Reloading presses

[DjJStylz]

I want to get into reloading so I've been doing plenty research on presses. I have my eyes on the Hornady LNL, seems to be high quality and gets a lot of good reviews. When it comes to price is it really that much more of a quality press than the Lee LoadMaster though?
I see people bashing the Lee presses but then of course there are plenty people swearing by them. With a Lee press I would be able to put money towards my next pistol or go all out for a Hornady LNL. If you have used both presses, which route would you go?
Thanks

[CSACANNONEER]

If you plan on using it a lot, go for the LNL or a Dillion 550. If you just plan on loading one round without varying the loads and only plan on using it once in a while for a couple hundred rounds, go with the Lee.

[freonr22]

hornady owner here. but lee makes nice presses too. how much do you shoot? case feeder in the future? what your purpose? I dont shoot much, but I got one, then got the case feeder as I want the ability to make my own ammo and not be so reliant on future law outcomes/records/shtf. what calibers? my first press and happy I got it

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

[DjJStylz]

sorry I shouldve mentioned, It will be used for one caliber, 9mm. I would be reloading strictly for range/practice shooting probably 500-1000 rounds a month.

[GeoffLinder]

Just do us all one big favor, stay away from anything Lee except their basic single stage starter kit

Otherwise, either a Dillon 550 or a H LnL will be you best two choices if you want progressive. Myself, I prefer Dillon.

[Oceanbob]

Avoid Lee

sorry I shouldve mentioned, It will be used for one caliber, 9mm. I would be reloading strictly for range/practice shooting probably 500-1000 rounds a month.

Lee sucks....they never caught up in quality or innovation. Back in 1972 Lee was king. Not anymore.

1000 rounds of 9MM a month.....get the Dillon 550B....YouTube it.

No problems. No worries...the best no BS warranty in the world. The most popular in the world. For a reason.

[Cowboy T]

Lee sucks....they never caught up in quality or innovation. Back in 1972 Lee was king. Not anymore.

Oh, horse hockey. Once again the Dillon fanbois think anything other than Dillon is automatically junk. Sigh....

To the OP (DjJStylz):

If you haven't reloaded before, then first off, I would strongly suggest you start off in single-stage mode. Learn your fundamentals FIRST. Doing this may save your fingers down the road. Buy at least two good reloading handbooks and READ THEM. The two I use are Lyman's 49th Edition and Modern Reloading (Lee's book). The ABC's of Reloading has also gotten high marks.

For your needs of reloading 9mm Para, I would recommend you purchase two presses:

1.) Lee Reloader Press (a C-shape single-stage for $30).
2.) Lee Pro 1000 progressive press, and add the case collator.

This is what I use, and like you, I shoot about 1,000 rounds/month. My reloading for the whole month is done in about 3 hours. Note that you can use the dies from your Pro 1000 (it comes complete with dies) on your single-stage as well. Also get a 9mm Para shell plate for your single-stage (it's about $3).

Both of these presses together, with shipping, will be about $210 from Midway, Factory Sales, Widener's, Graf's, and most other authorized dealers. My Pro 1000 now has tens of thousands of .38 Spl and .357 Mag rounds on its clock at this point. It makes great ammo for me with little if any fuss. I've got another one set up for .45 Colt, and I get great service out of it, too. The Load-Master isn't a bad choice, but the Pro 1K is more appropriate for your situation.

I would recommend you watch some videos at my Web site if you want to see one good way to get started.

Hope this helps,

- T

[DjJStylz]

Thanks for the info SF Lib, nice vids. I think I'll go with your advice, I don't want to get ahead of myself with a $600 press. This way I can get my feet wet with a Lee and put money towards another gun.
Thanks again guys!

[Texas Boy]

DjJStylz,

I've owned 2 Lee presses and just bought the Hornady LNL AP. I was also looking heavily at the Lee Loadmaster Progressive. Lee makes some great "value priced" equipment - not the same quality as Hornady or Dillon, but it works as advertised and costs very little.

What kept me away from the LoadMaster was the priming is done while the ram is up - so their 5 station progressive is really a 4 station since you must dedicate one position to priming. You also loose the feel of seating the primer since everything else is going on at the same time.

For starting out, I think the Lee Classic Turret press is the best way to go. It cost about the same as a single stage press, and works like a single stage press, except you can mount all your dies at the same time. The dies index as the ram goes up and down, allowing you to completely process as single round at a time. I have loaded thousands of 9mm and 38spl on a Lee Classic Turret. It does everything a single stage press does and more.

BTW - ultimatereloader.com has some great videos demonstrating operation of various presses. Here is one on the Lee Classic Turret - http://ultimatereloader.com/2010/08/...-to-44-magnum/

[Linkpimp]

Station 1. Resize/de-prime case on the down stroke, prime case at the end of the upstroke
Station 2. Flare the case and insert powder
Station 3. Seat bullet
Station 4.Single Stage Presses. Lee Classic Turret. (LCT) www.leeprecision.com

[Linkpimp]

Dillon http://www.dillonprecision.com/ = Square Deal B/550/650

For a great overview of Dillon Reloading Press Review

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#550

Square Deal B (SDB) only loads pistol. It is an auto indexing 4 station press. It uses special non-upgradeable Dillon dies. It comes with Dies and is preset from the factory ready to go. Just add Powder, Primers and components. It’s a good press. If you will never want to load rifle then you should consider it. Caliber Conversion Cost more then the 550 so be aware and price it out as you will eventually want it set up to get a real price comparison. The tool-head/shell-plate is smaller so it’s a little harder to manipulate. You can not use any other dies so if you need a different sizing die (for instance) you are out of luck.


