New Press question

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viper12161

New member
Hey guys,

I am getting back into reloading after about 10 years. I am trying to decide between a Hornaday LNL Progressive or the classic single stage press. I will be primarily reloading .308 and .45 and maybe some .223 down the line. My concern is if I will get the accuracy I am looking for reloading rifle cartridges on a progressive. I am primarily getting the press to reload the .308 due to price of factory ammo, but obviously would like to use for the .45 as well. Not counting the dies and such it is a difference of about $120 between the presses. I am not looking to shoot competition with the .308, just shooting at paper for fun at between 100 and 200 yrds, but still want them to be relatively accurate.
Any thoughts and advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Just curious, but have you considered a turret press? Not as complicated as a progressive to get set up, and much more convenient to use than a single stage . . . Just a thought.
 
Go with the Hornady press, it can be used as a single stage till you get used to loading.

I use a piggyback on a RCBS RC, but many times I prep my brass before loading. That is remove primers, tumble with SS pins, and prime. Sizing is done on the press as well as flairing the case mouths. Last operation is seating the bullet.
 
Disclaimer: I've never owned or used a turret press. For a LONG time I used a single stage and then a progressive kind of dropped into my lap and I switched to it. I never much looked at different presses at all.

After being on this site I see what I've been missing. I kind of wish I would have bought a turret press right off the bat. I might never have felt the need to get the progressive.

I've seen this one used and liked what I saw...it should handle whatever reloading needs you ever come up with. It's a bit pricy though.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/588482/redding-t-7-turret-press

Redding T7 $270.

Good luck.
 
I have the old style (3 hole) Lee Turret and after all these years, I still use it more than anything other than the Dillon volume reloading progressive presses.
Still made and still relevant.

The VERY old Rock Chucker is still there, almost never used, right beside the Co-Ax press that also almost never gets used.

I beat a Lee Load Master off the bench with a hammer (one down, one to go),
I've gone through a few of the 'Center Pin' turret presses down through the years,
Center pin turret won't beat the 3 or 4 corner post pins of the Lee for NOT deflecting, accuracy is inherent with the Lee Turret corner post arrangement.

Now it's Dillon progressives simply because they work the first time, everytime, right out of the box and with a little tuning they will produce match grade ammo.
They are EXPENSIVE on initial purchase, but have lifetime warranties that Dillon actually honors, and like I said, they work.

I just like that Lee Turret because caliber changes couldn't be faster or more simple,
Turrets are cheap! Extra turrets make it easy for case tools, swagers, universal depriming dies, bullet pullers, etc.
That Turret press uses all COMMON tools/dies, nothing proprietary like Dillon and the others require.
Mine has some custom made linkage arms to tighten it up a little, mostly pin hole slop, but that's the only draw back (if you hand prime, the primer tool on the Lee Turret is 'Akward' at best and a HUGE PITA at worst).

Depends on the volume & quality you are looking for,
High tolerance, Rock Chucker or Forrister Co-Ax,

Good tolerance & much faster, good all around press, nothing proprietary, Lee Turret,

Large volume of high quality ammo, Dillon XL650 without reservation.
Caliber changes are expensive, but off set by volume over time.
I own both XL650 & Super 1050, the 650 is by far the better deal if you aren't going to motor drive the press.
(Auto drives are an entirely different animal)
 
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My 'Issue' with Hornady Lock-N-Load is the press/components are mostly proprietary, they don't function quite as well as the Dillon stuff,
And LNL needed frequent adjustments to keep any consistancy.

At nearly the cost of a Dillon, but not doing quite as good a job as the Dillon, I didnt consider the cost difference an issue.
There are very few small/twitchy parts that bend, break, while you can screw a LNL up to no end, and it was always something with the LNL, from case feeder to primer feeder, etc. Small stuff, but annoying.

Although the LNL uses a large diameter ram (GOOD!), the shell index plate still deflected to unacceptable tolerances, particularly when seating bullets.
Cartridge overall lengths were all over the place & combined with the small parts fails & adjustment issues the press was a lot of work.

Some guys crank out thousands of rounds with no issues, maybe I got a Lemon.
Dillon doesn't have the issues, other than chucking powder out of cases and spitting spent primers all over (both of which were easily solved on the aftermarket) the Dillon runs pretty much as advertised...

The LNL runs circles around the Lee progressives!

Absolutely NOTHING on either of the Lee progressives works as advertised, stays in adjustment, everything is as cheaply made as possible...
The 4 Lee progressives I've owned were nothing but problems, broken parts, adjustment problems, inaccurate and I won't go there again.
I'm down to the last one, sold/traded two, beat one off the bench in frustration, one 'Load Disaster' left.
Trying to decide if I'm going to beat it off the bench or drag it outside & shoot it...
 
I know people call the lee presses turret presses, but they should be called rotating die holder presses. They are a far cry from the real thing!!!

My bench has two of the best classic turret presses ever made!

First one is a seven stage Texan Turret, all steel and cast iron.

The second is a Hollywood Universal, 12 stage turret, four station shell holder, and a four station primer seating set up.

And if you don't know why there is four primer punches, you haven't been reloading that long.
 
