How do I know when Im ready for a progressive ?

[toooldtocare]

Ive loaded 600 rounds of 9mm today. 400 yesterday. Every thing hurts. Back, neck, shoulders, finger and even my butt. Im thinking of going to a progressive. Just to speed up things. Ive been reloading for about a year now. Ive managed to feed my addiction pretty well. Should I step up or just keep using the single stage. Just looking for opinions. thanks in advance guys

[Steel185]

Id say if you would be doing that amount of loading often you are ready. If this was a rare occasion you might be there, all depends on if you are ready to pay the extra cash. I loaded 400 45acp rounds in about 1.5 hours last weekend, while I was watching football and drinking a cold one.

Now you get to figure out which progressive is best for you....that's always fun.

P.s. maybe you need a better bench? If your all that hurts a progressive might not change much. I built a bench 45 inches high and its so much more confortable than my 36 inch high work bench. Worth a though at least, maybe get both?

[toooldtocare]

my table is 36 inches or so high. Chair sucks. But..Mother in law is moving in, so I am now allowed to close in the 26x14 carport and make it my gun room. So a new higher bench is in the works.

[LUBEDUDE]

Dude, you've paid your dues.

It's Time!

[williamwaco]

What counts is how much you shoot not how many you recently loaded.

I would say if you shoot more than 200 a week, you are ready. If that 1000 rounds will last you six months, you are not.


.

[toooldtocare]

Im loading for Me, my wife and my to sons. For every 1 box I load to shoot I try to load one to store. I guess its time.

[Oreo]

As someone who bought an LNL-AP as my first press and taught myself reloading on it, frankly the question seems a little silly to me. If you can afford the cost to upgrade and shoot enough to justify it (only you can answer those questions) then go for it and don't look back. Worst case scenario, Hornady and Dillon presses are easy to sell for very near what you'll pay retail so you aren't risking much.

I think too many timid old reloaders scare new reloaders away from progressives. Just take your time till you understand your new press well. The brain trust is here if you need help solving problems.

[Wal']

As someone who bought an LNL-AP as my first press and taught myself reloading on it, frankly the question seems a little silly to me. If you can afford the cost to upgrade and shoot enough to justify it (only you can answer those questions) then go for it and don't look back. Worst case scenario, Hornady and Dillon presses are easy to sell for very near what you'll pay retail so you aren't risking much.

I think too many timid old reloaders scare new reloaders away from progressives. Just take your time till you understand your new press well. The brain trust is here if you need help solving problems.


+1............ What he said. :bigsmyl2: :swagemine:

[LUBEDUDE]

What counts is how much you shoot not how many you recently loaded.

I would say if you shoot more than 200 a week, you are ready. If that 1000 rounds will last you six months, you are not.


.

What does that have to do with sitting down and loading SIX HUNDRED ROUNDS in ONE day! and 1000 in Two days! [smilie=b:

MY gosh, give the man a break and give him a progressive! :D

Unless he is Rain Man. :bigsmyl2:

[toooldtocare]

I guess I should have asked it different. Is there any difference in setting up the dies? Any thing I should be concerned about?

[LUBEDUDE]

No difference.

Now you are just setting them up sequentially. And once you get each die loaded, each pull of the handle will feed each die, thus you will end up with a loaded round.
This means you must concentrate on the goings on of everything going on at the same time by sight, sound and feel.
You will go slow and easy at first. And as you get the feel for things, you will slowly speed up depending upon your confidence in yourself and your machine.
Then you will really be feeling good and wondering why you didn't do this much earlier.:lol:

[Kevin Rohrer]

If you are loading those amounts on a regular basis, it's time for a progressive.

Think blue.

[jmorris]

When you know that you and your eyeball are the only thing that makes a bad round.


Many progressive users like to blame faults on a machine.

If you would say a gas grill messed up your steaks, your not ready.

[toooldtocare]

I guess i will start shopping for a Dillon. Thanks Guys

[Oreo]

I guess I should have asked it different. Is there any difference in setting up the dies? Any thing I should be concerned about?Yes, its different setting up in so far as you're setting up all the stages to operate concurrently. Setting up each die / stage / function is more or less the same. Powder drop might be different depending on how you were doing it before.

