Progressive presses make less accurate rifle ammo

[horter]

A few guys here use progressive presses I know from workshop pics and that kind of thing.

I've read a couple of comments elsewhere from different people reloading for rifles who say they prefer single stage presses because the ammunition is more accurate.

Do you guys agree with this? The comments I've read seem to be all around hand loading rifle ammunition, not pistol.

I couldn't see why it would make a difference though?

Cheers.

[Chronos]

I have never reloaded rifle ammo on a progressive press but I'd agree

The flex and clearances required would no doubt lead to inconsistencies in seating length as well as the limitations of the powder metering systems

That said if you're loading bulk hunting ammo a progressing may be the way to go but I'd be looking for carbide rifle dies

Straight line dies can be an improvement again over single stage dies but its horses for courses

Chronos

[Kipper]

If you look up a video of a progressive press in action you'll see there is a lot more going on.

Lots of moving parts connected, thing rotating into place etc. There has to be a little tolerance all round for things to go smoothly. Flex could be an issue too with the much more involved unit like Chronos said.

Really comes down to how much ammo you need to reload. If you're shooting competitively every week and shooting hundreds of rounds every week, a single stage just isn't going to be feasible. You'll spend every second of free time at the reloading bench.

[Seik]

I think there is some validity to it, but really it depends how much accuracy you demand and how much ammo you need.

Like Kipper said, if you're shooting thousands of rounds a single stage press probably just isn't going to be practical. This is especially relevant for competition pistol shooters.

For rifle shooting. If you're demanding the utmost possible accuracy from your setup you would probably go with a single stage. If you're not that fanatical about it or shoot enough that the time saved is worth a fraction less the it's probably still worth while.

For hunters who only shoot a few dozen or max a few a hundred rounds a year, the cost of a progressive press probably isn't justified anyway.

[Rippah]

I was talking with one of the pistol shooters at a local range ages ago now.

He reckons you would be expected to shoot 5,000+ rounds a year if you're shooting pistols competitively.

Wonder how long that would take to load on a single stage

[petemacsydney]

i've got the Dillon XL650 Progressive for 308 reloading and i love it.

My reloads have cut me down from 1 MOA to 0.5 MOA and i'm still in the early stages of load development. that's all the improvement i need for now, but then i don't shoot for cattle stations.

Whilst utmost accuracy is still very important to me, the convenience and time saving for a respectable and considerable improvement is sufficient argument enough for me to stay the course on progressive... for now...

[Antie]

I've shot a decent bit of ammo from a progressive press and it's definitely not terrible.

[Octane]

Nah it's a fine tuning thing.

Like Pete said he's getting .5 MOA so it's obviously not all bad.

If you're shooting heaps or just want to save yourself the time. Progressive press can't be beat IMO.

For the time saving along I think they're great.

[Tonit]

He reckons you would be expected to shoot 5,000+ rounds a year if you're shooting pistols competitively.

Wonder how long that would take to load on a single stage

Too long...

Bring on the progressive press!

[Warrigul]

Nah it's a fine tuning thing.

Like Pete said he's getting .5 MOA so it's obviously not all bad.

If you're shooting heaps or just want to save yourself the time. Progressive press can't be beat IMO.

For the time saving along I think they're great.

I am not a huge fan of progressive presses mainly because I like to control each step and load many different calibres and rifles, I have also have set up three that were supposedly rubbish and unusable.

The biggest issue with a progressive press seems to be user error and rumour.. Many people walk away from them simply because they can't get them right then they bag them out as rubbish. And then you get the reloading snobs chipping in their two cents worth but that is a different topic again.

As far as accuracy goes I have seen good and bad come off a progressive, most who load for precision don't use a progressive but a well setup progressive is definately capable of sub moa accuracy, and if you are loading lots for a limited range of calibres then they are a godsend.

[Davies]

Many people walk away from them simply because they can't get them right then they bag them out as rubbish.

Didn't you know? It's never the shooters fault, always the equipment

[horter]

Like Pete said he's getting .5 MOA so it's obviously not all bad.

That'd do me