I'm thinking about getting a progressive for 9mm

[Unclenick]

You can call and check. I am assuming they fixed it to work with the 750, but you want to confirm that if you intend to use one.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by lee n. field

Also, on one of the Book of Faces Lee groups folks were microadjusting the Autodisk by drilling a hole in the side of one of the cavities and using a set screw to tweak the capacity. (I never felt the need to do that.)

People also customize the Autodisk for a particular powder and charge by finding the aperture that throws the nearest charge that's slightly under what they want, and then reaming the aperture until it throws exactly what they want. The problem with that is that the alter aperture than doesn't match any of the charts if you want to switch powders.

I've found that with Winchester 231 in handgun loads (mostly .45 ACP and 9mm, a bit of .380 ACP and .38 Special once in awhile) I can almost always find an aperture that comes within .1 grain of where I want toi be and, since where I want to be is generally on the low end of the middle of the range, that's good enough for me.

If you need to be more precise than that, Lee has you covered without modifying the disks in the Autodisk set:

https://leeprecision.com/adj-charge-bar.html

I have one, but [so far] I've never needed to use it.

[Shane Tuttle]

Since the overall feedback is largely for the Blue team, I'll provide my amateur input for the Red Team...the other Red Team.

I have the Hornady Lock 'N' Load AP. Bear in mind, this was at least a decade ago. My research could very well dated. Example? Dillon's powder measure had reports of not being the most accurate. Knowing a company like Dillon, I'm willing to bet their measures today don't have that same reputation. I spent untold hours reading up on the pros/cons, ins/outs, etc. In the end, I walked away a bit more confused than ever. Main reason is there are so many variables that I think String Theory would have been easier to comprehend. Here's my list of key items that won me over on the Hornady:

1. Their powder measure is extremely accurate. Didn't matter if it was ball, spherical, or extruded powders. Once I have my measurement dialed in, it was GOLDEN.

2. I LOVE the die collets. Once I have my dies set, I can trade them out for another cartridge in under 30 seconds.

3. The powder measure metering units are quick to change out, as well. Super easy to set up, super easy to change out. As mentioned before, powder drops are very consistent. Another huge plus in my eyes, is the measure will not drop powder unless there's a case at that station.

4. Priming system is very easy to set up and use. I haven't had any problems once I prepped the unit. There is a guide I found that provided some tweaks and such to make it run well. Little things such as using sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges on the primer plate, etc. to keep it from hanging up.

5. I have the older model cartridge eject. HATE it. Their "new" system uses the EZject, which I've heard nothing but good things. (I need to send in my plates to get them updated).

6. Arguably, the price for a similar Dillon set-up is more expensive. Personally, this was way down the list of importance in choosing the right setup for me. But, a consideration, nonetheless.

7. You can use almost any popular brand of dies with it. Ironically, I had BIG problems with the Hornady dies. I'm a big proponent of Redding. RCBS is my second choice.

8. Good overall customer service.

I have very little experience using Dillon. A friend of mine let me load a few of his cartridges in .357mag to get a feel how it worked. I think Dillon should be seriously considered. The quality of build appears to be top notch. There's not one, single person I know that has had problems with their customer service. I believe they really mean NO BS when needing to be taken care of. I've dealt with Hornady enough to say their CS is above average. Dillon buries their competition in that respect.

[Nathan]

Plus one to what Shane says about the Hornady. I bought the old model.my serial number is ridiculously low.

It worked fine and I never really needed to change. Finally I converted as part of a big project. Wow! EZ Eject is great. The priming system is much better. I bought the new powder drop too, but have yet to convert.

Hornady replaces whatever I break!

Only problem I have is Lee dies with their nut. That leaves the dies without enough adjustment....only Lee

Super fast swaging system too.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Only problem I have is Lee dies with their nut. That leaves the dies without enough adjustment....only Lee

Could you explain this statement, please? I don't have a clue what it means.

[dahermit]

have hesitated buying any Dillon ONLY because I don't like following a crowd.

I own an RCBS Piggyback. It's novel but sucks as a progressive press. Any lack of oil or powder flake jams it up.

Maybe you should have followed the crowd.

[nhyrum]

Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca

Could you explain this statement, please? I don't have a clue what it means.

The Lee dies are usually threaded shorter so in a Dillon press, you usually end up with the lock nut on the bottom, because there aren't any threads left on top

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[Capt.Mike]

OK my turn...

My first press in the late 1970's was a Lyman Spar-T. At that time is was a Progressive. Now it's S L O W but I still use it for .308, 6.5's.

In the early '80's when Dillon came about I bought a RL450 and then updated it later. I have loaded millions of rounds with the Dillon. 2 years ago I was digging on ebay and bought a Dillon 450 JR (with 9, .40, .45 dies). And I have a Rock Chucker (that's in a box somewhere. In my opinion, Dillon is the press to buy "No BS Warranty" and at this point my original Dillon is pushing 35 years old. I hammered out 500 9mm's yesterday in probably 1.5 hours. I hear the "Following the Crowd" comment I was in the Front of the Pack.

