Getting a press.. How does this list look *Update*: Order placed!

[Frozenguy]

+1

We are not the police of reloading. We only try to help.

Can we make this a sticky for when SHTF and there is a crater left where a house once stood and blue shrapnel is lodged into all of the surrounding houses?



OP:
I honestly hope you did not buy all that stuff yet. Seriously, you really should attend a reloading clinic and get an idea as to what else there is and learn to walk before you run a marathon...

Are you telling me to get the 1050?

jk

I appreciate the concern stilly but I have jumped into worse more blind before so I'm not worried.
From what i understand, and no one has corrected me so far, I can still walk with this marathon capable equipment.

[AreWeFree]

I have yet to pull the handle on my first round, so I have no experience to say how anyone should begin reloading. That said, I was in the same boat as you for the past month and I'd like to offer a different perspective.

I have been reading and learning the past 6 months and finally had the money to purchase. I was heavily leaning towards the 550b or 650xl, and kept telling myself to buy a good progressive press. The efficiency of high output, not having to constantly set up dies (as with a single stage), time savings, and expandability are big selling points. Spec'ing out a 550 or 650 with single pistol caliber and all the goodies had me at about $1,000 (no case feeder.) Add on a few missing pieces like a tumbler and components plus building a workbench would have brought me to about $1,500.

My goal is mainly loading rifle, and while thinking about this and the process of reloading it dawned on me; I'm less concerned with cranking out 2,000 rounds in a weekend and more interested in learning, having a fun hobby, making safe, quality ammo, and of course gaining other benefits of reloading such as tailoring loads and some independence from ammo supply/demand.

I feel that any name brand press regardless of style will turn out the same ammo, it's the person who makes a difference. With that in mind I decided to eliminate as many outside factors as I could so I can focus on learning and memorizing the correct processes, so I purchased a single stage press and parted out my own kit. I didn't want to worry about tuning a machine or wonder why this session I'm getting different specs than last session, which of these dozens of parts could cause it, is it me or the machine? I feel a single stage solves this. Once I learn more and know what to expect I plan on diving in to progressives. Then if something is going wrong I'll know why and where to look since I'll have a good baseline in memory to refer to.

As a side note I must highly recommend you buy/read "ABC's of Reloading." It is very inexpensive and has been the most informative book I've read recently. It has tons of information, is very well written, and I really like the hand drawn "art." It's a great book with a lot of character, I think you'd appreciate it, too.


TL;DR, sorry for the crappy long post. I can relate to your situation and wanted to impart the thought of "What do I want to get out of this," vs "What cool machine should I buy." (Not being condescending, I really have a thing for precision, quality gear.)

[CGT80]

OP, you are right about being able to walk the marathon first. When I am working up a load or getting dies set correctly on the 1050, or the 550 for that matter, I run one piece of brass at a time. You can do all the steps in order with one piece or you can insert the brass into the single station you want to work with. When getting seating depth set, I will keep adjusting the die deeper and re-running the round in just that die. Settings can change slightly once you load the entire machine since the forces on the toolhead and shell plate will be different. Once I have what I am after, I run the handle until all stations have brass, then I start to double check the length, crimp, and powder levels. Seating depth seems to change the most. If you load 10 thousandths or more shorter than your max COAL for your particular gun, maybe even 20 thou., then it wouldn't be an issue.

It sounds like the OP knows what he wants and knows he is the type of person to want the best quickly after getting into a project. I am very similar. If you are mechanically inclined and good at problem solving and working precisely, they you should do fine. Just take your time.

My brother reloaded 500 rounds of 40 S&W on my 550, last week. The powder thrower pivot bushing was bad and the screw would loosen over time. I always check the screw every so often, and I didn't know the bushing was breaking down. I visually check the powder level in my pistol brass as I load. My brother says he checked the powder, but he had about 5 squibs out of 75 rounds of that ammo. Luckily he caught the first one and I made sure to reinforce that he needed to check the barrel when in doubt. He also didn't have his pistol with him when he loaded the ammo, so he used mine (xd 40 4" vs. xd 40 5") to get the COAL. It ends up that his barrel has less leade or taper on the rifling. The ammo worked, but if he tried to extract a live round, the bullet would stick in the barrel and the case would come out. He should know, by now, to bring his gun to determine COAL. He has loaded with me in the past. We used to load single stage together, when we were teens.

