I have been for about 20 years, but am finally wondering about getting a progressive press.

I mostly load for rifles....including long cases like the 300 RUM and 375 H&H. I also load for the stubby 25WSSM. I mention these rounds because they each have issues with press or powder measure/drop operation.

I'm looking for a press that allows relative ease of die, caliber, and especially powder adjustment.

I've used a friend's Dillon 550B a fair amount, but find the adjustments, particularly of the powder measure system, to be lousy. I may be asking too much, but something that allows an easily adjustable measure (like my Redding BRIII) powder measure to be used would be awsome.

Has anyone worked with the Hornady Lock N Load system? Any points good or bad would be appreciated. It looks like a powder drop system more to my liking, but I don't know if the dies end up being sloppy in the lock n load attachment method....

Also, how do you measure and trim cases in a progressive system? Short of Dillon's power trim system I don't see anyone who even addresses it....

Comments or ideas are appreciated.

Thanks for the help,

Dan

hornadys set up for the dillon works very well. i don't know of any way to reasure/trim.turn necks in any press. thats stuff that you do before you load the case. My great preference is for the dillon 650 especially for rifle however when you start talking about things like 375 - it does take about a hour to properly set up a progressive press. Hence unless you are loading a quantity a good single stage is better IMO

Thanks Butch--

I am using an old Lee Turret press (non-indexing) which works for most things. I don't have the volume to require a progressive on the biggest things, but would want the press to have enough clearance to be useful for the long cases.

Are you saying the hornady powder measure/dump system works well on other presses? if so, that may be the best answer.

Thanks again,

Dan

Dillon IMO .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

Call Dillon's toll free number and ask them about this device:

Powder die adapter

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:
Call Dillon's toll free number and ask them about this device:

Powder die adapter

That adapter does not automatically activate the powder measure, you have to manually activate the PM.

Hornady and RCBS both offer case activated linkages for their PMs (interchangeable) that will work fine on a dillon tool head. Hornady also has powder through expanders that work in the PM station like the Dillons.

Andy

Hi Dan, I purchased the Hornady L&L progrssive about three years ago and I'm very pleased with it. I bought it from Midway and it came with one free shell plate. Midway installed the shell plate before shipping it to me. I took the whole thing apart to learn for myself, and found they had kinked the spring that holds the cases in place during operation. I called Hornady, and they sent me a package of springs at no cost. I received them in three days.

I primarily bought the press for loading pistol ammo, but found that my old Pacific single stage would not handle .300 RUM or 7mm Rem Mag, so I'm also using it for them. Now, that is were the small problem comes in. When I partial full length resize, I size the case then have to cycle the press to a spot where I can get the case out to check its fit in my chamber. I might have to do this ten or more times before I push the shoulder back .001". I also have to do this when setting up the die for bullet seating depth. This is no fault of the press, its probably indicative of all progressives.
To me, its not that big of a deal, but it will come in handy some day as an excuse to get a new larger single stage. The progressive really speeds things up once your dies are set up the way you want them, and it dos a nice job.
Good luck on whichever one you puchase.
Regards Bob

hornady has a adapter made to work with the dillon. midway carries them. i use the hornady with the rifle loads, but it doesn't have the expander plug for pistol so i go back to the dillon measure for pistol

Here's my dillon 650 set up with the old version of the Hornady case activated powder measure. Being used here for .223.



Here's a better look at the linkage with the powder level alarm removed.



You could also use the RCBS measure, or any that has a way to put the linkage on it to rotate the drum. The Hornady measure works well with ball powders, or any of the short grain/short cut powders.

quote:

Originally posted by grizz:
The Hornady measure works well with ball powders, or any of the short grain/short cut powders.

So does the Dillon. I thought he wanted a measure he thought better at non-spherical\ball powder.

what i found with the hornady is that #1 it is a bit more accurate and #2 it dumps the powder smother and much faster. with the dillion, especially on 223 the powder dump is quite slow and i always found myself getting to fast on the handle at time, dumping powder all over. that's one of the things about a progressive. You have to concentrate on what you're doing all the time, there's no watching TV while you load

I got a micrometer adjustment device for my XL650. It is made by a company called Uniquetek (www.uniquetek.com) You can also look on ebay as there are some plastic knobs that can be retrofitted to the Dillon measures tomake adjustments easier.

