which press should i get

[jaymz]

RELOADING IS VERY DANGEROUS!

Its not a hobby!

That word of caution being said I would buy the Dillon 650. Then take some lessons from some one with great knowledge of your press!!!!!!!!!

Why the 650 you ask?

Auto-indexes and wont allow you to put two charges in one case.
The dillon 550 and other brands are self indexing and dangerous. DONT USE THEM! You only have to make a mistake once.
Powder charge bar lock. You cannot half cock the handle and double charge the case.
Powder alarm for low/high powder charge. Very important.
Fast
Lifetime NO BS warranty, if it breaks they replace or repair. I knocked my workbench over and broke my press and they replaced it.
Did I mention fast?
Many accessories.
Tech support that is very very helpful!

Now here is why I tell you its not a hobby. After over 20 years of reloading with a dillon 550 (unsafe IMO) I managed to double charge a 45 acp round with a very light load. Had it been a hot load I would have lost some fingers or hands. A good reason to shoot a steel frame gun huh?

Sorry pal. Absolute B.S. The Dillon 550 (or any other press) is 100% safe. Reloading is a hobby just as many other potentially dangerous things are. But like a firearm, a press left all by it's lonesome on the bench, aint gonna hurt a fly. You made a mistake(as others, myself included, also have). The cheapest press money can buy can produce the same quality ammo as the priciest press money can buy, the difference being, how fast do you want to produce?

[Milsurp Collector]

The Lee Classic Turret Press is well suited to your purposes. I have one and am very happy with it. If I was buying a progressive press I would probably buy a Lee Loadmaster rather than the Lee Pro 1000.

Check www.loadmastervideos.com and www.kempfgunshop.com for more information.

I believe I will be going with the Lee classic turret press too. I just recently used my friends and its actually very quick when you get the hang of it. I have the Lee single stage press and the lee classic loader and both have made me very happy with no problems. I still use the Lee classic loader to make some great .308 handloads

+1... on the turret press...
i'm definitley looking to upgrade from a single stage to a turret press. i just hate having to switch out dies every time i change modes.

For small batches of a variety of calibers the turret press is a great choice -- exactly as you've identified:

• You can leave your dies set up as you like them (as anothergunnut mentioned, the Hornady quick-change bushings offer this on a single-stage as well, if you buy a bushing insert for each of your dies)
• Caliber changes are literally two-minute affairs (would be 15 seconds, but it's best to do things with deliberation and an extra double-check or two when you're reloading...)
• The flexibility of using the press as either a fast single stage (my preference) or a slow progressive

Lee makes a perfectly fine, extremely well-priced machine (despite the fact that people slag on them). And even though this line sounds like a review in a gun magazine, there are no bad products in this category -- some are better for some people in some applications, but nothing is crap. There's a reason all of these companies have survived decades in the business.

Agree with the above, especially that last part. I use a Lee Turret Press I got in the 1980s that works like a champ. I reload multiple types of cartridges and the interchangeable turrets make switching between dies for the same cartridge (by rotating the turret), or changing between cartridge types (by switching turrets) a breeze.



Rather than going by just a few opinions here, positive or negative, go to http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=814175 click on the Reviews tab and read the 69 user reviews for a wider range of opinions.

[Batbunny]

Brasspolisher thanks for the invite! I looked into that as well, but grad school keeps me pretty busy most of the time.

And Milsurp collector...you got enough there?

[Mstrty]

Sorry pal. Absolute B.S. The Dillon 550 (or any other press) is 100% safe. Reloading is a hobby just as many other potentially dangerous things are. But like a firearm, a press left all by it's lonesome on the bench, aint gonna hurt a fly. You made a mistake(as others, myself included, also have). The cheapest press money can buy can produce the same quality ammo as the priciest press money can buy, the difference being, how fast do you want to produce?

+1+
Reloading is a hobby. It can be fatal as can Skydiving or snorkeling. Watch what you do. Use good equipment and have fun!

[Milsurp Collector]

And Milsurp collector...you got enough there?

And that's not even all of them. I have dies for 10 different cartridges.