I would go with the Hornady LNL Ap, its cheaper than a dillon and just as good. Caiber changes are faster and easier. I don't know what you mean that Hornady LNL AP are proprietary ? Also the Hornady powder measure works better. The dillon is the one that is proprietary.
 
Hey guys, sorry to have dropped for a bit on this, had to put my press purchase on hold for a bit, but now I'm ready to go again. So I have narrowed down my choices between a Lee Turret and a Dillon 550B (or C now). It's about a $270 difference between the two. Again, primarily only reloading .45 and .308, though the bulk will probably be the .45 I'm leaning more towards the Lee. Though I love the Dillon and I know it's top notch, I just don't know that I shoot enough to constitute a progressive press though folks I have talked with at the range have started with turret and then went over to the Dillon and regretted not getting it to begin with.
 
I know people call the lee presses turret presses, but they should be called rotating die holder presses. They are a far cry from the real thing!!!
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You have some neat presses but I think you also have somewhat of a warped idea of what the Lee Turret Presses bring to the table.
My bench has two of the best classic turret presses ever made!
First one is a seven stage Texan Turret, all steel and cast iron.

The second is a Hollywood Universal, 12 stage turret, four station shell holder, and a four station primer seating set up.
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The Lee Classic Turret is also all steel and cast iron and made in America, and unlike the two that you have... these are absolute commercial success stories that are still made today and still backed by the company that makes them, neither of which applies to the Texan or Hollywood. This is NOT to say that you don't have two terrific and extremely cool presses! To be clear-- You have two terrific and extremely cool presses!:D But you don't have factory support and I'm not sure how your two cool presses helps a new guy in any way to move forward in handloading unless you can show us a reliable source to BUY either of these (and offer parts if necessary) or you are offering your two presses for sale.
And if you don't know why there is four primer punches, you haven't been reloading that long.
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Not sure of the nature or tone behind such a statement, but here's one back at ya:

If you don't understand the pure genius of the Lee Classic Turret and it's quickly swapped $15 priced turrets, for a rock-solid American made, still produced and fully backed, LOW INVESTMENT COST press, then maybe you've got some learning yet to do before trying to "school newbies" on a fantastic handloading forum.
 
Hey guys, sorry to have dropped for a bit on this, had to put my press purchase on hold for a bit, but now I'm ready to go again. So I have narrowed down my choices between a Lee Turret and a Dillon 550B (or C now). It's about a $270 difference between the two. Again, primarily only reloading .45 and .308, though the bulk will probably be the .45 I'm leaning more towards the Lee. Though I love the Dillon and I know it's top notch, I just don't know that I shoot enough to constitute a progressive press though folks I have talked with at the range have started with turret and then went over to the Dillon and regretted not getting it to begin with.
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For loading .45, .308 and .223...
I would go a bit differently. I will not entirely IGNORE the fact that you, like all of us, are certainly on a budget... but I will push that aside.

The Dillon 550 or 650 is likely the best choice for handgun rounds like the .45, and if/when you branch off in to 9mm, .38, .380, .40 S&W, .44 Mag, ________ on and on it goes, the Dillon will give you fantastic ammo at a HIGH rate of speed for a "higher than most" initial investment but it's probably the highest quality and best-backed option you can choose. (NOTE that adding calibers to the 550/650 will also be $$$ with each one added, no way out)

With that said...
It's simply not likely to bring you the value payout for investment cost for loading .308 and .223, at least in my opinion.

I would suggest going either of these directions TO GET ROLLING:
1) Lee Classic Turret, and begin rolling your .45 ammo at a decent pace with a perfect learning curve... and having terrific equipment to also start making .308 and .223.

2) Dillon 550 or 650 to make truckloads of .45 ammo and ALSO still buying a Lee Classic Turret to craft terrific .308 and .223 ammo.

Making great rifle ammo takes a lot of slow work and case prep and while it certainly can be done on a high dollar progressive press, there are a lot of hoops to jump to radically improve your production rate when making rifle ammo.

To be clear...
A Dillon 550 or 650 can and will absolutely make fantastic, accurate ammo... this depends on the guy running the bench of course, but the machines are 100% capable, but the Lee Classic Turret is also 100% capable of making fantastic, accurate ammo, just not at the rate of the Dillon. The quality of the Lee equipment is not at the level of the 550/650, but it's also a fraction of the start-up cost.
 
I have to second that...
I've gone through the 'High Dollar' and 'Economy' presses.
The Lee Turret works just fine on lower volume & troublesome loads,
Nothing beats the Dillon for high volume, CONSISTANT rounds.

Lee Turret presses are darn near indistructable and available on the used market for cheap...
While people tend to hang on to the upper end Dillon presses, used sells for nearly new.

When you find Dillon dies, inspect them carefully, pick them up if you can afford them. Dillon makes top quality dies, not like the $20-$30 dies you pick up here & there...
 