Fast Ed

Wow, this is the first board I've come across that wasn't super pro dillon. I got the hornady progressive press about a year ago and I wish I would've bought the dillon. No matter what I try, I can't get the hornady PM to throw a consistent charge. I've talked to hornady, they say they love their stuff and it's the best out there, maybe I got a bum PM. I've taken it apart, cleaned it, got all the extra pistol and rifle inserts and micrometer adjusters, etc.. and it varies the loads anywhere from .5gr to 1gr constantly. Rifle powder, pistol powder, whatever powder, I get the same results.

Other than the PM, I like the press overall, but also don't like that you can't use the Lee FCD in station #5 because of the ejection wire. Now I need to buy the hornady powder thru expander to free up a station so I can use the FCD in station #4. Then I will still have 1 open station that will never be used.

Maybe I don't like the press overall, I think I just talked myself out of it (again). I'm going to drink the blue kool-aid and get a dillon.

quote:

Originally posted by mgcchkn:
No matter what I try, I can't get the Hornady PM to throw a consistent charge. I've talked to Hornady. They say they love their stuff, and it's the best out there. Maybe I got a bum PM. I've taken it apart, cleaned it, got all the extra pistol and rifle inserts and micrometer adjusters, etc., and it varies the loads anywhere from 0.5gr to 1.0gr constantly. Rifle powder, pistol powder, whatever powder, I get the same results.

If you don't like the Hornady PM, wait until you work with the Dillon.

I'm thinking that the actuation mechanism is not working smoothly. You might give it a little massaging before giving up. Smooth , slow, and consistent seems to be key to all PM's.

If you haven't given attention to your press arm stroke, it could play a part. Also, if the press' support is unstable, actuation will be disrupted.

There are a couple of things to look at on the PM. Make a baffle to keep an even loading at the base of the resevoir. Before dispensing, tap firmly on the top of the reservoir several times to settle the powder. Throw several charges before beginning actual loading.

If you're able, take the PM off of the press and evaluate its performance as a free-standing unit, remembering that technique is highly influential to the results achieved. If the dispenser's drum is not properly fitted, you should be able to feel the inconsistencies.

i see in midways new book they show the linkage system for RCBS uniflow measure

quote:

No matter what I try, I can't get the hornady PM to throw a consistent charge. I've talked to hornady, they say they love their stuff and it's the best out there, maybe I got a bum PM. I've taken it apart, cleaned it, got all the extra pistol and rifle inserts and micrometer adjusters, etc.. and it varies the loads anywhere from .5gr to 1gr constantly. Rifle powder, pistol powder, whatever powder, I get the same results.

I don't know how the Hornady LNL press works as far as how the measure is linked to the ram. BUT in the above pics of my linkage,(hornady), the Hornady measure is extremely accurate with ball powders AND the short cut extruded powders like varget.

You didn't get precise, what exact powders were you trying? Some flake powders like unique, 800-X and some long grained stick powers like 4198, IMR 4831 and others are better trickled or run through a dispenser.

Every powder I've loaded has had this problem, most recently with Ramshot Silhouette. I've loaded BLC-2, RL10, RL15, Varget, Titegroup, and a few others.

I'll have to try the baffle.

I was having the same problem with my LnL. I tried using an RCBS Uniflow baffle, and I'm now VERY happy with the consistancy. Varget "crunches" occasionally, Unique and Universal Clays work jut fine. Make sure your lock rings are tight on the metering inserts and use a powder cop.

Ive got the red Hornady powder measure jerry rigged on my Lyman single stage press by screwing it into the top back side of the press. It works fantasticly accurate except for the big stick powders which I use very seldom. Now I also have a dillon 550 which works great also but that hornady powder measure is very accurate. It needs to be kept clean by steelwooling the metel moving parts.