My brother will buy random supplies and then just take a stab at the load with the use of a loading book. I try to buy in bulk and settle on one bullet profile and weight, or just a few of them if need be. When I go to a new bullet, I work up test loads again, and I record that data in my personal load folder. If I buy that bullet again, I can look up my own data. I try to stick with one or two powders for the same reason. I have seen hundreds of rounds of ammo dumped in the trash, most likely because someone made similar mistakes. I also shoot in competitions and although I am not at the very top of the score sheet, I still want to do my best and eliminate frustrations at the range.

Welcome to the addiction!

[Frozenguy]

Ordered through Brian.

I dropped the dillon primer flip tray, going with RCBS I think. And instead of the deluxe quick change (powder measure, stand, toolhead, powder die), I decided on just two toolheads + powder dies. I figure I can make my own stand, and the powder change shouldn't be too bad. Saved me about $140 and will cost approximately the same to add on later if I need.

[Frozenguy]

OP, you are right about being able to walk the marathon first. When I am working up a load or getting dies set correctly on the 1050, or the 550 for that matter, I run one piece of brass at a time. You can do all the steps in order with one piece or you can insert the brass into the single station you want to work with. When getting seating depth set, I will keep adjusting the die deeper and re-running the round in just that die. Settings can change slightly once you load the entire machine since the forces on the toolhead and shell plate will be different. Once I have what I am after, I run the handle until all stations have brass, then I start to double check the length, crimp, and powder levels. Seating depth seems to change the most. If you load 10 thousandths or more shorter than your max COAL for your particular gun, maybe even 20 thou., then it wouldn't be an issue.

It sounds like the OP knows what he wants and knows he is the type of person to want the best quickly after getting into a project. I am very similar. If you are mechanically inclined and good at problem solving and working precisely, they you should do fine. Just take your time.

My brother reloaded 500 rounds of 40 S&W on my 550, last week. The powder thrower pivot bushing was bad and the screw would loosen over time. I always check the screw every so often, and I didn't know the bushing was breaking down. I visually check the powder level in my pistol brass as I load. My brother says he checked the powder, but he had about 5 squibs out of 75 rounds of that ammo. Luckily he caught the first one and I made sure to reinforce that he needed to check the barrel when in doubt. He also didn't have his pistol with him when he loaded the ammo, so he used mine (xd 40 4" vs. xd 40 5") to get the COAL. It ends up that his barrel has less leade or taper on the rifling. The ammo worked, but if he tried to extract a live round, the bullet would stick in the barrel and the case would come out. He should know, by now, to bring his gun to determine COAL. He has loaded with me in the past. We used to load single stage together, when we were teens.

My brother will buy random supplies and then just take a stab at the load with the use of a loading book. I try to buy in bulk and settle on one bullet profile and weight, or just a few of them if need be. When I go to a new bullet, I work up test loads again, and I record that data in my personal load folder. If I buy that bullet again, I can look up my own data. I try to stick with one or two powders for the same reason. I have seen hundreds of rounds of ammo dumped in the trash, most likely because someone made similar mistakes. I also shoot in competitions and although I am not at the very top of the score sheet, I still want to do my best and eliminate frustrations at the range.

Welcome to the addiction!

Thanks for that info! I like the idea of re checking/adjusting after loading up all stations.

I will run 1 shell for a while not only to be safe and thorough, but because I have a need to observe and understand every movement.

It really is an addiction! It's a whole new side to shooting. Can't believe I let myself take this long to get into it. Thanks for the welcome

[Germz]

[Voo]

For volume loading, it's hard not to recommend a dillon.. The truth is that there's a reason why people use and really swear by the blue presses.. My buddy who use to be part of JV Dynamics put it this way, "always get as much press as you can afford". You hit it on the head when you said you'd eventually want more press. I started out on a 550 over 20 years ago. I now have a 650 with case feeder and a MrBulletFeeder. Reloading is so fast now.

If you don't see the value, and feel you can do without running a dillon, more power to you.. But I will argue that the way I have it setup is going to be faster than any non-dillon machine out there. Time is money, but money buys you time.. If you can afford it, you'll not regret the purchase

[Frozenguy]

Hah ya I'm sure. Thanks for the heads up. I'm expecting it and the unexpected. I really don't want to injure myself or anyone else, or my gun .
If it makes people feel better, I am a bit scared haha
I really want to attend a class. This Saturdays Orange County would have been perfect but I'm going out of town :/
I didn't just decide to drop a chunk of bananas on reloading equipment/components, I've been putting away for it..

