Progressive Press Question

[Bill Steele]

OK, I am getting the sense (and confidence) I am worrying about something that maybe is bigger in my head than in reality.

I know this for sure, loading handgun ammo on my single stage is not going to be fulfilling for much longer. I only shoot about 200-300 rounds a week, but on a single stage press, it is getting old.

I admire the guys that say they can do 50 rounds an hour on their single stage press. Everytime I go out to load another 50 I glance at the clock, then when I am done and bagging the lot, I look up at the clock and think, "crud, what a putz, another couple of hours..."

I think it is time to quit over thinking and start doing.

Thanks again guys for all the insight, it is invaluable.

[LGB Loader]

Bill,

Dont worry, Mate. I loaded pistol calibers with a single stage for years and years. Hone the craft and if you are still shooting 500 rounds a month regularly for each caliber of pistol, drop the cash for the progressive. Have a good look at the Lee Classic Turret, they can handle 200 rounds per hour easy. Dillon 550B is also a great little press.

LGB

[TMC]

Thanks,

Yes, the 650 XL is one of the units I have contemplated. But all the self indexers seem to move pretty fast.

You are WAY overthinking this.

Like I said earlier the operator controls the speed of the shellplate. Auto-index only means that the shell plate advances when you move the handle, it doesn't move on it's own. When I load 9Major rounds on my 1050 I slow down a little on the upstroke so the shell plates slows down before it comes to a stop, not so the powder doesn't spill, so the bullet from the bullet feeder doesn't fly off the case mouth. Even with that bit of slowing I can still load 1500 an hour.

Remember its power, not water. It won't go flying out like you describe. Think about it, 10's of thousand of people load on Dillon 650 and 1050 auto-indexing machines and load rounds with pretty full cases and don't spill powder. Do you think Dillon would be the number 1 progressive loader if you couldn't consistently load rounds? 99.9% of all the action pistol shooters in America and abroad use progressive machines without issue.

On the Dillon 650 the shell plate is not that big around so the case moves less and 1 inch with each index and doesn't move all that fast. I've loaded tens of thousands of 38 super rounds on my Dillon 650 with 8 grains of power that fill the case within less than 1/8" from the top (yes its a compressed load) and the power does not fly out of the case.

[RaymondMillbrae]

Look at the video tutorial below my signature. (Reloading. 223 ammo).

On one of the videos, I show a modification that can be done to reduce this jarring whilst rotating the rounds.

In Christ: Raymond

[Malthusian]

Take a look a RaymondMillbrae's video. There is no jarring and he meets the case with boolit in hand.

Buy a progressive take it slow. Almost all progressives can easily load around 100 rounds or more in the first 10 minutes

Everyone seems to get out all the components, load up the hopper, fill primer tubes etc and then start the timer. The first ten minutes is always impressive

You can reduce you bench time to about 1-2 hours with a progressive. The quantity is up to you and your comfort level

[Bill Steele]

Raymond, man, thanks for taking the time to put that together. Great videos, great job.

I had to laugh when you said you sit down for a whole hour or hour and a half to do 1500 rounds, little different than the rate I am working at, ha!

I think you covered all my questions.

I get down to Jackson Arms occasionally, I will look for you when I am there.

Thanks again to all who took the time to hold my hand on this issue, great stuff.

[RaymondMillbrae]

You're welcome, shooter.

That was the whole purpose of making the videos...for y'all.

Like I always recommend, get a progressive. You will grow into them very quickly. The single stage presses have their benefits...but it is not quantity, which is what most reloaders purchasing their first presses want. Granted, there are exceptions to this statement, and some may want more accuracy, or to go slower for safety. That is understood.

As for my statement about knocking-out so many rounds in such a short time...just be aware that this is in regards to already prepped cases. It takes more time to tumble, lube, prep, remove lube, and then swage the cases...before I even get to the press for final reloading. (Just needed to throw that out, as some folks are soooooooo anal about this, and will always make a sny statement about my claim being deceitful).

Anyhoo...glad to hear that you benefitted from the vids.

In Christ: Raymond

PS: Typing from my Droid can be a bear sometimes! Every once in a while my Droid will substitute a word because it does not recognize my computer slang...and it throws me off big-time.

[jwest]

Can't go wrong with a 550.

+1 here.

Also consider:

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/25792/catid/1/BL_550_Basic_Loader