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What's the best progressive reloading press to load 9mm


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for the home user a dillon 650 is a pretty good option. I'm assuming here that price is still a factor? Otherwise a great home machine would be a dillon 1050 with a PW autodrive kit and mr bulletfeeder. That way it's just load up all the components and tun on the switch...

the 650 is a great press but it does have it's quirks. it's certainly by no means perfect. What it has over some other options (RCBS progressive, Hornaday LNL AP, Lee LoadMaster) is that it has huge aftermarket support in terms of 'bug fixes' and it has a great warranty (particularly for anyone living in the US). Those may be factors that are important to you. Apart from that those 4 presses I mention can all turn out basically the same quality ammo. There is nothing inherently different in them.

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Whats wrong with your 550B? I love mine and can load pretty darn fast. If I had a case feeder, I bet I could run just as fast as a 650. But if you really want to spend less time at the bench, I think the 1050 is the way to go. A friend of mine has one and its nuts. He also has a huge SS pin tumbler (small cement mixer size) that he can clean 1000's of pieces of brass at once. He beats me six ways to Sunday in that department.

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I just went from a 550 to a 650. Not only is it faster, but it seems a little stronger. Also I like the priming system better by a long shot. I may miss the manual indexing during load development but overall really happy with the change.

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I use the Dillon 1050 with the PW Autodrive kit and Mr.Bulletfeeder.

I pre-process all my brass in two steps.

(I know, sounds stupid to take a 1200 rph machine then slow it down, but there is a method to my madness.)

I resize, deprime, and primer pocket swage only running the machine an auto while I clean my guns or inspect loaded ammo, etc.

Brass that lands in the bucket will have been sized properly, have empty and prove primer pockets, and have no bent rims. I tend to collect it by the 5 gallon pail.

I run sized brass through the machine for a second pass with most of the dies and swagger removed to simply prime the cases. Again, little real attention required so I can be working on something else.

When I load ammo, all I need to focus on is keeping the powder and bullet hoppers topped up.

1200 perfect rounds an hour, hands free.

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Purchased an early Hornady LNL AP 650 many years ago at an almost insane low price. He said he had fretted with it for longer than he cared to. I set it up and then researched the problem in the owners manual. Required turning one of the timing bolts a small fraction of a turn to get it operating perfectly. I have helped a few other AP owners get them right through the years and in every case the fix has been in the book. I consider the 650 and LNL AP to be a toss up for those without a previous preference.

OH, there was a recent set of photos doing the circuit that depicted a guy using a foot operated power feed on his 650. He was hand feeding the bullets and missed a beat, the case punching a clean hole through a finger. I think this story was on the SASS site a while back. Think I will stick to pulling the lever!

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Whats wrong with your 550B? I love mine and can load pretty darn fast. If I had a case feeder, I bet I could run just as fast as a 650.

If nothing else, having an extra die station to check the powder charge is worth the upgrade. It has saved my bacon a few times...

I almost got a 1050, but am happy I chose the 650. It's a very nice machine.

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Whats wrong with your 550B? I love mine and can load pretty darn fast. If I had a case feeder, I bet I could run just as fast as a 650.

If nothing else, having an extra die station to check the powder charge is worth the upgrade. It has saved my bacon a few times...

I almost got a 1050, but am happy I chose the 650. It's a very nice machine.

Id buy that. For that specific reason I only load with high volume powder... It would be nice to have a powder check station for sure. maybe I could use my 3#'s of titegroup then!

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