Hornady vs Dillon

Guy B. Meredith · August 29, 1999, 11:11 PM

I know that Dillon is the cat's meow, but I note that the Hornady Lock and Load AP is within $30 of the Dillon 550B, has a fifth stage. How about powder check stations for either? RCBS powder check work with either?
I have seen Hornady products and find them very well finished.

Matt VDW · August 30, 1999, 09:17 AM

Guy,

I use both a Hornady Lock and Load Projector and an upgraded Dillon 450 (the press that evolved into the Dillon 550B).

The Projector does have a fifth stage. Unlike the Dillon press, however, the Hornady doesn't expand the case mouth and dump powder at the same station. An expander die goes into station #2 and the powder measure goes into station #3.

Dillon

1) Deprime, resize, and prime
2) Expand case mouth and dump powder
3) Seat bullet
4) Crimp

Hornady

1) Deprime, resize and prime
2) Expand case mouth
3) Dump powder
4) Seat bullet
5) Crimp

The only way that either press could use a powder check die would be to combine seating and crimping in the last station and replace the seating die with a check die, or to replace the Hornady's expander die with a combination expander/powder measure (like Lee's) and replace the powder measure with a check die.

The Hornady has auto-indexing and the Dillon doesn't. I don't find that this makes much practical difference.

One area where Dillon has Hornady beat is the priming system. Dillon's works smoothly and reloads quickly; Hornady's needs some tweaking to work right and requires taking off the whole primer feed tube to reload it.

Dillon's roller handle is very nice but it costs an extra $25 or so.

Hornady's Lock and Load quick-change die bushings work reasonably well. I don't know if they're a great deal faster than ordinary dies with good lock rings. The Hornady does make removing and replacing the powder measure quick and easy, which is helpful if you like to switch powders frequently.

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August 29, 1999, 11:11 PM	#1
Guy B. Meredith Senior Member Join Date: August 29, 1999 Location: Salem, Oregon Posts: 1,581	I know that Dillon is the cat's meow, but I note that the Hornady Lock and Load AP is within $30 of the Dillon 550B, has a fifth stage. How about powder check stations for either? RCBS powder check work with either? I have seen Hornady products and find them very well finished.

August 30, 1999, 09:17 AM	#2
Matt VDW Senior Member Join Date: July 27, 1999 Posts: 1,315	Guy, I use both a Hornady Lock and Load Projector and an upgraded Dillon 450 (the press that evolved into the Dillon 550B). The Projector does have a fifth stage. Unlike the Dillon press, however, the Hornady doesn't expand the case mouth and dump powder at the same station. An expander die goes into station #2 and the powder measure goes into station #3. Dillon 1) Deprime, resize, and prime 2) Expand case mouth and dump powder 3) Seat bullet 4) Crimp Hornady 1) Deprime, resize and prime 2) Expand case mouth 3) Dump powder 4) Seat bullet 5) Crimp The only way that either press could use a powder check die would be to combine seating and crimping in the last station and replace the seating die with a check die, or to replace the Hornady's expander die with a combination expander/powder measure (like Lee's) and replace the powder measure with a check die. The Hornady has auto-indexing and the Dillon doesn't. I don't find that this makes much practical difference. One area where Dillon has Hornady beat is the priming system. Dillon's works smoothly and reloads quickly; Hornady's needs some tweaking to work right and requires taking off the whole primer feed tube to reload it. Dillon's roller handle is very nice but it costs an extra $25 or so. Hornady's Lock and Load quick-change die bushings work reasonably well. I don't know if they're a great deal faster than ordinary dies with good lock rings. The Hornady does make removing and replacing the powder measure quick and easy, which is helpful if you like to switch powders frequently.