Dillon 550. The 550 is a 4 station manually indexing press. It is sold with out dies but with the proper caliber conversion for one caliber which includes the shell-plate, locator buttons and powder funnel. It also comes with the Powder Die for the Powder Measure. All you do is add dies of your choice for your caliber. I highly recommend you order from BrianEnos.com. He will make sure you get the right stuff when you order. Dillon sells a lot of upgrades for the 550/650. Avoid them to start with, Christmas is always less then a year away and you can treat yourself later. I am also going to suggest only getting one caliber to start with even if you have multiple calibers to load. Just buy it for your most common caliber. Learn and then get the other parts later. The back of the manual has all the info about caliber conversions. You can also learn about caliber conversion on Brian Enos’s excellent website. Go read and learn. When you need to change calibers you will need a combination of these parts; shellplate, locator buttons and powder funnel. You will also want a new toolhead and powder die. All you do is swap your Powder measure over from one toolhead to the next. If you are going to load sitting you do not want the Strong Mount. Standing you will want it depending on the bench height. I would get the Strong Mount for standing, but it’s personal preference (same goes for the 650 and the strong mount). The 550’s strengths are its simplicity, reliability and reasonable speed (about 400rds a hour). For a Dillon the caliber conversions are reasonably priced. Because it doesn’t auto-index it’s easier to clear problems and do caliber conversions. Like the 650 it comes with a low primer sensor and has a ton of options. Dillon’s No BS warranty is one of the best. Some people don’t like that it does not auto-index. You need to be sure to index the press every time you pull the handle. It’s a little slower as a result. You index the press while your right hand is grabbing a new case so it’s not really that big a deal. You also may want to seat the bullet in station #2. Then you simply can not double charge the case if you always seat the bullet right after looking in the case because the bullet is in the way. All the Dillons have a excellent Fail-Safe System to help prevent short stroking and double charges as a result of short stroking the press.

Dillon 650. This is a 5 station auto-indexing press. Because it’s a 5 station press it has room for a Powder Check Die. Besides that it’s a typical Dillon. It’s sold just like the 550 with out dies but with the caliber conversion parts you need for your chosen caliber. Caliber conversion take a little more time and are more expensive than the 550. If you shoot a lot you won’t care because you will buy a casefeeder and really crank out the ammo. Strength are it’s 5 stations, auto-indexing for added speed. Caliber conversion costs more and takes more time to accomplish than a 550.

Options I would probably buy with any Dillon from the start are:
1) Toolholder/Wrench Set $26. Has a set of Ball Head Allen Wrenchs and a Bench Wrench.
2) Dillon Lock rings if you use the Lee dies (550/650 only)
3) Spare Parts kit. This avoids any downtime if you break anything.
That’s it. I know there are a lot more but start simple and cheap (at least for a Dillon). For instance I used to think having a bunch of primer tubes was important. Now I like the change in pace that I get from loading 100rds, taking a break to load a primer tube and loading another 100rds, repeat. So I don’t use my extra primer tubes any longer. Spare parts kit avoids any downtime. Dillon will replace the parts that wear out.
Recommended Setup:
550/650, comes with proper powder die, buttons, powder funnel. Add either Dillon Dies or the Lee 3 or 4 dieset (if you use the three die set get the crimp die as well), Scale, Dial Calipers, Tumbler. Add the Dillon 1 inch lock rings if you use the Lee Dies. Spare parts kit, Toolholder.


Hornady Lock N Load (LnL) http://www.hornady.com/http://www.powderfunnels.com/ I have heard good things about this PTX option.


I hope you find the information helpful.

Link

[CSACANNONEER]

1000 rounds a month of 9mm and you want to save money on equipment? Just get a Lee starter kit for around $100 and go single stage. It should take you about 6-8 hours to load 1000 rounds on a single stage set up. If time is a factor, get the LNL or a 550 and blow through the 1000 rounds in just under 3 hours.

[Texas Boy]

Excellent post Linkpimp. I have used and or owned most of the presses Linkpimp discussed (various Dillon's, Single stage, LCT, and LNL AP) and concur 100% with his post. There are lots of good presses out there, and none of them are perfect.

One of the nice things about starting with a single stage or even a LCT is even if you purchase a tricked out progressive later, the single stage or LCT is still a handy tool to keep around (esp if you load rifle).

[freonr22]

did you get your lnl Texasboy?

[LGB Loader]

I have owned LNL as well as most all dillons (no 50 BMG press, No Squard Deal) as well as 3 Lee presses (Lee challenger without breach locks, Lee Classic Cast and Lee Classic Turret) Redding Big Boss II, Redding T7, and RCBS Rockchucker. That said, If I had to start over based on "what I now consistantly shoot monthly", I would choose two presses, the Lee Classic Cast and the Lee Classic Turret.

Lee Classic Cast = case prepping and large rifle caliber. 10 - 50 rounds per hour

Lee Classic Turret = Hand gun and 223, 308 loading aprox 150 - 250 rounds per hour.

Of course this excludes the 2 rifles I shoot off the bags which I prefer the arbor press.

Thanks,

Anthony