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I have a Dillon 550b and it works for me.
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Another 550b user here.
Versatile, and much faster than a single stage.
The locator buttons remove easily and allow access to any stage for adjustments without worrying about the shellplate taking off and moving the case to the next station.
I've found that if I take my time and watch what I'm doing, I just don't have to worry about double charges or lack of charge. And if I check the powder measure throw after every box, I'm confident the actual charge isn't drifting.
With the 550b, you index, place a bullet on top of the charged case at Station 3, place an empty case at Station 1, then pull the handle. Push back to seat the primer, which has a surprising amount of "feel" as nothing else is going on during that motion but primer seating. Then you're back to "index" again. If you have a momentary lapse and forget to index, you'll try to place a bullet on top of a bullet / insert a case in Station 1 when it's not empty. So charging twice is really, really hard to do unless you're trying to set a speed record / half asleep / etc. If you somehow index twice, you'll notice a blank spot at Station 2, right in front, where a resized case is supposed to be. And, if you do like I do and
look in the case, you'll notice the case at Station 3 has no powder. So not charging at all is also visually obvious.
IMO,
all reloading requires attention to detail. I've read of folks using single stage presses who managed to create double charges and squibs. Error in process, somewhere. And yet they were using a "safe" single stage press.
A single stage press won't guarantee safety any more than a progressive press will guarantee an accident. You've probably read it in other threads about
gun safeties, but it also applies to reloading: "The safety is between your ears."
