Lee Pro1000 vs Dillon 550/650

[Lloyd Smale]

about the only bottle necked round other then .223 i load progressively is the 308 not because its not possible to get accuracy its just that i dont shoot enough of anything else to justify setting the press and case feeder up

[UNIQUEDOT]

Hunter64, I saw a youtube video and the guy had a case feeder and bullet feeder attached to the 550b. I thought at first it seemed like a lot of money to put into a four station manual indexed press, but after seeing his technique explained, it seems about as fast as an auto press, and there are no auto features to fail or give you problems. If you can get by with that many stations, it would be an option that could be upgraded with the feeders whenever you wanted. Caliber conversions are less expensive for the 550b too.

[Lloyd Smale]

only thing wrong with that theroy is the case feeder for the 550 blocks you from using the press without using the case feeder so you cant just disable it and manualy feed cases like you can with a lnl. Its aslo a finiky thing to set up. It took me quite a while to get my buddys going and i sure wouldnt want to pull it off and on. It kind of takes the versitility out of the equation for a 550. now a case feeder on a square deal would sure be slick. With a case feeder that press would load faster then a 1050. Probaly why they dont offer one for it.

[odis]

only thing wrong with that theroy is the case feeder for the 550 blocks you from using the press without using the case feeder so you cant just disable it and manualy feed cases like you can with a lnl. Its aslo a finiky thing to set up. It took me quite a while to get my buddys going and i sure wouldnt want to pull it off and on. It kind of takes the versitility out of the equation for a 550. now a case feeder on a square deal would sure be slick. With a case feeder that press would load faster then a 1050. Probaly why they dont offer one for it.

I have only used my Square Deal and I have always wondered why Dillon makes the claim that the 550 is faster.

[Lloyd Smale]

a 550 isnt even close to as fast as a square deal. Im sure the reason they advertise it like that is there more expensive and im sure they feel that if they said the sd was faster they would loose a few 550 sales.

I have only used my Square Deal and I have always wondered why Dillon makes the claim that the 550 is faster.

[7of7]

a 550 isnt even close to as fast as a square deal. Im sure the reason they advertise it like that is there more expensive and im sure they feel that if they said the sd was faster they would loose a few 550 sales.

I thought with the SD, you had to use the proprietary die sets for it.. and if you load multiple calibers, isn't it a PITA to change it to the next caliber? (I don't know, got the 550B) I do like the idea of the self indexing.. sure wish I had it on the 550...

[Lloyd Smale]

yes they do use there own propreietary dies but swapping them out isnt the big deal people make it out to me. Four allen screws hold the die plate. Just keep another die plate set up in the caliber you want and swap it out along with the shell plate and your done. Maybe 5 more minutes to do then with a 550 at the most.

[odis]

The only problem with the dies are that you can't get cheaper ones, changing them is no problem. I have a square deal "tool head" for each set, what makes the whole process easier is two seperate priming systems with each one dedicated to either large or small primers.

[mini14]

I'm putting out 80 per hour of .223 on the lee 1000

120 of .45acp

160 of 9mm

[357shooter]

Mini14; welcome to Cast Boolits. It's usually a friendly place with good advice, evidently not all the time though.

The Lee Pro 1000 is pretty nice operating at with the throughput you are getting. Keeps it all in tune and moving well.

The important thing is making some high quality and excellent shooting handloads. I've been using Lee for a few years and they served me well. A Square Deal will be coming this week so I can see if it's all it's cracked up to be. ttyl.

[odis]

Mini14; welcome to Cast Boolits. It's usually a friendly place with good advice, evidently not all the time though.

The Lee Pro 1000 is pretty nice operating at with the throughput you are getting. Keeps it all in tune and moving well.

The important thing is making some high quality and excellent shooting handloads. I've been using Lee for a few years and the servered met well. A Square Deal will be coming this week so I can see if it's all it's cracked up to be. ttyl.

I think you will like the Square Deal, I have zero experiance with the Lee, I have never used one so I can't make a comparison. My experience with Dillon has been most satisfying and because of that if I ever buy another progressive it will be one of theirs. Based on this thread a lot of people own and like Lees.

[357shooter]

I think you will like the Square Deal, I have zero experiance with the Lee, I have never used one so I can't make a comparison. My experience with Dillon has been most satisfying and because of that if I ever buy another progressive it will be one of theirs. Based on this thread a lot of people own and like Lees.

Thanks, I'm ooking foward to trying it out, just sold my 1000 and can't load until the SDB shows up. Being between presses is not good!

[mike in co]

I'm putting out 80 per hour of .223 on the lee 1000

120 of .45acp

160 of 9mm

for the record, the comment was about the machine, not the operator....


welcome to our humble forums

where r u stationed ?

mike in co

[thehouseproduct]

The Lee press in question is listed in teh swappin and selling. I bought the Hornady FWIW.

[Moonie]

80 223's in an hour? That's 1.2 a minute. I never loaded 223 on my pro1000 but that seems VERY slow to me, I can do better than that on a lee turret.

I have the Loadmaster and I can do at least 300 223's in an hour, taking my time. I cranked out 100 45's Monday night in about 15 min.

[mini14]

80 223's in an hour? That's 1.2 a minute. I never loaded 223 on my pro1000 but that seems VERY slow to me, I can do better than that on a lee turret.

I have the Loadmaster and I can do at least 300 223's in an hour, taking my time. I cranked out 100 45's Monday night in about 15 min.

so you never did it but it seems slow to you...OOOOKKKKK

i don't know why i bother posting anything anymore

[mini14]

for the record, the comment was about the machine, not the operator....


welcome to our humble forums

where r u stationed ?

mike in co

i was stationed in AZ but i got a cushy desk job now at another agency

[357shooter]

mini14, so you aren't in AZ anymore?

[mini14]

nope

[Cowboy T]

The really right answer is this:

Buy whatever you prefer. If you like Dillons, buy those. If you like Lees, buy those. If you like Hornady, RCBS, or whatever...buy that.

I own two Lee Pro 1000's and have used a Dillon RL550B. Both are fine presses. I happen to prefer the Pro 1000's, so that's what I bought.