[lee n. field]

Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca

People also customize the Autodisk for a particular powder and charge by finding the aperture that throws the nearest charge that's slightly under what they want, and then reaming the aperture until it throws exactly what they want. The problem with that is that the alter aperture than doesn't match any of the charts if you want to switch powders.

I've found that with Winchester 231 in handgun loads (mostly .45 ACP and 9mm, a bit of .380 ACP and .38 Special once in awhile) I can almost always find an aperture that comes within .1 grain of where I want toi be and, since where I want to be is generally on the low end of the middle of the range, that's good enough for me.

If you need to be more precise than that, Lee has you covered without modifying the disks in the Autodisk set:

https://leeprecision.com/adj-charge-bar.html

I have one, but [so far] I've never needed to use it.

I got one of those, and it wouldn't cycle reliably in my Pro Autodisk. It wasn't important enough of a problem for me to try to work it through.

And, yeah, the premade cavities get me close enough for what I shoot (basic pistol practice ammo).

[Sevens]

Most "old salts" find their way eventually, and we use forums like these to share ideas. These ideas plant seeds and from there you pick a path (or multiple paths) and you learn hands-on what you like (or don't) and what works for you (or doesn't work well.)

I've always balanced cost and value with build quality, speed, and adaptability. There are two things where I will not budge nor bend: the quality/performance of my ammo and personal peace of mind that I am getting what I want, need and expect from my tools to produce SAFE ammo.

With that said, I could have solved all of my goals simply by getting a Dillon 550 or 650 however, I quite literally load over a dozen handgun varieties. I always joke that one day I would sit down, click up all the goodies and do the math but the truth is, I don't want to spend more money to replace my 31 years of compiled tools with a Dillon setup that costs double the car that I drive.

All of the above to get to this:
I invented (as far as I know) a hybrid progressive system that does these things for me specifically:

--speeds up the most boring and labor intensive tasks
--allows me to handle the powder charge in the way that I love most
--allows me to handle the seating and crimping in the way that I love most
--lets me handle more than a dozen calibers with very fast and low cost changes
--all of this on what may be the lowest budget possible for the output

I use a Lee Pro-1000 as a brass prep machine. I feed in each case but the press kicks each case out for me. The press handles all my priming tasks (and I must live a charmed life because I don't struggle with it) and the press does all my sizing and case mouth flaring.

I run this machine at a fast pace and pile up many hundreds of prepped brass in short order. These are not loaded rounds but they are half way there. I pile up 500 or 1000 of these at a time and store them for days, weeks or months.

When I need or want ammo, I grab jars of this prepped brass. I meter charges in to 50 prepped cases with my Lyman 55. (I've used different measures and the Lyman 55 is my choice hands-down) I then seat/crimp with my Lee Classic Cast single stage.

It's not as fast as a properly running progressive. It's much, much faster than a single stage. It's far smoother and far better for me than a turret press with an indexing rod trying to fake it's way in to a faux-progressive, which it cannot ever possibly be.

The quality and performance of my ammo I would happily put up against anyone. The peace of mind that I'm making fantastic and safe ammo can't be captured accurately with words. And I'm doing this for .32 S&W Long, .327 Federal, .380, .38 Super, 9mm, .38, .357, .40 S&W, 10mm, .41 Mag, .44 Mag, .45 ACP and .460 Rowland. For .223, I use the Pro-1000 simply for priming. As it auto-ejects, it is faster for me to prime on it than with any other method.

I've tracked and logged my production down to each round. I've logged this since 2011, and the log says 131,783 loaded rounds. Now some of that has been assorted rifle ammo and .460/.500 Magnum which isn't done with my hybrid progressive method, but that is a tiny percentage of what I do. This also doesn't include the 6,940 loaded rounds in 2020. (because 2020 isn't over yet! )

[BJung]

My first press was a single stage RCBS Rockchucker. It was a good buy for the money. For rifle reloading, it met my needs. The Piggyback II cost me about $175 and I was and still am ( sort of ) and RCBS fan. Dillon is out of my price range. Hornady seems to give more bang for the buck.

If I an any amount of money to spend and start over, I would own a Forster Co-Ax press with dies and a Dillon

[Nathan]

Could you explain this statement, please? I don't have a clue what it means.

On my Hornady LNL, Lee dies...the factory crimp for sure, but I thought I had the issue with FL sizer too. I would screw it down to set it up and run out of threads.

The thinner Hornady lock ring was enough to work.

Maybe my press was odd or the dies....i didn’t try this much. It was 25 years ago.

[nhyrum]

Originally Posted by Nathan

On my Hornady LNL, Lee dies...the factory crimp for sure, but I thought I had the issue with FL sizer too. I would screw it down to set it up and run out of threads.



The thinner Hornady lock ring was enough to work.



Maybe my press was odd or the dies....i didn’t try this much. It was 25 years ago.

It's still an issue. You just have to move the lock ring to the bottom of the toolhead.

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[Nathan]

@nhyrum...thanks for the confirmation. I was beginning to question myself.

Can you still quick change with the nut there?