Do they make a progressive press for rifle ammo? Are do you haev to hand measure every load and press every bullet by hand.something like the LOCK-N-LOAD AP NSP by hornady orhttp://www.rcbs.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=4&s2=2&s3=4

And does anyone know were you can guy a press are look at them in the Beamount TX area ?

If you are looking for a progressive press with the capability to reload cartridges up to 30-06 length, RCBS has a solution.

If you purchase a new RCBS Rock chucker Supreme single stage press now, and learn the intracacies of reloading with it, you can then buy the RCBS piggyback IV conversion unit for it later, which turns it into a progressive press capable of reloading rifle cartridges..

http://www.rcbs.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=4&s2=2&s3=9

Sixpac, there's a Bass Pro Shops over in Columbus I think. I know that's a drive, but they might have it.

Whether or not you have to measure/trickle every round depends on a couple of things. First, it depends on the powder you're using, and second it depends on how anal you are. The cartridge you're loading for is generally going to dictate the powder you use and as a general rule of thumb (with some leeway of course) the bigger the cartridge the harder it is going to be to get away with not measuring each one, one at a time... or at the very least you're not going to get the charges close enough for my liking with just the dispenser.

My $.02

sixpac:
You may want to take a look at the Lee AmmoMaster. It takes some tinkering to tune it. But it will do a good job.
Another place to look id Dillon. They make several progressive presses most will do rifle ammo. A bit pricey but ooh my what nice machinery.

And something to consider.

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.

muck

Muck,

I am not familiar with the Dillon presses, but knowing of their reputation with progressives looked at their website before responding to this question.

I saw only pistol capable progressives on their website.

I thought they also made rifle capable progressive presses, what did I miss?

My uncle tried his luck with the RCBS piggyback and it was the sorriest POS he'd ever loaded with. Not nearly as well engineered as a Dillon. You can load most rifle cartridges on the Dillon RL550 and most but not all on the XL650. Dillon offers caliber conversions for cartridges based on the Rigby/big Weatherby headsize for the RL550. I've tried to load .300 Wby and .338 Win on my RL550, but could never get the largest measure that Dillon offered at the time to throw consistent charges. I've seen in the past few issues of the Blue Press that Dillon offers a new magnum powder dispenser for the RL550 and XL650 that is based on their SL 900 shotshell loader's shot dispenser. Supposedly it will drop over 100 grains of extruded powder. I keep my 550 dedicated to pistol and revolver rounds though. Personally I would not load anything larger than the .30-06 class of cartridges on a progressive. That and I feel I get better quality control for my rifle ammunition doing them one at a time.

That is good to know. Dillon does not push the rifle capability much on the website.

I feel the same way about QC and progressives when dealing with rifle cartridges. They might be alright for turning out fodder for an AR in 223 for the pray and spray types, but I am prejudiced towards turning my rifle ammo out one at a time.

I have just recently started throwing powder charges with a measure instead of weighing each one after dipping it out of a bowl with a teaspoon.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Shooter:
Muck,

I am not familiar with the Dillon presses, but knowing of their reputation with progressives looked at their website before responding to this question.

I saw only pistol capable progressives on their website.

I thought they also made rifle capable progressive presses, what did I miss?

Hit the next page icon at the top or bottom of the 650 page for the rifles calibers. Here's my 650 set up for .223;







I also have a die/tool head set-up for .308. This is the Hornady case activated powder measure die. It will also work with the RCBS uniflow.

For those that think you can't load accurate ammo on a progressive, David Tubb uses a modified dillon 550 to load his match winning ammo with.

My best load is with a 60 grain v-max and 24.0 WC-844. In my bushy it'll shoot 1 inch groups all day long. I use Hornady dies in this set-up and for the .308.

Grizz,

That is a cool looking reloader.

Do you use only ball powder with it? Or do get good reloads with all types powder?

I've reloaded 338 WM on my 550, so it can be done.

If you buy a Dillon you won't be disappointed, and the powder measure works well with both ball and stick type powders.

I have been told the Dillon is absolutely the best progressive, but for what it is worth, I have no trouble at all out of my Piggyback. It took a bit of adjustment to get he primers to seat correctly, but I suspect that would be true with any progressive.

RCBS has taken care of me for over 20 years; I will stay with them...

if I was to buy another progressive press I'd seriously consider the Hornady L & L AP.

I have one for the 44 mag but also use the Dillon 550 and 650 and must say they are good presses.

The Hornady L&L however is also a pretty good machine and I'd be tempted to get another one.

griz - where did you get the powder measure setup, it sure looks better than dillons

I have been totally pleased with my Dillon 550B loading up through .30'06. I use mine for reloading Highpower competition ammo to be used up through 600 yards, so it is much better than "spray and pray" as someone mentioned.
I don't use it exclusively but, when prepairing for some matches, it sure beats my Orange Crusher single stage......quickly!

Forgot to add: Outstanding customer service.........in spades!!

It is my understanding that some compitition shooter do not weigh their powder charges. They instead use a high dollar powder measure that they have tested extensively & know how it reacts with the powder they are using. I cannot remember all of the details. I read about it in the book "Precision Reloading" I think it is best to just go ahead and weigh them.

Hi,
Grizz put up some good photos of a Dillon 550B, which is THE best progressive for the money, and for the hobbiest. Dillon stands behind their goods 300% everytime, offers outstanding service. I'm on my second Dillon press - upgraded and repaired my old Dillon 450 (purchased in 1975) until there was no place else to go. Have used the 450B for .222, .223, .308, .30-06, and .45-70, plus I use it for all my handgun cartridges. Probably loaded more .308 than anything else because I was loading for competition. The Dillon is a helluva tool. HOWEVER, I have also learned that I need a plain jane RCBS Rockchucker for a lot of other jobs, like loading experiments and hunting ammo where the jobs are small ones and not worth the extra tooling to set up the Dillon. For instance, I've never set the Dillon up for loading my Mannlicher proprietary cartridges, too small a job, nor do I use the Dillon for Magnums (.257 Wby, .300 H&H, .240 Wby)

LLS

Mannlicher Collector

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Shooter:
Grizz,

That is a cool looking reloader.

Do you use only ball powder with it? Or do get good reloads with all types powder?

I-S, I've never used it in combination with with the dillon to load coarse/long grained extruded powder. However in the past I have used it for charging cases with the longer grained IMR powders, it has done quite well. I usually accepted whatever varience it had as a true volumemetric charge. For ultra long range,(600 yd.), and hunting ammo I would trickle to weight. I got a pact dispensor a couple years back to team up with the RCBS digital scale, so I hadn't used the Hornady much until I put it on the dillon.

"griz - where did you get the powder measure setup, it sure looks better than dillons"

Butch the case-activeted die and linkage are on the Hornady website. They also can be bought from Midway, which is where I got mine.
hornady powder drop
If you would plan to move the measure to another tool head for a different caliber, you should get just the body die of the set-up seperate, so you can leave it installed and adjusted. otherwise the change-over would be quite elaborate.
powder die

"Hi,
Grizz put up some good photos of a Dillon 550B, which is THE best progressive for the money, and for the hobbiest."

Actually, LLS, it's the 650. Here's a full length pic of the whole machine.



I load seated, while Dillon recommends you load standing! If I HAD to satnd to load, I'd rather buy factory loads!