Ok,so I think I want to take up reloading........

[TXCHI]

I use a Dillon Square Deal B it is a couple of hundred cheaper than the 550. Has the same life time warranty, all the moving parts have nylon bushing. If somthing wears out call Dillon and they will send you the parts no charge. Removable brass pins at each stage to check the progress. Put brass in the right, bullet in the left, move the handle down then up, you have a loaded round.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jmac00]

I use a Dillon Square Deal B it is a couple of hundred cheaper than the 550. Has the same life time warranty, all the moving parts have nylon bushing. If somthing wears out call Dillon and they will send you the parts no charge. Removable brass pins at each stage to check the progress. Put brass in the right, bullet in the left, move the handle down then up, you have a loaded round.

The Square Deal B is mainly for pistol rounds, the 550 will load virtually every rifle and pistol rounds.

And there "NO BS" warranty is just that. One of my friends was having a problem with his 550 and he called Dillon. When they found out it was 10 years old and had 70,000+ rounds through it, they said just send the whole thing back, which he did and they re-built the thing for nothing.

[rottkeeper]

The Square Deal B is mainly for pistol rounds, the 550 will load virtually every rifle and pistol rounds.

And there "NO BS" warranty is just that. One of my friends was having a problem with his 550 and he called Dillon. When they found out it was 10 years old and had 70,000+ rounds through it, they said just send the whole thing back, which he did and they re-built the thing for nothing.

It just doesn't get any better than that.

[sgtD]

I am a (very)low volume reloader, and a noob (about 1 year), just so you know where I'm coming from.

I could not afford a Dillon and had no where to put it. My whole setup to get started loading .38 spl cost a little over $200, inlcuding powder, bullets and primers. Since then I added the powder measure, more die sets, supplies and a brass tumbler, so i don't know what I have in it now.

I'm not against dippers, but they do make things slow. If you want to throw a certain weight, you'll have to weigh every charge and 2/3 of your reloading time will be spent measuring powder. However, if your happy with the load the dipper that comes with the Lee dies throws, then it's not so bad.

I bought a Lee Perfect Powder Measure for about $20 and it works like a charm and definately sped things up.

I use dippers for rifle loading and weigh every charge, but I only load 20 or less at a time, so it's quicker to just dip 'em rather than reset the powder measure.

For pistol loads where I am loading 50 at a time,(maybe 3 times a month at most) the powder measure definately speeds things up.

I use a Lee Hand Press, because I don't have a lot of room. Not the best, but it gets the job done and I'm happy with it. It works well on everything I've tried it on up to .308. I'm sure it will do 30-06, but it may be tough to size anything bigger. If you have room, you'd be better off to get a table mounted press, but the handpress will work and makes good ammo if you don't plan on making much. Plus you can size and deprime while sitting in your easy chair watching the game. I will probably continue to use it for that even after I get a bench mounted press.

Doing more than 50 at a time would be a real chore though. It takes me about an hour to make 50 38spl rounds, over half of that time is spent on case prep.(trim, deburr, clean primer pocket) Really you could get by without doing all that stuff every time.

I would also not be without the autoprime tool. It's awesome IMO.

Using an autoprime, the powder measure, and the hand press, if I exclude case prep, I can load 50 in about 20 min.

[dougja]

Jumping in a little late, excuse me if some has been mentioned...
I started a few months ago with the Lee hand loading press. I really enjoy it, sure it is slow but after about 90 minutes I have 100 rounds of .45 ammo. I might shoot 100 a week, so it is fine and produces good ammo. I have had lots of fun learning. However, now that I am moving onto 9mm and loading for two shooters, I have on order a Lee Turret press. Check out the upgraded Lee Classic Turret from Kempf https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php?...=190&Itemid=41
Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with the hand press because the same dies will work when you upgrade and the learning is fun.

[Miggy]

A Dillon makes sense if you will shoot volume which will offset the price of the ammo you save. If time is your concern (not a lot of it to reload) then a progressive is the way to go provided you may find somebody to teach you and supervise your first couple of hundred rounds. That is my very particular opinion. Yes you can make a bunch of ammo faster, but also you can make a bunch of bad ammo faster.
A single stage or a turret makes IMHO more sense for the beginner because it forces him/her to slow down, observe, be careful and respect the craft.