Help me spend my money

[Redemption]

Ive finally had it with my single stage presses, Spent this last weekend yanking my handle and it just wore me the rest of the way out. A few years now I think is enough time in single stage that I am ready to move onward and upward.

Tomorrow is my last day of school, then I have a short trip and then its time to get a new job. After that its straight to buying a progressive. (bearing in mind I do not have an unlimited budget but I am willing to spend a little more to get a good kit) I know this conversation has been had before but not in the way that I plan to do it. If you are interested in helping me choose I am curious about the following:

Model, ballpark Cost, pros, cons, ballpark cost of swapping from one caliber to the next, accessories I will need or really should have, and what they cost.....ballpark.

(I currently reload 9, 40, 45LPP, 30-06)
(all of my dies are Lee Carbide 4 piece sets)

Special note on post #44

Votes:

Dillon RL550C - Votes: 5
Dillon 650 - Votes: 6
Lee Loadmaster - Votes: 2
Lee Pro1000 - Votes: 2
RCBS Pro 2000 - Votes: 3
Hornady LnL - Votes: 4

Up to Post # 52

Votes counted from:

Wookiee87
tonyjr
SoCal1911
stevec223
TexasJackKin
tanks
Divernhunter
Don the savage
socom2shooter
madjack956
the86d
ruddog
rsrocket1
NorCalFocus
bigdrunk92037
rm1911
Divehobo
bigbossman
waldog
shoebox56
OSTYS
Che762x39

[tanks]

How many rounds do you shoot of each caliber a month?

[Redemption]

How many rounds do you shoot of each caliber a month?

Im to the tune of 10k rounds per year, would be more if reloading was less time consuming than it is right now on a single stage.

[Wookiee87]

My recommendation is Dillon RL550C, buy once cry once. It will serve you for a lifetime and fantastic warranty/customer service. You can find used ones for sale from time to time.

[dwalker]

Are you neck or full length sizing your 30-06?

As above,, how many rounds are you shooting per month?

How much room do you have?

In my mind there are two choices. The Lee LoadMaster and the Dillon 650.

The price point on the LoadMaster makes it a solid budget choice and with a little tweeking it will run as well as anything else out there. I have had a couple of them over the years. Many folks complain about the priming system but I have never had much of an issue. Every now and again I will get a flipped primer or two and have to throw the rounds into the UNSAT AMMO tray until I have time to disassemble them.

The Dillon 650 is a higher cost of entry but you may have less tweeking to do to get it to run.

RCBS and Hornady are priced too close to the Dillon to make much financial sense IMHO. I did try an RCBS and could never get it to run very well. My buddy has a Hornady AP with just about every accessory he can blt to it and it seems to run pretty well.

[tonyjr]

I have and use the load master .
Before you buy , Make a list of what you want .
Next figure out if you are going to buy another different caliber gun .
Right now I reload 15 calibers [ 6 nephews and 2 nieces ] but buying a different gun does not include - Can I buy dies , tubes- for bullets / cases [ No one sell anything that does not get top heavy for more than 1/2 tube of 357 / 41 mag .
I had to buy sleeves for the tubes for both the 25 and 32 ACP [ Lee does not sell anymore . ]
The kind of reloading you do will also help determine which press .
Pistol cases , I deprime clean and reprime by hand .
Rifle cases are deprimed on press , primed by han .

[SoCal1911]

RCBS Pro 2000, great press. Great Customer Service if you ever need it. I have loaded 9mm,40,45ACP,45LC,44 Mag, all pistol rounds, near 100K rds. Can reload 300-400 per hour easy. But I still use my single stage Rock Chucker for rifle reloading, don't reload nearly as many rifle rds as pistol.

[Redemption]

My recommendation is Dillon RL550C, buy once cry once. It will serve you for a lifetime and fantastic warranty/customer service. You can find used ones for sale from time to time.

Vote Cast

Are you neck or full length sizing your 30-06?

As above,, how many rounds are you shooting per month?

How much room do you have?

In my mind there are two choices. The Lee LoadMaster and the Dillon 650.

The price point on the LoadMaster makes it a solid budget choice and with a little tweeking it will run as well as anything else out there. I have had a couple of them over the years. Many folks complain about the priming system but I have never had much of an issue. Every now and again I will get a flipped primer or two and have to throw the rounds into the UNSAT AMMO tray until I have time to disassemble them.

The Dillon 650 is a higher cost of entry but you may have less tweeking to do to get it to run.

RCBS and Hornady are priced too close to the Dillon to make much financial sense IMHO. I did try an RCBS and could never get it to run very well. My buddy has a Hornady AP with just about every accessory he can blt to it and it seems to run pretty well.

