Non-Dillon Progressive Presses

[TruthTellers]

Out of other progressive presses that are currently available that aren't made by Dillon, which have you had success with? Do you use them regularly? What issues with them (if any) have you noticed?

I made this thread because I'm close to getting a Lee Classic Turret as it would fit my current needs, but I'm leaving the possibility of a progressive press open in the future in the event I want to produce a lot more rounds in less time. I'm not saying I wouldn't get a Dillon, but I'd like to hear about other progressive presses as the majority of what I read and hear with progressives is people using Dillons.

[roashooter]

the lee classic is "Perfect" for you....

[jaguarxk120]

I have a RCBS Piggyback unit and it works well. My son has the RCBS 2000 and he is happy with it.

Remember a Dillon costs more, but if you want to resell it, you get more for it.

[egd]

I have the Hornady LNL and I love it.

[Nathan]

I have the Hornady LNL and I love it.

+1....this was really the best choice for me. I load a few 1000 pistol per year, but I load for a total of about 10 calibers. If caliber conversions were $115-$145, I'd be broke! Thankfully, I can usually find dies a a shellplate for ~$70.

[Carriertxv]

LNL here as well.

[reddog81]

Hornady LNL. I load 200 to 500 rounds every month. I haven't had any problems with the press. It was purchased used from someone who couldn't get it to run correctly with .223 rounds but I haven't had any problems and have loaded thousands of rounds on it.

[BigJimP]

Out of about 12 buddies that reload ...( most of us use Dillon 650's and a couple have SDB's and 550's )...but two guys have the Hornaday LNL and they're having decent luck with it.

I think the biggest weakness the LNL has is how it handles primer feed....but I don't think its a deal breaker...you just have to watch it / get a feel when its not feeding right.

One guy has the RCBS, I think its the Pro series...he's had some issues with it not indexing properly and primer feed as well...and its a lot slower than the Dillon 650's. I think the RCBS is probably the weakest press in our limited group.

Most of us shoot 4 - 8 boxes a week in handgun ammo.../ all the big name presses will meet your needs, they will all have some quirks. Some of the guys are loading rifle ammo on the 550's and 650's as well.../ ...and while the Dillon 550 is a progressive press, it lacks an auto index feature, that to me is a safety issue because it means more chance of human error - in forgetting to advance it.

I still think the Dillon 650 is a little better press than the LNL ...but they are very comparable.

[Jim Watson]

A friend is all Hornady. He has all the tips, tricks, and DIY upgrades.
It turns out good ammo fast but he thinks he could have gotten there easier with Dillon.

[Nathan]

I think the biggest weakness the LNL has is how it handles primer feed....but I don't think its a deal breaker...you just have to watch it / get a feel when its not feeding right

This is correct. All primer feed systems can jam. You have to feel the primer go n each case or suffer the consequences!

[drain smith]

I have 4 Hornady Ammo plants. The last time I did a pawl and primer adjustment was 23 May 2015. I have loaded at least 10,000 on each press and I have not had 1 primer misfeed.

Now every Saturday I clean my press with Rubbing Alcohol, then I apply graphite to all moving parts.

When most folks adjust the pawls they will turn them 1/4 of a turn. That will get you close but that is 45° I will adjust mine by 2°. It is just as easy to adjust the press perfectly than just getting it close.

[jmorris]

I have or have had progressives from Lee, Hornady, RCBS and Dillon.

I loaded ammunition that fired and functioned just fine on all of them.

If you're an "anything except what is considered the best press and I'll make it work or live with it." Guy the Lee progressives are the cheapest.

[Don P]

Lee Classic Turret as it would fit my current needs, but I'm leaving the possibility of a progressive press open in the future in the event I want to produce a lot more rounds in less time

The Lee is a good press, but progressive it is NOT. 4 down and 4 up manipulations of the handle will get you 1 finished round. Auto index yes, progressive no. There is also Redding that makes a manual progressive press. just curious as to not wanting a Dillon?

[F. Guffey]

It should be know to all reloaders on forums there are a number of things that got by me such as cam over, bump, case head space and then there was that time the case gage became a head space gage.

I have 2 Piggy Back 11 attachments setting on top of 2 Piggy back presses. My Piggy Back 11s are progressive and they are auto advance. I have Dillon 550 Rl presses that are progressive because they are not single station presses that are not auto advance.

I also have 2 turret presses, they are not single station presses and one of them requires a huge wrench when advancing or backing up the turret, meaning it is not progressive.

