Best press for multiple rifle rounds

[Dark Mod]

Ill be the oddball here and say if ur gonna switch between calibers fairly regularly get a dillon 650. The 1050 is absolutely miserable to swap calibers on even with the $500 quick change kits.

I've got a 650 with a bunch of pre-set toolheads and a 1050, to be honest I could live without the 1050. I leave it set up for .223 only because of the swager, other than that it would be just as fast to use a 650.

This is my money is not an option recommendation, I still contend the Hornady LNL is the best value

Definately second the brianenos motion if u do go dillon

[RR.44]

I will say to get the Press that you want, many here swear n
by their Dillons and some swear by their Hornady LNL , I use a Redding T7 Turret Press and am trying to land a Redding Ultra Mag Single Stage, I'm sure whatever press you do get will bring you years of service and years of joy. Welcome to the club!

Rich

[stilly]

It's not for me, and I've always heard that the Dillon is what most guys will end up with.


I guess the question is, if the price did not matter, what machine would you get and how would it be set up(options, etc. )
And then is there already a member that has a setup like this?
Pics?

If price did not matter then I say go CAMDEX FOR EVERY CALIBER. CAMDEX whoops on dillon totally!

There ya go. Get CAMDEX for each caliber, but since your poor, get Dillon for each caliber...

Get a 1050 for .223 (cause you needs them stations) and then get 650xls with ALL possible upgrades, I mean, ERGO handle, Case feeder, Bullet feeder, Extension arms, Addon Beer Cooler, Strong Mount, Panty-waister, and the extra X-MAS light kit to light up your shells in all colors...

And no need to buy multiple tool heads because with each dillon as a caliber change, no need to change calibers... BAM! you got dis- G!

PLS no complaints about not being able to afford all dillons. You came in here wanting them, so go get um! No need to ask permission. They are yours for the taking! go fill that shopping cart!

[Spyguy]

I often see people recommend buying Dillon products from Brian Enos. Why? The prices listed on his website are no better than buying direct from Dillon.

[bzzz]

I often see people recommend buying Dillon products from Brian Enos. Why? The prices listed on his website are no better than buying direct from Dillon.

From what I've read on the Brian Enos forum, Brian will personally talk to you about your Dillon purchase. He will recommend the right Dillon config/accessories based on your needs. I've yet to read anything bad about Brian's customer service too (on either his forum or other forums).

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=198976&p=2206362

He also offers a 5% cash discount.

For reference, I bought my 650 straight from Dillon. This was during the time they were backordered/out of stock everywhere. I waited three months for mine to ship. If I do get another Dillon (1050? 550? SDB? Big 50?), I have no reservations going through Brian.

[hambam105]

Dillon 550 is all the tech you need to reload rifle.
Dillion is the standard that the 90%+ of the progressive presses are compared to.
If it is the same price, I'd go thru Brian Enos. He is a decent man and I'm sure he would appreciate it.

[sghart]

I went with the Lee classic cast turret and have no regrets. I'm reloading .30-06, 7.5x55 Swiss, .303 British, 7.62x54, .223, .30 carbine, etc... The press is strong enough to resize the military brass without any issues. I can run it in single stage or auto index for rifle (except the longest rifle cases) or pistol rounds. I can also prime on the press if I wish. It's very versatile and changing calibers takes seconds by just swapping out the turret head. The fact that it doesn't break the bank is a bonus!

This.

223, 7X57, 30-30, 30-06 and 45-70. All on a Lee Classic Turret.

[fifT7]

If price did not matter then I say go CAMDEX FOR EVERY CALIBER. CAMDEX whoops on dillon totally!



There ya go. Get CAMDEX for each caliber, but since your poor, get Dillon for each caliber...



Get a 1050 for .223 (cause you needs them stations) and then get 650xls with ALL possible upgrades, I mean, ERGO handle, Case feeder, Bullet feeder, Extension arms, Addon Beer Cooler, Strong Mount, Panty-waister, and the extra X-MAS light kit to light up your shells in all colors...



