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Moe T Vator

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Straight walled vs tapered....lots of difference in case prep.  If I was only ever going to do pistol ammo, or never planned to process rifle brass...a progressive is good.  If you have to deprive, lube, size, trim, clean off lube etc on used tapered rounds that gets to be a bit of a process in itself and to me lends toward batches...plus I measure every rifle round charge except 223.  I stopped reloading 223 lately as it’s cheap enough to buy in bulk and no carpal tunnel on case prep.

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4 hours ago, Carolina Gunslinger said:

I see what you're going for, but I feel it's like having a candy bar for breakfast. Good in the moment, but leaves you wanting later on. 

And I had wanted a Dillon for a long time, but they were pricey and for me personally, when I first started reloading, I would have been completely lost with a progressive. Learned a lot on my own over the years.

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Just now, The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 said:

And I had wanted a Dillon for a long time, but they were pricey and for me personally, when I first started reloading, I would have been completely lost with a progressive. Learned a lot on my own over the years.

They have a CD and their customer support is second to none. Nowadays there is a YouTube video for all things. You're talking to an experienced reloaded when you call, not a phone jockey with a troubleshooting checklist. The last time I called I had an issue with powder leaking by and jamming up my slide bar. Guy said it sounds like you need an oversized powder bar... is this address still good? Yes. Okay replacement parts should be there by week's end. How muh...Warranty service item! have a great day!

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Destined to be the contrarian it seems that I did it all wrong by starting with a progressive, a Lee Pro 1000. That didn’t last long. I jumped straight into an XL650 because I’d taken a Dillon seminar at a SASS convention many years before and decided then that I would own one eventually. I bought the Dillon DVD, I set it up slowly and I read the manual. A lot. I’ve never loaded on a single stage press. Start with a progressive if you want, just be methodical and don’t load thousands of rounds until you are absolutely confident that you know what you are doing.

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8 hours ago, Lead Friend, SASS #53635 said:

Destined to be the contrarian it seems that I did it all wrong by starting with a progressive, a Lee Pro 1000. That didn’t last long. I jumped straight into an XL650 because I’d taken a Dillon seminar at a SASS convention many years before and decided then that I would own one eventually. I bought the Dillon DVD, I set it up slowly and I read the manual. A lot. I’ve never loaded on a single stage press. Start with a progressive if you want, just be methodical and don’t load thousands of rounds until you are absolutely confident that you know what you are doing.

So do you do rifle rounds as well or are you just a pistol reloader? What was the major deciding factor between now 650 and a SDB if not rifle rounds? How long was the seminar? Was there any discount for attending/promotions involved?

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All excellent questions.

 

As of last year I load .45/70 on an old Hornady ProJector that I kind of inherited from a distant uncle. I didn’t mention this because my previous post was about how I started out. I load .357 and .45C on the 650.

 

The Dillon seminar was was a couple of hours and presented by Gary, probably ten years previous at the SASS convention at the Riviera in Las Vegas. Much like that hotel my specific memory of why the 650 is long gone other than I liked the progressive nature of it and consequently it seemed like the logical choice at the time for the champion cowboy shooter I never evolved into. I waited so long to buy it because I didn’t have a dedicated reloading space. There were some marriage and real estate considerations as well which are blissfully no longer a factor and now I have room to spread out and work.

 

There may have been some promotions at the time for attending the seminar but if so they were long evaporated by the time I was ready to buy. In my experience the XL650 is well worth retail price.

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On 2/8/2019 at 12:39 AM, Griff said:

Don't need the expense of buying plastic containers for components... do you drink coffee... eat ice cream?  That's just two products you already buy that comes in resealable containers that I've utilized for years, for keep dirty brass, then clean brass in.  

First of all, I just started using the plastic shell containers to load for the range trip zlast year after 25 years of reloading. That being said there is value in these containers that cost less that $4. I can see consistency in shell height and primer height. 

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On ‎2‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 11:32 AM, Carolina Gunslinger said:

 

 

Most reloaders fail to consider their own time when they consider the cost of reloading. ………..

 

Dillon is very expensive, but a truly smart move from the outset would be to go fully progressive from the start. Dillon 650 from the factory with all the bells and whistles. That is the most cost effective means to reload considering your personal time as a cost.

 

The cost of time. That will be different for everyone. If my boss lets me work overtime whenever I want, it's cheaper to buy ammo. If I'm on SS with no job, then my time is cheap.  And why would I need a progressive press if I only load 3,000 rounds a year?

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2 hours ago, Marshal Chance Morgun said:

 

The cost of time. That will be different for everyone. If my boss lets me work overtime whenever I want, it's cheaper to buy ammo. If I'm on SS with no job, then my time is cheap.  And why would I need a progressive press if I only load 3,000 rounds a year?

Because you have a life outside of shooting. That's what I use mine for.

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20 hours ago, Lead Friend, SASS #53635 said:

Destined to be the contrarian it seems that I did it all wrong by starting with a progressive, a Lee Pro 1000. That didn’t last long. I jumped straight into an XL650 because I’d taken a Dillon seminar at a SASS convention many years before and decided then that I would own one eventually. I bought the Dillon DVD, I set it up slowly and I read the manual. A lot. I’ve never loaded on a single stage press. Start with a progressive if you want, just be methodical and don’t load thousands of rounds until you are absolutely confident that you know what you are doing.

Knowing I was going to be reloading almost exclusively for CAS I went the progressive route. 

Straight walled 357 mag and thousands of rounds a year I didn’t think twice. 

That being said if you’re going to cast your own a single stage makes sizing much Easier. 

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4 hours ago, Marshal Chance Morgun said:

 

The cost of time. That will be different for everyone. If my boss lets me work overtime whenever I want, it's cheaper to buy ammo. If I'm on SS with no job, then my time is cheap.  And why would I need a progressive press if I only load 3,000 rounds a year?

I do it socially. So few people have any idea how the whole process works and it’s fun teaching new friends. Even if They aren’t shooters. 

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2 minutes ago, Moe T Vator said:

Knowing I was going to be reloading almost exclusively for CAS I went the progressive route. 

Straight walled 357 mag and thousands of rounds a year I didn’t think twice. 

That being said if you’re going to cast your own a single stage makes sizing much Easier. 

The Dillon 550 is the KISS of progressive presses, and easy to learn.

Call Dillon, and get on their catalog mailing list. It's FREE-----

Been run'n my D/550 for 32 yrs now.

OLG

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5 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

The Dillon 550 is the KISS of progressive presses, and easy to learn.

Call Dillon, and get on their catalog mailing list. It's FREE-----

Been run'n my D/550 for 32 yrs now.

OLG

I started on the 550B on the advise of a trusted friend. He didn't let me down! Now we have two.  I read the manual. WOW! I know, right?! Built my bench to a good height, mounted the press and set it up. I loaded up some ammo, tried it, like it, made a crap ton of it. The machine paid for itself in a day or two. Now that I cast our bullets too we are almost loading for free. 

Go Dillon. Don't look back. Thank us later when your smile fades enough to talk coherently. 

 

Forgot to say: I had never reloaded before or even seen it done. Why did I wait so long?!

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