What progressive reloading press are you using ?

[Drycreek3189]

And why ? Have you had any other than the one you currently use ? I’m thinking about buying one for .44 mag and .45 Colt. I’ll probably still load for my .280 on my RCBS because I don’t shoot it other than hunting.

[pure lefty]

I have 2 Dillons, one a Square Deal the other a 550. When I shot a lot of IPSC and Police Pistol Combat, I would shoot about 1000 rounds a month in practice. On the 550 I could load about 4-500 rounds an hour. SD about half that. SD was set up for large Pistol and 550 for small pistol. I like Dillon because of warranty, it breaks they replace. They are easy to change calibers, shell plate and dies, powder measure attaches to die. They in a box somewhere, may have to dig em out. I still use single stage for hunting rifles. Several years ago, I thought about setting up the 550 for 223 but zombies never came.

[CWendling]

If you are only doing pistol cals the Dillon Square deal is a great press and doesnt take up a lot of room. The only small downside is it doesnt use standard dies so it will come with one set of dies, but youd have to buy the other cals you want to load. The 550 is also a great press, but doesnt auto index. Not that big of a deal, you get used to flipping the shell plate as you go. The 650 does and is a bit faster to load on. Dillon isnt necessarily any better of a press than any of the others, but as stated their warranty is impossible to beat. They are easy to get hold of when needed. And they come up with all sorts of little things to add to your press to make it easier to use or faster to change calibers. Just depends how much stuff you want to buy. I shot competitively for many years and at times had many different presses set up. Time is money and buying another press faster and easier than changing setup. Now that i dont shoot hundreds of rounds per week, i sold off my other presses and only have a redding turret for small batches and 550 for volume

[Billy Bad Bass]

I second the Dillon. I started out on a 550 years ago and currently run 2 650's. I like them and load a few thousand rounds a year.

I know where there is a 550 for sale that has been factory refurbished. If interested message me and I'll put you in contact with him.

[bmc09]

Dillon 550. Got a great deal on it second hand, I appreciated the manual indexing in the beginning. I think I'd get a 650 if i had to do it all over again.

[Bucknaked]

Dillon 550B ! These are strong presses , very safe and very accurate!

[Rswan13]

Dillon 550 and 750 here.

[Drycreek3189]

I second the Dillon. I started out on a 550 years ago and currently run 2 650's. I like them and load a few thousand rounds a year.

I know where there is a 550 for sale that has been factory refurbished. If interested message me and I'll put you in contact with him.

Looks like lots of Dillon fans here. BBB let me have a number and I will check with him.

So, with Dillon are the dies proprietary or will my RCBS and Lee dies be ok !

Edit to ask, what all do I need to start loading with this press ? I’m aware that some of them are sold for a certain price, but then you have to buy other stuff to actually load cartridges. I know about single stage presses, very familiar with that, but the only progressive I’ve ever used was a MEC shotshell loader.

[TacticalCowboy]

550 for me. Dies are NOT proprietary for any Dillon except the SDB as far as I know.

[muzzlebrake]

For pistol and some small rifle I have a Hornady AP. Way north of 100,000 rounds thru this press and still going.
For most rifle I am still old school one at a time with one of my two RCBS chuckers.
I use a mix of dies from RCBS, Hornady, Redding, Forster and Lee depending on what I want to accomplish.
I prefer Lee Factory crimp dies for all auto pistol and auto rifle ammo.
Anybody's taper crimp for straight wall and bolt gun stuff.
I use a hacked RCBS Chargemaster for powder measure since it is the fastest and most accurate.

[SabreKiller]

Lee Pro 1000 for pistol for 9mm and .45 ACP. Not the best option, but it gets the job done for the price. I have 3 MEC progressives for 12, 20 and 410. I use an old RCBS Junior 3 single stage for all of my rifle reloading.

[bloodtrail18]

I have a pair of Hornady AP presses and a Dillon 650. The Hornady presses are easier to set up and their powder measure is very easy and accurate. The Dillon is a little more difficult to set up and change calibers but once it's set you can pretty much just go with it. I have had a couple of small parts break on the Hornadys over time and they were replaced under warranty with no hassle.

I have the Dillon set up for 9mm with a case and bullet feeder. I can load 100 rounds in about 5mins, taking my time.

[huntandfishguy6]

I'm still using the same Dillon 450, that I purchased back in 84. It still works for me.

[Chase4556]

I started with a Hornady AP. Between the little spring on the shell plate and dealing with the dang indexing paws, I got rid of it after a great deal on a Dillon 650 popped up local to me and I snatched it up. Zero issues and smooth sailing since. The Hornady wasn’t a BAD press, just in my experience(which I was probably the problem) was more difficult to keep running reliably. The Dillon has been flawless for me(knock on wood). I’ve got a buddy with a 750, and I prefer the priming system on the 650 vs the 750/550 style priming system.

Dies are universal on I believe every press, regardless of maker, EXCEPT the Dillon Square Deal B. I’m not aware of another press out there that doesn’t use the same industry standard size. I use a mixture of brands, some Dillon that I got with the press and then Lee dies. I only load pistol calibers, 223 and 300blk on the 650. I also size/trim 223 on it and convert 223 to 300blk on it with an RT1200. All my hunting/precision loading is done on my single stage.

Id have to dig into the weeds on what you’d need. Highly suggest the case feeder and of course the appropriate size case feed plate. A couple tool heads and powder measures, not sure if the powder measures come with large and small powder bars or if you’d have to buy one or the other separate. Believe all you’d need past that is the caliber conversion kit for what you want to load and your dies.

[andre3k]

I have two Dillon 1050's dedicated to 9mm and 223 training ammo. My 650 pretty much stays setup for 40sw. 550's are dedicated to straight wall wheel gun ammo.