Saying more then that though begs the more important question: WHICH progressive.

I'm partial to the LNL-AP of course but the Dillon 650 is also a very nice press. I say stay away from manual-indexing presses though. They are way too easy to forget to rotate the shell plate and then double charge a case. Just my opinions.

[cheese1566]

You have learned the basics on a single stage, good job!

My advice is going to be how "big" do you want to get in the future?
Will you eventually want to include case collators and bullet feeders?
Keep that in mind when shopping for a press.

My advice and opinion would be to start basic and shy away from the cartridge and bullet feeders until you get a good feel and understanding of a progressive. A lot is going on in one stroke of the handle, let alone extra add on equipment.

I love my older RCBS progressive and Hornady ProJectors. I wonder sometimes if I am missing out on not being able to have those new goodies, but am very content on what I have. I am not out for high rate production. I like to take my time and make good quality ammo that I won't hesitate or question it's safety. Some snicker when I say it takes me 30-45 minutes to load 100 rounds of ammo.

Spend the $$$ on the best you can afford.

Buy a new press that will enable those bells and whistles in the future or look for a good used one that is older.
After using a progressive, you'll wonder how how managed with a single stage. (But keep that single stage on the bench!!!)

[C.F.Plinker]

Any thing I should be concerned about?

The number 1 thing is to get 1 and only 1 charge into each case. Rig up your lighting so you can see down into each and every case to make sure it is empty when it goes up into the powder drop and comes down with the correct level of powder in it.

If you are going to get the 650 think about getting the RCBS powder lock-out die for station 3.

[beex215]

you were ready when you started. i was fed up with single stage in a month or 2. just way too slow. 1 hour for one process. ill move on

[mdi]

Ifn ya gotta ask, you ain't ready...

[Dennis Eugene]

I'd take a good look at the Hornady before buying the Dillon. Dennis

[W.R.Buchanan]

When your arm hurts so much you can't keep going you're ready. I don't know about your Butt, you can always stand up and pull the handle.

Randy

[dragon813gt]

Maybe it's just time for an auto indexing turret? Sounds like you want a progressive so go for it. But there is an intermediate step between a single stage and progressive. I can leisurely load that 1k in about four hours on my turret. I know a progressive would be faster.


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[daniel lawecki]

I wonder way anyone would start out with a single stage press if they are mechanically incline. The presses are not hard to work with.

[FUBAR 6]

I have several rifles that I only load on single, and turret presses, use my progressive for pistols, and some AR's

[Steel185]

What does that have to do with sitting down and loading SIX HUNDRED ROUNDS in ONE day! and 1000 in Two days!

MY gosh, give the man a break and give him a progressive!

I should have worded it differently, i was assuming he does that often or he was shooting them regularly, as i do. I agree it depends on how much you shoot. At the sametime, there isn't any reason someone that only shoots 100rds a month can't use a progressive, it would just take longer to pay for it self (money saved in reloading and all).

[Plate plinker]

Do what you need to do and don't look back I did and am glad for that.

[1bluehorse]

I wonder way anyone would start out with a single stage press if they are mechanically incline. The presses are not hard to work with.

I would think because some don't need/want the output of a progressive press. Some like reloading, some like making ammo. There is a difference. Nothing wrong either way. Amount of shooting and time constraints would probably be the big factor...:coffeecom

[r1kk1]

How do you know when your ready for a progressive?

When YOU want one.

r1kk1

[alrighty]

I wonder way anyone would start out with a single stage press if they are mechanically incline. The presses are not hard to work with.

I can tell you did not cut your progressive teeth with an RCBS Ammomaster.[smilie=b:

[mongo]

I have been reloading since I was 16 on a single stage. About 7-8 years ago I got a Dillon 550b. I actually had a hard time switching over due to the fact that I was feeling like I wasnt in full control of all the operations, all happening with one stroke of the handle. Attention to detail was and is a big part of reloading for me. Got over it in a week or so LOL Now I load as much in a couple hours as I did with the single stage in a couple days... Go for it

[375RUGER]

I don't know. If you're not mechanically inclined and can't make machine adjustments, a progressive might not be for you.
I started with a progressive. If you just want to load high volumes of pistol the SDB is an excellent machine, it was my first. I loaded 10s of thousands on mine of 4 or 5 differnet calibers many years ago.