Again, if my Piggy Back 11s ever back up they lock up, I know, it is easy to confuse a reloader but; if my Rock Chuckers cammed over while running the Piggy Back 11 attachments I would bust the one way clutch.. I do not believe it is unfair, my Rock Chuckers will not cam over and I think that is a good thing but others insist their Rock Chuckers cam over and bump again, that seems so unfair because my Rock Chuckers will not cam over and because of that they will not bump.

And then there is 'JIC', I have an extra one way clutch for my Piggy Backs JIC as in just in case one of them decided to back up by camming over I have a replacement because my one way clutch only goes one way, if it backs up it is rendered scrap.

F. Guffey

I did not design the one way clutch, but? because of the auto advance RCBS had to include the design function into the Piggy Back system.

[FlyFish]

I'm another LNL-AP user. It's the only progressive I've ever used, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it's been working fine for me for several years. I have one of the earlier ones that had the wire ejection system that never worked, but after I upgraded it to the new and now-standard EZject system that problem went away. I did need, when I first got it, to adjust the primer feed to get it to drop primers into the slide consistently, but it's been fine ever since. The pawls need a bit of tweaking every now and again but it usually takes me longer to find the right size allen wrench than it does to actually make the adjustment.

[rebs]

I have the Hornady lock n load, I love it

[THEWELSHM]

Hornady lnl here set up with the help of "Highboy " on YouTube helped me get mine running like a sowing machine. With any brand you need to be able to strip , clean and rebuild. The basics all presses will need, my o2

Thewelshm

[JeepHammer]

What J Morris said...
I've owned or spent time on about all the progressives, Dillion is the least glitch free.
Proper lube & cleaning and a Dillon runs without issues.

The Dillon SELF INDEXING systems are really hard to beat, they simply function as advertised, size, prime, powder, powder check, seat & crimp functions WORK.
Not entirely glitch free, but much better than anything else on the market a few years back when I started buying Dillon.

------

The 'Classic Turret' aren't self indexing, very reasonable priced, and it's about the only press I use regularly outside of my Dillons.

It's fast for a manual index press, tool heads are cheap, caliber changes are 5 seconds, and it's a sturdy little press for the money.
This is a perfectly acceptable press, operation & cost, for a 'Newbie', all the way up to the most experienced LOW VOLUME relader.

Being able to switch between dies in one second REALLY speeds things up when you use separate seating & crimping dies.

Not as accurate as a 'Rock Chuck's or any of the other iron frame single die presses, but I don't load bench rifle ammo every day, and we all know how slow a single die press is...

I found the Lee Loadmaster to be the biggest pain in the butt progressive press I've ever used,
Everything from the primer feed, to the shell plate indexing, to the case feeder to the powder dropper to be just this side of useless.
I didn't find the add-ons to the basic Turret' press to be any more useful than the Loadmaster.

If you buy a 'Classic Turret', I CAN NOT recommend trying to upgrade it to a progressive.

----

Hornady makes a couple progressives, the LNL works OK, but takes a lot of tinkering to keep it producing consistent round, the other version is pretty useless (and the reason you find them used so cheap).

I will be more than happy to recommend something that works, the basic Lee 'Classic Turret' works and doesn't take ANY proprietary hardware other than the tool heads/die holders.
I've had mine for about 30 years, and other than needing a bushing for the ram after about 15 years, it's been 100% trouble free.

It's like a 'Rock Chucker', really simple, fairly sturdy, simple to operate, and functions like advertised.

[mchapman]

I personally like the Hornady LNL AP the best.I had a D 550 and with me being right handed it just seemed back wards to use plus having to hand index. Once I got the LNL set it has been great for me. I shoot around 2000 rounds a month and I have reloaded 90000 to 115000 rounds on mine over the last 4 years. Like anything mechanical things wear out and need replacing. The LNL isn't any worse than my D-550 was, just easier for me to use.

[jmorris]

I've owned or spent time on about all the progressives, Dillion is the least glitch free.

I think you ment has the least glitches.

[JeepHammer]

Yup, the least glitches, closest to glitch free.
The only time my Dillon progressives lock up is when there is a bad or wrong size case in the works somewhere, otherwise they run 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...

Not perfect, but head & shoulders above anything else I've owned so far, and you can't beat the customer service at Dillon.

[THEWELSHM]

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

Thewelshm

[Carriertxv]

I'm not sure what this locking the press is about. My LNL has never "locked up"

[ed308]

My LNL has never "locked up"

So you've never broken something on your LNL which stopped a reloading session and required you to make a repair? I thought the Foster Coax was the only press that could boast that kind of performance.

[jmorris]

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

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.