Non-Dillon Progressive Presses

[F. Guffey]

If anyone says they never had any issues loading with any press ever, they either haven't loaded much or they are a liar. That's from single stage on up.

I would say they would not recognize an issue if it bit them; like, when sizing machine gun fired 308 W cases, They do not know if the press won or the case won. If one of my presses fail to size a case I know by how much. That helps, if I decide to do smoothing silly like grind the top of the shell holder or bottom of the die. The case has the ability to resist sizing, the press has an ability to overcome the case's ability to resist sizing. And then? There is always the standard answer; "you just gotta get yourself one of those small base dies". I have small base dies, I do not use them but I gotum JIC, that would be 'just in case I need one.

F. Guffey

[jmorris]

I would say they would not recognize an issue if it bit them;

There is overlooking problems too. I have read posts where folks said this or that has worked perfectly for them from day one and you can't get them to post a video of it loading even 100 rounds or there are things that do go wrong, requiring intervention and they don't see having to stop and fix something as an issue.

To be fair even if the machines were flawless, we are human and can cause errors in what we feed them as well. Might not be the machines fault but it's an issue none the less.

[Carriertxv]

Maybe I should have said this.

"The only time my LNL progressive lock up is when there is a bad or wrong size case in the works somewhere, otherwise it runs pretty good.
Not perfect, but at least most glitches don't lock the machine down, the occasional failure to correctly prime won't lock it up, the occasional failure to seat a bullet correctly won't lock it up, And with a powder checker, squib loads get attention immediately instead of sneaking through"

[jetinteriorguy]

I know people bad mouth the Loadmaster, but I've had good results with mine. Sure, you need to learn the machine and get used to how it operates. But, I can state that 90% of the problems I've had were operator problems. I've had it for about a year and a half and have loaded well over 10000 rounds and am satisfied with its performance. Occasionally I'll get a primer jacked sideways due to letting the primer feed run too low, maybe one out of 5000 or so. Solution, just run the primer tray empty and then load five more rounds and fill primer tray. In other words, pay attention. Also, when feeding the last shell case sometimes it will fall out or land length wise so just go easy with your stroke on the last shell case, in other words pay attention again. Then the final thing, sometimes, depending on bullet shape, the last three bullets will all fall out of the bullet feeder at once. Solution, once again pay attention and advance the next tube of bullets so the weight of the bullets on top keep the last three from falling out or just go slow and easy on the stroke for the last three. So in my experience the most important thing for successful use with the Loadmaster is, JUST PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR DOING. I did make one improvement that I would recommend, that's to get the roller handle from Inline Fabrication. Not only does this improve the smoothness of the Loadmaster but also extends the handle length for better leverage. Now, having said all this I also have the Lee economy Turret and love it. I picked it up used super cheap and honestly if I had to do it all over instead of either of these presses I'd just go with the Classic Turret and be perfectly satisfied. The reason I'd rather have this over the economy model is because the safety primer doesn't work on it but will work with the classic cast. And I'd rather have this over the Loadmaster because of the simplicity and I don't mind if it's slower than the Loadmaster since I like spending time at the loading bench. When I finally break down and get one I'll add the shell ejector mod and a high rise mount from Inline Fabrication.

[THEWELSHM]

Tolerance is key to any press...all presses have quirks and foibles. Personally I'm not brand loyal. I have Hornady, RCBS and Lee all though I've not used my Lee turret yet My Rockchucker and LNL work great.

Thewelshm

[JeepHammer]

So basically jeephammer you are admitting your Dillon press occasionally has issues right?

Thewelshm

Every press has glitches, if not the press itself, then the components you feed it.
My Dillon 650s have 'Fixes' to short comings they might experience, some the aftermarket covers, some are strictly 'One Of'.
Mole skin on the case pusher of the .223 is an example.
The case drops quite a way onto the platform from the feeder assembly and bounces, mole skin keeps it from tipping over when it bangs the hard plastic shuttle, absorbing some of the impact so the case doesn't tip mouth in on the case plate.

Longer cases with bigger bases don't have this issue, just .223/5.56

Improperly champfered/radius on primer pocket openings ARE going to glitch primer install on ANY PRESS, not the fault of the press, but a glitch none the same.

While one of the 'YouTube Experts' was spouting off about how bad all progressives were and that he hadn't had a failed round in 40 years with his Single/Turret press, there is plainly one of his loaded rounds in the bin with a flipped primer...
Guess his 40 year run was over! (Not that any reloader with 1,000 rounds under his belt believed it anyway...)

[THEWELSHM]

Bravo Jeephammer and well stated. You are correct Mechanical sympathy is required, as well as operator knowledge of the particular equipment you are using. By now you have probably upset half of the Dillon community That being said they also all know it, because customer service is always referenced.

thewelshm