Yeah, the powder measure does get a lot of mechanical action. The rest of mine just get a stout finger tight.
I was gonna suggest this, but the O/P said he only wanted to buy once. So I threw the T7 turret in there to cover that avenue. Turret presses are wonderful things. They can be used just like a single stage or like a semi-progressive. You can also keep a couple of calibers setup and ready to go all the time. I have one rifle caliber, a decapping die and a gRx die in mine right now and still have two spots open in my T7.
This Blue vs. Red thing is overrated… I owned both as well and have no allegiance or brand loyalty to either… nor do I seek the need to make my ego or wallet justify the decision… They’ll both make quality ammo in the right hands and let’s face it - for pistol reloads it just doesn’t matter that much… if you think it does, then you need to work on your shooting and/or reloading skills because it not the machines fault… I just find Dillon to be more in my comfort zone as over the years I’ve learned I can tweak them more to my liking… As far as play in Dillon toolheads – That’s the first thing I replace… there are aftermarket CNC’d toolheads that offer much tighter tolerances than the cast and the ability to shim or correct on the upstroke and set to your needs… I don’t ask any one machine to be my “jack of all trades” because even after measuring and logging all the details – the speed or cost of caliber changes is not as important to me as the time it takes to find that “sweet spot” again for a particular load… If a Hornadillon comes available I’ll probably buy one… until then I’ll run my Frankendillon 650's and 1050's and be happy….
I think both have their warts. The Dillon powder measure leaves a bit to be desired IMO.
I got into a Hornady LNL early mainly because of the 1000 free bullets and the price at the time was less than $350. I haven't had any of the issues with the case feeder that I see others reporting. I will get the very occasional upside down piece of brass, but no rain of brass. I have never had any issues with the primer slide that I see mentioned quite a bit. I have had to tweak and tune my LNL, but I would put *my* press against any 650. There is no doubt there are some LNL lemons out there. If I had a problem with my LNL I figured out what was causing it and addressed it. I only load straight wall pistol calibers by the way. I just don't have the time to load anything else. I probably shoot an average of 800 rounds a month. I can leisurely load 300 rounds an hour and when I am in a good rhythm 500 is no problem. I look in every case before seating a bullet and will stop every 150-200 rds to recheck my powder weight and OAL.
I was turned off by Dillon for the crazy cost of the caliber changes. I will admit to pricing out the 650 a few times, but when it came time to pull the trigger I asked myself why. The LNL is working as good as I can expect from any press.
I also had a few bushings come loose early on, but I just use a wrench to bump tighten them that last little bit and they never come loose. One thing Hornady is guilty of is the poor documentation of the pawl adjustment. They still have it wrong in the current LNL manual. I think people start having problems and go after the pawls and get confused and end up with their press way out of time and get frustrated. The manual refers to the RAM upstroke when the intention is the handle upstroke, when the handle goes down the RAM goes up. It's confusing as hell and Hornady should be embarrassed they still have it wrong in the current manual.
If you shoot more than 100 rds a month I can't see going with anything other than a progressive.
If I had the problems that I see some LNL owners having I'm sure I'd be on a 650 right now. Of course this is just my experience and opinion.
EDIT: Ironically my spell checker is correcting words incorrectly. Please excuse any strange words or phrases.
I got into a Hornady LNL early mainly because of the 1000 free bullets and the price at the time was less than $350. I haven't had any of the issues with the case feeder that I see others reporting. I will get the very occasional upside down piece of brass, but no rain of brass. I have never had any issues with the primer slide that I see mentioned quite a bit. I have had to tweak and tune my LNL, but I would put *my* press against any 650. There is no doubt there are some LNL lemons out there. If I had a problem with my LNL I figured out what was causing it and addressed it. I only load straight wall pistol calibers by the way. I just don't have the time to load anything else. I probably shoot an average of 800 rounds a month. I can leisurely load 300 rounds an hour and when I am in a good rhythm 500 is no problem. I look in every case before seating a bullet and will stop every 150-200 rds to recheck my powder weight and OAL.
I was turned off by Dillon for the crazy cost of the caliber changes. I will admit to pricing out the 650 a few times, but when it came time to pull the trigger I asked myself why. The LNL is working as good as I can expect from any press.
I also had a few bushings come loose early on, but I just use a wrench to bump tighten them that last little bit and they never come loose. One thing Hornady is guilty of is the poor documentation of the pawl adjustment. They still have it wrong in the current LNL manual. I think people start having problems and go after the pawls and get confused and end up with their press way out of time and get frustrated. The manual refers to the RAM upstroke when the intention is the handle upstroke, when the handle goes down the RAM goes up. It's confusing as hell and Hornady should be embarrassed they still have it wrong in the current manual.
