Whats the best reloading press

[David Bachelder]

I started with a single stage, then a turret then a progressive in less than two years. I still have the single stage. I use it for my 30-06 and .243 rifle rounds (I'm pretty picky about those because if I take an animal down with one of them I want to get as clean a kill as possible.

Get a progressive and forget it. Run it in single stage mode till you get the hang of it, if needed. It's easy to do and I did it with my LNL, I'm assuming you can run a Dillon the same way.

Food for thought:
A single stage press is a good investment, you will use it if you have it, even if you have the best progressive press in the world.

[Lost Sheep]

No,

Originally Posted by jaguarxk120

tech135 the Dillon is the way to go. Dillon has one of the best warrenty programs in the industry.

Just as one member signs off with: Oneounceload -- " The bitterness of poor quality is long remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory. Aldo Gucci"

Dillon has THE best warranty program in the industry.

While I am a fan of the Lee Classic Turret for my own use, (easy, fast and simple caliber swaps and modest space requirements) Dillon presses will outrun my meager production speed by at least a factor of 3.

If I had the space and the funds, I might well have a quartet of Dillon SDBs on my bench. But I don't shoot that much centerfire ammo per week and don't have the space or the funds. So the Lee Classic Turret fits my needs better than anyher press currently made.

You have to decide what will fit your needs now and in the near future.

Lost Sheep

[Unclenick]

Keep checking the last page of the "Where is everything?" sticky thread in the General forum. People post there as stuff becomes available. Key items seem gradually to be available with more frequency. I've seen a couple of predictions by industry folk that September will see supplies start to catch back up. No guarantees, but if it's starting to look a little better now, that seems plausible.

[Eppie]

tech135 I too pondered that question when I first started reloading.

I figured that I could always use a progressive press as a single stage until I got comfortable with each step and then wanted more bullets faster. Three years later I'm glad that I chose a progressive press because once you've got the basics down it's the only way to go in my book.

A word or warning, if you go with a progressive press, use ball powder. I got frustrated and wasted time and money trying to make stick powder work. It won't measure well and will give you grief.

I choose to go with the Hornady Lock-n-Load AP because I liked the bushing system that makes changing caliber/dies a snap. I'm not sure if you can use other maker's dies with the Dillon? If you're locked into their dies that should be a deal breaker. Many of the best dies are not made by Dillon.

By the way the Lyman manual is OK to start, but I winded up buying half dozen books until I got the Sierra manual, now I use it like a bible. I go back and re-read sections and find more gold nuggets that I missed on the first reading.

[cookie5]

I'd get a couple of reloading manuals and study up! Get a Dillon of your choice. You can load one case at a time. there is a learning curve that takes reading the instructions and going slow , Baby step slow. I learned to reload in the early 1970s . 1991 is when I bought the Dillon 550 and have loaded at around 4,000 rounds per year. My friends have come over and used the loader. The 550 has loaded 38 special, 357, 9 mm, 40 S@W, 45 acp, 223, 30 carbine, 308, 30/06, 300 Weatherby mag and 338 Lapua. 22 years of use "properly maintained" and I really like the Dillon and their no BS warranty is just that. Buy once Cry once.

[SCruel]

RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Press is the best reloading press on the market . This is a solid press. The Lee reloading manual will tell you that most presses are over-engineered and it's right, but I've found that weight in your press means stability which promotes consistency and that's a great trait for a piece of reloading equipment to have. I've tried reloading with a Lee Classic press (cast aluminum model) and I wasn't a fan. it was light weight and the up rod had, what I considered to be, an unacceptable amount of play in it when operating the press. That is not the case with the Rock Chucker and this piece of equipment gives me peace of mind when creating potentially very dangerous things: rounds of ammunition.

I've loaded only 200 rounds of .223 and .308 with my press so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I will say that this press was recommended to me by a friend with decades of reloading experience using this press and, as far as I'm concerned, it was a fantastic recommendation.

[muncie21]

I learned how to reload on a Dillon 650 progressive. It's a very flexible machine and while not the least expensive option, they do hold their value well.

[50 shooter]

I learned on a Dillon 550, myself and a friend set it up watch the video and reading the manual. The first couple of hundred rounds took more than an hour as we checked everything at least twice to make sure it was correct.

So yes, you can start out on a progressive press if you're somewhat mechanically inclined and can watch a video at the same time. I also have a single stage press as some stuff is easier to do with it and then transfer the info to the other press.

[FITASC]

Dillon has THE best warranty program in the industry.

RCBS' warranty is every bit as good............

Don't forget to budget for all of the extra stuff you'll need like scale, calipers, brass prep, etc.......

[Tsquared]

MINE!

Sorry, I had to go there.

[muzzleblast...]

