First press for new reloader

[Animal.]

Lynn

I totally understand what you are getting at and have no argument against what a press does and its intended use. My conclusion based on absolutely no practical experience at all but only through reading and other forms of research such as this thread.. is that certain presses accomplish certain reloading needs better.. Am i planning on reloading precision ammo and shooting out to 1000 yards and win long range tournaments? Hell no. May at some point in my life.. possibly? Right now im young (mid twenties) so anything can happen. Am I planning on making as many 223/556 as I can afford to? Yes that is my plan.. Do I want to turn reloading into something I spend a insane amount of time doing? No not really but I do want to make it a hobby and learn as much about the ammo and the process involved in all aspects of shooting be it the operation of my firearm or the application involved in creating the projectile. Thats why in my own opinion the dillon 550 seems the best choice for my purposes and intended use. For your situation and the application you intend reloading for is the progessive the best choice? Probably not and once again I have no experience and am absolutely only speaking from my limited knowledge and am only giving my perspective... and am in no way trying to sound like I actually know anything about reloading.

[J-cat]

Reloading is not like what you are used to doing. It is more like making a watch. You work with increments like .001” not 1”. Much of reloading is accomplished by feel. Progressive presses remove that very thing from the process. You are numb when you pull that lever. You can’t feel the things you need to feel, like bumping the shoulder .002” for bolt guns or .004” for autos. More importantly you’ll never learn the feeling. The ammo you’ll learn to make will be inferior to the ammo you could have made.

Progressive presses are for volume production. They sacrifice precision for speed. People who know what they’re doing can adjust them to minimize the deficiencies but they first have to know what they are.

[hambam105]

It is hard to argue with a Dillion 550. Every serious Reloader I know owns and uses at least one Dillion progressive.

A sincere congratulations on a fantastic shooting accomplishment to LynnJr.

I have always been under the mistaken impression that he exclusively used Lee equipment.
And here I thought I was going overboard on spending 4 bones on a Redding 700 Ultramag Press just for FL resizing a barrel full of Lake City 7.62 brass.

I have never even seen a Corbin Reloading Press before. Dang!

[hambam105]

I have some Bad News for the OP.

If you stick with Reloading long enough you are going to buy more than 1 Press, even if the 1st one you bought still works fine & problem free.

Am I right, guys? Right.

J-Cat sure did explain the advantages of a quality single stage Press.

[Animal.]

Understood but can I not use the 550 as a single stage until I learn how to make those adjustments. Or is it not a true accurate representation of how a single stage operates as in the minute measurements and feeling of the primer being seating and such and only gives the operation of a single stage without the accuracy and feel that an actual single stage will have?

[Animal.]

If you stick with Reloading long enough you are going to buy more than 1 Press, even if the 1st one you bought still works fine & problem free.

Am I right, guys? Right.

J-Cat sure did explain the advantages of a quality single stage Press.

Yea and I totally plan on buying more than 1 press but for the time being I would like something that can get me atleast 1 solid year due to limited space and would like to be satisfied with the purchase because I know ill buy a different press if I am not..

[LynnJr]

Animal
With today's presses it is hard to make a wrong choice. The advantage of the more expensive presses is leverage and how they feel. The cheaper presses work great but feel like they are going to explode when your full length sizing the larger cases. There is a huge difference between loading 300 Blackout versus 338 SnipeTac.
The big Corbin has two settings for leverage so you can comfortably load 20mm Vulcan without a need for hernia surgery after 20 rounds.
If you have the money and will be shooting a large volume of ammo the Dillon is a good machine with good customer support. As you are mechanically inclined you will be fine after your first few blunders.
E-Bay has used single stage presses very cheaply priced so if you bought one and don't like it or outgrow it your only out the shipping as you can most always get your original money back reselling it.

Hambam105
I don't own or use much Lee equipment but I do own a Lee Cast Classic press and two sets of Lee dies in 22 Hornet and 17 Hornet.
I own a half dozen single stage presses and one progressive but no turret presses. The picture is of my 50 cent fix for the RCBS Jr press even though RCBS did give me a free handle.

[J-cat]

Understood but can I not use the 550 as a single stage until I learn how to make those adjustments. Or is it not a true accurate representation of how a single stage operates as in the minute measurements and feeling of the primer being seating and such and only gives the operation of a single stage without the accuracy and feel that an actual single stage will have?

No. The 550 is numb. You do not feel anything like you would on a single stage press. Similarly, a hand priming tool is better for feeling primer seat pressure than a press, and a benchrest tool is better still. The same goes for bullet seating.

[kcstott]

Understood but can I not use the 550 as a single stage until I learn how to make those adjustments. Or is it not a true accurate representation of how a single stage operates as in the minute measurements and feeling of the primer being seating and such and only gives the operation of a single stage without the accuracy and feel that an actual single stage will have?