If you shoot more than 100 rds a month I can't see going with anything other than a progressive.
If I had the problems that I see some LNL owners having I'm sure I'd be on a 650 right now. Of course this is just my experience and opinion.
EDIT: Ironically my spell checker is correcting words incorrectly. Please excuse any strange words or phrases.
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Lots of good thoughts and comments here.
I have a RCBS Rockchucker and an old Lyman turret and a couple of MEC shotgun reloaders.
Right now I have a really expensive double root canal/double crown coming up and it's gonna cost me a ton of cash money.
I just ordered a Lee Pro 1000 auto from Cabelas for $159 with free shipping. I know it's not a Cadillac and not super fast, but they do work, they do need a bit of fiddling, but for me it's fine for now. It'll work just about as well as anything else for my personal situation. Your mileage may vary.
I think a good quality turret press is probably better than a single stage due to the fact that you can adjust each die and leave it in the head and go on to the next die without a lot of muss and fuss. For a first time buyer I think I'd recommend a really good quality turret. If you are mainly reloading pistol but want to occasionally want to reload rifle I love the idea of a turret press. An extra tool head or two is pretty cheap.
Bottom line, for each of us, depending on how many rounds we wish to shoot and our budget, each one of us has a different perspective and different requirements. If money is no object, well, go spend it and get it all.
I have a RCBS Rockchucker and an old Lyman turret and a couple of MEC shotgun reloaders.
Right now I have a really expensive double root canal/double crown coming up and it's gonna cost me a ton of cash money.
I just ordered a Lee Pro 1000 auto from Cabelas for $159 with free shipping. I know it's not a Cadillac and not super fast, but they do work, they do need a bit of fiddling, but for me it's fine for now. It'll work just about as well as anything else for my personal situation. Your mileage may vary.
I think a good quality turret press is probably better than a single stage due to the fact that you can adjust each die and leave it in the head and go on to the next die without a lot of muss and fuss. For a first time buyer I think I'd recommend a really good quality turret. If you are mainly reloading pistol but want to occasionally want to reload rifle I love the idea of a turret press. An extra tool head or two is pretty cheap.
Bottom line, for each of us, depending on how many rounds we wish to shoot and our budget, each one of us has a different perspective and different requirements. If money is no object, well, go spend it and get it all.
I took the reloading classes at H&H prior to buying a reloader and I would recommend taking them or at least taking a good class somewhere. I did this prior to buying anything. The H&H class was on single stage so you get to know the process. I also wanted to buy once, so I went with a progressive. Since I am doing five different pistol sizes plus 223, I went with the Hornady LNL. From what I could figure , the conversion cost was about $80 less per caliber than a Dillon and the change over is much more simple. Doing a single stage run through the Hornady might be easier than the Dillon since the brass is easy to remove and insert from the 650 base plate at any position. I don't know about doing that on a Dillon, but I know it is no problem on the Hornady. H&H didn't provide any influence on my brand decision. They were very neutral except to caution on avoiding certain cheap stuff. I am satisfied with my purchase, but I also don't get in a hurry. Like they said in the class, when reloading, you are assembling explosive devices, so be careful and aware at all time. When I think of it that way, it helps me keep focused on what I am doing.
drink the blue koolaid
I purchased my first reloader last December. I've wanted to reload for years....Sandy Hook pretty much made the decision for me as the writing was on the wall. I searched threads, reviews, books, load data till the cows came home and ultimately took a little different approach than some here have suggested for the "first-timer". I purchased a Dillon Super 1050.
Here's why. First, I could afford it. I know this sounds mundane, but there are some folks that simply can't fork out the dough on the front end and work towards their goal. Second, I knew, based on my research, that if I ended up not using or liking it, I could sell it and recoup some money. Here's my theory, right, wrong or indifferent. If I choose to buy "anything", I buy quality. I've been down the "starter" road and every time I've lost money. Doesn't matter if it's a gun, a car, a boat or a reloader......if you buy the "budget" item, your never going to recoup your money. If you buy quality, you've got a much better chance recouping your money. Now, with that said, everyone has their own opinion of what quality is and who makes the "best" reloader!?! I don't honestly know which one is best....I am a beginner and I've never used any other loaders. Third, I wanted the most bang for the buck so to speak. I looked long and hard at the Dillon 650. Heard great things about this loader and lots of guys love them. However, after adding all the bells and whistles, it wasn't much cheaper than the 1050, which has "most" of the bells and whistles from the get go. Lastly, I only wanted to do this one time. I "believed" then and still do, that eventually our government will do everything in their power to diminish my ability to buy factory ammo and/or make it so dang expensive that I won't want to do it. I wanted a machine that would make quality reloads quickly as possible. You know, in case chit hits the fan and I need a couple thousand rounds in short order. (Note-I can now load about 100 rounds in less than 10 minutes if everything goes well)
Important note that helped me with this decision. I have a friend that has been reloading for 20 years and currently owns (3), Dillon 1050's. He helped me set-up my reloader and then walked me through every station thoroughly explaining it's purpose, must do's and more importantly the "never" do's. Then, I continued to read. I read a lot about reloading. I bought several load data manuals and I started off slow.