Originally Posted by tech135

Hey guys I am new to the forum and new to reloading. I have some reload book and have been reading on the whole process. I am looking to reload 9mm, 40s&w, 45 ACP, .223, and 7.62. The majority of the reloads will be for the hand gun ammo. I am unsure what the best press is for what I am looking to do. Should I go progressive? Any help appreciated. Thanks

Every handloader needs a good single stage press, and "new" handloaders need to begin with a single stage press in order to fully understand, practice and internalize each step of the process, one round at a time, a few thousand times over.

Pick one, the color doesn't matter... green, orange, blue, red...

[hdwhit]

tech135 wrote:
I am unsure what the best press is for what I am looking to do.

I recommend people never ask what is the "best" of something. The reason is that you get their belief, not a recounting of their objective experience that can help you make an informed decision.

I would answer your question and say, "RCBS Rock Chucker". But then you would never learn that but I've never owned one. Never even used one. In fact, the only presses I've ever had have been RCBS Reloader Specials. I say the Rock Chucker over the Reloader Special/Rock Chucker Junior because I see the limitations my press has. And I prefer RCBS over Lee, Lyman, Hornady and the others because I have had better experience over the years with RCBS Customer Service than I have with anyone else.

So, I would urge you to ask for recommendations from people for the equipment you're looking at and ask them to explain their reasons. THEN, you will get responses that can help you in making a decision.

Welcome.

[Kevin Rohrer]

This is another question that has been asked many, many times.

There is no "best" of anything.

Go single-stage until you are absolutely certain what you are doing and what is occurring. Then think about a progressive.

[THEWELSHM]

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillon...Comparison.pdf

Here you go, let me get the popcorn..

Thewelshm

[ed308]

I started reloading with a Dillon 650XL. I figured buy once cry once. Wasn't that difficult plus I didn't have anyone local to help me. I got all the help I needed from forums like this one plus Dillons 800 number. With that said, it takes the right kind of person to do it. If your good at figuring out mechanical things plus willing to be cautious, then go for it.

[Unclenick]

Originally Posted by Eppie

I figured that I could always use a progressive press as a single stage until I got comfortable with each step and then wanted more bullets faster. Three years later I'm glad that I chose a progressive press because once you've got the basics down it's the only way to go in my book.

This depends on the machine. A Dillon 550, being manually indexed, is easy to use as a single-stage. The Lee Classic Turret can also be set up for manual indexing. On one that won't let you defeat automatic indexing, you have to have two stations in a row that you can move the components in or out of. Awkward on some of them.

Originally Posted by Eppie

A word or warning, if you go with a progressive press, use ball powder. I got frustrated and wasted time and money trying to make stick powder work. It won't measure well and will give you grief.

That depends on what you were expecting to have happen. Do stick powders meter to the exact tenth of a grain? Not normally, no. But the reason is the cylindrical grains can pack in different geometries, while spheres cannot. On the other hand, as stick powders pack tighter, their ignition rate decreases, so there is some self-compensation to this and if you pick the right powder for your chambering and bullet weight it can work very well. Hatcher remarked that the National Match ammunition (.30-06) he loaded one year used a long stick powder that could only be dispensed by the arsenal loading machines to an extreme spread of 1.7 grains, yet it proved to produce more accurate ammunition than another, similar burn rate powder with finer grains that he tried that could be dispensed to an extreme spread of just 0.6 grains. Competitors who pulled the ammo complained about the weight spread, but it was used to set several records that year.

I have pulled down Federal Gold Medal Match .308 Win ammunition loaded with Sierra 168 grain MatchKings and found an extreme spread of about 0.4 grains within each lot. It uses IMR 4064. I also pulled down some Winchester Supreme Match ammo made about fifteen years ago, also loaded with the 168 grain Sierra MatchKing at that time and using a charge of 748. It's charge weights had an extreme spread that was an astonishingly tiny 0.05 grains (I used a lab scale to measure that). But it never had the accuracy of the Federal load.

So this is a tricky thing. Charge weight alone is not always the determining factor. The Norma manual, for example, says a powder kept and loaded in over 80% RH will produce about 12% lower peak pressure than a sample from the same lot stored in low RH. The bulk density of the powder also increases about 1-1.5% in high RH, but that's not enough to account for the pressure change; that's down to interaction with the water.

With stick powders, if you pick the right one for your chambering and bullet weight, you can sometimes get excellent charge weight compensation by the change in ignition rate with change in packing density. This is why volumetric dispensing sometimes produces better ammunition accuracy than charge weighing.

Incidentally, if the above bothers you about stick powder, you can get both close weight and volumetric dispensing of stick powder using the specially designed JDR Quick Measure. They make an adapter that works with Dillon presses to replace the Dillon powder dispenser.

