progessive reloaders

[pmclaine]

Do you know his contact information?

Google search brianenos.com

That should get you there. He just helped me out with a problem I was having getting a vendor to send me items paid for. Tell him Phil McLaine says hello and thank you.

 

[Shooterken]

Google search brianenos.com

That should get you there. He just helped me out with a problem I was having getting a vendor to send me items paid for. Tell him Phil McLaine says hello and thank you.

I will call him tomorrow and tell him you said Hello! I called Dillon last week and again this week and got 2 different answers about a caliber change so I need a 3rd opinion. I felt like the guy I spoke to tonight just wanted to sell me stuff I don't need.

 

[pmclaine]

I will call him tomorrow and tell him you said Hello! I called Dillon last week and again this week and got 2 different answers about a caliber change so I need a 3rd opinion. I felt like the guy I spoke to tonight just wanted to sell me stuff I don't need.

Brian will completely set you up and steer you away from the neat but unnecessary if you have a tight budget. Your equipment will ship from Dillon. If buying .308 or .223 dies ask about any delays in delivery. Peruse his site and check out the "as it should be" kits.

Good luck.

 

[_shawn_]

how accurate is the 550 and 650 for dropping rifle powders? once i get all the bells and whistles....is it going to make my chargemaster obsolete?

 

[jdonovan]

you can still use your chargemaster and put a powder funnel in place of the dillon powder measure.

 

[Bradu]

As with all progressives the main cost isn't in the press itself, its in the conversion kits and especially if you get greedy and want to have a dedicated powder meassure for each caliber. Ive easily got twice as much into my caliber conversions as I do in my 550. With that said I think Id go 650 if I had to do it over again. The auto indexing, case feeder, trimmer station and powder check station are very nice for high volume loading. For me personally I don't think the 1050 is really worth the extra cost. Its doesn't load twice as fast as the 650 and it also doesn't come with a lifetime warranty like the 550 and 650 since its considered a commercial press.

If you go the blue machine route youre going to be over 500 real easy. You need to get at least an additional powder measure so you don't have to keep swapping back and forth between the small powder bar and large bar, caliber conversion and Dillon pistol dies will run 150 a caliber, shellplate/powder funnel/ toolhead will run you 80ish plus dies for rifle. At that you haven't even bought a stand for it, more bins, bullet holder, conversion kit stands, etc. It adds up quick but you can make due with less but then youre really not gaining much using a progressive because youll be spending a bunch of time resetting up dies, swapping powder bars and adjusting the measure, all of which take time and really kill your cartridge per hour figure vs a single stage.

On my 550 Ive got a caliber conversion in Dillon dies for 9mm and 45 with a dedicated powder measure for those two, then Ive got caliber conversions for each of my rifle calibers with a dedicated rifle powder measure for them. I only load 223 and 300BLK right now on it but when I get an AR-10 I will load mass consumption 308 on it and I will buy another powder measure so I can leave the large powder bar in it at all times. The Dillon carbide pistol dies are awesome because you can pull the internals out with the pull of a pin so you can clean them without having to reset your dies again. Rifle dies it really doesn't matter, but I would get a competition seater so you can adjust seating depth for different bullets without having to constantly pop loose the lock ring and adjust. This is particularly nice for 223 and 300BLK that I use a wide range of bullets depending on the use.

Getting into a progressive the "right" way is expensive but is well worth it. I don't get pleasure out of loading mass consumption rounds, its just something that steals time away from my family and the range. My precision rifle stuff is much more enjoyable to me as its a methodical process and I love pulling the handle on the rock chucker to seat the long ass bullets knowing I just made a bughole producing round.

You are correct on it being expensive when buying the conversion kits, tool heads and separate powder measures. I went this route for my 9mm and 45 acp since I hate setting up dies and the powder measure. I ordered my 650 with pretty much every option so it was expensive but it's nice to just grab a bullet and pull the handle. I can load 600 rounds an hour taking my time.

You can use any dies as long as they are the standard 7/8 x 14 thread.

Some dies are almost too short to use. Some of the RCBS dies are short enough that I put the locking nut on the bottom since all the Dillon dies had a 3 month backorder wait.

 

[pmclaine]

how accurate is the 550 and 650 for dropping rifle powders? once i get all the bells and whistles....is it going to make my chargemaster obsolete?

Ball powder is extremely consistent.

I load Imr 4064 and the like by setting the drop to get me close, slightly under, than I trickle to desired weight.

 

[EddieNFL]

Ball powder is extremely consistent.

I load Imr 4064 and the like by setting the drop to get me close, slightly under, than I trickle to desired weight.

Ditto. I can throw smaller kernel powders (H322, N133, N135 and similar) easily within +/- 0.1 grains. Unless you have a laboratory grade scale, you'll never know if it's the measure or scale. I avoid 4064.

 

[REELDOC]

That practice can cause inconsistent charges.

Can you explain?

 

[pmclaine]

Can you explain?

Fill up the powder dispenser. The weight of the powder helps with consistency. I know a powder baffle also is designed to "equalize" the weight of the powder column and ensure equal charges but you need to have some weight pressing down to equalize things.

I use a Dillon drop and so far I have only used the plastic baffle that is thermo formed when they make the powder reservoir. I note that when even good flowing ball powders start to get low I will see more likely variation. I start with my powder mag 3/4 or greater full than get concerned when I get below 1/2 full.

Cleaning the powder magazine isnt that big a deal loosen, remove, dump.

 

[REELDOC]

I'll give it a try. I'm also going to change out the Lee dies to an RCBS set with a taper crimp instead of a roll crimp. Maybe this will help with the problems of inconsistant chambering. Welcome to the new year...........

 

[jdonovan]

You said you are loading 45's.... I'll assume you are meaning ACP's.

For non-rimmed straight wall pistol cartridges, you should be taper crimping. A roll crimp is most commonly used for rimmed pistol cartridges.

 

[REELDOC]

Thanks for all the info and I can now report that all is well in progressive loader world. Switched to RCBS TC dies, I keep the powder thrower full, etc. Moving from 45's to 9's and 40's now.

 

[mdmp5]

Doesn't Dillon make a reloader specifically for pistol cartridges? Something like the B-Square?

The square deal loads pistol only but uses its own dedicated dies

 

[Weber]

After trying to decide for months between the blue or red, I decided on the red LNL AP.

Very happy with it, and have some blue accessories and other components to use with it.

 

[zac_c]

I have the hornady lock and load and it is a great press I did have issues with the shell plate but hornadys customer service was great and they got the problem fixed.

 

[JRM83]

I have a Hornady LNL AP and while there are a few quirks most are easy to work around and get the press running smoothly. One point to note in favor of the Hornady is the bullets rebate they offer with their presses. With the LNL you get 500 free bullets of your choice. That alters the cost breakdown significantly. You could either sell those and recoup part of the cost of the press or load and shoot them. I opted for the .30 cal 150 gr SP bullets and found they shot well below MOA in my rifle. If you sold them you could probably get $100 for the lot.

Hornady LNL AP - $398 (Midsouth) - $100 = $298.

Dillon XL 650 - $566.

A $268 price difference is pretty significant. Whether or not it's worth it is another discussion entirely.