hornady press or dillon press?

[mozeppa]

i was told dillon is a good dependable press...in reality....you can depend on it to jam.

i have (2) dillon 650xl that i bought new.
if you are doing .380 ...9mm... .38.....30 carbine it will jam...often.

it seems that when any of those shell cases are in the shell plate they tip outward from the center, so
on the down stroke the case mouth hits the edge of the size / decap die and dings it.

on the up stroke the case due to its tipping outward from the center then hits the completed cartridge ejector spring and binds up there.

so on the upstroke case hits the dies...you have to stick your finger in there and pop it into the die
then finish the upstroke ....then on the downstroke when it binds you again have to stick your fingers in there and tip the case back towards the center to eject it.

i've narrowed it down to the machining on the shell plates....seems they design only one blank plate for all calibers...with the u shaped cut outs on the bottom large enough to get a large primer in/out of the bottom....then they cut what they need to on the edge and top to get whatever shell size they want.

on all small cases that use small primers there isn't enough of the bottom of the shell case supported
to keep it upright, and that's why they tip outwards from the center causing all the problems.

want proof ?
i attached a small block of steel to the case drop housing and ran a piece of brass tubing thru it...it points directly at the case that is about to sized/decapped...the tube has a size 66 index drill sized bore in it and a nipple on the outer end of it which is attached by 1/4" tubing to my 100 gallon air compressor.

it has a thin but powerful air stream that blows the case back into the shell holder and makes it straight up....THIS ACTUALLY WORKS QUITE WELL!

BUT IT STILL HANGS ON THE EJECTOR WIRE!..... dang!
so i put a second air jet tube at the ejector area....and it seems to help some...3 out of 10 still hang.

it seems like an awful lot of money for presses that ALMOST work but are not even 60% dependable to work.

plastic shell drop ramps.
plastic shell pushers
plastic index rings

i know that i am not the only one to have this problem and i shouldn't have to finish dillons Research and Development in order to work their press without a hang up!

so....does Hornady's finest progressive press work any better?

what about the dillon 1050?

RCBS...do they make anything as good?

[XDROB]

I have had a Hornady LnL progressive for about 5 years . I only load straight wall pistol brass. Not problems like you are describing at all. They all have their own idiosyncrasies. But i do like my Hornaday LnL .

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[M-Tecs]

I can't give you any useful fixes. I have both 650's and 1050's. I don't load for 30 carbine but I do load for the other calibers you listed. I am not having any of the issues you are.

[mozeppa]

I can't give you any useful fixes. I have both 650's and 1050's. I don't load for 30 carbine but I do load for the other calibers you listed. I am not having any of the issues you are.

how is the 1050 for reliability?

[Budzilla 19]

No issues on the 550 or all three Square Deal B's! Don't use case feeders so can't help you. Good luck in your search.

[M-Tecs]

On the 1050's I have only loaded 223, 308 , 45 Colt and 9mm. I get about 1 jam per 1,000 rounds. I do have a bunch of 38's with crimped primer pockets that will go through the 1050 but I haven't ran them yet.

[6bg6ga]

The Dillon 650 has loaded 380,9mm,10mm,40 cal, 38/357, 45acp, 44mag, and 45LC. No problems with any jams. I have a home made case feeder on it and it performs 100% of the time.

[runfiverun]

it sounds like you have an alignment issue.
I mostly use my 550's and leave the 650 set up for the 45 colt.
my problem is the primer advance I don't know why they didn't use the one the 550 uses.
but I fixed the issue by making it a manual advance which also gives my right hand something to do instead of searching for an empty case to feed.

[daniel lawecki]

Hornady LNL and load the small .22 K Hornet and others no problems here.

[Kenstone]

i was told dillon is a good dependable press...in reality....you can depend on it to jam.

i have (2) dillon 650xl that i bought new.
if you are doing .380 ...9mm... .38.....30 carbine it will jam...often.


i've narrowed it down to the machining on the shell plates....seems they design only one blank plate for all calibers...with the u shaped cut outs on the bottom large enough to get a large primer in/out of the bottom....then they cut what they need to on the edge and top to get whatever shell size they want.

Looks like Dillon lists about 21 different shell plates for the XL650
http://www.dillonprecision.com/xl650..._50_25283.html
Not seeing how the width of the primer slot would make the case tip out.
...wrong buttons
just sayin'

[dverna]

No problems as you described with the 650 I had. Used it for 9mm and .45. Only sold it because I moved and downsized....and my buddy REALLY wanted it. I had two 1050's and still have one. No issues but only used them to load .38 and .45.

A call to Dillon should resolve your issue.

Don Verna

[PaulG67]

I reload 380, 9mm, 38 sp/357 mag, on my 650 and I do not have the problems you are experiencing. I also reload 45 acp, 223, 30-06, 8mm mauser, 44 mag in that press and again no problems, smoothest running press I have ever had.

If I understand correctly are you saying that the hole in the shell plate for the primer post is the cause of the cases tipping??

[sergeant69]

i had a 550 and sold it and got a LNL. in 2 months i loaded MAYBE 5 rds. of 45acp w/out a jam. was on the phone with cust. serv. constantly. mind you, i have been reloading since the 60s and did it for a living on a RL1000 from 1980 to 86. i finally gave up on the LNL and got rid of it. was happiest day of my life. got a 650 and never looked back. ran like a champ from day one. BUT they prime on the upstroke and after back surgery it hurt too much to use it. sold it and got a 1050. i load 4 diff. calibers on it. any jams/stoppages are my goofs. occassionally it will fail to feed a case onto the plate usually because its so dirty because i have loaded thousands of rds. and not cleaned the case drop tube in months and months. of all the loaders i know and from what i have read on many sites people prefer the dillons waaaaay over the LNLs. and i'm talking about the ones that have had both. you asked.

[dragon813gt]

Do you have this tool: https://www.dillonprecision.com/rl55...8_6_26408.html

[kayala]

Same as other people here I don't have any problems loading any of the calibers you've mentioned (minus 30 carbine, but I did load 7.62x38R on my 550, which is even taller).

[VHoward]

I don't have any jamming issues with my XL650 either. Sounds like a mis adjustment on the OP's part.

[castalott]

Just a goofy thought here...

Is your press mounted absolutely solid...rock solid?

And have you tried slowing the rate down a little?

Good luck, Dale

[jmorris]

No problems with my 650's either, do you have photos of what you are talking about, as far as the tilt?

On a tapered case like the 30 carbine and 9mm the tilt should be pretty obvious for it to crash into the die.

Oh and if you think the 650's case feed sucks, you can forget about the LNL.

[Mr Peabody]

I have to say the thing I like with the Hornady is it's openness. I can get my fat fingers into it. I've only loaded straight wall cases. It will eject the small cases without tipping and binding, too 300 rounds an hour is fast for me.

[BK7saum]

I have had a LNL for about 15 years or so. Never had any issues at all with mine. I have loaded thousands of rounds.