progressive press

[Hakaman]

I have been satisfied with my single stage RCBS press.
But for those of you who have one, how do you like the
progressive press, and what brand would you recommend?
Haka

[bearandoldman]

Haka, late last summer bought a Lee Pro 1000 in .357/.38 and for the price it works just fine, The only problem that can come up it the primer feed and once you learn how to operate it properly and not index it too fast it works every time. The other high priced ones go for 3 to 4 times the cost of a Lee, depends on what you want to impress yourself or others and how many you want to reload and how much$$$$ you want to invest. Us poor old guys save on the loader and buy more powder and bullets and primers to make them go BAAAAANG.

[blue68f100]

I have the Hornady LNL-AP w/Brass feeder. I have had it for over 4 yrs now and no complaints, I would do it again. Close to 25k rounds through mine. This is a auto progressive meaning that the it will auto rotate to the next station. This is a 5 station press, which gives you options to add checks for powder drops is correct. 1 stroke of the handle will produce 1 round once all the stations are full. All Progressive presses have their good and bad points.

The 2 front runners are Dillon and Hornady. Dillon's 550b is not a auto progressive ( you have to rotate the shell plate manually) , which is more money than the Hornady. The 650 is a Auto Progressive like the LNL and is a very good machine. Hornady has the simpler design, and fewer parts and less plastic. It primes on the down stroke. Change over is quick with the Bushing System that Hornady uses. With the micrometer head you can change your powder settings quickly. You do not have to buy bushing for each set of dies, but it will make life simpler. Takes less that 1 min to swap dies out, adj the powder and you good to roll. Dillon uses tool heads which holds the dies. Pull 2 pins and swap the next set in. Most Dillon users buy separate powder dispensers for a quicker change over. Dillon sets the prices on their equipment, no discounts, some offer free shipping if you spend a certain dollar value. The 650 is considerably more expensive over the 550b on the change over is not near as fast. This is one machine most setup and leave. I hear the brass feeder is better on the 650 than the LNL. Can't confirm this because I have not used one.

Both have a NO BS Warranty.

Hornady has a 500 free bullets promotion going on with the purchase of the LNL and 100 for dies.

[bgreenea3]

I have the dark horse of the bunch the lee loadmaster. Have had a couple issues wit the case feeder but nothing serious. For the most part its been great and would buy it again.

[Medicine Hat]

For what its worth, I have been using a Dillon RL550B for about 10 years.
I load 3 pistol calibers and 4 rifle calibers. Tool heads change easily.
The only issues it has had have been the fault of the stupid operator.
Previously, I had a Dillon Squre Deal B and it was great too. Once the operator broke a part on it, and Dillon replaced it free, no questions.
The only reason I moved up to the RL550B was to load any and all calibers. I do still have a single stage press for special uses.

[blue68f100]

I have been satisfied with my single stage RCBS press.
But for those of you who have one, how do you like the
progressive press, and what brand would you recommend?
Haka

You can add a trurret to your current press and speed things up. They fall in between the SS and AP presses for output. Most of your time is taking the brass in and out of the press. A turret setup is like a manual progressive.

[Bullseye]

I have owned the Lee Pro 1000s since the early 1980's. I have used most of the other brands, Dillon Both (450 and 550), Loadmasters, and Hornady, but the Lee's work just fine for my uses. I also have several single stage presses but for making a steady flow of reloads the progressives are the way to go.

My Lee presses all have a case collator funnel on top of the feed tubes which makes loading fresh cases into the feeding tubes much easier and faster.

I use separate dedicated presses rather than attempting to change calibers. They're inexpensive enough to just swap presses rather than deal with all the time it takes to realign.

R,
Bullseye

[bearandoldman]

Although the Pro 1000 changes over easily by changing sub assemblies, it would be a lot easier to just swap presses as the cost of a complete unit compared to the sub assembles would not really save that much money if you value your time at anything. A die plate, dies a powder measure and a carrier assembly would come near the cost of a new press. Back in my sporting clays days, I had 4 MEC progressive loaders mounted on plate to slid in under an angle bracket to make swapping really easy. At that time I was shooting 300 to 500 rounds a week in 122, 20, 28 and .410.
The only problems I have had with my recently acquired Pro 1000 can all be traced back to operator error. The big thing to learn on thee Pro 1000 is to hesitate when you feel the case hit the case detector and give the primer a chance to slide into place, if you index the lever too fast you will cause a problem every time.