to Lee or not to Lee

[TEXAS "All or nothing"]

Lee stuff is okay for light production.
If you want to load something unusual like say a few hundred rds of .44Russian or .25-20 Winchester you can get going fairly inexpensively with Lee. With care you can make quality ammo.
Now if you want to load up 5000rds of 9mm or .38 the Dillon is light years ahead.
OP better post pics of his new Dillon or else.

BTW: buy a 10mm Auto tool head. I need someone to reload for it. LoL

I have had 10mm dies for 6 years.

 

[TEXAS "All or nothing"]

The only press of any kind I bought was a 550 back in '84 and 10s of thousands of rounds later only the index sprocket broke and got replaced free.3 years ago I bought a second 550(1 set for small primers and the other for large). They are proud of their products and accessory prices proove it. The pic has my pvc less than $6 answer.

 

[Jungle George]

Dillon has a decent reputation but I prefer RCBS mainly because they have a tremendous reputation in personal service. Example: I had a bullet puller break, I called them and they said send it in that they would take care of it. Less than a week from when I mailed it, I received a new bullet puller and all the accessories for it ..................Free. They will continue to get my business!

I had the same thing happen with a Dillon puller. They said just toss it in the trash and sent a new.

 

[miniion26]

Lee all the way. Unless you're shooting 5k bullets/month, Dillon is overkill.

 

[Txhillbilly]

If I shot a bunch of handgun rounds a month, I'd own a Dillon press, but I don't.
I have two Lee Turret presses that I've used for decades. One I use with the auto index to load my handgun cartridges, the other I use as a single stage for all of my precision rifle cartridges.
It all depends on the volume of shooting you do. If you're wanting to crank out 1k rounds at a time, buy a Dillon.

 

[rotor]

If I shot a bunch of handgun rounds a month, I'd own a Dillon press, but I don't.
I have two Lee Turret presses that I've used for decades. One I use with the auto index to load my handgun cartridges, the other I use as a single stage for all of my precision rifle cartridges.
It all depends on the volume of shooting you do. If you're wanting to crank out 1k rounds at a time, buy a Dillon.

Exactly my configuration. Lee classic turret and Lee single stage press mount in one of those Lee interchangeable mounts.

 

[Darkpriest667]

If I shot a bunch of handgun rounds a month, I'd own a Dillon press, but I don't.
I have two Lee Turret presses that I've used for decades. One I use with the auto index to load my handgun cartridges, the other I use as a single stage for all of my precision rifle cartridges.
It all depends on the volume of shooting you do. If you're wanting to crank out 1k rounds at a time, buy a Dillon.

That's what I've decided to do is just buy the Dillon I talked to Robert about this at the reunion.

 

[Reinz]

That's what I've decided to do is just buy the Dillon I talked to Robert about this at the reunion.

Wise decision Grasshopper

 

[rmantoo]

First, Darkpriest, good on you!!! GO RELOADERS!!

You say you're going to load "1000 rounds at a time." How many times a month? Or year?


I started on a 550, then went to an RL1050, added a single stage, then a turret press, then a Super 1050....

My ONLY regret is not having been honest with myself when I first started reloading about my personality type: I am OCD/ADHD/ADD/whatever... no attention span-to-nothing-BUT-attention-span, but not 100% the same, all the time...

The reason I got the RL1050, and quit using the 550 entirely was that I loaded, and fired, a squib round on the 550: Since it's a manually-indexed machine, it's relatively easy (when you have the attention span, sometimes, of a hyper active squirrel) to advance the shellplate from priming station to bullet seating, WITHOUT stroking the handle.... No catastrophe, no destroyed barrel, nothing: I pulled the trigger on the 1st shot of a split in a match, felt it was wrong, stopped, told the RO, cleared, went and pounded out the bullet, which was about 1" into the barrel..
No real harm (they even let me reshoot the stage), but it WAS scary. Went home that night, and spent the next week with a hammer-style bullet puller, disassembling a little over 3000 rounds of 9mm I'd loaded.