Animal

One my earlier rant was at beginners in general and the part the was directed at you was your expectation of volume per month.

That said if you have a good sense of your surrounding and can pay attention to what you are doing and not just blindly be a production worker you can make good use of a progressive press.

now as to running a RL55B or now C progressive as a single stage unless you disconnect everything you will loose quite a bit of feel. you still won't have the feel of a single stage but if you run the press slow enough and for a good amount of time you will develop an idea of what it should feel like.

I have two RL550B's and love them, but I also only load my bulk stuff on them. I do not have any faith it can load match grade ammo despite what some will say.

[hambam105]

Animal...

...1 solid year due to limited space...

D 550s are great machines but they need a lot of space as compared to a single stage, a lot more.


J-Cat's #93 post, ninety-three ,
is the most visceral explanation I've ever read and I absolutely agree with him.

As to using a progressive like a single stage:
How would you like using the screwdriver on your Swiss Army Knife to replace all the slotted screw light switch panels in a two-story house?
Yeah, it can be done. I know what improvising is all about.
And there is a lot to be said about using the tool in & for it's intended purpose.

Limited space, progressive, beginner, not adding up so well.

[TripleThreat]

This is my last chime in.

I like nice stuff, most of my stuff is high-end and expensive. When I purchased reloading tools, I did my home work and unfortunately was on a budget and this would be a Xmas present to myself. Also, I wasn't sure how much reloading I would actually do.

Back then (2015) most were in supporting of LEE Loader. I went that route, upgraded 2 components (powder dispenser and prime loaders) of the kit and have never looked back. As of today, I've loaded between 10,000 - 15,000 rounds (1,000 this month alone).

I am very happy with both the quality and cost of the Lee Loader system. I contacted Titan Reloading, he hooked me up with every thing I needed to get started.

What whats it worth, I find the hardest part is die set-up. And even today it takes nearly an hour for me to set up new dies correctly.

Reloading is intuitive and I'm sure you will master it within a few month or so, maybe sooner.

I have over 10 types of ammo I'm currently reloading.

Hope this helps,


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[kcstott]

Why do I participate in this crap?? Hambam you need to shut it. That born in the 90’s tell me a lot. Why are you even opening your mouth with advise. You been reloading for what? Five years? Maybe?? Sit back and learn offer up what you know but picking a fight?? No sir take that crap somewhere else

By the way do you even own or have you even used a 550? I’ve got two sitting side by side on a five by two work bench. They take up o more space than a rock chucker dip dunk

[mmlook]

No. The 550 is numb. You do not feel anything like you would on a single stage press. Similarly, a hand priming tool is better for feeling primer seat pressure than a press, and a benchrest tool is better still. The same goes for bullet seating.

not quite true.

primer seating on all Dillons, except for the 1050 happen on the top of the up stroke.
You have just as much feel, if not more than a manual priming tool.

Animal...


D 550s are great machines but they need a lot of space as compared to a single stage, a lot more.


J-Cat's #93 post, ninety-three ,
is the most visceral explanation I've ever read and I absolutely agree with him.

As to using a progressive like a single stage:
How would you like using the screwdriver on your Swiss Army Knife to replace all the slotted screw light switch panels in a two-story house?
Yeah, it can be done. I know what improvising is all about.
And there is a lot to be said about using the tool in & for it's intended purpose.

Limited space, progressive, beginner, not adding up so well.

this is not quite true either, a 550 takes up no more space than a rock chucker.
it actually takes up less space if you consider the space required for a powder drop, staging trays, & a priming tool.

[mmlook]

All I have is single stage because I just try and do precision, never gotten into reloading really. I'd call what I do "hand loading". Takes a long time, and I am measuring my throws out of a Chargemaster on a jewelers scale afterwards. Trying to make the ammo as accurate as possible about 50 to 100 at a time. Trying to get less than 10 FPS ES. I also started turning necks a few years ago for a custom 6x47 Lapua that had a .269 neck.

Progressive press guys seem to be tactical shooters who need quantity. I know some PRS dudes who also go progressive because they need the time savings to shoot. Tons of them just shoot box match ammo though.

How many people in 3 gun reload? I don't know enough of them to say.

I would say 80-90% of the serious 3-gun, USPSA, IDPA, ICORE, steel challenge shooters I've met reload.

Have to, to maintain reliability, accuracy, power factor, and cost.
in that order.

they do make competition ammo, but they are about 2-3x the price of factory ammo, hence why almost everyone reloads.

[Animal.]

Hambam I said limited space not no space. I have enough room to set up 1 press / reloading station. Some set ups I see have 3 presses set up and seperate depriming units etc. Also from a lot of single stage set ups I have seen take up quite a bit of space potentially more than if I had that dillon 550 up. Also do you really think I would even consider the dillon or any setup for that matter if I knew I didnt even have the proper space to actually set it up?