M-Bear Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 The question of which press should I buy gets asked in reloading forums several times a week. I decided the best way to deal with this was to wright a more in-depth response and save it on my hard drive. then just cut and paste when appropriate. I am including more than just Dillon units so just pointing them to Brian's answer isn't what I want to do. In an effort to refine the which press for you paper I am curious to know. How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? How many cartridges do you make in an average week? Which press do you use? How many cartridges can you load in an hour? ( not loading 100 and using math to get your answer but how many in a real hour if you were going to load for 2 or more hours straight? Burst rates are fine but the are a lot higher than you would get if it was your 8 hour a day job. How long is your average loading session? Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 (edited) How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 300 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? 400 Which press do you use? Dillon 650XL, with RF100 How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 650 How long is your average loading session? 25 minutes Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Dillon 650XL and RF100 Edited December 4, 2010 by MarkCO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steel1212 Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 My set up has me sitting and the handle won't clear my knee unless I'm off to the side so my back can only take about an hour or so. In that hour I usually get about 300 rounds on my 550. When I move I'm building a bench to reload off and hopefully a 650! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSteel Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 (edited) How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 200 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? 200 Which press do you use? Dillon RL550B How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 400 (If I prep 4 primer tubes ahead and sit while loading) How long is your average loading session? 30 minutes Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Dillon 650XL. EDIT: (Loading .40S&W specific with no powder charge, bullet type or O.L. changes). Edited December 4, 2010 by NoSteel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveU Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 The question of which press should I buy gets asked in reloading forums several times a week. I decided the best way to deal with this was to wright a more in-depth response and save it on my hard drive. then just cut and paste when appropriate. I am including more than just Dillon units so just pointing them to Brian's answer isn't what I want to do. In an effort to refine the which press for you paper I am curious to know. How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 1000 over a weekend. Split into 3-4 times over the 2 days How many cartridges do you make in an average week? Maybe 1 weekend (above) every month to every other month depending on how much I shoot Which press do you use? 650xl How many cartridges can you load in an hour? ( not loading 100 and using math to get your answer but how many in a real hour if you were going to load for 2 or more hours straight? Burst rates are fine but the are a lot higher than you would get if it was your 8 hour a day job. Don't know. I usually do 20 min or so at a time for 2-300 How long is your average loading session? See above Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? 650 again or maybe 1050 Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 I tend to load 2-300 per session, a couple of times a week. I try to load a whole bunch up over the winter, so I have lots of practice ammo ready. Major match ammo gets loaded a couple of weeks before the match, so that's its own deal. I load .38SC on a 1050 now, and haven't really timed it since I got it not long ago. .40 gets loaded on an SDB, and I can do 100 rounds in 9min 30s without rushing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderer Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 500 cause thats how many projectiles in a box How many cartridges do you make in an average week? 250, load 500 bout every 2 weeks Which press do you use? dillon square deal b How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 300 including filling primer tubes How long is your average loading session? 2hrs, with a break half way, thats with everything packed away Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Dillon 650. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 500-1000 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? Depends. Some weeks not any. Others 1000-2000 Which press do you use? Dillon 650 How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 500 How long is your average loading session? 30 minutes to 2 hours Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Dillon 650XL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 The question of which press should I buy gets asked in reloading forums several times a week. I decided the best way to deal with this was to wright a more in-depth response and save it on my hard drive. then just cut and paste when appropriate. I am including more than just Dillon units so just pointing them to Brian's answer isn't what I want to do. In an effort to refine the which press for you paper I am curious to know. How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 500 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? Hard to tell. I load in the winter when I'm not shooting much so this number can vary wildly. Which press do you use? 550B How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 400 with primer tubes filled and all readings verified at the start. I check oal and powder drop at the 200 mark. How long is your average loading session? A few hours at a time. I load standing up so my legs get a little tired and my back starts to ache eventually. I try to gauge all ammo and put it away as well. Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Maybe a 650 for the case feeder but quite honestly I love the 550B. I would get the bigger Dillon tumbler and separator as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sauza45 Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 I load about 1,000 at a sitting. Lasts about 1 or 2 months I load on an XL650 with a RF100, Takes me about 1 hour. I try to keep about 1,000 loaded all the time. When I get below 1,000 I reload more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMC Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 Lately I've kept my presses ready to go and just load what I need for the day. If I shoot the club match tomorrow I need to go out to the garage and pull the handle on the 1050 200 times if I shoot prod. or the same number on the 650 if I decide to shoot limited. I used to load 1000 at a time but Ive gotten lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 (edited) I just wish I was selling bullets to most of you guys who load 500-1000 rounds a week Since I've been in school (college, then graduate school now), I've only shot 4-5k rounds a year. My reloading equipment is at home now...so I crank out my ammo on my breaks or whenever I get to go home, and store it until I get the chance to hit up a match. In my three week break coming up soon, I plan to load 2-3k of .40, at least 1k of .45, and 2k or so of 9mm. Edited December 5, 2010 by twodownzero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 I just wish I was selling bullets to most of you guys who load 500-1000 rounds a week Since I've been in school (college, then graduate school now), I've only shot 4-5k rounds a year. My reloading equipment is at home now...so I crank out my ammo on my breaks or whenever I get to go home, and store it until I get the chance to hit up a match. In my three week break coming up soon, I plan to load 2-3k of .40, at least 1k of .45, and 2k or so of 9mm. I shot around 6k last year(my first year) and I'm currently shooting the last few hundred of 7.5 k this year. But I only do 4 or 500 a week in the dead of winter. I like to shoot when the weather breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirveyr Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 (edited) How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 200-300 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? 1000 Which press do you use? Dillon 650XL w/ 10 pick up tubes How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 700-800 How long is your average loading session? 15-20 minutes Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Dillon 650XL w/ 10 pick up tubes Edited December 5, 2010 by sirveyr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 200 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? 300 Which press do you use? LNL AP How many cartridges can you load in an hour? Somewhere around 600 I suppose. Honestly do not care. How long is your average loading session? 20 min. Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Same stuff I use now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted December 5, 2010 Share Posted December 5, 2010 I have a Dillon 650. I usually load 500 rounds per session because I only have 5 primer pick-up tubes. It will take me about 1.5 hours to fill primer tubes, fill powder measure/confirm the charge weight, load the ammo and clean the press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M-Bear Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 Thank you everyone for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAFO Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 200 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? Between 200-400 per month (1-2 matches worth), so ~100/wk Which press do you use? Dillon RL550B with strong mount and roller handle How many cartridges can you load in an hour? I've timed myself from when I calibrate my scale to when I'm finished case gauging all the loaded rounds. It takes me ~1 hr to load and check 200 rounds. How long is your average loading session? ~1 hr Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Another Dillon, probably another 550B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 I have a Dillon 650. I usually load 500 rounds per session because I only have 5 primer pick-up tubes. It will take me about 1.5 hours to fill primer tubes, fill powder measure/confirm the charge weight, load the ammo and clean the press. We're supposed to CLEAN our presses too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpops Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 1000-2000 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? During the shooting season 500-1000 (I'm feeding 2 shooters) Which press do you use? 1050's with bullet feeders and a RF 100. How many cartridges can you load in an hour? without killing myself and still having fun reloading - 1200 How long is your average loading session? 