Best progressive press to learn on?

[BigBronco]

There were no progressive presses when I began reloading. There is a huge difference if reloading on a single stage vs a progressive. After owning most all of the ones on the market. Don't question this I have witnesses. I do feel the best one out there is the Dillon 650. Next would be the Hornady LNL. The LNL and a 550 both are currently on my bench. All progressives have there strong points and their weaknesses. I went with the LNL as I had the original Hornady Pro-7 on my bench before it. The 650 was out of my budget.

I whole heartily recommend a single station to learn on. After using progressives and going back to a single station. Lets say you only want to load up 50 rounds or work up a load for accuracy, too muck work to dial in a progressive for a ladder batch. Then there is just a better feel for the loading process on a single stage. Loading on a single station is a pleasure while loading on a progressive is simply being a machine operator cranking out ammo. Pull the handle, Pull the handle repeat. I prefer to craft ammo than simply being a factory worker in my garage. All I would suggest is that if you go with a progressive get a press with 5 die stations.

[stilly]

Yes, I see the sense of humor in your talking to yourself. Given your affinity to reloading, why don't you just update your pistol setup to a Dillon to save a lot of time and aggravation? Then, you can focus on rifle cartridges that tend to take more time.

That was a good shake...

I can not afford a Dillon right now but to even make that purchase without first setting up my Lee Loadmeister would be foolish since I bought this thing about 8 months ago...

I have an interview though in about 2 weeks in Rancho so who knows, maybe I can get back on the ball again, get fixed, then just be a closet Dillon owner among my 5 other presses...

[Eldraque]

If your starting with rifle then get a single stage. If your starting with pistol get a 550B.

Before you buy either buy ABC's of reloading, and Lymans 49th. Read them both a few times, then find someone who can spend a few hours in person showing you the ropes.

I started on a 550B and i love the machine

[Oceanbob]

I admit I haven't read this thread.

But my stock answer is Dillon.!

Baby....

[Bumslie]

Since the mods decided to delete Two Three of my comments.

Buy 2 1050's. One for large primer, and one for small primers.

[jonzer77]

That was a good shake...

I can not afford a Dillon right now but to even make that purchase without first setting up my Lee Loadmeister would be foolish since I bought this thing about 8 months ago...

I have an interview though in about 2 weeks in Rancho so who knows, maybe I can get back on the ball again, get fixed, then just be a closet Dillon owner among my 5 other presses...

Since you like to prime off the press, you will love the loadmaster. How come you haven't set it up yet?

[Finish it]

Since the mods decided to delete Two of my comments.

Buy 2 1050's. One for large primer, and one for small primers.

I agree with going with Dillon! I would get a 650 for the pistol and a 1050 for rifle!
Go team blue!

[jonzer77]

I agree with going with Dillon! I would get a 650 for the pistol and a 1050 for rifle!
Go team blue!

That would be a nice setup. You could actually have time to shoot instead of spending all your time prepping brass, hand priming, and then loading.

[stilly]

Since you like to prime off the press, you will love the loadmaster. How come you haven't set it up yet?

It seems that no matter WHAT press you get, there are ALWAYS priming issues. :\

I have some modded parts for the Loadmaster, but I just have not gotten around to setting it up yet becaues I am still enjoying my Lee classic turret. I keep saying that I am gonna do it, but damn, that turret just will not leave. I get near it and before you know 2 hours have gone by and I got a pile of ammo and a bottle of resized pills freshly PC'd...

I feel bad too because I want to just go buy a Hornady LNL or even that RCBS 2000 or something else progressive but only because of the negativity I have heard from the lee bashers.

Then there are other issues. I have to either swap out dies or get new sets because I do not want to take them out of my turret setup and then I have to rely on the loadmaster to make up loads. So I think I need to buy a second set of the dies for the calibers I want to shoot, but I might just do that for 9mm at first. So yeah, I will be on the way to duplication soon. And if I get employed full time, then I will order all I need through my gunstore and then go and set it up, but I think I will get either hornady or dillon dies to see how they feel and say that I have been there done that.

[the86d]

I agree with going with Dillon! I would get a 650 for the pistol and a 1050 for rifle!
Go team blue!

I don't own anything with a large primer... yet, but I have a single-stage for that (as I don't see myself shooting .308 more than 9mm, or .223, but I could be wrong. The XL 650 small rifle/pistol primer cranks out "up to" 400rd/hour in 5.56, or 9mm, if there are no issues, at a steady pace (assuming the lady is picking-up primers in the tube for me..).

[Sunday]

Reloading is fairly simple if you can read and understand the instructions and the manuals. The Dillon 550 is about as simple of a loader as there is. Take your time as there is a learning curve. If you go slow and double check your work then check again all will be good. Take baby steps.

[Rac97crawford]

I don't own anything with a large primer... yet, but I have a single-stage for that (as I don't see myself shooting .308 more than 9mm, or .223, but I could be wrong. The XL 650 small rifle/pistol primer cranks out "up to" 400rd/hour in 5.56, or 9mm, if there are no issues, at a steady pace (assuming the lady is picking-up primers in the tube for me..).

400 rds an hour on a 650..! With any caliber.. Oh noooo! That's like 15min! At a
Comfortable pace and filling primer tubes along the way. I love my 650!!!!

[Pauliedad]

Just came in from the garage and loaded 160 rounds of .223 in maybe 15-20 minutes.
Already had the brass fully prepped and in the casefeeder.

[at_liberty]

I think the main reason people typically don't start on a progressive is because they haven't yet comprehended...and accepted...how much it really costs to reload (and shoot more). So of course, the common experience is having started on a single stage. The OP, on the other hand, is ready to rock.

[David-K]

I'll keep it short. If you must go progressive, Lock-N-Load AP is my vote.