Have an RCBS single stage and love it but, now that my boys have gotten older I am shooting a lot more. I'm struggling to keep up with demand which is a good thing. Price isnt an issue. Looking for experiences here. Was thinking a Hornady Ammo plant or Dillon 650 or anything in between. Something I can setup and crank out 4-500 an hour. 9mm and 300 blackout is what I shoot the most.

Suggestions?

The answer has usually been Dillion, there may be something close with newer offerings. I doubt you could go wrong with Dillion.

I'd hesitate to go elsewhere. I have a 4 station turret press of sorts. It gets me by since I switch around a fair amount. If I went progressive, it would be Dillion.

You might find the recent thread, Toying with the idea of a progressive..., a bit down-page interesting.

Based on the article I referenced in what is currently the last post in that thread: My current plans, if I go progressive, is the Hornady LNL AP.

Take a close look a Dillon,me personally I prefer hands on and not so much automation is why I have two 550's.
One set for small primers and one set for large.
I also have those presses set on a home made swivel stand so I can sit .

The blue crowd is outspoken and proud, but I've made A LOT of ammo over the years on red presses. The LNL does a fine job, and doesn't require you to keep buying components for convience (drawer full of charge bars or tool heads).

Of late I've gotten away from much handgun shooting, and mostly have been loading big bore stuff, like 375 Ruger, 416 Rigby, and 458 Lott. I've loved my T7 for this. The T7 allows me to boutique manufacture each round, a useful thing for $7 a squeeze cartridges.

I chose Dillon, a 650, based on reputation and the fact that it's more common among people I know locally. It seems around here it's a RCBS RockChucker or Dillon.

I will probably buy a 550 as well for smaller runs of 10mm, .357 Sig etc. and use the 650 for 9mmm and 5.56.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Of late I've gotten away from much handgun shooting, and mostly have been loading big bore stuff, like 375 Ruger, 416 Rigby, and 458 Lott. I've loved my T7 for this.

I'll be starting with a Rock Chucker, loading .45 ACP, as I have the press and everything I need (except the loading bench and space for it, yet). If I like reloading, that's when I'll look to a progressive for handgun rounds. Then I'll use the RC for .308 Win. (And, if I get really crazy, later on, 6.5 Creedmore.)

I started out many years ago on a Lyman Turret press. It produced a ton of quality ammo....just slowly. I still have the press and use it on small loads. Years ago I upgraded to a Dillon 650 with a casefeeder. I have fully setup toolheads for each caliber that I load for. I can not imagine giving up this press, and continuing to shoot and reload. You will have ZERO problems churning out 4-500 rounds of reloads/hour.

Dillon's NO BS lifetime warranty is for real!! A Dillon is not the cheapest, but is one of the best in my opinion.

I also have the two 550's setup like 45cal. Loading 9mm or .223, a guy can certainly meet your round count objective....however, you need all primer tubes loaded and handy, cases lubed and ready for the number of rounds for a session.

My Hornady experiences were not as positive as using the Dillon presses. If you are shooting more now and likely to do even more, then the 650 will do you proud. I have one on the want list, just building inventory of components while still trying to supply my USPSA and Steel Challenge ammo needs. Enjoy whatever you choose.

thank you all for the responses!

I run a 550 & 650, have loaded on the LNL. IMO, it's a 650. If you want to complicate things, add anyone's bullet feeder, but 500rds an hour w/o a bullet feeder is pretty easy on a 650 with case feeder.
The LNL is a decent press, requires a bit more tinkering when you switch calibers, but it does work. Don't let the price fool you though, equipped the same, less than $100 diff for one caliber. The priming on the Dillon is almost goof proof, the weakest link on any progressive. The Dillon case feeder also runs better than the LNL. So if no case feeder, I might go LNL to save $$. With case feeder, 650 hands down.
Going slow I can do 600rds/hr including filling primer tubes on a 650 with case feeder. Going faster, 700rds is not out of the question. Without the case feeder, it isn't really any faster than the manual indexing 550, about 450rds/hr or one handle pull every 8sec. So even the 550 will get you the production you want, but it's priming system is spotty. If they put a 650 priming system on the 550, it would be just about perfect for those that like manual control.

If price isn't an issue there is nothing cheaper than a 650 that is better than a 650 for volume reloading.

I use the 650 for a lot of my loading
And my buddies all use that or a 550

The press works great and if I were to have a last minute problem

Like a marathon reloading secession before a match and a part breaks on a Friday night

I can call one of the crew up and swap parts from their press to mine to get back in operation

We also share tools heads among the group.

Lots of good press's out there , I just like drinking the Dillon Kool Aid

buy a dillon

I have an early model LNL. Its finicky. I wish I would have bought a dillon.

When I was looking for a progressive a friend loaned me his new in box Hornady LNL. He took on a flip house, didn't have time...

No matter what I did I could not get the LNL to load w/o problems. Replaced a couple parts.. still no good. I'm a mechanically minded person, repaired/maintained industrial woodworking equipment for many years. As far as a design, fit/finish, function the LNL I had was a slice of crap! So glad I didn't buy one! Went over to another friends who has had a Dillon 550 for many years, he let me load on it. Absolutely no comparison in quality, fit/finish. Bought a Dillon 550. Loaded over 20k 9mm rounds on it since.

There should be a Botched site for all those buying lesser gear than Dillon. You can make anything eventually work, but the Dillon stuff will run out of the box or Dillon will fix it/make it work.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
There should be a Botched site for all those buying lesser gear than Dillon. You can make anything eventually work, but the Dillon stuff will run out of the box or Dillon will fix it/make it work.

This is the best reason to buy the Big Blue. And I like the people who work there.

I couldn't be more pleased with my Dillon XL650.

It doesn't matter what progressive you buy first, you can always get a Dillon later.