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Old September 28, 2012, 09:58 AM   #1
shredmandan
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RELOADING PRESS QUESTION for SMALL RUN of ROUNDS

I've got a Dillon 550 and a 650 press which are great for reloading large quantity's of ammo. It's a pain to set them up to make small runs of ammo like 50 or less. Maybe I'm missing something and am thinking about a different press for this - thoughts/suggestions welcome.

Thanks much!

Dan
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Old September 28, 2012, 10:35 AM   #2
tkglazie
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Sounds like a perfect application for a single stage, or even better, a Lee Classic Turret. Setup a turret for each load and you can easily sit down, setup the press and crank out a box of 50 of anything you like in 20 minutes from beginning to end. 25 tops.

Thats how I use my LCT- I make 50 or 100 of a bunch of different loads/calibers at a sitting rather than crank out the same thing over and over. its less boring to me and it is so little effort to swap turrets and charge the powder, disk and primer type that I barely lose any time (maybe 2-3 minutes to change from one load to another, max)
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Old September 28, 2012, 01:10 PM   #3
NAKing
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It is very easy to change calibers on the Dillon 550, and it's much faster to handload than the Lee Turret if you ever wanted to make higher volumes. I regularly go from handloading .45 Automatic to .38 Special on my Dillon.
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Old September 28, 2012, 01:49 PM   #4
Clifford L. Hughes
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I load my pistol calibers on a Dillon 550 and my rifle calibers on a RCBS Rock Chucker. Even for a small fifty round loading of pistol calibers I use the Dillon because changing the dies form the Dillon to the Rock Chucker and readjusting them takes considerable time.

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Old September 28, 2012, 01:52 PM   #5
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Lee Precision Classic Turret - use it as pre-set single stage as I do or use it in faster auto-index mode. Swap out turrets with preset dies in seconds and go.
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Old September 28, 2012, 02:49 PM   #6
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I agree with the Lee classic turret. You can change dies in under one minute. I have a Lee classic turret and a Dillon 550. I still use the Lee as much as the Dillon.
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Old September 28, 2012, 02:50 PM   #7
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If you stay within the same primer size the 550 is cake to change calibers if you have multiple tool heads. Literally take <2 min. If you need to change primer sizes it may take another 3-4 min. For pistol, nothing beats a 550b IMO. For rifle with a lot of case prep or extruded powder with precise measurements, I'd look at a turret press.
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Old September 28, 2012, 04:00 PM   #8
rajbcpa
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The Hornady Lock-N-Load quick change bushings make for fast caliper swaps.

In all honesty, however, I cannot recommend the Hornady progressive press - too many problems.

Stay with the Dillions and never look back.
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Old September 28, 2012, 04:37 PM   #9
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Should have got a Hornady L-N-L--VERY quick and easy caliber change over. You need 2-5 die bushings and a shell plate. The press comes with both small primer and large primer parts and the switch over takes no more than 5 minutes and is faster as you get used to it.
If you have runs of 50 cases, one "assumes" they are bottleneck rifle cases.
I don't think any one will do this, but I am quite happy with my $30 Lee Reloading Press for loading a few rifle rounds, up to .30-06. I also use it for depriming and with the Lee Bulge Buster.
There really is no choice--use what you have or get another press.
The Lee single stage press with die bushings isn't very expensive (compared to Dillon) and will do as good a job as another single-stage press.
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Old September 28, 2012, 04:40 PM   #10
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No problems with the LNL,with proper setup( same with ALL presses) and the right operator it works flawless, Caliber changes are quick, I won't say as quick as a complete toolhead design but each die can be changed out individually if 2 calibers use some of the same dies. For short runs,if I'm doing another caliber in the LNL,I have the adaptor in my Rock Chucker so all the dies can be swapped in and out with the bushings and the sttings are the same, no adjusting.
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Old September 28, 2012, 04:45 PM   #11
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Sorry--somehow my partial post was posted while I was still typing...

