I see that I can get one of these in 9mm for $139 from Midway. Is this a good press for a beginner? I want to crank out lots of 9mm and maybe .223 and maybe .308.
Printable View
I see that I can get one of these in 9mm for $139 from Midway. Is this a good press for a beginner? I want to crank out lots of 9mm and maybe .223 and maybe .308.
If you are pretty handy and can fix it when little parts break, you can crank out a lot of ammo. I used one for years. If they are made like they used to be the plastic bushings need to be replaced on regular intervals.
A dillon 650 is worth the asking price. You set your dies up and never have to adjust them again. The casefeeder will really speed things up. Plus it will be 10 times more durable. The reduction of frustration and increase in production ( less down time, faster process, etc...) made the price increase more than worth it.
I had one and spent more time trying to make it work them making ammo. The primer system is a POS. Personally I would rather have a single stage press then the Pro 1000.
I have owned 3 of them. The primer feed system is crap. I lacked the patience to keep them running. I used a Dillon Square Deal for a while and prefered it to the Lee presses. I have since sold the Dillon and purchased a LymanT- Mag turret press. Works for me
Primer feed definately is crap, but honestly, even my Dillon 1050 has its "primer moments" and thats dedicated to 5.56. Long story here, but there are some things I just dont like in the 550 for the cost.
I grew up on a 1000. Loaded thousands of 9mm for years until I had an opportunity to increase volume of 9mm loading by going to a LoadMaster for a dream. My 1000 is and has been dedicated to .45 only since.
For keeping this functional and my sanity was to break this into a phases. What I did was to use a second turret thingy(thing on the top the dies screw into) I essentially have one with the decapper only and a second with the powder feed die and bullet seating die. My process is to do things in stages and in bulk. First pass is simply using the case feeder and do nothing but decap all the brass. Second is using a "hand primer" to prime the brass(while in a big chair watching movies.) The third pass I chage out the turret thingy, feed all the primed brass in the case feeder and here I charge and come out with loaded rounds.
BTW - I do have a Dillon 550 as well, but since the 1000 was retread for me, it was still a better deal. I really like case feeding and auto-indexing which would take you into the Dillon 650 realm. My 550 is a dedicated 5.56 decapper and trimmer.
If you buy the Lee 1000, I suggest that you dedicate it to 9mm, select a ball powder for ease of measuring, choose one load and stay with it, and then you may have fairly good luck. For the rifle rounds, try another approach.
I loaded good ammo with the 1000 but went nuts messing with it. One morning I awoke, removed the dies from the machine, and dumped it in the trash. I had had enough.
I hate to see a beginner in the hobby even consider the L 1000. I fear that he may drop out of the reloading game.
Williejc
there junk. Save your money and buy a 550.
ive used the loadmaster for 15 years, it will pump out 100 rounds every 7 min in pistol, i can do 223 on it as well