Progressive Press

[Whitey James]

I have been reloading on my Redding single stage press for over a decade now but am finally deciding to move up to a progressive press. I looked on the Dillon site and their Square deal presses for 38's are on back order (along with almost every straight wall cartridge).

 

 

Does anyone have good experiences with other progressives? 

[DeaconKC]

I am on my second Dillon 550, fantastic piece of machinery.

Edited September 20 by DeaconKC

[Cypress Sun]

Unless you're determined to have a press with automatic indexing, I'd go with the 550. The Sq. Deal requires proprietary dies, isn't able to do rifle rounds and I don't like auto index.

 

I have two of the 550B's, one for small primer and one for large primer. Changing from small to large primers, or vice versa, only takes about 15 minutes in the real world time. The only reason that I have two 550B's is because one of them is basically brand new and I got it for less than $100 completely set up already and came with all the normal items that all new ones come with. I can make 600 - .38, .357, .45 ACP per hour and that's with checking powder every 100 (although the powder measure has never varied more than .02 grns). Can't make 9mm, .30 Carbine and some other cartridges as fast (only about 400 - 450 hr) due to the fact that cartridge requires  powder that fills the case up so much that during manual advancement, the powder will spill a little when it "clicks" into position.

 

Dillons No BS warranty is great, Any part that I've broke (the few times it happened it was my fault) was quickly replaced at no charge.

[Rip Snorter]

550 and Dillon service both great - easily handles every handgun I have tried and many rifle cartridges.  I prefer to do the large rifle cartridges on my Rock Chucker, but comparatively they are very low volume.

[Texas Joker]

I have a lee progressive, good enough for what I do

[J-BAR #18287]

I started with a basic 550, later added the powder measure but not automated primer feed (too many friends have experienced explosions in the primer tubes  so I load one primer at a time into the press).  I'm not feeding machine guns, and the slower production suits me fine.

 

 I have NEVER regretted getting the Dillon 550 as my first press.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

I have the 550B and never felt the need for anything else. 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Thought this thread was going to be a rant about the mainstream media… 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I load .38’s on a Dillon 550, great machine. I recently picked up a 73 in.45 and I’m loading .45’s on a single stage press. What a pain! I’m only shooting that rifle now and then I don’t load that many. I highly recommend the Dillon 550!

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

RL550B

 

  ........ don't bother with the Square Deal  🙃

[Eyesa Horg]

I've been running an SDB for over 30 years without issue. But you can only load pistol cartridges and they use proprietary Dillon only dies. 

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

26 minutes ago, Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 said:

RL550B

 

  ........ don't bother with the Square Deal  🙃

 

3 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I've been running an SDB for over 30 years without issue. But you can only load pistol cartridges and they use proprietary Dillon only dies. 

 

  ....... and this is why .... 🙃

[Sixgun Seamus]

I have two Hornady Lock n Load AP. Great machines and not nearly as pricey. Warranty service second to none. I've never paid for any replacement part even when it was my fault. Don't drink the blue kool-aid. I defy anyone to show me how their 45 Colt loaded on a blue machine is any better than mine loaded on my Hornady. I can easily load 300-400 per hour without pushing. I've loaded 500 38's in an hour. Flame away!

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

Dillon 550!  It's much easier to change cartridges than the SDB.

[Rye Miles #13621]

25 minutes ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

I have two Hornady Lock n Load AP. Great machines and not nearly as pricey. Warranty service second to none. I've never paid for any replacement part even when it was my fault. Don't drink the blue kool-aid. I defy anyone to show me how their 45 Colt loaded on a blue machine is any better than mine loaded on my Hornady. I can easily load 300-400 per hour without pushing. I've loaded 500 38's in an hour. Flame away!

What you're saying about the Hornady can be also said about the Dillon 550 or 650 and their no BS warranty is the best in the business. So there's my flame!

[Pat Riot]

If you are very meticulous and mistrusting of devices to perform safety functions you should analyze whether or not you will trust all things Boomy made in your progressive press. 

I bought a used Dillon 550 twenty years ago. I figured it would be a big step up in my reloading…and it was. Except, just couldn’t accept that things were going well so I was constantly checking to make sure everything was going as it should, especially powder measurements. 
At a party I met some guys that were Scout Leaders and they wanted to teach all the boys in their troop about reloading. They had been teaching them gun safety and shooting. I gave my Dillon to them along with all the accessories and I was a happy man. 
 

I did move up a bit in technology from my original Lee single stage press. I bought a Lee “Breechlock” single stage press. 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

The 550 is the KISS of all progressive presses. 

Uses standard dies and takes maybe 5 minutes to change calibers. 

I load 14 calibers on mine from .32 S&W to .45-90.

Cry one time-buy one time.....

Been run'n a 550 since 1987.