I've loaded approximately 500 rounds of 223. Shot roughly 100 of those with no issue and they were very accurate. I've loaded approximately 1000 rounds of .40 with mixed results and I've loaded a couple thousand rounds of 9mm. It took 3 tries to get it right and a powder change....but now have a 9mm load that groups consistently and very rarely misfires.
At the end of the day and in my opinion....the actual reloader is a small part of reloading. It's a tool (you choose the quality of the "tool" your gonna use!) You don't see many professional mechanics using Kobalt tools do you? No, there's a reason! Finding the right powder, OAL, grains and bullet that shoots accurately out of a specific gun is where the secret sauce lives. There's only one way to get there and that is to try and try again until you get what you are looking for.
Regardless of your decision.....do it! Enjoy it and once you've figured out the secret sauce, share with some buddies. They'll appreciate it! I know I did.
Dale
Here's why. First, I could afford it. I know this sounds mundane, but there are some folks that simply can't fork out the dough on the front end and work towards their goal. Second, I knew, based on my research, that if I ended up not using or liking it, I could sell it and recoup some money. Here's my theory, right, wrong or indifferent. If I choose to buy "anything", I buy quality. I've been down the "starter" road and every time I've lost money. Doesn't matter if it's a gun, a car, a boat or a reloader......if you buy the "budget" item, your never going to recoup your money. If you buy quality, you've got a much better chance recouping your money. Now, with that said, everyone has their own opinion of what quality is and who makes the "best" reloader!?! I don't honestly know which one is best....I am a beginner and I've never used any other loaders. Third, I wanted the most bang for the buck so to speak. I looked long and hard at the Dillon 650. Heard great things about this loader and lots of guys love them. However, after adding all the bells and whistles, it wasn't much cheaper than the 1050, which has "most" of the bells and whistles from the get go. Lastly, I only wanted to do this one time. I "believed" then and still do, that eventually our government will do everything in their power to diminish my ability to buy factory ammo and/or make it so dang expensive that I won't want to do it. I wanted a machine that would make quality reloads quickly as possible. You know, in case chit hits the fan and I need a couple thousand rounds in short order. (Note-I can now load about 100 rounds in less than 10 minutes if everything goes well)
Important note that helped me with this decision. I have a friend that has been reloading for 20 years and currently owns (3), Dillon 1050's. He helped me set-up my reloader and then walked me through every station thoroughly explaining it's purpose, must do's and more importantly the "never" do's. Then, I continued to read. I read a lot about reloading. I bought several load data manuals and I started off slow.
I've loaded approximately 500 rounds of 223. Shot roughly 100 of those with no issue and they were very accurate. I've loaded approximately 1000 rounds of .40 with mixed results and I've loaded a couple thousand rounds of 9mm. It took 3 tries to get it right and a powder change....but now have a 9mm load that groups consistently and very rarely misfires.
At the end of the day and in my opinion....the actual reloader is a small part of reloading. It's a tool (you choose the quality of the "tool" your gonna use!) You don't see many professional mechanics using Kobalt tools do you? No, there's a reason! Finding the right powder, OAL, grains and bullet that shoots accurately out of a specific gun is where the secret sauce lives. There's only one way to get there and that is to try and try again until you get what you are looking for.
Regardless of your decision.....do it! Enjoy it and once you've figured out the secret sauce, share with some buddies. They'll appreciate it! I know I did.
Dale
Back when I was loading, I ran a Lee Pro 1000. I think that's the model--it's been almost 20 years since I last pulled the handle on it (it's sitting in a closet upstairs). It worked fine for me, alternating between .44Mag and 10mm (yay, large pistol primers). I've never loaded rifle calibers and I pretty much only loaded for plinking, so I couldn't claim to have been a dedicated reloader, but the Lee did everything I asked of it.
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