Looking for a new press

[IndianasFinest]

So, I am thinking about upgrading my current single stage setup to a faster progressive unit. I'm not sure I can afford a Dillon unit with all the trimmings right now, so I have been looking at either a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster. I will be using this press primarily for loading 223. Is anybody out there using either of these ?? Pros/cons or other suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[redneckmedic]

I know its not what your asking but my answer is "buy once, cry once", just save up and buy the dillon. Then over time upgrade the accessories.

 

[glock34]

I just got a Dillon square deal with everything to load 9mm, 40 and 38/357 cheap off of gun broker. With the way everyone speaks to their customer service and warranty I did not hesitate to buy a used press.

 

[IndyGunworks]

hate to chime it with it as well as this thread might become a broken record..... i would save up and buy the dillon it WILL be worth your time.... and for the trimings well the only one that really really really makes it nice is the strong mount, everything else is just luxuries.

 

[slackerisme]

21st Century has a Square Deal setup on sale for $299. They are in Bluffton, are supporters of this site (and our habit) and are all around decent human beings to deal with.

 

[Josh Ward]

I run a Lee Pro 1000. It ain't a dillon by a long shot but it gets the job done, with no problems to speak of.

 

[Newg]

21st Century has a Square Deal setup on sale for $299. They are in Bluffton, are supporters of this site (and our habit) and are all around decent human beings to deal with.

Square Deal is a great press but only loads straight wall pistol cases. I have never used either of the Lee Presses that are being asked about. I also have never heard anything positive about the Lee progressives. I would wait and purchase a Dillon. I know everyone always sounds like a bunch of Dillon fanboys, but they really are that good! My .02

 

[joed]

When I bought my first progressive press I did a lot of research. I asked about turrets and progressives. I ruled out the turret presses, to slow.

The responses I got from Lee progressive owners was to buy something better. All said the press worked but the priming system was the weak point and most weren't using it. The Lee owners told me if they had to do it over they would buy Dillon.

All the Dillon owners I talked to liked their presses. I heard no complaints.

I only got a response from 1 RCBS progressive owner and he said he hated the press. This was a friend of mine and he said he should have bought Dillon.

Last came Hornady. I could only find 1 LnL owner and he was happy. But in talking to him his answers were evasive. He couldn't tell me how many rounds his press did in 1 hour. He just told me he didn't hurry and that he never counted how many rounds his press did. Also, the Hornady did not bell the case and drop powder in the same step which meant it needed 5 stations to do what a Dillon 550 did with 4. To their credit Hornady has now changed this, and the shell plate and numerous other things. But I find all the changes just a little scary because that says things weren't right in the beginning.

I've owned 3 Dillon presses and still own a 650 and 1050. No changes what so ever, the design is solid. I wouldn't part with my Dillons.

I'll leave you with one other note that I can't stress enough. I won't own a progressive press without having a powder check die in it. This die will tell you if the powder charge is grossly out of spec. My 550 had a problem with Unique and started throwing squib loads with it. With the powder check station you'll know when this or a double charge happens. The 550 did not have room for this die and because of that I ended up selling the press and going to a 650.

 

[AllenM]

I have a Hornady LnL. It's a nice setup.

 

[orlandosam]

Hornady

I did this research and let me say first I havent reloaded a single round. I am still studying the subject since my UPS delivery man told me to BE CARFUL DOC.

With that said, my conclusion of many hours of research was the Hornady APL progressive reloader. Got fantastic reviews. The LEE reloader was cheaper but more complaints on set up and getting it just right.

Lee is probably a good unit but more set up for an advanced users who knows where the mistakes might be made.

Sam

 

[kludge]

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

 

[m_deaner]

I love my Hornady LnL AP. I sure that the Dillon setup is good too, but would avoid the 550 because it does not auto-index, therefore there is more opportunity to double-charge. The Square Deal uses proprietary Dillon dies, which is a drawback in my book.

I would love to have a Dillon 1050.

 

[IndyGunworks]

I love my Hornady LnL AP. I sure that the Dillon setup is good too, but would avoid the 550 because it does not auto-index, therefore there is more opportunity to double-charge. The Square Deal uses proprietary Dillon dies, which is a drawback in my book.

I would love to have a Dillon 1050.

the manual indexing is the reason i went with the 550 over the 650.... if you make a mistake it doesnt automatically send it to the next station making you rotate all your shells back one step.... i can load quite fast on it, and i use a powder that if i charge it twice will not allow the bullet to be seated.... doesnt work all the time, but i find it very easy to use.... i had a lee proggressive and it put a bad taste in my mouth for auto indexing presses. i would say go with the 550 or 650 over the square deal b if you EVER want to load anything other than straight walled pistol cartridges.

 

[mospeada]

I have a Hornady LnL. It's a nice setup.

I'd go this route if I had it to do over. Caliber conversions are much cheaper and you get an equivalent quality to Dillon.

Dillon burns my *** with what they charge for caliber conversions, powder measures, tool heads/holders, dies...

