loading press

[zito1553]

I've been reloading on a rcbs single  stage press  and it sure is a lot of time.  I think it might be time for a new press. I was thinking a Dillon 550b or Hornady lnl ap.  What do you all suggest .  What do you use.  My biggest concern is powder drop being correct and consistent.  I've been weighing each one.

[The_Shadow]

Dillon 650 with a powder op die station....

But if you are working single station press here is what I do...
Pass through size everything
Size and deprime everything
Case neck expand everything
This is done to prepare everything ahead of time...
Then hand prime what I will do in a secession
Measure power, place in casing, slide that casing in the press shell holder set to seat without crimp.
Immediately dropping the next charge weight in the scale pan and placing it on the scale to stabilize,
Seat the bullet and remove to tray.
trickle powder if needed, repeat till all are cartridges have powder and bullets seated.
Then after they are finished, I kick out my die spacer, back off the seater stem and taper crimp till done.

Doing this this way I am only working on the one step at a time...

[cwall64]

Zito,
I am in the same boat as you, single stage worked great for revolvers and rifles, but it is an investment of time on the 10mm.  I just ordered a XL650 from Brian Enos' site last Friday...

[my_old_glock]

I've been reloading on a rcbs single  stage press  and it sure is a lot of time.  I think it might be time for a new press. I was thinking a Dillon 550b or Hornady lnl ap.  What do you all suggest .  What do you use.  My biggest concern is powder drop being correct and consistent.  I've been weighing each one.

I had a 550 and sold it to buy the Hornady LNL.

If you want to compare apples to apples, look at the 650. The 550 has to be indexed manually, and hold 4 dies. The 650 and the LNL hold 5 dies and index automatically.


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[my_old_glock]

Dillon 650 with a powder op die station....

But if you are working single station press here is what I do...
Pass through size everything
Size and deprime everything
Case neck expand everything
This is done to prepare everything ahead of time...
Then hand prime what I will do in a secession
Measure power, place in casing, slide that casing in the press shell holder set to seat without crimp.
Immediately dropping the next charge weight in the scale pan and placing it on the scale to stabilize,
Seat the bullet and remove to tray.
trickle powder if needed, repeat till all are cartridges have powder and bullets seated.
Then after they are finished, I kick out my die spacer, back off the seater stem and taper crimp till done.

Doing this this way I am only working on the one step at a time...

That is basically the way I do it except I wash the brass off with soap and water first, then size and deprime, then I tumble it.

Zito,
I am in the same boat as you, single stage worked great for revolvers and rifles, but it is an investment of time on the 10mm.  I just ordered a XL650 from Brian Enos' site last Friday...

I still do a lot of reloading on my single stage press. It is easier for load development.


.

[cwall64]

Zito,
I am in the same boat as you, single stage worked great for revolvers and rifles, but it is an investment of time on the 10mm.  I just ordered a XL650 from Brian Enos' site last Friday...

I still do a lot of reloading on my single stage press. It is easier for load development.


.

No doubt, 100% agree.

[gandog56]

It would kind of depend on whether you are reloading mainly one caliber, or many. Because Dillon caliber plates aren't cheap. It might cost you more to swap out calibers if you want all the dies on separate plates for ease of swapping.

[sqlbullet]

I will be the odd man out here.

Unless something drastic changes I will buy the Hornady Lock-n-Load AP.  It is far cheaper to start with than the XL650.  Caliber plates are about the same price, but you can get 10 quick change bushings (2-toolhead equivalent) for the price of one dillon tool head.

Guys that have them are very fond of them.

[cwlongshot]

I have been loading for nearly forty years... I have or have had most presses out there. I have a Dillon 550 and three single stages presses bolted to my benches.

I STILL load mostly from a single stage Redding. Most definitely for load developmental! THEN its moved to the 550 for mass production.

Just like when building a load, I will lean to accuracy over top velocity. So a SS press gets me that accuracy.

CW

[jazzsax8]

My friend had the Dillon 550.  After I bought the Hornady Lnlap and he saw how easy it was to change calibers he sold his and got the Hornady.  A lot of the Dillon owners that load multiple calibers have a bunch of extra heads/powder measures etc to make the change over easy so you can quickly sink $2K into Dillon where the Hornady might go $600 to get the job done with 4 calibers.  Dillon might be the better set up only if cost is not a consideration and yes a good single stage is always needed as well.

[sstewart]

My friend had the Dillon 550.  After I bought the Hornady Lnlap and he saw how easy it was to change calibers he sold his and got the Hornady.  A lot of the Dillon owners that load multiple calibers have a bunch of extra heads/powder measures etc to make the change over easy so you can quickly sink $2K into Dillon where the Hornady might go $600 to get the job done with 4 calibers.  Dillon might be the better set up only if cost is not a consideration and yes a good single stage is always needed as well.

Totally agree with this

[my_old_glock]

I will be the odd man out here.

Unless something drastic changes I will buy the Hornady Lock-n-Load AP.  It is far cheaper to start with than the XL650.  Caliber plates are about the same price, but you can get 10 quick change bushings (2-toolhead equivalent) for the price of one dillon tool head.

Guys that have them are very fond of them.

That is one of the main reasons why I went with the LNL over the 650. Another good thing about the LNL bushing is that you can put the female part in a single stage press. I have one in my RCBS Rockchucker and I switch my dies from the RCBS to the LNL with only a height adjustment.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/858110/hornady-lock-n-load-press-and-die-conversion-bushing-kit


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[jazzsax8]

my_old_glock

I am using the same bushing set up on my single stage.  I took some white teflon pipe tape and put enough on the threads to keep it short of going all in.  I now have the same height dimension from the LNLAP to single stage with no adjustments necessary!

[sqlbullet]

Oh...Snap.  I gotta order some of those.  That would be just the thing to get me into one bushing set for my Lee, RCBS and future hornady presses.

[zito1553]

Thank you all for your replies...I'll be loading 45acp and 10mm for now.  And $$$$$ is an issue.  So I'll be looking into the lnl ap