Question on which press would be best for me...

[MrOneEyedBoh]

What I would be doing with my press now, would be to closely replicate FGMM 175gr 308 rounds. With FGMM I can hit steel ( 12x20 I think. ) at 1061 yards ( furthest I shot ), to me that is pretty accurate. Im thinking about running a Dillon 550b and rough measure my powder out ( less 1-2gr ) using the Dillon, then remove the case and trickle it on my 505 scale. Now what Im wondering is, would the Dillon administer the powder to be close to that of FGMM, and allow me to eliminate the removal of the shell and powder to then trickle it and put the shell back on the press? Im not looking for dumb accurate rounds ( like benchrest comp shooting ) Im just looking for something that is pretty accurate similar to FGMM rounds... Could I even go Hornady LnL auto-progressive for the press? That would allow me to make 223 and .45acp even faster. I only have one "precision" rifle and I do plan on shooting competitively. But Im not there yet skill wise. Just looking to make the right purchase on the press. Im not sure how much I would shoot as Im time restricted now. I foresee that I would be able to shoot more in the future. So that isnt a factor for me right now.

 

[MtnCreek]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

IMHO, you would be better off to purchase a nice single stage or turret kit. You're going to miss out on a lot of the finer details of handloading if you start out on a progressive. I started out on a Lee kit. At the time, it was all I could afford. Later, I added a RCBS rockchucker. It's a great press and I still do most of my larger rifle ammo on it. I also use it for working up new loads of any caliber.

If you go progressive, the Dillon measure will drop many rifle powders very well. IMR 8208 is one of the best metering stick powders out there and does good w/ .308 in the 168 / 175gr. IMHO, varget drops good enough to give good numbers over a chrony and great results on paper.

 

[mtrmn]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

You will eventually get the Dillon anyway. IMHO, the 550b is very forgiving and you can stop the process at any point to use it like a single stage press. BUT YOU MUST BE ALERT AND KEEP YOUR MIND ON YOUR BUSINESS. If you intend to use it as you stated, you can easily get within half a grain of the correct charge and trickle from there. I personally use the powder measure exclusively on most of the powders I use--TAC, 2230, Wc844, H335, etc. They're all ball powders and meter very well. If I use a stick powder like 4350, I'm usually only loading a few rounds and I will weigh the charges because the stick powders in general don't meter as well. I have run short grained 4895 through the Dillon measure with +/- .1 grain accuracy.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

The choice of a single stage or progressive depends on how many rounds you will want to produce in a given time frame. Turrets don't speed things up much, if any, except for Lee's with the auto-indexing feature.

New guys are best served with a single stage for learning and most of us never need anything more. If you start that way and later move to a progressive you will still have plenty of uses for a single stage for specialty work so it won't ever be a waste.

 

[DevilWillCry]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

I don't have a Dillon, but for what it's worth I am consistently within +/-.1gr with Varget on my Pro2000 press.

 

[rrflyer]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

the 550 will make great ammo. Depending on powder the standard thrower will work fine.

Just run one round at a time until you figure out whats going on all the time and itll be easy.

 

[lachoneus]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

I have been using a Dillon 550 since the 90's. I have loaded all my service rifle loads on it (.308, .30-06 and .223), as well as multiple other calibers. I don't trickle powder. Once I find my powder charge, I just run cases through the normal progressive procedure. Using ball powders, I have never found powder charges exceeding the +/- .1 grain variation advertised for the Dillon powder measure. My cartridges have always met or exceeded the accuracy of their FGMM counterparts. Recently, I loaded 50 .30-06 cartridges using TAC powder and 150 grain bulk bullets for an older Model 70 hunting rifle. They shoot better a little under .5 MOA at 100 yards. I have even had very good results with my .280 AI hunting cartridges using RL 19 (a stick powder). Just make sure to use quality brass, and prepare the cases properly before loading.

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

If you want to use the 550 with "trickled charges" just remove the powder measure and use a funnel. Throw the powder into a scale pan, trickle, and then add through the funnel when the ram is at the top of it's stroke.

I've got a toolhead set up this way for my XL-650.

I can load 100 rounds per hour using this method and have all finished rounds contain a powder charge that is inside the +/-.1 gr. range (scale accuracy). To eliminate any variations in OAL I've installed the Unique-Tek thread kit so the tool head has no slop whatver.

 

[MtnCreek]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you want to use the 550 with "trickled charges" just remove the powder measure and use a funnel. Throw the powder into a scale pan, trickle, and then add through the funnel when the ram is at the top of it's stroke.

I've got a toolhead set up this way for my XL-650.</div></div>

Thanks for the tip!

 

[nauta]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

I looked at all of the options and decided on the Hornady L-n-L as the best value (including the 500 free bullets). I tested out the automatic powder dispenser accuracy and wasn't happy with the performance when I used Varget but I switched to 8208-XBR to get a consistent charge (+/- 0.1 gr) so I don't bother with a scale or trickler anymore and I get about 1/2MOA performance out of a R700 5R. There are a few things you can do to increase the consistencey of the charge it drops - I attached a ground wire to prevent static buildup and I planned on polishing the internals to reduce friction but it is performing well enough as is so I haven't actually done that.

 

[Bayou1535]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

Not meaning to hijack but what is the best way to polish the inside of a dillon measure?

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bayou1535</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not meaning to hijack but what is the best way to polish the inside of a dillon measure? </div></div>

Flitz metal polish or jeweler's rouge with a large cahmber mop. Pick one that fits fairly snug to start with. Screw it into the end of a GI cleaning rod segment (may need to use the adapter that some kits have) and chuck the assy in a drill. Move the mop in and out of the die while polishing. May take a couple of "mops" and a lot of patience if you're going for a mirror finish.

That said, my Dillon dies came with a pretty smooth finish to start with.

 

[rivemor]

Re: Question on which press would be best for me...

I 100% agree with mtrmn. Speaking from experince, having just bought a Dillon 650 last week. If you even have the slightest thought that you want a Dillon. Then buy a Dillon, because in the end you will buy a Dillon down the road.

I listened to all the people who said start off with a Single Stage press if your getting started. Well you know the saying "buy once cry once", I now have the perfect example to keep in mind for the future.

All the money I spent on equipment that I ended up replacing when I bought my 650 makes me sick. Yes it's nice that I have a single stage for load development but still. It's hard to beat a Dillon particularly a 550B which is a very easy press to use and maintain.

Go with the 550B.