Quote:
Originally Posted by Dusty Miller
If you stick with a single stage press your savings start to add up a lot quicker, and there are cheaper presses than the 550B that'd get the same result (quicker savings). Of course, if you shoot a LOT then a progressive press is the way to go.
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Dusty -- You're right in that if you buy a cheaper press, the savings would manifest themselves sooner. Even though I said I didn't want to debate my selections, I'll give a little reasoning behind my choice. I started with a single stage press and loaded on one for a few years. It works and in fact I still load my accuracy rifle rounds on a single stage press. But in the context of trying to answer the question that I see posed most often about cost of reloading, I took into the equation how much shooting are you going to do before reloading is necessary or beneficial. Quite frankly, if you are shooting only one caliber and are only going to shoot one or two boxes of ammo a month, it's hardly beneficial to start reloading for the savings you will generate. With this in mind, I figured that most who are looking to get into reloading either are shooting 300+ rounds per month or would like to. And also realizing that to most of us, our time is extremely limited by jobs, family, etc., I chose the RL550 press. I could have saved a little money by choosing the Square Deal press and that's fine if you KNOW you're never going to load another caliber. But if you start loading for several calibers and considering the cost of the dies for a Square Deal, you actually save money with the RL550. Throw in that you cannot load rifle rounds on the Square Deal and that's why I chose the RL550. As for the choice of Dillon equipment, I know others have had success with other brands of progressives but Dillon is the
ONLY progressive that I will recommend. My current reloading setup consists of (1) Dillon RL550B, (2) Dillon 650s with case feeders and (1) Lyman T-Mag turret press for rifle rounds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HotGuns
Some questions...
The Dillon 550b comes with a powder measure. Why buy another?
The Lee 4 die set is almost as expensive as the Dillon dies. Why not just buy the Dillon dies?
I've been loading for over 25 years an never used a loading block. I could see it with a single stage press, but with a 550b its not needed.
Do you really save money, or do you just shoot more? 
Good post btw...  |
On the powder measure and the loading block, you're absolutely correct. I decided to put this chart together on a whim while reading another post this morning. I was thinking about the progression I made when I first started and wanting to make sure that I didn't miss anything I included those items without really thinking. Since I actually started on a single stage press 30+ years ago, I included a couple of things that aren't really necessary for the use of the Dillon. My mistake.
As for the dies, I don't use nor will I recommend Dillon dies for reloading auto pistol rounds. Dillon makes a sales point out of the radius on the mouth of their dies helping to feed the case in on a progressive press. By doing that, it means that the case doesn't get sized as far down as it will with other dies like the Lee. Also, I use a Lee FCD for every round I load so the cost for that would have to be added to the cost of a different brand of dies. And here I am debating my choices again when I said I didn't want to do this.
I really didn't want to get into a debate about what equipment is better, what bullets are better, why I don't like these primers or this powder. I just wanted to give a little bit of a graphical representation of the costs involved with reloading and how quickly they can pay out. Obviously, any choices that someone makes that lower the costs from my chart will result in a quicker payout and higher savings.
Hoss