 

[Claddagh]

Just MO, but unless you plan on only using it for loading relatively large numbers of a single caliber and a specific load, a progressive probably isn't your best choice. I own both a Lee Pro 1000 and a Dillon SDB. Of the two, the Dillon has been the most trouble-free.

Changing calibers on either is an expensive and relatively involved process. Trying to use either for load development work adds a lot more time and effort to the process than need be. If you plan on doing much of either, I'd suggest that you'd be happier with a turret set-up, the Hornady LnL or the similar Lee "Breech Lock" system.

With any of these and a 'batch' processing system, you'd be surprised at how much ammo you can produce in just a couple of hours.

 

[trophyhunter]

I'd go this route if I had it to do over. Caliber conversions are much cheaper and you get an equivalent quality to Dillon.

Dillon burns my *** with what they charge for caliber conversions, powder measures, tool heads/holders, dies...

I couldn't have said it better, the Hornady LNL is a considerably better quality press than anything Lee offers and the cost of caliber conversions can't be beat. I have a 650 Dillon, it's a quality product no doubt, but I rarely use since I got a LNL a few years back. Quality between the two units is comparable, the user friendly features of the LNL OWNS the Dillon in a few ways that really stand out in my minds eye. One of them is the space of the press, the LNL is a much wider body press that allows more room for your hands and eyes to see whats going on in each of the die operations, the spring shell retainer on the lnl system is faster and easier to use than the brass buttons on the dillon whenever you need to snatch a shell out of a die operation to have a look or perfom a powder drop weight check, and I really like the lnl rotary powder measure better then dillons slidebar, is has consistantly and repeatedly been more accurate when sitting down to load large batches of handgun ammo. The quick change powder micrometer and die bushings are great and caliber conversion happens in about 2 minutes at a fraction of the cost of dillon's. If your serious about spending good money to own a quality press without breaking the bank, the LNL is the best value going. If your anywhere near South Bend and want to see for yourself, drop me a line and come by and try it out, seeing is believing when it comes to this set up.

 

[x10]

I started out reloading on a lee 1000 I loaded maybe 12-15k rounds on it and flat wore it out, It worked but it had it's quirks, I don't like the crimp setup the seat and roll or taper crimp can and will leave a little bit of lead flash at times, also look at some of the repair parts, they sell the ratchet gear in packs of three, there's a reason for it you will be replacing them. At the same time I bought a Hornady Projector to do rifle, good press, solid but had its quirks If dillon hadn't come along I would be using projecters for pistol and rifle today.

Sold the Lee1000 for a sqb, upped my ammo production by 1/3 to 1/2 with far less downtime, got to looking at my buddies Dillon 550 and used it and saw several advatages in quick changes and Lifetime warranty.

I've loaded many many many rounds with the sdb and 550 and can't say I regret buying at all, the thing the dillon has going for it is it doesn't break as much as the other brands, when it does break you call and have parts in the mail,

many have already said it, cry once

I sold my sqb and got a 650 for pistol and the biggest regret I have is I didn't buy a 650 they day they hit the market,
One thing you have to factor in is Time
When I was young and Before kids time was easy to come by, Now that I coach sports for kids drive them around help with homework, Time is a huge factor for me, No breakdowns and quality ammo and repeatability year after year is important

you have to determine your uses and how much your willing to spend, If the product is 1000% higher then you have to really factor in the cost but if your talking 25% then the difference between OK and top quality should be a no brainer,

 

[g+16]

Suck it up and buy a dillon 550 or a hornady LNL, that way you only buy once and can load almost anything

 

[m_deaner]

I'd just like to add that the Hornady press comes with the same no-fault guarentee that the Dillons do. Hornady has replaced parts on my LnL AP for free on three separate occasions. All three times the parts breakages were not Hornady's fault.

1. I ordered my LnL AP from Midway. When my press arrived from UPS, it looked like the UPS driver had dragged the box down the street a few miles. The sub-plate was cracked - this is a heavy, cast iron plate that the shell-plate fits on top of. It's an expensive-looking, precision made part that is press-fit to the loading piston-thingy. I called Midway, and they told me I'd have to ship the press back on my own dime. Shipping would have been about $30 and I didn't have an intact box. I called Hornady to see if I could just buy a new sub-plate, and they sent me a new one for free in about 3-days, no questions asked.

2. I broke a pawl when I got a shell stuck and instead of stopping and troubleshooting like I was supposed to, I kept pressing on the handle hoping to cycle the shell through by brute force. Even after I admitted what I'd done to Hornady, they sent me the new part for free.

3. When I was moving the press fell over in the back of my truck. I wrecked the primer drop tube and the drop tube support. Again, Hornady sent me the parts for free, even after I admitted fault.

 

[joed]

Another consideration that someone brought up is how many different cartridges do you want to reload? My 550 had a very short setup time, in most cases 5 minutes. I reloaded 8 different cartridges on this press.

The 1050 requires about 20 minutes to change over. I could probably save some time if I had the extra toolheads setup for the other calibers like I did on the 550. This press is setup for large primer loading and I only fire it up for high quantities of ammo. Once this press is setup it produces ammo at a true 1200 cartridges an hour as long as you have the primer tubes ready and the powder measure full.