During that entire, 'unscrew cap, push cartridge base through jaws, insert into hammer, screw cap on, BAM!! Sometimes, BAM! BAM!' process, I kept thinking about the most effective, highest probability of hitting 100% success methods and steps QC'ing my ammo production process.

What I came up with was that since I'm the guy who on some nights will go and recheck whether the 8 exterior/entrance doors to our home are locked or not, 3-4 times, and others, I'll either not worry about it, or forget to check, entirely, I would eliminate as many manual steps as possible, so I sold the manually indexed 550 and bought the RL a short time later.

I believe (at this time, lol) that I will never own another manually indexed progressive.

What's WORSE, is that first squib was 12?15? years ago.... and I haven't had another squb...until last week... This squib was loaded on my RL1050, and scared me more than my first one did...enough so that I sold both my 1050s this last week, and am making the jump to Mark 7.

I've been loading WITHOUT a powder check die. Instead, I've been using that station for a bullet seater... The Mk7 Apex will let me have dedicated powder check, bullet feed, seat, and crimp...

 

[noylj]

Anything but a 550. Even the SDB would be preferred. If you are buying a progressive, it really needs Auto- indexing. Much better is to get a 5-station progressive.
If I lost my Dillon 1050's, I would still be very happy with a L-N-L

 

[DoubleDuty]

I am cheap so it's Lee for me.

 

[Jungle George]

Dillon their service is what keeps me coming back.

 

[SGHinds]

Both the Lee and Dillon are fine for loading ammo. I started with a RCBS RCII and still use it for load development but have since upgraded to a used Dillon 550B. It does what I need it to do and at my pace. Also, since you're ordering the 550 don't go all crazy with upgrading the machine. It runs fine the way it was designed. Use it and then see what you need to make yours the way you want it.

 

[TxStetson]

Both the Lee and Dillon are fine for loading ammo. I started with a RCBS RCII and still use it for load development but have since upgraded to a used Dillon 550B. It does what I need it to do and at my pace. Also, since you're ordering the 550 don't go all crazy with upgrading the machine. It runs fine the way it was designed. Use it and then see what you need to make yours the way you want it.

I slowly accessorized my 550b as I went. Just because the accessories are out there doesn't mean they'll make anything faster, easier, or better.

 

[Pistol Pete]

I've had the turret press kit on order since mid November. I understand yadda yadda back orders and logistics. What I'm really wondering is should I cancel my order, get the refund and just go ahead and get the dillon 550c for 9mm and then a 223 conversion kit later (and then even later 6.5 grendel) because at this point if I had ordered the Dillon in November I'd already have it up and running.

Yeah, get the 550C if you have a choice. Not really apples to apples at all. My experience with Lee stuff has always been marginal.

 

[Polkwright]

I slowly accessorized my 550b as I went. Just because the accessories are out there doesn't mean they'll make anything faster, easier, or better.

I have what is probably the least sophisticated Dillon. I call it a RL 500. It started life as a RL450 which does not have the removable tool head and has a manual primer feed and a manual powder dump.

Dillon sells a stripped 550 frame so you can upgrade. I did that but kept the manual primer feed. I rigged a Lee Auto Disk powder measure to automate the powder charging. Mine doesn't have the bins or the "star" to advance the shell plate, you just pull out the loaded round to advance.

I could mount the automatic primer feed but eh, it's fast enough. I shoot about 500 - 600 rounds a month. That's just a couple of hours. On a single stage that would take me probably six hours at least? I don't really like spending more time reloading than shooting.

 

[xdmikey]

Wow rmantoo, that was a big batch of honesty, good for you.

I'm still using Lee(started with it in '90), classic SS for decapping & sizing, but mostly loading on an LNL but revolvers are loaded on my T7.

 

[Havok1]

good choice on going with the Dillon. I have a Lee turret press sitting in a box in my garage, and a Dillon 550 on my bench. I’m actually really happy with my Lee press in terms of quality, but it’s now an older version and their newer safety prime and powder measures aren’t as good in my opinion. The 550 is much faster and the way to go. You don’t have to worry about outgrowing it.