at_liberty

I think you should add the Lyman guage to your equipment. It will accept a full cartridge without the chamber length constraints of your barrel. Other calibers are available.

I don't know about you, but I don't need 600 rounds an hour output and would not pay for $1000 worth of equipment to get to that output rate. I find what people like depends on how much they want to shoot. One can buy a boat load of ammo for what it costs to own a first class loading setup. I think passing through the various economy and output rate stages is a natural progression and allows one to get intimately familiar with all the processes and setups. A progressive press is a bit of a juggling act, and the really good ones with the fewest headaches are seriously expensive and difficult to cost justify until reaching the point of competing regularly in ammo-intensive, shoot-em-up competitions. I am very comfortable with a Lee turret press and am not bashful about admitting what I spent on it. I have tried a progressive and am sure I would enjoy owning and using one. It's just that I don't actually "need" it. If you just enjoy nice tools and can regard it as one of your toys, not really shooting enough to justify it as an expense or savings, go for it. It seems like Dillon is the one the heavy volume shooters favor. I'm just the dumba$$ n00b who is happy with his Lee stuff.