1 -2 hours Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Same - 1050 with BF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohuskers Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 200-300 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? Depends on the weather/time of year Which press do you use? Dillon 650 and RL1050 How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 5-750 How long is your average loading session? Hour, usually Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? Same thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M-Bear Posted December 6, 2010 Author Share Posted December 6, 2010 Ok here is what I have done so far. Any suggestions are welcome. Which reloading press is right for you? I have been asking experienced reloaders questions about their presses and their reloading habits. I find it interesting that the average person loads in short burst. They average 30 to 60 minutes at a time. This seems to hold true weather the person is a competition shooter or a plinker. That leads me to believe that the mast majority of reloaders buy way more press than they really need. As one person pointed out with a Dillon 550 you can load 250 rounds in half an hour and you did just that every day Monday through Friday that’s still 1250 rounds a week. Very few people shoot that many rounds a week on a regular basis. I have shot that many rounds in a weekend but only because I went to a class. I certainly don’t need that much out put every week. Even a Lee classic turret press will yield 500 round a week with that schedule. Am I suggesting that everyone buy a Lee classic turret press? NO But 75% or more of shooters could get by with one if they had to. There is a saying in the racing industry. Speed cost money haw fast do want to spend? The same is true in the reloading industry. The faster you want to go the more it is going to cost you. Thankfully the costs for reloading are tiny compared to racing. Also a quality reloading press can last you a lifetime. Spending $500 to $1000 dollars on a reloading machine doesn’t seem so expensive when you realize that in 10 years you only spent $50 To $100 dollars a year for that machine. Also in the case of Dillons they hold there value. If you decide to sell your reloader you can expect to get 75% to 90% of current market value back on your purchase. Case feeders are something to think about even if you don’t want one when you first start to reload. A case feeder will greatly increases your hourly production. Not all Case feeders are made equal. The lee is the least expensive and versatile. The 550 Case feeder was an afterthought. It works on pistol cases only. The 650 1050 and LNL all have similar functioning units that load both pistol and rifle cartages. These case feeders can increases your output 40% or more. The new low cost Hornady bullet feeder has the potential to increases these press another 40% or more. While it can be installed on a four station press you have to give up something else to make it work. Both of these products are reasons to look harder at the 5 station press instead of the 4 station presses. The Hornady LNL and the Billon 650 should both be capable of production rate over 1000 rounds an hour with a case feeder and a bullet feeder. The Presses Lee Pro 1000 Some people have fairly good luck with them and swear by them. Most people just swear at them. If you want a cheap press and like to constantly tinker with a press then a Lee Pro 1000 might be right for you. There are more negatives than positives reviews on the web about them. I know one guy that swears by his. I have never used one myself. . Lee Classic turret press If you are going to look at a Lee turret press only look at the Classic. It’s not a progressive press and you have to pull the handle 4 times for each round. It’s slow, it’s cheap, it works. If you are on a tight budget it will give you more production for the same price as a lot of single stage presses. One Hour Production Rate 200 The Dillon Square Deal The Dillon Square Deal is a pistol caliber only press... no bottle neck cartridges.. The Dillon Square Deal uses proprietary Dillon dies so you won't be able to use any dies you might already own. If you want to change calibers you have to buy more Square Deal proprietary dies for it. The Dillon Square Deal has a small footprint which is a benefit if you are limited on bench space but a detriment if you have big fingers. The Dillon Square Deal is the least expensive of the Dillon press line. If you are sure you are only going to load one or two pistol cartridge then this might be the press for you. One Hour Production Rate 350 The Dillon RL550B RL550B is manual-indexing four station progressive press. The Dillon RL550B is the workhorse Dillon press line. It can load almost any center fire rifle or pistol cartridge. It has 120 caliber conversions available for it. In the Dillon line the Dillon RL550B is the most economical add calibers to. It has less expensive caliber conversions than other Dillon presses. If you were buying just one Dillon press and wanted the most bang for the buck, it would be a Dillon RL550B. According to Dillon more RL550s have been sold than any other progressive machine in the world. One Hour Production Rate 500 The Dillon XL650 The XL 650 is auto-indexing five station progressive press. The XL 650 was built from the ground up to be an auto-indexing press with a case feeder. The Dillon XL650 comes standard with a tube system for an automatic case feeder. The automatic case feeder is sold separately So the advertised starting price doesn’t accurately reflect the true price of a Dillon XL650. A fully set up Dillon XL650 cost twice what a Dillon RL550B cost but produces twice as much ammo an hour. The caliber conversions for the Dillon XL650 are noticeably more expensive than the RL550B and the LNL. For large volume reloading, versatility and ease of use a Dillon XL650 is hard to beat. One Hour Production Rate 800 The Super 1050 B The Super 1050 B is the king of the Dillon line. It is designed for commercial use and not normally in the running for what press should I buy. If you need it you know you need it. One Hour Production Rate 1200 Hornady Lock N Load AP The Lock-N-Load AP is an auto-indexing, 5-station progressive press that features the Lock-N-Load bushing system, which allows calibers to be changed very quickly. The Lock-N-Load is the cheapest press to equip with additional caliber conversions. During Automatic Indexing Each station moves 