by wanneroo » 02 Jun 2021, 10:27 am
I own a Hornady LnL progressive press. Very happy with it overall. I haven't run into any issues having to modify it to run or anything. It has several grease points, so grease it, follow the instructions and I don't see any major dramas.
The only thing I did not like was using the expander powder drop thingee. It's an insert in the powder measure that expands pistol brass at the same time you drop powder. I found it to be a pain in the ass and got rid of that.
Here's why I bought it over the Dillon. Forgive me but it's been 3-4 years since I bought it so I may not have everything right about the Dillon. But:
1. It has 5 stations over 4 on the Dillon 550.
2. It also auto rotates when you pull the handle unlike the 550.
3. It seems to be easy to fix a boo boo over the Dillon 650
4. It was cheaper than the Dillon and Hornady barfed up 500 free bullets too as a rebate.
5. Parts or accessories are widely available at any decent big gun store or a big box store like Cabelas. I can go into any Cabelas and pick up a shell plate or whatever. The Dillon seems more a secret society and tracking down stuff is more difficult.
I've loaded tons of 9mm on it, works just fine. I think as long as you follow the instructions on set up, grease it, keep it clean and maintain it, you should be good. Every 5000 rounds I take off the shelf plate, clean any brass shavings or debris out, make sure the ball bearing is greased and the grease points have grease and good to go.
When I got it, it took a few hours to assemble, bolt it down, get it set up, etc. Progressive presses take a little more time to get everything dialed in but once you do you should fly like an eagle. I have mine set up for 9mm like this:
1. Redding progressive press 9mm resizing die
2. Prime/Lee expander die
3. Powder
4. Redding seating die for 9mm
5. Lee Factory Crimp Die