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Old October 19, 2015, 04:48 PM   #51
McCarthy
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PS: Dillons and matching feeder all come with a blonde hotty, I swear!

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Old October 19, 2015, 06:10 PM   #52
BigJimP
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I favor the 650 over the LNL ...to me the Dillon is a better machine / and I've used both pretty extensively --- but the Dillon 650 and the LNL are both good machines.

Among my buddies that reload...some of them are sill using 550's / but most of them have upgraded to the 650 because of the powder check die and the auto indexing ( the 550 is manual indexing and has no room for a powder check die).
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Old October 19, 2015, 06:41 PM   #53
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I've seen LnL videos where they load just fine, even with the case feed... Its down to proper setup I believe.

I think it just comes down to aptitude, some people may not have the mechanical skills to set up the LnL.

If more people find the Dillon easier to use, then that shows it to be a well thought out design, that is easy to use. That doesn't automatically make it better, not taken on its own anyway.



I need to find a good bullet feed for the Dillon that doesn't cost more than the press does.
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Old October 19, 2015, 08:57 PM   #54
drain smith
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I have 2 lnl ap. One is set up for pistol and the other is set up for rifle. I have the bullet feeder for 22 and 30 cal. and as far as it not being able to do rifle I load 223, 308 and 30-06. So please say that very quiet, my machine hasn't gotten that memo yet.
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Old October 19, 2015, 09:32 PM   #55
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QUOTE>One significant thing that may, or may not effect you.
The Dillon will also load full length rifle ammo, the L&L wont.
If you don't ever plan on rifle reloading with it no biggie.<QUOTE

Don't know where you heard that, but they are full of it. The majority of my loading is rifle, I currently load 45-70, 30-06, 7mm Jap, 8mm Mauser, 7.5x55 Swiss, 308, and 223. I also use my LnL to reform 30-06 brass into 8mm Mauser and 7.7 Jap, as well as using it with a collet bullet puller.
My press is used to load 15 different calibers, from a small 30 Mauser to the 45-70.
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Old October 19, 2015, 09:38 PM   #56
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I have a Dillon XL650 with a case feeder. It has been a great machine and I've received excellent (and speedy) customer service when needed. I started on a friend's Dillon 550, which is also a nice machine, but I would suggest a 650 over the 550.

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Old October 19, 2015, 09:49 PM   #57
jmorris
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Quote:
I've seen LnL videos where they load just fine, even with the case feed... Its down to proper setup I believe.
I look forward to your video when you have it up and running.
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Old October 19, 2015, 09:57 PM   #58
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Who said I was getting one?
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Old October 19, 2015, 10:34 PM   #59
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You should

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Old October 20, 2015, 08:11 AM   #60
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I strongly encourage a Dillon 550B. It is a bit higher in initial outlay (could shop fleaBay, I did). I started with a Lee 3 hole-er. Lee's products are very good but you do pay a price in finickyess. I used the Lee Pro 1000; have three. Also stepped up to a Lee Load Master. And then---I got the Dillon 550B. Just have not gone back to the Lees. I use mostly Lee dies and with them you can use the Lee Powder measures. When I add up all that I have spent on Lee presses (no regrets, they came along as finances permitted) I could have bought a Dillon 650. No experience with Hornady. Shoot straight shoot safe.
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Old October 20, 2015, 10:26 AM   #61
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Right here when the Dillon Vs Hornady comparison came up last time round.
Like I said back then I don't have an L&L so I don't know from personal experience.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=567077
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Old October 20, 2015, 11:50 AM   #62
Real Gun
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I will comment again that, if you are going to use lead bullets, skip the bullet feeder that mates with the press and shop around for a specialty unit better suited to those bullets. Mr. Bullet Feeder might be one. I am happy with the Bully adapter with four tubes with which I can load up about 100 before a manual refill. I discovered quickly that on the LNL with the LNL die adapters I just pop out the whole die to reload the tubes. That saves major money over the electric motorized feeder, which wouldn't work anyway. You would be making a commitment to plated or jacketed bullets, and for a revolver the plated would compromise your crimp without a groove.
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Old October 20, 2015, 12:07 PM   #63
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I use GSI bullet feeders with my cast bullets. I use the same homemade collators on my automated bullet sizers that I do on my reloading presses.

I have also found bullet feeders without a collator don't really speed up the process. If you are manually orienting a bullet base down over a hole, case or tube, you are going to spend more time than if a machine does it for you.

This is my 45 acp cast bullet collator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eANEMBS_V_0

This is the 9mm one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cc1hUj343w

They are the same two collators in the videos I posted of the 650's above, both are made from 6" PVC pipe and 1/2" plastic.

Last edited by jmorris; October 20, 2015 at 12:17 PM.
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Old October 20, 2015, 12:47 PM   #64
Real Gun
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Quote:
GSI bullet feeders
It appears that is for Dillon only. Mr. Bullet Feeder doesn't do revolver calibers, so it wouldn't suit me. The Hornady does offer bullet feed revolver caliber dies for 38/357 and 44 Spl/Mag (all jacketed/plated). Those limitations are why I use the Lee bullet feeder with the Bully adapter on the LnL AP, having no issue with coated lead bullets for my revolvers. The 38/357 is the only setup I would do for revolver because of volume. The rest get loaded on the Lee turret in mostly 100 round batches, since caliber change effort and time is negligible, with all settings preserved.