1/2 a stage on the upstroke and 1/2 a stage on the down stroke and the up stroke, making for a smoother function. This means less chance of flinging powder out of cases. The Lock-N-Load AP can be used with or without a case feeder. This allows you to start at a Dillon 550B price but to upgrade to a Dillon XL650 speed press at a later date. The earlier editions of this press were known to have issues and were more in line with Lee quality presses. With the new generation of presses Hornady is trying to go head to head with Dillon including matching their warranty. One Hour Production Rate 500 with case feeder 800. The Warranty lee reloading products are guaranteed not to wear out or break from normal use for two full years or they will be repaired or replaced at no charge if returned to the factory. Any LEE product of current manufacture, regardless of age or condition, will be reconditioned to new—including a new guarantee—if returned to the factory with payment equal to half the current retail price. Hornady Warranty “We guarantee every one of our reloading tools and accessories for Life” No-Risk, Lifetime Warranty. Hornady reloading tools and accessories are warranted against material defects and workmanship for the life of the products. Parts which by nature of their function are subject to normal wear such as springs, pins, bearings, etc… and, parts which have been altered, abused, or neglected are excluded for the warranty. If the product is deemed defective by either workmanship or material, the reloading tool or accessory will either be repaired, reconditioned or replaced at Hornady Manufacturing Company’s option. If it breaks, we’ll repair it or replace it at no charge. Dillon precision No warranty cards, registration or serial numbers are necessary. Whether you are the first owner, or the seventeenth, all our hobby-level reloading machines have a lifetime warranty. If you break, damage or wear out anything on them, it will be fixed or replaced – whatever is necessary to restore the machine to normal operating condition. If a minor part is all that is needed, contact us and we will ship the part. If something major is damaged or broken, contact us and we issue the customer a return merchandise authorization-RMA- to return the item to us for repair. The customer pays the shipping; we fix or replace as is warranted. I rate the warrantees from worst to best Lee, Hornady, Dillon. Both the Hornady and Dillon have excellent warrantees. The difference is that Dillon will also warrantee consumables. Hornady has been doing this lately also but it isn’t in there written warrantee. Lastly Dillon will even completely rebuild a press to new condition for a small fee. They don’t care if you are the original owner or if you found it in a garbage can. They still honor their warrantee. So which reloading press is right for you? That depends… How much ammo you are going to make a month average? What is your budget? How much time do you have to reload? How many different calibers do you want to reload? Here is my personal picks. Budget $300 or less…… Lee Classic turret press Budget $300 to $600 …. Hornady Lock N Load AP Budget over $600 with more than 5 calibers…. Hornady Lock N Load AP with bullet feeder. Budget over $800 with 4 calibers…… Dillon XL650 Budget doesn’t matter with 1 caliber …. The Super 1050 B You only want to buy one press to last for the rest of your life regardless of what you want to reload….. Dillon RL550B http://www.leeprecision.com/ http://www.hornady.com/reloading http://www.dillonprecision.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansy Posted December 6, 2010 Share Posted December 6, 2010 In an effort to refine the which press for you paper I am curious to know. How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 1500 or so (I have loaded up to 5K a session in the pass, depend on my workload) How many cartridges do you make Shoot in an average week? 750 (about 3-5k per month during the peck months) Which press do you use? 1050 w/ Bullet Feeder and PF100..... How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 1200 or so How long is your average loading session? as long as it take.... usually a few hours....need to separate my casing and resize them as well...and I like my stuff really shinny. Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? 1050 w/BF and PF100... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) How many cartridges do you make in an average loading session? 500 to 600 How many cartridges do you make in an average week? 500 to 1500 (during the winter, when I load most of the ammo for the rest of the year) Which press do you use?SDB How many cartridges can you load in an hour? 250 to 350/hr major match ammo with QC checks and extra care in technique, 600/hr for practice and local club match ammo. That's the net rate over the session of 1-2 hrs. (the press stays set up, adjusted and powder in the hopper until I've loaded what I want for the week. I preload my ten primer tubes, which only takes 12 to 15 minutes. Caliber change over and final clean up will add another 30 to 45 minutes to a week's loading session) How long is your average loading session?1-2 hours Knowing what you know now if your reloading equipment was lost or stolen what would you buy today? 3 SDB's (one for each of the calibers I usually shoot) or 1 SDB and a 650 Edited December 7, 2010 by kevin c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I have a Dillon 650. I usually load 500 rounds per session because I only have 5 primer pick-up tubes. It will take me about 1.5 hours to fill primer tubes, fill powder measure/confirm the charge weight, load the ammo and clean the press. We're supposed to CLEAN our presses too? Well, obviously not a detailed cleaning, but a quick wipe down and blow with the air compressor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now