If you want more volume than the SDB then you need to look at the 650 or 1050.

I know a guy who has a Hornday AP and he says it takes him 4 hours to set up to load each time he changes calibers. I don't know if it's him or the hornady is really that complicated or he just doesn't have a clue. He loads 1-2000 at a time and says it puts out 1000 /hr. That is 200-330 per hour using Okie math.

[Wal']

I would suggest he just doesn't have a clue. :-P :-P :-P ;)

[Oreo]

I agree. Clueless.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Took me less than five minutes to convert my Hornady LnL. Takes me a bit more on the RCBS Pro 2000 Auto Index I have now. Quality of ammo? About the same. Takes me a good bit longer on my buddy's 550. Quality of ammo? About the same.

Yes, get yourself a progressive. Mix and match, get the best of all worlds. Don't limit yourself to one brand of anything. Trust me, you'll be much happier. I am. I have Dillon, Hornady, RCBS, Redding, Lee and Lyman stuff attached to my RCBS progressive. Did the same when I had a Dillon and a Hornady. Works great and gives me whatever special something I need for just the right cartridge.

life is good, choices are good

[DRNurse1]

Yes, its different setting up in so far as you're setting up all the stages to operate concurrently. Setting up each die / stage / function is more or less the same. Powder drop might be different depending on how you were doing it before.

Saying more then that though begs the more important question: WHICH progressive.

I'm partial to the LNL-AP of course but the Dillon 650 is also a very nice press. I say stay away from manual-indexing presses though. They are way too easy to forget to rotate the shell plate and then double charge a case. Just my opinions.

Just a thought: Hickock 45 says he loads whichever powder overflows the case with a double charge. Makes good sense to me but does not eliminate the under/ no charged rounds. Could also cause problems with those long slender cases, but I am not currently shooting any of them.

Good luck on this new adventure. I thought I would just load my bullseye rounds because I needed so many...then found out how easy it is and am loading everything I currently shoot.

[noylj]

If you can go out and reload, at YOUR leisure, and still keep up with your demand for ammunition, your press is fast enough.
If reloading starts to hurt or you keep finding yourself short of ammunition, you need to move up.
If you don't like reloading but still need lots of ammo and can't afford factory, you need a progressive.
If you really enjoy reloading and carefully work through each stage and all the minutia--and need to be in complete control of everything--then you don't need a progressive.
No body can tell you what to do. You have to make that decision for yourself.

[noylj]

Just have to comment about this:
>I know a guy who has a Hornday AP and he says it takes him 4 hours to set up to load each time he changes calibers. I don't know if it's him or the hornady is really that complicated or he just doesn't have a clue. He loads 1-2000 at a time and says it puts out 1000 /hr. That is 200-330 per hour using Okie math.

Sorry, that is a lot of bull. There is no progressive that is as fast to change as the L-N-L.
Unbolt and bolt in shell plate (well under 1 minute). Twist out 3-5 dies and twist in 3-5 dies (well under 1 minute). That is it.
The powder measure may take 5-10 minutes to get the exact charge weight, the same as every other measure I have and less, for me, than my Dillons. For a little over $10, you buy a metering assembly for the measure and store each assembly with the powder and charge weight it is set for. Much cheaper than getting a Dillon measure for each pet powder/charge weight combination.
Now, if he doesn't lock down the dies to the bushing or if he simply has to re-adjust the dies every time because he thinks he can do better this time than before, he simply can't be taking any where near that long. Even starting form complete scratch, like I had my son do when I was teaching him to reload on my L-N-L, we were up and running (with all the talking and fussing and such) in well under 1 hour and had loaded about 500 rounds each of 9x19 and .45 Auto in about 3 hours, total including bolting the press to his bench, without any effort, 'cause I wanted him to work slow and learn each step.
If you need to change primer size, you need to change the primer tube, the primer shuttle, and the primer seater. This will take no more time than any other progressive (which one of those three parts is not required for any other press?) and is a lot quicker than my Dillon 1050s.
I think the L-N-L is excellent, but the Dillon 1050 is near perfect.

[A pause for the COZ]

Of course you want a Progressive. I dont recommend one as a learning machine. My take has always been. You will always have a need for a single stage press. So have one.
Its not a ether or question.