Last edited by Real Gun; October 20, 2015 at 01:23 PM.
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Old October 20, 2015, 12:57 PM   #65
jmorris
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Yes, like I said above, the only two presses you can have separate seat, crimp, case feed, bullet feed and powder check are the 650 and 1050.
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Old October 20, 2015, 01:25 PM   #66
Real Gun
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Yes, like I said above, the only two presses you can have separate seat, crimp, case feed, bullet feed and powder check are the 650 and 1050.
How does the 650 do that separate crimp with only 5 stations?
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Old October 20, 2015, 02:32 PM   #67
jmorris
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Station:
1 sizes/deprimes
2 seat primer and powder drop/expand
3 powder check
4 feed and seat
5 crimp

Most all of the other feeders just drop a bullet onto a case, the GSI feeds the bullet right under the seat die (inside the tool head) so both operations are done in the same station.

Other benefits are that a bullet can never fall off the case moving to the seating station and because the bullet is held perfectly at the seater itself you can get away with almost zero bell on the case.

This is how little I use loading my cast and coated bullets with a GSI feeder.

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Old October 20, 2015, 03:11 PM   #68
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Quote:
Jmorris how much you got into that 1050 to be able to do that?
Not counting time or the base machine around $600 in that one.

The loading 1050's are more time and money because of the PLC and connecting the sensors up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrFhnDQ-eUU


Wow I would have thought more than that. Course to get that 1050 up here would be close to $3000.00.
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Old October 20, 2015, 07:43 PM   #69
Real Gun
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That makes me want a 650 just to be compatible with that feeder (buy the horse to get the cart), except the price of the bullet feeder, like everything in reloading, is hard to accept and justify. One would need Santa Claus for something like that GSI feeder. I am not constantly loading thousands of competition rounds, or it would make more sense for me.
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Old October 20, 2015, 08:54 PM   #70
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Ford or Chevy take your pick. As a Hornady owner I respect any persons choice. I find it consistent that the Dillon guys appear to have some dis stain for other press users
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Old October 20, 2015, 10:26 PM   #71
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I just went back to reloading after a 15 year break. I looked at Dillon and Hornady very closely. Watched a lot of YouTube videos on both machines. I especially watched the video on the problems with both brands. Both have their own idiosyncrasies.

I went with the Hornady L-N-L Ammo Plant (with the bullet feeder and pistol case feeder). I've had it setup for the last week making sure everything is working correctly and love it so far. I'll be reloading 45ACP and 45 Colt to start with. Eventually I'll be reloading 308 and possibly 5.56/223. With the Hornady there is no tool heads to buy. My dies are equipped with the die bushings. Once the die is adjusted and locked down to the die bushing, a quarter turn and it comes out of the press head. When you put it back in there is no readjustment needed. Much faster conversions. I can take out all the dies but the sizer/decapper and batch process rounds very quickly. Then put the dies back in and load them up. Plus the Hornady parts and bits and pieces are less expensive than Dillon. The quality seems to be pretty much equal from what I can see. They are both good machines but like guns everyone has to make their own choice. I'm very happy with it so far!!! YMMV
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Old October 20, 2015, 11:07 PM   #72
THEWELSHM
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Congrats on your ammo plant mate. If you have pawl timing issues as you break it in there are great you tube videos that show you the fine tuning,,,10 mins of work at best, congrats on a great press,,,

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Old October 21, 2015, 12:38 AM   #73
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Hi Welshm,

I already had to re-time it. Figured it out on my own and then found the YouTube videos later!!! The shell plate was moving about 3/8" short of the amount needed. An easy fix once you done it.
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Old October 21, 2015, 09:17 AM   #74
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I looked at Dillon and Hornady very closely. Watched a lot of YouTube videos on both machines. I especially watched the video on the problems with both brands. Both have their own idiosyncrasies.
This!
The trick is to decide which idiosyncrasy you can deal with best.
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Old October 21, 2015, 09:42 AM   #75
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Quote:
I think it just comes down to aptitude, some people may not have the mechanical skills to set up the LnL.

If more people find the Dillon easier to use, then that shows it to be a well thought out design, that is easy to use. That doesn't automatically make it better, not taken on its own anyway.
Both the Dillon and the LNL (as well as the RCBS too) take about the same amount of aptitude to set up. All are very good machines that will produce high quality ammo if you take the time to learn to use them, set them up properly and maintain them during use.

Dillon is popular because they have been around the longest by far, and for a while were the only progressive manufacturer. There really is no other reason than that - they were smart, made a product and did a lot of up front marketing when there was absolutely no market to compete in at all. And because of that, they have a deep and loyal following.

Hornady makes a great product (I have one). Never had any major issues with it that were not user induced. I don't have the bullet feed or case feed option, but it hasn't slowed me down much. I'm not into quantity as much as I am quality - and even manually loading the case and projectile, i'm easily in the 300 rounds per hour range when I get a good rhythm going and i make sure I have all of my components available and handy. And my machine hasn't gotten the memo that you cannot load full length rifle on it either, because I've loaded .30-06 and .45-70 on it with nary an issue in addition to the pistol rounds and .223 rounds galore.

Honestly - write "LNL" and "Dillon" each on a piece of paper, fold them up and toss them in a hat. Pick one. You won't go wrong either way.
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