And no need to buy multiple tool heads because with each dillon as a caliber change, no need to change calibers... BAM! you got dis- G!



PLS no complaints about not being able to afford all dillons. You came in here wanting them, so go get um! No need to ask permission. They are yours for the taking! go fill that shopping cart!

Wow, I appreciate your help!

I will look into the suggested presses, I don't really know how many rounds my friend plans on pumping out.

I am just trying to save him from what he did with shotshell reloading. Now there are 4 MEC's and a (pass Seymour le grand ?) that are all just sitting on a bench not being used since getting a spolar gold.

[Dark Mod]

I often see people recommend buying Dillon products from Brian Enos. Why? The prices listed on his website are no better than buying direct from Dillon.

Free shipping, plus everything is laid out in an easy to understand way. Also Brian will take care of you if for whatever reason Dillon wont.

If you have a grafs dealer account its a few hundred bucks cheaper, but if your going to pay retail price anyway, definitely go through Brian.

[stevied]

I'm not sure whymany of you use progressive for rifle. For pistol, 100% use progressive. For rifle I'm weighing each charge and checking the oal at the ogive which you can only do on a single stage.

[Divernhunter]

I have a Dillon 650 but still prefer to load rifle on my RCBS single stage presses. I use a Hornady single stage for my 50bmg.
I did set up a Dillon 650 to run 223 for a friend.

[twotacocombo]

Lee Classic Turret. Caliber changes are stupid simple, and the dies stay set exactly how you left them. It's great for depriming, and you can run it in manual or auto-index mode depending on your preference. I use mine for 30-06 and .223, as well as 9mm, 380, 45, 38, 357. Unless you're trying to crank out hundreds of rounds an hour, the LCT will do what you need it to and for cheap.

[JagerDog]

All my rifle is on a Redding T7. Robust & single stage operation without the need to screw dies in/out/adjust every time the operation changes. The tool head will generally accept 2 or more calibers at once. Add a tool head and you've got 4 or more calibers on the fly.

[Khromo]

I'm not convinced that anything outperforms a very well run and well maintained progressive with excellent dies for ranges out to 300 yards, unless you're a benchrest competitor. A good progressive costs some money before you are done, though, and many rifle shooters do not shoot that many rounds to justify the cost.

I hang out with some serious hobbyists, and they tend to shoot once or twice a week, at about 40 to 60 rounds per session. That's only about 300 rounds per month, and a seasoned reloader can easily churn that out in a couple of evenings on a single stage press. Heck, I enjoy reloading so much, I would have separation anxiety spending so little time at the bench!

If you don't need the higher production rates of a progressive, and you want to load very high quality rifle ammo as quickly as is possible without a progressive, you might consider a Forster Co-Ax.

The dies change in and out so quickly, it is essentially as fast as a turret in use, and faster when changing calibers. Once you get the dies set up, you don't have to re-adjust with every change because they index on the lock ring, which stays secured pretty well when used on the Co-Ax. The dies "float" and maintain concentricity well enough for many benchresters and very high-end competitors.

The Co-Ax costs about $300, less than a Redding T-7 with an extra turret. I have a T-7 which I use a lot, but if I had to choose one I would lean slightly toward the Co-Ax.

There is no way any single stage or turret can keep up with the production rate of a good progressive, but loading for long range is usually done differently than loading for most handgun applications. When you start chasing one-tenth of an inch, the progressive may not accommodate the extra procedures that work their way into your schedule.

I can live without a progressive, I wouldn't want to live without an excellent single stage or turret.

Ultimately, the guy who shoots both rifle and handguns winds up with at least one of each, so the real, long term question is:

"Which one should I buy first?!?!"

[krwada]

To tell you the truth ... I am very happy with my single stage RCBS Rock Chucker. I started reloading at around the 2010 time frame.

I have heard stories from the old timers that they used to use dies, a flat table and mallets and then would tamp the dies down onto the cases!