 

 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Ha!!  None of the Above.  I load on a pair of DILLON 650s.  One set up for Large Primers, one set up for Small Primers (I'm lazy) and I can load cartridges faster than playing Whack-a-Mole.  However:  Were I to suggest,

 

RL550B or the Hornady L$L.  Both will load yer cartridges faster than you can wipe yer tus(er nose)

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

4 hours ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

I have two Hornady Lock n Load AP. Great machines and not nearly as pricey. Warranty service second to none. I've never paid for any replacement part even when it was my fault. 

This^

 

I learned to load on a pard's 550, a really excellent machine. Bought a LNL though, because at the time it was much less expensive - especially when all of the accessory/necessities costs are factored in. The primer feed is much simpler, caliber and die changes a breeze, will hold up to 5 dies vs the 550's 4, and it auto indexes with each pull of the handle. I now have two of them.

 

You won't go wrong with either press.

 

My opinion of the Dillon's - skip the Square Deal because it requires proprietary dies. The 550 is the king of KISS among Dillons. The 650 is excellent except it has a cantankerous primer feed. If you must have an auto-indexing Dillon with a 5-hole head, the 750 is the way to go as they've improved the primer feed from the 650.

 

One last bit of advice. Take your time when loading and be deliberate. A progressive can load just as many bad rounds in a hurry as well as good ones.

 

Good luck!

 

Edited September 20 by Abilene Slim SASS 81783

[Cypress Sun]

4 hours ago, Sixgun Seamus said:

I have two Hornady Lock n Load AP. Great machines and not nearly as pricey. Warranty service second to none. I've never paid for any replacement part even when it was my fault. Don't drink the blue kool-aid. I defy anyone to show me how their 45 Colt loaded on a blue machine is any better than mine loaded on my Hornady. I can easily load 300-400 per hour without pushing. I've loaded 500 38's in an hour. Flame away!

 

Flame away...why?

 

He's looking for advice on reloading machines, what could be better than varying opinions?

Look at everything that's suggested, make an educated decision and order it. 

 

By the way...it was Fla-VorAid. Kool-Aid got a bad rap.

[Vail Vigilante]

Dillion 550, a great, very versatile press, that can grow with you.

[Whitey James]

I've loaded thousands and thousands of rounds on my Redding. I actually started on a Lee Classic Turret but I found it to be clunky, picky and gave me tendinitis working the ram. Got rid of it after a few months. I enjoyed doing batches on my Redding and it has a nice smooth ram stroke and is well made. 

I had thought for years that if I upgrade it would be the Redding T-7 Turret but now I'm leaning towards the Dillon based on the advice here.

Thank you all for your input. I will look for a 550!

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I suppose a lot would depend on how many different calibers you plan on reloading.  The 550 caliber conversions are cheaper than the 650/750 conversions.  Any of the Dillon presses would be a step up above what you already have.  The 550 has 4 stations in the tool head and the 650/750 has 5 stations.  If you are going to load one or two calibers in high volume, I would go with the 650/750 and a case feeder.  

 

The nice thing about a Dillon press is you can buy it today, use it 10 years, take decent care of it, and sell it for more than you paid for it.  

[Whitey James]

5 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

I suppose a lot would depend on how many different calibers you plan on reloading.  The 550 caliber conversions are cheaper than the 650/750 conversions.  Any of the Dillon presses would be a step up above what you already have.  The 550 has 4 stations in the tool head and the 650/750 has 5 stations.  If you are going to load one or two calibers in high volume, I would go with the 650/750 and a case feeder.  

 

The nice thing about a Dillon press is you can buy it today, use it 10 years, take decent care of it, and sell it for more than you paid for it.  

I currently load: 38, 357, 380, 9mm, 357 sig, 40, 10mm, 45 colt, 45 acp, 44 mag, 223/556

[Michigan Slim]

21 minutes ago, Whitey James said:

I currently load: 38, 357, 380, 9mm, 357 sig, 40, 10mm, 45 colt, 45 acp, 44 mag, 223/556

The 550 will handle all those and many more. I load from .32 H&R to .45-70 on mine. Be ready to part with some coin to get set up for each caliber. It adds up. 

[Buckshot Bob]

I have a Dillon 550 and would recommend it highly. That said about a year ago I purchased a Lee six pac pro . And for the money it’s been a great press . It takes a bit to change calibers , and has its quirks like any progressive, also depending on how you go about reloading I have a Lee App press “very inexpensive” and I use it just for processing brass . I usually use a frankford arsenal hand primer to prime all my brass . I’ve found priming is usually the shortcoming of many progressive presses until you step up to something like a Dillon 750 . Not saying you can’t do it on other presses, but you need to pay attention to how well it’s working all the time. Any progressive you get you will need the patience to tinker a little before you get it running smoothly. The 550 really is the kiss progressive if that your mo. 

I used to be a Lee snob but after using the six pac and app I was convinced otherwise.

The thing that got me to try Lee was the factory crimp die . So many people were raving about them when the came out I had to give one a try.