Thread: Looking for a progressive press

Get yourself a Dillon 550B. Strength, easy of function and the no BS warranty makes it a winner.
I have two 550B and a 650.
I am much like Spanners, my 650 is set up for 38 super comp and does not get changed. I have a Mr Bullet Feeder on it and can easily pump out 1200 plus rounds an hour on it.
My older 550B (about 15 years old has loaded 150K of 38 super and is good as new still. Now load my 223 on it in batches of 1000 so leave it set up for small rifle.
My other 550B (scored off Trade Me) is set up for large rifle, currently 243, 308 & 2506. They all use the same shell plate so swapping calibres takes seconds.

@Simon
Just a quick Q, how do you keep the primers up to it at that rate? do you just use the tube and pick each primer up? or one of those tube loaders?

Wanting to do 223 in 200~300 bursts and 303 in 100 plus it almost seems the better bet is 2 x 550s instead of one 650, LOL.

Hi Beaker.
I have from memory, 10 small rifle pickup tubes and 5 large rifle pick up tubes. I picked up extra tubes with the 550B press I got off Trade me.
I load them by hand using a Dillon flip tray to get them up the right way, normally flipping 5-6 hundred small rifle primers at a time so it does not take too long.
Aiming to train my 2 year old son to fill them up for me but convincing him that the shiny end of the primer needs to go into the tube first is proving difficult.

I stupidly brought one of those frankford vibra prime things, thinking that it might speed things up - what a total waste of time.
I've got 2 tubes, and i find that after doing 200, its actually nice to have a bit of a change and load the tubes again
But of course always wanting a faster better way, so hence Q.

I think my 2 year old would get bored after doing 3, and then try and hit them with something

I use a 1050 for 223; as Spanners pointed out not a great press for frequent calibre changes. I have used a 650 and it seemed to work well. I have spent a great deal of time with both the Hornady LnL Ap and the 550. Of the two I prefer the Hornady, its just a bit more versatile and a bit quicker to load on. I have not had positive experiences with Lee mainly regarding the priming process.
In the US a few years back I used the RCBS Pro 2000. I would buy one if I could afford it, I thought the priming system was excellent, very nice to use.

Interesting, my club is setting up a Hornady as we speak but has used a 650 for a long time, I will take a closer look at it.