Originally Posted by Eppie

I choose to go with the Hornady Lock-n-Load AP because I liked the bushing system that makes changing caliber/dies a snap. I'm not sure if you can use other maker's dies with the Dillon? If you're locked into their dies that should be a deal breaker. Many of the best dies are not made by Dillon.

Only the Dillon Square Deal press, which is only for handgun and short, straight wall carbine ammunition, uses special dies. All the other Dillon presses have the standard 7/8×14 die threads and can use any brand of die. The Dillon pistol dies have a somewhat more generous mouth radius than some other brands, which avoids case mouths catching on them when everything is vibrating and shaking from going fast. That's the only issue I'm aware of with standard dies in the Dillon 550, 650, and 1050 presses.

[F. Guffey]

I own no fewer than 22 presses, imagine the noise, I step out to start loading and all those presses are hollering; "pick me, pick me!". I have one press that looks like a spider doing push ups when it put it through its paces, in a review of presses in the 50 there was nothing that could be said about the press that was good. I found this press in NAPA VALLEY at a flea market, the vendor was selling used kitchen appliances and equipment. He was selling the press as a juicer for lemons and oranges etc., I could not convince him it was a reloading press and if it worked the way he described it would have to be mounted upside down and (there were so many pieces missing) he was missing the bowl and squeezer.

Before the Internet Hearter made some interesting presses, I like the 2 ram, turret and 'U' models. They also made the Super 3. they made a lot of them, there is a disadvantage to the shell holders, I know, there are adapter kits, problem, the RCBS shell holder was not designed to work/function on a Herter press.

I only have one Lee press, I do not use it because I only have one of them.

F. Guffey

[disseminator]

I started reloading with two presses: a Dillon 550b for pistol and small rifle, and a single stage for big rifle and magnum pistol.

The Single Stage, I started with a Rock Chucker but didn't like it and sold it to a buddy to fund a Redding Big Boss II.

I like the single stage for more precision, easier to switch calibers and works great. I added an auto eject system from Inline Fab and that speeds up production to such a level that I may have skipped the Dillon had I known how fast it would be.

I do love the Dillon though. I usually load up 500 or 1000 rounds of handgun at a time. I bought extra primer tubes and fill up a bunch in advance and just go like crazy. the machine takes a little time to figure out but is worth the trouble IMO.

I use my Big Boss 80% of the time though and that's the truth.

[pete2]

I have no idea what's the best press but I started using a Dillon 550B after loading on a single stage for nearly 50 years. I load .38, .45 and 9MM on it. Still use a Lyman turret press for rifle and misc. pistol. You kinda need both. I have 3 heads with powder measures on them so change over isn't a big deal. The 550 is not as fast as a 650 with case and bullet feeder, if you're feeding cases and bullets by hand it isn't gonna be a lot faster than a 550. 550 is a much simpler machine. Check out what the case feeder and bullet feeder cost, I don't need them. I shoot about 100 to 200 rounds per week so I load 500 to 1000 of a caliber at a time( I prolly got 2000 rounds of .45 on hand. Not so many 9 and .38. Extra primer tubes help production, recently bought a primer tube filler, it's ok too. I have Dillon dies for .45 and .38, using RCBS on 9MM. If I had it to do over I'd use all RCBS. The Dillon dies are good but adjusting the bullet seating die is a pain.
My 2 cents. I'm not a big fan of Lee stuff, I've had better luck with Rcbs, Hornady and Lyman.

[disseminator]

The Dillon dies are good but adjusting the bullet seating die is a pain.

I agree! I love the consistent performance of the Dillon dies including the seater and the reversible seating stem in great but I really like a Micrometer adjustment and use Forster Competition seaters on my Dillon now for several calibers. Really a nice improvement and the consistency is even better than before.

With that and an adjustment dial on the Dillon powder measure, I am a happy reloader.

[Ben_Snow]

Guys


U do realize that the OP's question was from 2013??


Probably already purchased by now .... Probably on his second or third press....

[F. Guffey]

Did you notice most of the presses I mentioned were made 40+ years before he asked the question?

F. Guffey

[MarkCO]

Probably already purchased by now .... Probably on his second or third press....

I takes most people more than one press to decide what is the best for them. If I was to start over, I would have a Forster Co-Ax and a Dillon 650XL on the bench.

I have a 650XL and a RockChucker and I have sold a 1050 and sold or broke some Lees, Lyman and a few others over the years.

I'd probably say that a Dillon 550 is the press that will serve most people the best over the long haul.

[Ben_Snow]

Did you notice most of the presses I mentioned were made 40+ years before he asked the question?

Ya, but where is he going to find a 40 year old press for sale?

[Unclenick]

I think Mr. Guffey already gave an example. Estate sales are another. In the main, these presses are way overbuilt to keep them dimensionally rigid and not because they have to be that strong, so they don't often wear out.

I suppose I should mention my favorite press for rifle is the Forster Co-ax press.