[problemchild]

+1+
Reloading is a hobby. It can be fatal as can Skydiving or snorkeling. Watch what you do. Use good equipment and have fun!

Sorry but I disagree completely. Skydiving is a sport not a hobby. I am a D rated diver with 435 jumps. The people that skydive as a hobby are dead or injured very badly. Again reloading is not a hobby.

Hobbies are coin collecting and basket weaving. Also presses that dont move to the next station and allow double charges are dangerous. Why does the military try to make dangerous thing double or triple redundant? They know it is common to make mistakes. So why use something that will allow you to make a mistake? The 650 will move to the next station, check your load and lock the powder bar until the handle is fully cycled. The 550 does none of the above.

Go ahead and use a non auto-indexing press and your time will come. I guarantee it. Mine took 20 years but it still came.

[Pre 64 Joe]

My favorite reloading press for over 35 years is the Lompacaroochukka, it comes with an automatic turn the tv,radio,mother in law off switch and watch what your doing mode, it also has decals so you can make it a dillon,rcbs,hornady,lyman,lee,redding and has all the different colors of spray paint to suit your fancy and a blank receipt you can fill in to impress someone with your purchase, the're all good if you watch what your doing .

[Mstrty]

Sorry but I disagree completely. Skydiving is a sport not a hobby. I am a D rated diver with 435 jumps. The people that skydive as a hobby are dead or injured very badly. Again reloading is not a hobby.

Hobbies are coin collecting and basket weaving. Also presses that dont move to the next station and allow double charges are dangerous. Why does the military try to make dangerous thing double or triple redundant? They know it is common to make mistakes. So why use something that will allow you to make a mistake? The 650 will move to the next station, check your load and lock the powder bar until the handle is fully cycled. The 550 does none of the above.

Go ahead and use a non auto-indexing press and your time will come. I guarantee it. Mine took 20 years but it still came.

If Reloading is not a Hobby then Why in the H*** am I doing it. Hmmmmm. to save money? Nope dont have a problem there.... Hmmm to tailor a load to my gun? Hmmm... Factory loads are more accurate than I can shoot. I know... I do it cause I enjoy it.
If I enjoy doing something that I could pay someone else to do it then....It Must Be A Hobby

FYI if you can bet on it in Vegas it's a sport. If you cant it is just an exhibition or a hobby IMO

To the OP sorry myself and problemchild thread jacked you. Get a Dillon and never look back. A wise man once told me as soon as he hears someone ditch their Dillon for a Lee I might consider looking at a Lee.
Just remember reloading is the most expensive way to save a buck. (you will shoot more)

[ar15barrels]

And Milsurp collector...you got enough there?

That's nothing.

Here is ONE of my reloading benches:



I load for about 40 different cartridges.
Those boxes up on the high shelf are some of the reloading die sets.

[jaymz]

That's nothing.

Here is ONE of my reloading benches:



I load for about 40 different cartridges.
Those boxes up on the high shelf are some of the reloading die sets.

Awww c'mon Randall! I've seen that picture before, quit teasing us and show us a picture of a different bench!

[Waldog]

There are guys that think Dillon was produced by God! (Good stuff, IMHO)
There are guys that think Hornady was produced by God! (Also good stuff, IMHO)
There are guys that think Lee was produced by God! (OK stuff, IMHO)

Both Dillon and Hornady have GREAT customer service.

Read this, it may help: http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillon...Comparison.pdf

[5hundo]

Stay away from Lee.

Meh...

That used to be the case but some of them have gotten a lot better:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ammosmith#p/u/1/gM54KBOf4IY

[5hundo]

Now here is why I tell you its not a hobby. After over 20 years of reloading with a dillon 550 (unsafe IMO) I managed to double charge a 45 acp round with a very light load. Had it been a hot load I would have lost some fingers or hands. A good reason to shoot a steel frame gun huh?

More shrapnel?

[will227457]

dillion all the way

[Waldog]

Every double charge KABOOM I have read about on the web was traced back to a manually indexed progressive loader. IMHO, a auto-indexing progressive press reduces the possibility of a double charge dramatically.

HOWEVER, a double charge is operator error not a press error!!!