Originally Posted by
Onty
Considering progressive press. I would appreciate your help since my knowledge about them is minuscule, experience zero.
My first question is, do you like the reloading process? Second is why do you think you want to go progressive?
I love the process of reloading! I like it as much as I do shooting. I made the jump to progressive because I am a tool junkie and already had several single stage presses and a nice turret press (Redding T7), but I thought I wanted more production. What I didn't realize prior to buying a progressive was:
1- a progressive press largely removes you from the operation. You are just a monitor and troubleshooter after the initial setup.
2- keeping a progressive fed requires an exponential increase in components if you are wanting to maintain the same amount of time per week playing with your reloading setup.
Both of these seem laughable, in retrospect, as it seems rather obvious. Neither of these items would be issues to those who view reloading as a chore and just want to get on to the next thing. Reloading was (and as often as I can make time for it anymore, is) a way to let the day's worries melt away while being productive. I don't "do nothing" very well.
A turret press allows the process to speed up a bit, but you are still very much engaged in each step. I particularly like not having to fiddle with dies, just change tool heads if the caliber I want is not in the current tool head. I can either load batches like is done on a single stage (if I know I have enough time for the whole batch) or I can choose to completely load one cartridge before beginning the next.
What is your tolerance level for tinkering and adjusting? If you want zero of either, I don't think a progressive is the tool for you. I don't care what brand/color it is, a progressive is a machine that requires adjustment and mechanical aptitude. What is easy to troubleshoot and adjust to me may be a nightmare to another, and vice versa.
Originally Posted by
Onty
Anyhow, here are my requirements and wishes:
- Reloading 357 Magnum only, so I need complete setup for that round (for 44 Magnum, 455 Webley and rifle rounds I have Rock Chucker)
I've never used a Dillon SDB, but I do have a dedicated progressive press (a CH MK IV) for 10mm. It stays set up for one load. If you know you are unlikely to get into other calibers that you'll want in volume or are willing to buy another dedicated machine later, that may be the way to go.
Originally Posted by
Onty
- Automatic indexing
I agree. I find manual indexing to be aggravating; however, it does offer the user a means of controlling the rotational speed to mitigate powder spillage. I don't own one, but I have used a Dillon 550. The Dillon 650 is jerkier than the Hornady LNL AP, in my opinion, but my understanding is that there are aftermarket parts to address this. I like the half step rotation of the LNL AP, but it did take some adjusting of the pawls to get it running exactly how I wanted it. That was a one time adjustment and I've not touched it since.
Originally Posted by
Onty
- Powder checking station
This is what got me to the Hornady LNL and Dillon 650 debate. I thought I had to have this feature. I never use it for that purpose. I tried the Hornady powder cop die and decided it didn't really do what I wanted. I ended up needing the 5th space so that I could expand and powder charge in separate stations, but that is due to a personal preference thing with cast boolits. I find the Hornady powder through expander system is adequate for jacketed, but not for cast; so I use the separate expanding die. Point is, you might not find as much utility with the powder checking as you think. Some folks swear by it, but I find sufficient lighting to look in every case to be more important.
Originally Posted by
Onty
- I do not need case feeder
One of the nice things about the Hornady LNL AP is that the brass and bullet are input on the same side, allowing one handed feeding of both. I grab a case between my left thumb and second finger and a bullet between the same thumb and index finger and load them into the press in the same order. I also cut the boss for the case feeder off the subplate for my LNL AP because it got in the way of my hand feeding, as I have no plans to put a case feeder on it.
On a Dillon 650/750, you will want the case feeder. The bullet and brass enter the shell plate on opposite sides. It is inconvenient, at best, to load the short tube with a few cases and then place bullets for a few pulls and repeat. I do this on my CH, so I know the aggravation of which I speak. About the time you get in a rhythm, its time to stop and put more cases in. Do yourself a favor if you get the Dillon 750, get the case feeder.
Originally Posted by
Onty
- Would like (but not necessary) if standard dies could be used
If you're ok with a dedicated press, the Dillon SDB comes with the dies, so who cares. Otherwise, most other presses meet this requirement.
Originally Posted by
Onty
- Decent quality, "best bang for the buck"
This is the highly subjective part. DISCALIMER: I do not have brand loyalty within the reloading market. I do have brands that I have negative opinions of through my own experiences (Lyman customer service is an example). I also am predisposed to pulling for the underdog, so if anyone does something better than a Dillon I would be inclined to make note of it. The only Dillon product I own at present is a Dillon 600 primer pocket swaging tool.....and I wasted a lot of money trying everything else that was on the market at the time prior to buying it. I hate to admit that, but it is what it is.
JMorris tried to tell me years ago that the crux of any progressive is the priming system, and he was/is absolutely correct. There are things that I prefer about the Hornady LNL press: the half step rotation described above, the same side brass/bullet feeding described above, the bushing system for the dies, and the powder measure. But the Hornady priming system on my press, as delivered, was not up to snuff. It is now working after the replacement of the subplate and appears to have been a manufacturing defect, but it took a while to sort it out and I bought the replacement parts due to an unrelated issue (rust during a period of storage between homes)....Hornady didn't "provide" them or acknowledge that they had an issue. They seem to have fixed it with later sub plates and this may not be an issue currently.
Originally Posted by
Onty
Considering my shooting, I will be reloading up to 6000 a year.
I have no idea how many rounds I shoot a year. I don't even know how many I load each year. I have the records, just never cared to go through and figure it out. The Hornady has met my needs, but if I were back at that point in the decision process with foresight instead of hindsight, I'd probably make a different decision and have more blue on my bench. At this point, I can't justify the switch as what I have is doing fine.
Now, there are peripherals that may also become "necessities" once you step into progressive reloading, though not so much with straight wall pistol cases. I had to figure out a way to trim cases faster when I began running rifle rounds on my progressive. I ended up with a Giroud trimmer, but there were intermediate steps that costed time and money. Dillon didn't have their press mounted trimmer out at that time.
I probably never would have gotten into bullet swaging and casting had it not been for the progressive....I didn't shoot near as much then because it took longer to produce it. Oh well, there are worse habits I could have....
Any brands/models not mentioned are left out due to lack of personal experience with them. Sorry that got long winded, but maybe it will help someone.