30-06 I dont do as much as pistol, I may just continue to do 30-06 on single stage for simplicity. (plus I like to take my time with 30-06....lotta money into my Remmy 700 But yes I full length my 30-06. Also I hear that Lee fixed the priming system.

I have and use the load master .
Before you buy , Make a list of what you want .
Next figure out if you are going to buy another different caliber gun .
Right now I reload 15 calibers [ 6 nephews and 2 nieces ] but buying a different gun does not include - Can I buy dies , tubes- for bullets / cases [ No one sell anything that does not get top heavy for more than 1/2 tube of 357 / 41 mag .
I had to buy sleeves for the tubes for both the 25 and 32 ACP [ Lee does not sell anymore . ]
The kind of reloading you do will also help determine which press .
Pistol cases , I deprime clean and reprime by hand .
Rifle cases are deprimed on press , primed by han .

Strangest caliber I have is 7.62x54R and I dont reload that. Im not prone to reloading odd calibers. I want it to be simple, easy and fast. I want to be able to sit down and crank out a few hundred without it taking me forever. (note that my brass is always pre prepped, decapped and resized and sitting in boxes long before I reload them.

Vote for Loadmaster casted

RCBS Pro 2000, great press. Great Customer Service if you ever need it. I have loaded 9mm,40,45ACP,45LC,44 Mag, all pistol rounds, near 100K rds. Can reload 300-400 per hour easy. But I still use my single stage Rock Chucker for rifle reloading, don't reload nearly as many rifle rds as pistol.

I will probably do the same for my rifle calibers

Vote casted.

[Wookiee87]

You can use a 550 as slow as you'd like (similar to a single stage press) for precision loads. Or just go normal speed for pistol or non precision rifle loads.

[Redemption]

You can use a 550 as slow as you'd like (similar to a single stage press) for precision loads. Or just go normal speed for pistol or non precision rifle loads.

Dont I need to get different risers and stuff for the powder drop on certain rifle loads?

[stevec223]

Another Pro 2000 vote here... I resize 223 and 308 on my rockchucker then tumble ect.... Then run thru the Pro to prime all the way to the Lee fcd... 380 thru 44 mag pistol rds in the Pro alone... Easy to change cals and fairly inexpensive.. Uniflo powder measure with small drum stays on and does fine up to 308 (42gr),,,,, 50gr capacity on the small drum...
I don't run a case or a bullet feeder....
Cheers..

[TexasJackKin]

Well, no one has voted for the Hornady LnL progressive, so I guess I will. I've had one for a few years and have loaded 9, 40, 45, 38/357 on it with the only cost for change over being the cost of the dies. I also, got enough of the quick change bushings to expedite the change overs, but they are not 100% necessary.

This after 40 or so years loading on RCBS Rock chucker. I've still got my single stage press, and use it for swagging primer pockets, and a few other things now and then. I haven't loaded rifle ammo on my LnL, but don't see why you couldn't, at least for pinking ammo.

[tanks]

So, you are looking at about a 1,000 rounds a month. That is about 2.5 hours with a Dillon 550 or a little over an hour for a 650 with case and bullet feeder. So, it is time vs money your choice. If you ever decide to compete in pistol your needs will go up exponentially though and then I'd recommend a 650 for sure with a case and bullet feeders.

I'd keep using a single stage for the 30-06.

For the record I have a Co-AX single stage, a 550, 650, and a 1050 on the way.

[Divernhunter]

I would get a Dillon 650 with case feeder and Dillon dies. That is what I did and am very happy.
I also would load the rifle cartridges(30-06 for you) with a single stage and batch process the brass. Also hand prime which I usually do while watching TV. I load for a bunch of different cartridges and all rifle and lesser shot pistol rounds are all done on my single stage presses. I use a RCBS Jr for seating rifle bullets(more feel) and all steps on other straight walled pistol brass. I use a RCBS RC for sizing rifle brass.
I have a separate single stage for 50BMG
I find the single stage very useful and actually needed even for the pistol rounds I load on the Dillon. It works well when I need to just load a few rounds such as for load testing or a different bullet etc. So get Dillon dies for your new Dillon but keep the cheap Lee dies for use on the single stage and be sure to change out the crappy non-lock rings for real lock rings such as the ones Hornady makes. That will make changing dies a very quick procedure while still keeping the same settings.

[Don the savage]

I see no one has suggested the lee pro 1000.
I have 3 and they work well for the cost which was less for all three combined than a dillon or hornady. But that said you cant go wrong with a dillon if you want to spend.
Personally i wouldnt load 30.06 on a progressive. I load mine on a lee turret press i use as a single stage. You can set your dies on the turret and just switch them out.