Nothing says you have to drop big duckets on a progressive ether.
Unless you really have to have the case feeder ect.
a good 2nd gen press can be found for 100 bucks or so.

I use my single stage and turrets for dinking around and rifle loads.
I will use the progresive for a bigger run.
I have load 5 or 600 .380 and not touch that load again for a few months.
Same goes for 223, 38 special. 357 and 45acp.
Atlest once a month I am doing a run of some thing.

Heck buy 5 of them.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8512_zps301a1046.jpg

You can still make some good ammo fast with a oldie but a goodie.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8511_zpsc43413fc.jpg

[1bluehorse]

I can tell you did not cut your progressive teeth with an RCBS Ammomaster.[smilie=b:

Yes, I think you may be right. They could difinitly be "challenging" to a novice reloader for sure...:veryconfu

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_114154ff70f2a4756c.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=5795)

[375RUGER]

Good here from you fellas about the Hornady. I just couldn't imagine an outfit like hornady making a machine that un-user-friendly.

[Lizard333]

Go with the 550 from Dillon. I have had mine for twelve years and I will sell off pall my guns before it gets sold. 5 minute caliber changes and your off to the races. Combine that with their no bs warranty, and you have the best value for your money. Good luck!,

[alrighty]

Yes, I think you may be right. They could difinitly be "challenging" to a novice reloader for sure...:veryconfu

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_114154ff70f2a4756c.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=5795)

It was for me , I did finally get the machine as well as the operator working smoother over time.:drinks:
I humbly bow though , I was not man enough to keep that #*^$& powder measure linkage though.I switched to a case activated powder charger and I sprung for a 550 for all my pistol rounds.Did you by chance mod your loaded round ejector wire?These were not bad machines but they do have their quirks.

[1bluehorse]

It was for me , I did finally get the machine as well as the operator working smoother over time.:drinks:
I humbly bow though , I was not man enough to keep that #*^$& powder measure linkage though.I switched to a case activated powder charger and I sprung for a 550 for all my pistol rounds.Did you by chance mod your loaded round ejector wire?These were not bad machines but they do have their quirks.

Oh..thats what that wire is for...:bigsmyl2: If I remember correctly, I bent it in two seperate directions, I know, sounds funny but it works...

What???? you didn't like the swinging pendulum of death powder measure lingage...where's your sence of adventure..[smilie=p:

I like these presses, they're very versitile, HUGE openings, but that also means a long throw, I also have the pieces to set up for single stage if I want to do a 50BMG....:shock: not.

[alrighty]

Oh..thats what that wire is for...:bigsmyl2: If I remember correctly, I bent it in two seperate directions, I know, sounds funny but it works...

What???? you didn't like the swinging pendulum of death powder measure lingage...where's your sence of adventure..[smilie=p:

I like these presses, they're very versitile, HUGE openings, but that also means a long throw, I also have the pieces to set up for single stage if I want to do a 50BMG....:shock: not.
I bent my wire as well , I did see pics on the net where one guy make a loop of sorts.I tried but it too would loosen up and get smashed flat.
I seen the plate to convert to single in one of your pics , I never did pick up one.I did buy a complete piggyback kit on GB still wrapped in plastic pretty reasonable.I thought I may need some spare parts as RCBS has already run out of a few.So far though it is still cranking out the rounds.

[Oreo]

The bent wire sucked. I upgraded mine to the EZ-ject. It's so much better of a system.

[noylj]

I tried the wire as it came and then removed it.
It is faster, when you are in rhythm, to simply "flick" the loaded round off with your left hand while getting a case and bullet. Since I have been doing that since the very first Hornady progressive (late '70s?), I am well adapted to it and could not even begin to understand how the wire worked if there was a crimp die in station 5.
I assumed it was like the Lee Adjustable Charge Bar--it works for some, but it is NOT designed to work with MY Auto-Disks (I would need to have the cavity (that mates with the arm to move the disk forward and back) moved well in front of the ACB. All my ACBs drop powder BEHIND the disk cavity, so moving forward simply leaved the powder behind).
As someone who loves the Hornady L-N-L, I have to say that the ejector bar on the Dillon 1050 works perfectly...