[Frozenguy]

For volume loading, it's hard not to recommend a dillon.. The truth is that there's a reason why people use and really swear by the blue presses.. My buddy who use to be part of JV Dynamics put it this way, "always get as much press as you can afford". You hit it on the head when you said you'd eventually want more press. I started out on a 550 over 20 years ago. I now have a 650 with case feeder and a MrBulletFeeder. Reloading is so fast now.

If you don't see the value, and feel you can do without running a dillon, more power to you.. But I will argue that the way I have it setup is going to be faster than any non-dillon machine out there. Time is money, but money buys you time.. If you can afford it, you'll not regret the purchase

After much research I'm really confident with the purchase. The efficiency, quality, and support are definitely worth it.
A bullet feeder would be nice but I don't have those funds yet. Need a trimmer first.

[Frozenguy]

Brian Enos is good people.

I got an email from him saying he saved and refunded me about $34 because the 45 acp and 30-06 conversion kits share some parts that I don't need double of, so he pieced some stuff together for me.
Will do business with him forever.

[knucklehead0202]

I have yet to pull the handle on my first round, so I have no experience to say how anyone should begin reloading. That said, I was in the same boat as you for the past month and I'd like to offer a different perspective.

I have been reading and learning the past 6 months and finally had the money to purchase. I was heavily leaning towards the 550b or 650xl, and kept telling myself to buy a good progressive press. The efficiency of high output, not having to constantly set up dies (as with a single stage), time savings, and expandability are big selling points. Spec'ing out a 550 or 650 with single pistol caliber and all the goodies had me at about $1,000 (no case feeder.) Add on a few missing pieces like a tumbler and components plus building a workbench would have brought me to about $1,500.

My goal is mainly loading rifle, and while thinking about this and the process of reloading it dawned on me; I'm less concerned with cranking out 2,000 rounds in a weekend and more interested in learning, having a fun hobby, making safe, quality ammo, and of course gaining other benefits of reloading such as tailoring loads and some independence from ammo supply/demand.

I feel that any name brand press regardless of style will turn out the same ammo, it's the person who makes a difference. With that in mind I decided to eliminate as many outside factors as I could so I can focus on learning and memorizing the correct processes, so I purchased a single stage press and parted out my own kit. I didn't want to worry about tuning a machine or wonder why this session I'm getting different specs than last session, which of these dozens of parts could cause it, is it me or the machine? I feel a single stage solves this. Once I learn more and know what to expect I plan on diving in to progressives. Then if something is going wrong I'll know why and where to look since I'll have a good baseline in memory to refer to.

As a side note I must highly recommend you buy/read "ABC's of Reloading." It is very inexpensive and has been the most informative book I've read recently. It has tons of information, is very well written, and I really like the hand drawn "art." It's a great book with a lot of character, I think you'd appreciate it, too.


TL;DR, sorry for the crappy long post. I can relate to your situation and wanted to impart the thought of "What do I want to get out of this," vs "What cool machine should I buy." (Not being condescending, I really have a thing for precision, quality gear.)

probably the most intelligent post on this thread.

[runway1]

Want a Dillon tool head stand?

http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/catid/3/pid/23606/RL550_XL650_Dillon_Toolhead_Stand

I have one BNIB - $18 and I'll ship it free.

[fizux]

You could have just ordered a 1050 and saved on the super swage, case feeder, and one set of dies.

Yeah, that logic didn't work with my spouse either...

[rdfact]

Are you telling me to get the 1050?

jk

I appreciate the concern stilly but I have jumped into worse more blind before so I'm not worried.
From what i understand, and no one has corrected me so far, I can still walk with this marathon capable equipment.

I know what you mean - I'm married

[rdfact]

I am new to reloading and recently went through the "which press" decision process like the OP.
I did a lot of reading and research on presses and watched a lot of videos. Thanks to all the Calgunners for their expertise - couldn't do it without you.

I decided to go with the Hornady LNL AP for a few reasons:

• Lower cost vs a Dillon. The cost of quick change tooling was quite high. You could get by without the quick change, you just have to re-calibrate every time you change calibers.
• 500 free bullet rebate. About a $150 value depending on the caliber.
• Time is literally money. I am self employed so only earn $$ when I work. I often work evenings (as well as days). I want to be able to crank out hundreds of rounds in a short time. The speed of a single stage was a turn off.

I have read Lyman's 49th edition reloading manual as well as the ABCs of Reloading, 9th edition. Needless to say I was a bit hesitant at taking the authors advice when I saw this pic of him on the first page of the book:



This is the author. He blew his hands of when he was a kid playing with gun powder. But I suppose he learned a valuable lesson and preaches safety throughout the book.