Should have got a Hornady L-N-L--VERY quick and easy caliber change over. You need 2-5 die bushings and a shell plate. The press comes with both small primer and large primer parts and the switch over takes no more than 5 minutes and is faster as you get used to it.
Isn't is odd that the "problems" with Hornady are always being brought up by Dillon owners? May be trying to lessen the cognitive dissonance from spending so much?
I have been using a Hornady progressive since they first came out (30+ years) and have never felt that I had made a poor choice or thought than any other press was significantly better. I have used both a 550 and 650 without a case feeder and I hated them.
I currently have three 1050s and my son has my L-N-L. If all three presses were stolen tomorrow, I would go out and buy another L-N-L.
If you have runs of 50 cases, one "assumes" they are bottleneck rifle cases.
I don't think any one will do this, but I am quite happy with my $30 Lee Reloading Press for loading a few rifle rounds, up to .30-06. I also use it for depriming and with the Lee Bulge Buster. It wouldn't be the press I would choose to load rifle rounds every week all year, but it works great for occasional rounds.
There really is no choice--use what you have, get another press, or don't load small batches.
The Lee single stage press with die bushings isn't very expensive (compared to Dillon) and will do as good a job as another single-stage press.

Last edited by noylj; September 28, 2012 at 04:46 PM. Reason: Double post
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Old September 28, 2012, 07:18 PM   #12
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What you need is a turret press. The Lee “Classic” Turret is the lowest priced one that is acceptable. Although a RCBS, Lyman, or Redding will also work well. Note: don’t bother with the Lee Turret, it’s just a piece o junk in MHO. Since you already have a 550 and a 650 a Hornady AP will do you no good.
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Old September 28, 2012, 08:23 PM   #13
tkglazie
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shootest View Post
What you need is a turret press. The Lee “Classic” Turret is the lowest priced one that is acceptable. Although a RCBS, Lyman, or Redding will also work well. Note: don’t bother with the Lee Turret, it’s just a piece o junk in MHO. Since you already have a 550 and a 650 a Hornady AP will do you no good.
Ah, what a wonderfully insightful opinion! Just a piece of junk that makes beautiful cloveleafs for the whole wide world to see. I guess you are right and the rest of us delighted LCT owners are wrong. Anyone know if an LCT has any junk value?

Tell us, expert, what troubles did you have with the LCT that you owned?
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Old September 28, 2012, 08:41 PM   #14
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Keep calm

Quote:
Originally Posted by tkglazie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shootest
What you need is a turret press. The Lee “Classic” Turret is the lowest priced one that is acceptable. Although a RCBS, Lyman, or Redding will also work well. Note: don’t bother with the Lee Turret, it’s just a piece o junk in MHO. Since you already have a 550 and a 650 a Hornady AP will do you no good.
Ah, what a wonderfully insightful opinion! Just a piece of junk that makes beautiful cloveleafs for the whole wide world to see. I guess you are right and the rest of us delighted LCT owners are wrong. Anyone know if an LCT has any junk value?

Tell us, expert, what troubles did you have with the LCT that you owned?
tkglazie, you didn't read the post well enough. Lee makes two turret presses. Shootest praised the Classic Turret. He was trying to steer you AWAY from the other one, the poorly named Deluxe Turret.

The Deluxe is aluminum vs cast iron, has an vertical opening a full inch shorter than the Clasic, does not handle spent primers nearly as well and has a linkage that is not as strong.

They do, however operate identically.

Do not confuse the current Deluxe Turret, which has a 4-hole turret to the Older, discontinued but still available, Deluxe turret which has a 3-hole turret.

The Lee Classic Turret is definitely superior to the Lee Deluxe Turret, though both produce equal-quality ammunition (in my opinion).

