Progressive press worth it?

[trbii]

I reloaded for about 25 years, pistol, rifle calibers. Tried to keep 400-1000 rounds loaded for practice, classes and competitions. It was fun when I was younger. Gratifying when a more accurate, repeatable 5.56 MM was produced from my table. RCBS “O” shaped press, then a Dillon 550 progressive press. In my mind, whether to reload your own ammo totally depends on your enjoyment of it, spending that time and effort at the table, your financial situation when comparing cost of the reloading press, prep tools, dies, bullets, primers, powders to buying cases of factory ammo. Enjoyment, satisfaction or convenience?

 

[red dirt shootist]

I think progressives are worth it. Even if you don't take advantage of the speed, Having all your dies set up in a toolhead is a nice feature, and Dillon makes a Quick Change that comes with a powder measure, you can change calibers in minutes. All that said, I'm keeping my 50 some odd year old Rock Chucker, it's just like me, old, tired, dirty, can't get much work out of it, but it touches my heart to see it, we can still remember the good times.

 

[dlbleak]

Sold the Dillon. Alway gravitated to a single stage Lee Challenger for rifle and a 4 hole turret for pistol.

 

[turkeyrun]

DEPENDS!!!

I used a RCBS Rock Chucker, exclusively, for 40 years. When shooting a lot of skeet, I bought a MEC Grabber. Set up for skeet / dove loads, loading was fast and top quality.

Got into CAS and reloading was a must. The Rock Chucker was adequate, but I wanted more. Bought a Lee Turret. Soon after, seen a Dillon, set up for .357, at a good price. Set the Lee up for .45 ACP.
Loading is faster, always set up, ready to go. I have Dillon heads with pistol dies, but I have never changed.

Was it "worth" it?

Meh, maybe.

 

[Uncle TK]

Dillon 650 for Large Primers
Dillon 650 for Small Primers
Lee 4 Hole for small reloading batches

 

[Shriner2.0]

It all comes down to HOW much ammo you want to have on hand for your next shooting session. I have three presses Dillion 650 for large batches , a Lyman Spartan turret for small batches of oddballs that the Dillion is not setup for, a Lyman single for bullet pulling , Glock bulge busting ,plus a Mec Mk5 for 12 and 16ga.

 

[Glocktogo]

It all depends on how much you value your time and effort. A progressive press will not allow you to reload any more inexpensively than a single stage press will, but it saves a LOT of time and energy. I tend to think that anytime you're feeding a semi-auto in common calibers, (9mm, .40, .45, 5.56, .300BLK), the time savings is substantial enough to warrant going progressive.

The best route IMO is finding a good deal on a complete, used Dillon in one of the main calibers you plan to use it for. That's how I started and it worked great for me.

 

[Letfreedomring]

I also have the Lee pro 4000 and while it can be frustrating at times (main issue i had was brass kicking out of tube too far and crushing) it is a cheap way to speed up the process. Best addition to press is the brass collator! It's so simple, but damn if it doesn't work great for pistol cartridges.

 

[XYZ]

Also it won’t get much cheaper than this.
This is where I got started like over 50 years ago as a dumb kids. My neighbor taught me how to do it.

https://leeprecision.com/product-catalog-request

 

[swampratt]

Also it won’t get much cheaper than this.
This is where I got started like over 50 years ago as a dumb kids. My neighbor taught me how to do it.
View attachment 523285

https://leeprecision.com/product-catalog-request

That is what I learned on also and made sub moa 30-30 and 30-06 ammo.
I even got one for my 308 but I had picked the 180 game king SP and I did not have any luck with that bullet and the lee scooper.