Thanks so much for the info, that is exactly what I needed. I'll start with the Lee and then maybe pick up a Dillon down the road if I start shooting enough that I need truck loads of ammo :) If you don't mind, I have a couple of other accessories questions for the rifle brass prep. I already have a brass cleaning setup coming but I have questions about case length prep for rifle. I am familiar with loading pistol ammo but new to rifle and want to make sure I am doing it right and getting what I need to start. So aside from the press and Dies this is what I have in my cart at the moment:

(Editing...this is what I ordered for case prep)

L.E Wilson Case Length Headspace gauge for .308
Lee Deluxe Power Quick Trimmer
Lee .308 Quick Trim Die

I already have a micrometer, so aside form case lube, anything else you can recommend that I get for rifle or in place of the Lee I have above? I am going with the Lee Ultimate Dies.

Thanks!
 
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Full disclosure: I make a LOT of ammo and I shoot a lot and I have for years. Approaching 30yrs at the bench and kept a strict round count log in the past many and just finished up 6th consecutive year over 10k rounds, so I know well what I am doing and I have done the bulk of the work with Lee presses and Lee dies... but 97% of that or more has been in pistol/revolver ammo.

I do little more than dabble in bottle neck rifle so I tend to sit back and learn when the discussion drifts that way.

Even still, I have used the Lee trimming tools and all of them work, can help make safe and quality ammo, and are THE cheapest possible route to case trimming. But they are also the slowest, most labor intensive, cheapest in build quality and the oeast versatile and enjoyable and versatile to use.

In summary--
Those will work to get you rolling but they are quite limiting and frustrating and others will certainly share ideas of where money is well-spent on case prep.
 
Great, thanks for your insight. I was originally going to get the RCBS case trimmer, but then came across this lee tool. Actually seems like a pretty neat tool. Just put the die in and the cutter on top...then attach power drill. Brass in ram, and bring press up and hit drill and it trims to size. Guy in the video was using a progressive press and using it this way and doing sizing on one and this on another. Seemed pretty quick, about a piece of brass every 2-3 seconds. I was intrigued. I'll let you know how it goes though.
 
'Trim To Length' is always hotly debated...
I've found that length just isn't that important (within reason).

All the neck does is hold the bullet centered with the bore, and in a secondary role, works as a gas seal when the neck blows out against the chamber.
Neck has released the bullet by this time, so the seal only retains chamber pressure helping velocity consistently.
Annealed case necks help with the seal & consistency, but that's another debate...

Your experience may vary...

The only exception I've found is crimping.
To keep crimps anywhere near consistent with common dies, the cases need to be trimmed to EXACT length.
'Short' cases won't crimp enough, 'Long' cases will over crimp.
A collet style 'Factory Crimp' die reduces these issues some, but doesn't eliminate the issues entirely.
 
I have had my Hornady LNL Ap for almost a year now and it is running great. I set it up and made the adjustments when I first got it and haven't had to make any further adjustments. It is a great press.
 
The 550 is a great press. I stated out with Dillon 650 then purchased various single stage presses before finally keeping a Hornady Iron Press. You can get accurate loads from a progressive. I reload .223/5.56, 6.8, and .308 on my 650 get .5 MOA. I also reload .40 and .45 pistol on it and get good accuracy with those calibers as well. My Iron press is primarily used for my M1 Garand and 270AR but some the other calibers when working up loads.
 
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For consistent rifle rounds, the usual...

A Datum Line (Shoulder) Case gauge & caliper so you can gauge your cases.
Use a 'factory' round to compare +/- what you are producing,
Caliper also tells case length & cartridge over all length.

'Good' dies so they don't produce odd brass, scratched brass, ect.

A press that whips the brass instead of the brass whipping your brass.
Weak press frames, weak press rams, will stretch/flex instead of sizing the brass.
Not all 'Large' press rams are solid, some are hollow and flex like crazy, some of the 1" solid rams are soft steel (cheaper & keeps them from stress fracturing) and flex a lot, linkages from handle to ram will flex/deflect instead of delivering force to the brass.

A powder thrower that is capable of consistent charges.
Keep in mind that DIFFERENT POWDERS will throw differently through the same dispenser!
Flake, Spherical (ball) & extruded (stick) powder won't feed through all powder throwers the same.
Long extruded 'Sticks' will have have to be broken to get a consistent throw, and I don't know of a single 'Plastic' thrower capable of doing that job cleanly for very long...

There are 'Tricks' to getting consistent charges no matter what type of thrower you are using, from weights (washers) on the powder in the bin to compact it a little, to polishing the close fitting parts, to 'Knife Edge' on the bar to cut off extruded 'Sticks'...
Ask when you hit that hurdle of inconsistent throws and folks will give you tips.

There is the usual stuff, case lube, brushes to clean dies, anti-rust for the steel parts, little parts that often make loading easier...
 
I ended up ordering the Lee Turret for the press and Lee Ultimate .308 Dies. Is a Datum Line (Shoulder) Case gauge the same as the L.E Wilson Case Length Headspace gauge for .308? I order the L.E Wilson already. For the powder thrower, the press package comes with the Lee Auto Drum Powder measure. Will that work, or should I get another one? I was thinking of picking up a second power dispenser anyway, that way I don't need to keep adjusting it when I switch from pistol to rifle reloading.
 
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