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Old September 28, 2012, 08:45 PM   #15
Lost Sheep
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Not just lowest price

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shootest
What you need is a turret press. The Lee “Classic” Turret is the lowest priced one that is acceptable. Although a RCBS, Lyman, or Redding will also work well. Note: don’t bother with the Lee Turret, it’s just a piece o junk in MHO. Since you already have a 550 and a 650 a Hornady AP will do you no good.
The Lee Classic Turret is not just lowest price and acceptable. It is THE BEST autoindexing turret press in current production in the world today, bar none.

Of course, there are only the two Lee turrets. No other turret press offers autoindexing. If you can get by with only 4 die stations, there simply is no other choice. (In my opinion.)

Lost Sheep
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Old September 28, 2012, 09:04 PM   #16
tkglazie
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Quote:
tkglazie, you didn't read the post well enough. Lee makes two turret presses. Shootest praised the Classic Turret. He was trying to steer you AWAY from the other one, the poorly named Deluxe Turret.
My mistake. That was small of me, and I was wrong to boot. Thanks for the correction Lost Sheep.

My apologies Shootest.
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Old September 28, 2012, 09:06 PM   #17
SHR970
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Lee Hand Press.

50 rounds......even rifle ammo this press is sit down and load.
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Old September 28, 2012, 09:38 PM   #18
lee n. field
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Quote:
The Deluxe is aluminum vs cast iron, has an vertical opening a full inch shorter than the Clasic, does not handle spent primers nearly as well and has a linkage that is not as strong.
The old handle, maybe. Lee upgraded the handle and linkage of the Pro 1000 and the other turret press. That's plenty strong.
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Old September 28, 2012, 10:38 PM   #19
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If I understand the OP he is not asking about changing calibers, but about loading small batches.
The LCT is excellent for that, but, to take full advantage of it you would need a second set of dies. Your best bet might be loading a cartridge at a time with what you have.
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Old September 29, 2012, 02:33 AM   #20
Lost Sheep
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dickttx
If I understand the OP he is not asking about changing calibers, but about loading small batches.
The LCT is excellent for that, but, to take full advantage of it you would need a second set of dies. Your best bet might be loading a cartridge at a time with what you have.
You are correct. But loading small batches has a lot in common with changing calibers, particularly in my mind.

The startup procedures to get a progressive running in steady state takes at least 4 cartridges. If you are only going to load a batch of 5 and then change seating depth or charge weight or something a single stage or turret is just easier.

Yes, a second set of dies. A second turret would help a lot, too. And at $10 to $13 each is a foregone conclusion for me. I have been thinking about putting a powder measure dedicated to each set of dies permanently on each die/turret set, too.

But then, I have to consider storage space. I have to draw the line somewhere.

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Old September 29, 2012, 04:22 AM   #21
1stmar
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Shr970, the lee hand press is great I agree, especially if you are short on space, doing small amounts or loading at the range.
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Old September 29, 2012, 08:45 AM   #22
Shootest
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Quote:
My mistake. That was small of me, and I was wrong to boot. Thanks for the correction Lost Sheep.

My apologies Shootest.
Apology accepted, maybe I could have been more clear.
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Old September 29, 2012, 09:06 AM   #23
tkglazie
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Oh no, you were clear, I just had a burr under my saddle for some reason.

Lots of excellent advice in this thread by the way. This is a good forum.
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Old September 29, 2012, 11:55 AM   #24
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Everybody has their favorites based on what they own. My favorite for small jobs is the CH 444. It's a bit pricey, but is substantially less than either of your Dillons, is very strong, and is compact.

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Old September 29, 2012, 03:37 PM   #25
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I agree with the others that say a cheap turret press, especially the Lee classic.

I bought a Square Deal and a Lee Turret a few years back. I actually prefered the classic turret and sold the square deal. I typically don't load more than a couple hundred pistol rounds at a time, so speed wasn't a factor. The simplicity of the machine, cheap turrets, and the small physical footpring of the turret press won over. I sold the progressive years ago and don't miss it.
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