since early 90's maybe longer it doesn't seem to make a difference what brand primers all seem to feed great.

[stilly]

Yeah I certainly want a machine that will use any brass and any primers with no issues...

[Eljay]

The only issue I've run into with Federal primers is that they're soft. If you try to push a primer into dodgy brass or brass with some crimp to it, the Federals will tend to deform whereas the CCI/Winchester will just kind of plough on through.

[bruce381]

Yeah I was at Reload OC today, It was just down the street from where I was (Ontario) so I thought I would give it a shot. I got to finger a 650 and look at the priming system. THAT is a cool store and Brian is a cool guy. He said he likes the 650 and in some cases it is made of similar materials as the Loadmaster. They both have delrin case feeders, but they just work differently. I saw the priming system and he was telling me about the low primer alarm when it gets down to about 10 or so. I think it would be nice to get a tube holder that can rotate up to 6 tubes in for a 600 shot magazine but hey, maybe later I can think something up. Now I just need to see the priming system on the RCBS PC7 before I make my decision... Or who knows, maybe if things go as planned, maybe both...

come on stilly I drank the koolaid (dillion 650) about 20 years ago and part of that is getting more people to buy in you are people right?