What to buy!

[Blitzfike]

I have three 550's and if I had it to do over again, I'd invest in the 650 series. Biggest drawback to the 550 is case feeders only work on handgun calibers, and only 4 positions on 550 toolhead compared to 5 on the 650. I have way too much invested in conversions to switch now.

 

[Brentxyt]

I've been reloading for about ten years. One thing I would look for is older reloading books. Many of the older books have data on calibers that many newer books don't. I know I'm talking print and much is digital, but there is nothing like print. My favorite is my Hornady Handbook dated 1973.

 

[becker_atc]

Been loading on a single stage Rock Chucker(s) for about 10 years now. I have been researching progressives off and on and came to the conclusion that I would want the 5 station press and auto indexing. Either a 650 or the LnL.

The perk to the lock and load if you want to use the dies in a single stage press (like for a small batch of test loads maybe) I can get a die bushing adapter and install it in my RCBS single stage without having to deal with die plates or owning more than one set of dies if you dont want to. I do own doubles of a few (and an extra single stage or 3 lol) since I have multiple guns in those calibers so if I'm in the middle of a project I can leave the die set up for the durration and dont have to adjust it until I'm ready.

Also I think that the stuff for converting calibers might be a touch cheaper on the hornady. Maybe, but pretty sure.