Need Choosing A Press

[Quinc]

Would probably be cheaper to just buy a Lee Pro 1000 in both 45 and 9mm.

[alfred1222]

I love my Hornady LNL AP, its probably the best investment ive made in all my years of shooting

[damndave]

The Dillon 550 is a great press. I opted to get a 650 because I wanted to add a casefeder, has 5 stations and is auto-index.

Realistically the only time a double charge or squib would happen is if the operator fails to visually inspect the charged case. Various companies also make dies that check the powder charge for you.

[rconnerley]

I have had my Hornady LNL for about 4.5 years now. With well over 20,000 rounds in 7 calibers through it, I am a very satisfied customer. While it has taken a little tweaking here and there, it has been a fantastic tool. Hornady customer service has been outstanding, as well.

With that said, I have never spoken to a Dillon owner that did not like their press. I don't think that you can go wrong either way. Probably just depends what features you want and what you can afford to pay. +1 on get a case feeder if you can, or at least buy a press (LNL or 650) that allows you to add one later.

[Luv1911's]

Ok, with all of the great input I think I have made my decision to go with the Dillon XL 650. It is more money than the LNL which I am sure is a great press but there appears to be a lot of support for the Dillon on this wed site as well as others, so I am going to stop agonizing over which one and place the order for the Dillon. I appreciate all the help guys and maybe in the future I will post an update once I get up and running.

[klewan]

Ok, with all of the great input I think I have made my decision to go with the Dillon XL 650. It is more money than the LNL which I am sure is a great press but there appears to be a lot of support for the Dillon on this wed site as well as others, so I am going to stop agonizing over which one and place the order for the Dillon. I appreciate all the help guys and maybe in the future I will post an update once I get up and running.

You're going to rot in "blue hell" for eternity....not that's there anything wrong with that....

[Dark Mod]

Ok, with all of the great input I think I have made my decision to go with the Dillon XL 650. It is more money than the LNL which I am sure is a great press but there appears to be a lot of support for the Dillon on this wed site as well as others, so I am going to stop agonizing over which one and place the order for the Dillon. I appreciate all the help guys and maybe in the future I will post an update once I get up and running.

Order from Brian Enos, you will be glad you did

[dartbrandx]

You're going to rot in "blue hell" for eternity....not that's there anything wrong with that....

That's funny. I'm there in blue hell also. I didn't know "hell" could be so effortless and reliable though!!

You have made the right decision.

I started with the lee pro 1000. I moved to the xl650. I've added a casefeeder which I recommend you add with your initial order. It's worth every penny.

The 650 is not cheap to change calibers. If you go with the full change for each caliber, I think it's about $200ish. That's the caliber conversion, toolhead, powder hopper/charge bar etc. It's been awhile since I've tooled up. It's all worth it without a doubt. Everyone's so afraid of changing calibers on this machine! You do it once, follow the step by step youtube video. Seriously, you can change calibers on this machine in 15min or less. The only reason it'll take longer is because you were interrupted. And yes I'm including changing over the primer size too. One of the many reasons I bought the 650 as opposed to the 550 was the safety factor. It is extremely hard to double charge a case in the 650. Dare I say almost impossible. The powder level sensor works great. The primer feed is great. I've got no complaints.

Neither does my father and my brother in law. Both LNL owners and heavy reloaders that I now find coming over to my house to use "ol blue".

Hell, I liked the dillon powder measure alarm on mine so much, I bought one and installed it on my fathers LnL. Works great. It's hard to see that Dillon blue on the LnL red though! lol

You made a great choice.

Oh ya, Brian Enos is the place to go for your Dillon needs and wants. He's a great guy to deal with.

[madjack956]

Welcome to the "Blue Crew"! Your gonna love it...Congratulations!

[johnny1290]

#jealous!

I have a pro 1000. It's fine...but I wish I could load rifle on it other than 223, I wish it had more stations, and I wish it were a loadmaster!

That said it works fine but you hvae to tinker with it

[mud99]

Researched the ever loving heck out of this subject.... LnL hands down. Ignore all the "Dillon and never look back" BS and do your own in depth research.

Agreed, the LNL is fantastic, better priming system than the 650, and it's nice to be able to only insert certain dies - for example to do a deprime before cleaning.

Hornady gives you the same level of support as dillon. Basically, you call them, tell them what you need, and they send it out same day no questions asked.

The dillon is more refined, the LNL is more flexible.

[Ad0nis]

Dillon more refined? How exactly?

LnL case retention system is better,
You already spoke to the LnL's better priming system,
LnL spent primer handling is better
LnL bushing system is better than toolheads

If by refined you mean old and obsolete, then I agree.


Shoot, if Hornady made something akin to a 1050, there would be no reason at all to own any 'blue' press (blue dies maybe, those are pretty good, oh and the swager too, but that's all).

[XDRoX]

Dillon more refined? How exactly?

It's more solid. You'd have to spend time on both machines but anyone who has can tell you that. The amount of pressure you have to put on the LNL to prime isn't right. They should have designed that better.

Also to get a case feeder and bullet feeder to work properly on an LNL require too much extra work. Work that Hornady should have done.

Dillons come ready to go out of the box.

Lot's of guys load on LNL's and love them. But I know a number of people that have owned both and now only own Dillon. I've had a chance to load on both and choose Dillon.

[XDRoX]

You already spoke to the LnL's better priming system,
LnL bushing system is better than toolheads

I couldn't disagree more.

But hey obviously you like your LNL. That's all that really matters.

[Ad0nis]

Your perception of the 650 being more 'solid' than the LnL is exactly opposite of mine. I percieve the LnL to be more solid due to its large, no lash fit ram, and 0 play bushing system. It's a larger press to boot (albeit this may be a detractor for thoes who need to conserve space, the LnL is just plain bigger than all the other 5 station progressives).

Interesting point about the priming pressure - agreed, takes a little more umph than a 650 to get primers seated. The "dimple" on my press after 13000 rounds still isn't deep enough to have given me problems, but I don't like the way that works either. Still, the priming system as a whole has been flawless. I've had exactly two primer shuttle jams in 13000 rounds, both were caused by winchester large pistol primers.

Casefeed, Yeah, Dillon's casefeed system is more reliable because it retains the case fully, you can occasionally bounce a case off the case feed slide on the LnL. Still, you have to buy caliber conversion kits for all your different calibers on the Dillon, where on the LnL, you have everything you need for any caliber in the box it comes in. Once you tweak in the shuttle cam, you never have to touch it again (just swap the 'pushers'). Drop tube adjustments takes seconds.

BTW,

I've loaded on both and choose Hornady (price was not an issue either).