Look8ng at a progressive press .

[Alphatreedog]

So I've spent about six trillion hours on a single stage trying to satisfy the appetite of my 9mm comp pistol . I have decided that in order to not become Gollum due to hiding in the storage room from reloading I need a progressive . After consideration of my experience with a Lee single stage for about four thousnd rounds of 9mm and abot two hundred .223 rounds , price and viewed feedback and vids I am looking at the Lee Loadmaster . I will add the case collator and multi tube bullet feeder . Anybody else running one of these and what are your thoughts ?

 

[sti40edge]

Get a Dillon 650 and be happy. You should be able to load in excess of 1M per hour once you get the hang of it. If you’re buying slugs, get the powder coated slugs (no smoke/ leading). I wore the coating off a Lyman Spar-T loading .45 acp back in the day. When Dillon 550 came out, most of us were hooked. When the 650 came out, I loaded both .40 and .223. Some 30 plus years later, they still run and Dillon’s No B.S. guarantee still applies. I have and still use my Lee hand press to load huge quantities of everything from .223 to 45-70. Good luck and enjoy your reloading

 

[TonyTheTiger]

Go blue and don't look back.

 

[skatz11]

Dillon 650 all the way. I have mine setup with the case feeder and DAA Mr. Bullet Feeder. Its worth the investment if your high volume loading for pistol.

 

[High Desert duck]

Go with a dillon. Great quality, awesome customer service.

 

[DrainTheSwamp]

If you want a Dillon that will only do pistol let me know, I have a square deal B setup in 45 acp, it’d cost about 90 bucks to switch it over to 9. By myself I can load 3-400 an hour, if my wife activated case feeder isn’t throwing a fit I can get closer to 600 rounds an hour.

In all honesty I couldn’t recommend anything other than a Dillon. I load all my rifle on a single stage and all my pistol on a square deal. I don’t shoot enough to really need a 650 nor can I justify the price at the moment.

 

[metalicat]

dillon 650

 

[whiskeysierra762]

650 and 550 user here. I load all my high volume ammo on the 650 with the case feeder.

 

[supercorndogs]

Yes, I have loaded about 20k 40 s&w and a couple thousand 44 mag on mine. Its a decent cheap option for loading handgun rounds. Mine have actually ended up with no case feeder on it because it was always binding up the works causing problems. Did you ever play the game "Mouse Trap?" That is what the loadmaster reminds me of. After I took the shell feeder off, and Lee updated their priming system, I get about 1 flipped primer every 500 rounds. If I start getting more the plastic piece that pushes primers into position is buggered and I replace it. With the original primer feeder I was getting 2 or 3 per hundred flipped most of the time. By flipped I mean the anvil is pointing out.

I have been looking at 550s and 650s because loading volume 223s has become like loading pistol rounds for me. I would not trust the shell plate on the lee to give consistent shoulder bump.

 

[Deadfall]

I have a Dillon 550b. Thousands of quality rifle and handgun rounds loaded using that press. My only regret is that I didn’t buy a 650 from the start. I’m currently saving for a 650 to add to my reloading bench.

 

[Jared308]

Been loading on a Dillon rl 450 for over 30 years. 100 of thousands of pistol and 223 rounds. Great machines. Go blue

 

[Rover31]

Ok so I have a disease.

I like reloading.

I like reloading equipment.

I have 8 presses

I use the Dillon 650 by far over any of the others.

I do use a single stage though often so don’t abandon that.

You can load precision (abet, not benchrest) on a progressive.

 

[ruebarb]

I have a
Rocker Chucker
550
650
1050 fully automated

Go with the 650, you'll be all set. I load more calibers on it than any of my presses.

 

[McCrazy]

For my first 9 years or so of reloading I used a 550B and it did well. It turned out some pretty good precision rifle ammo but it was a chore to do pistol and carbine ammo.

I decided to get a Forster Co-ax single stage for precision ammo and planned to get a 650 for pistol and carbine. I found a good article where a guy reviewed a Loadmaster, 650, and Lock and Load (which I of course can't find right now for you). Bottom line was the Loadmaster lost out to the Lock and Load and the 650. The 650 and the Lock and Load both had nice features over the other and I ended up changing my mind and buying the Lock and Load.

Dillon has a great warranty and a good product, but I was always disappointed with the (lack of) primer control on my 550. Also, the 650 and 550 require replaceable toolheads for each caliber conversion which the LNL doesn't have (just simple twist out bushings that are relatively cheap). The LNL also only advances halfway per motion (up or down) of the ram which makes it less likely to have powder fling out compared to the 650 where the shellplate rotates the entire distance at once. 650 requires the Dillon buttons for each caliber, etc. Changing out the powder system with the Dillon is also more troublesome with the 650 compared to the LNL. All fairly minor stuff though, admittedly. I went with the LNL mainly because I do a wide variety of calibers and switching between calibers on the LNL seemed easier and cheaper than the 650. You would be fine with either one, but I advise against the Loadmaster.

 

[yakstone]

I run a 550 and a 1050 for high production shooting and a Co-ax for precision rifle.
You can’t beat Dillon in the progressive press world.

 

[padom]

650 and dont look back

 

[Bradu]

Sold my 650 a few years back because I quit shooting pistol but now I wish I had it to try out the rifle loads to see if I would have liked it. All this talk isn't helping, the 650 is an impressive machine and you can kick out a lot of ammo.

 

[Rover31]

http://ultimatereloader.com/2010/05...-progressive-reloading-presses/#acceptLicense

 

[300ATT]

+1 Dillon 650

 

[Raffica762]

I have a Lee turret..pretty fast..but I’m saving up for a Dillon 650..well worth it

 

[1500varmint]

I have a Hornady Lock n Load progressive that I use for pistol (9mm, 38sp/357mag, .45) and it works great for me. I'm not a competition shooter so I only load about 500 - 600 rounds a month, so your mileage may vary.