the answer
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Progressive Presses!
- Thread starter jeffdt
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the answer
I have to admit it's a no bull crap warranty and have used it on a worn decade old press. There will always be issues with a progressive press but it seems a bit less with Dillon and less stressful when dealing with CS. Great guys kudos for all the hard working folks at Dillon.
I do have Lee and RCBS presses as well.
They're all great choices as long as you pick big blue...
I've used Dad's hand me down RCBS single stage, Lyman, and Hornady. And I picked the Dillon 550. I've never had any real complaints about it- other than the stuff ain't cheap. But it's rock solid and runs like a top.
How can you have a press for 20 years "with zero problems" and know anything about their customer service or no bs warranty? Must have ran into some problems along the way.
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Use them enough and some parts just wear out. Dillon has always been awesome for the small parts I've needed along the way.
Two examples from me- I wore out one of the little square plastic slider/bushings on the powder charge bar. I had one in the spare parts kit, but called Dillon and they sent me one for free. I got it before the week was out. And I (totally my fault, and I explained it that way) lost the bent rod that operates the primer slider. They sent me one at no charge.
After those experiences, I went ahead and set up tool heads for .308 and .223. I'd been doing those on the single stage previously.
There is one thing I'll say about Dillon's quick change system that kind of doesn't make sense to me... You can change calibers easily in a minute or two. However, I really don't need to when I'm cranking out 400 rounds an hour with out rushing. Heck, an evening of reloading gives me months of ammo. I wouldn't mind if it took a little more effort to change calibers. But I'm not going to complain too much about the press being too easy and too quick.
Oh I have called Dillon. They send the part that day no questions. I'm on my third lever that indexes the shell plate and couple other small parts on my square deal press. I seriously can't recall how rounds that press has spit out.
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Priming problems are the bane of all progressive loaders .... and are usually due to too swift or poor indexing, and / or poor housekeeping!
Those who have a Hornady LNL AP (I do) can alleviate most problems by keeping the shell-plate clear of debris (especially powder!).
The primer feeder is on a slide that will jamb with debris packed into the front edge. When enough debris (and it takes very little) gets "packed in", the primer seater will become misaligned with its "hole" and therefore jamb the entire mechanism. This requires a disassembly of the shell plate and primer feed plate, and clean out of the debris.
IMHO, Hornady could easily fix this problem by deepening the existing slight routing that they made in the press body (just underneath where the leading edge of the primer feeder slide; this routing should go clean through so as to allow debris to be "swept out" rather than "packed in".
Currently, I address the problem by being careful about indexing too swiftly (thereby jerking nearly-full cartridges with powder in them) which will cause powder spills, I also keep a can of compressed air nearby and occasionally give the shell-plate a short blast. In doing so, I (now) rarely encounter a primer feed incident.
Those who have a Hornady LNL AP (I do) can alleviate most problems by keeping the shell-plate clear of debris (especially powder!).
The primer feeder is on a slide that will jamb with debris packed into the front edge. When enough debris (and it takes very little) gets "packed in", the primer seater will become misaligned with its "hole" and therefore jamb the entire mechanism. This requires a disassembly of the shell plate and primer feed plate, and clean out of the debris.
IMHO, Hornady could easily fix this problem by deepening the existing slight routing that they made in the press body (just underneath where the leading edge of the primer feeder slide; this routing should go clean through so as to allow debris to be "swept out" rather than "packed in".
Currently, I address the problem by being careful about indexing too swiftly (thereby jerking nearly-full cartridges with powder in them) which will cause powder spills, I also keep a can of compressed air nearby and occasionally give the shell-plate a short blast. In doing so, I (now) rarely encounter a primer feed incident.
