Dillon vs Hornady

[cvigue]

So I've been reloading since I was a teenager, which was an embarrassingly long time ago, but when I went to live in Southeast Asia in 2011 I gave away all my bulky reloading stuff, including the presses.

Kept the dies and stuff though

So I find myself returning to a free state and preparing to get my reloading bench running again. I'm looking at 2 (maybe 3, more on that later) presses as possible candidates. My previous presses were RCBS, a progressive and a SS.

Hornady Ammo Factory: This is a progressive press with automatic case and bullet feeders. It seems well made and Hornady has a good reputation. Also, my BiL has one of these.

Dillon 650 (w/ bullet and case feeder): A very nice press, also has a great rep, and it's blue but I've never laid eyes on one IRL.

Dillon Super 1050: OK, this is obviously a much better press, it moves the dies rather than the cases, and is pretty much the gold standard. It also costs as much to switch calibers as some other presses cost. Eventually I'll probably have one of these AND one of the others, but I don't see me setting the 1050 up for all the various oddball calibers I sometimes reload for. I guess I could have ONE spare toolhead for calibers I don't mind re-setting up 2x a year ...

Thoughts and advice appreciated, brand war not requested.


EDIT:

Here are the calibers I reload:

38 spl
9mm
357 mag
357 Sig
10mm
44 mag
454 Casull
5.56/223
300BLK
243 Win
25-06
308 Win
300 Win mag
45-70 gov
450 Bushmaster
303 Savage



Bold are the ones I do greater volume of. I don't think the 1050 can handle the 300 Win Mag

[MarkInFolsom]

Oh boy! Red vs Blue.

[TexasJackKin]

Oh boy! Red vs Blue.

Yup, Oh boy, these kind of questions never come up.......

[Kwikvette]

I'm new to this all so take it lightly, but all I hear about are Dillions.

When I get a progressive setup, it'll be a Dillion 1050.

[furrly]

Dillon

[jericho89]

1050 is good for mass production. if you are loading only a few hundred rounds a month then get the 650. I have never used a hornady so no opinion there.

[cvigue]

1050 is good for mass production. if you are loading only a few hundred rounds a month then get the 650. I have never used a hornady so no opinion there.

I shoot from 500 to 3000 rounds a month, most commonly around 1000 per month. Most of those are run via pistols, so 9mm, 357 Sig, 10mm.

[BajaJames83]

having extensively used both. I can say without a single doubt that any dillon press is a better investment and useable tool vs the hornady presses.
you set it up and it does its job....
the hornady press requires ongoing adjustments...

[mjmagee67]

This isn't a question. Dillon.

[Chevy2Nova]

Dillon. Customer service is second to none!

[C.G.]

Dillon. Customer service is second to none!

I would beg to differ, it is on par with Hornady.

[cvigue]

having extensively used both. I can say without a single doubt that any dillon press is a better investment and useable tool vs the hornady presses.
you set it up and it does its job....
the hornady press requires ongoing adjustments...

This is the type of info I was looking for. I used to have an RCBS progressive that was MOSTLY fiddle free, I'll check w/ the BiL WRT adjusting the Hornady LNL.

[jimmykan]

I have one each of the Dillon 550, 650 and 1050 presses.

The 550 is the most versatile, and changing calibers is a breeze with the quick change tool heads and very simple manually-indexing shellplate. The primer tube is also easy to change between large and small primers.

The other two presses load more efficiently but changing calibers is more involved.

[Bumslie]

I own a lnl and a 550b.

It all depends on how you use the machines. If you're like me and load a little of everything, the lnl is better suited. It's auto indexing but you don't need a case feeder like a 650 to get it going.

I feel that the lnl powder system is a superior design to the charge bar my Dillon 550 has. The lnl I feel is surperior with the ease of switching primer size and powder rotor/charge bar. The lnl is also cheaper on conversions.


There are known quirks with the lnl, like needing a shim to prevent the powder measure from backing out and spilling.

The downfall for the lnl is the primer feeding slide and the case feeder sucks. If you're wanting to utilize a case feeder, go with Dillon.

As for customer service, I've had issues with both but more so with hornady. Once I get a bigger area to reload I'll eventually sell off the hornady and probably get a 650.



RIP Blitzburgh

[kcstott]

I don't own a 650 or a 1050. but My experience with Dillon is owning two 550's for close to 30 years.

Personally heres what I do, I have one press set up for large primers and one for small. This way the part that takes the longest to swap never changes. This alos means i'm swapping powder charge bars when going from 45 ACP to say 30-30.

So Personally I'd buy two presses. and the 1050 would not be one unless I was competing very heavily and shooting tons of ammo. I also would not want to do the caliber conversion for this because not only are they expensive they are time consuming too. The whole point of the 1050 is to set it up and run the piss out of it in one caliber.

Lower volume could be run on a 550, and anything for a bolt rifle I'd run on a rock chucker.