Need a press for 9mm/45acp/44mag/5.56/.308/.50 beowulf

[wwboater]

I used a single stage press for years...... I came into a Dillon 650 in a trade and holly crap batman. I had no idea of what I was missing. The 650 pumps out tons of ammo fast. The powder drops are very reliable and spot on. Now for my 308 I will use my 550. The 550 is great to load slow and measure each and every powder drop.

Yes Dillon stuff is pricey but whats that motto every one always says? Buy once cry once...... If you idea of a good scope is NcStar then the Dillon stuff not for you.

 

[wynnjammer]

X-2 what wwboater said. Just finish up 4000 45acp don't think a lee could hold up or work as flawless as my 650

 

[Clarke123]

Reloading is a great way to develop a better understasnding of your firearm and what it takes to get the best performance from it. You can also save a little money if you shoot a lot. However, it takes experience and patience to do it correctly. Just as you wouldn't start your son or daughter on a gas powered trail bike instead of a pedal bike with training wheels, it is simply prudent and wise to start out reloading with a press that can be used as non-progressive. You will then have time to actually see what happens with each step of the loading process, including the mistakes that can and do happen (squib / overcharged loads, upside-down primers, too-deep / too-shallow bullet seating, etc, etc). While limiting your exposure to risk, you will also be limiting your investment ... as some people who thought that they wanted to relaod fimnd that they simply don't have the time or inclination to continue after they try it.

Never forget that reloading is one of the most safe and dangerous hobbies that you can undertake: It is generally safe if you always follow ALL of The Rules EVERY TIME, but can be fatal if you don't! The bicycle example that I gave above should be your guide ... Take as good care of yourself as you would your children. After all, they will want to have you around to raise them!

 

[ga_red_rider]

You could build a small table from Home Depot for about $60. I did and have used it for years. I put a Lee Loadmaster on the right end for pistol catridges and an RCBS Rock chucker Supreme on the left end for rifle cartridges. Rifle demands a lot more work for consistent results. Pistol being shorter range weapons is more forgiving of slight variations in cartridge length. Most important is that you visually confirm a powder charge is every case before seating a bullet. This way if you see what looks like an over charge in a rifle case you can weight it to double check. Nothing will get you hurt faster than a pistol cartridge without a powder charge. I mounted an LED flashlight on my press as I never set a bullet without "seeing" a charge in the case. After 20 years I have seen a total of 2 squib loads, not a bad average

 

[45cal]

I started out in the mid sixties with an old rock-chucker rcbs.Man that was work,so in the seventies I went to the Dillon 550.
I like the hands on manual control.
I bought a second 550 and have one set for small primers and one set for large primers.
I load a bunch of different calibers from 300 ultra mag down to 380's

 

[Old_School]

I think I'm looking for a Dillion 650 press but wonder if it will handle all those calibers? I really don't know squat about reloading yet.

Is there another setup that you might recommend?

Can you also recommend a good tutorial?

I would also recommend a single stage for the new reloader who is starting out. Good to learn the fundamentals before you add the complexities of a progressive loader. That said, you'll get frustrated pretty quick in trying to feed that subgun with a single stage press!

If you do decide to get a progressive and you are thinking about loading all of those calibers, you might want to go with the Dillon 550b. Caliber changes are a lot cheaper than with the 650.

I've got a 550 set up for a number of calibers, but I still go back to a single stage for loading some of my revolver and rifle calibers. Especially if I'm working with max loads or with cartridges I only shoot a few boxes of each year.

 

[midatlantic_bullets]

You might look at www.startreloading.com
you will find good starting reloading information there.

 

[midatlantic_bullets]

I used a single stage press and was able to do 500 rounds a night all week long. 9MM goes especially fast. I was using a RCBS rockchucker press.
Primed using a hand primer. charged using a balance beam scale.
It was a great learning experience before dumping all the money into a progressive press. Its not the press that kills you, its the time to switch between calibers and do the setup for mass preparing a specific load.