Progressive press poor.

I had a motley assortment of presses: Herter dual ram, Lyman Jr., RCBS Ruckchucker, Bonanza CO-AX. They covered most of the front of my loading bench. I had to get a second bench for sizing, casting, and gun work.
I got the bug for a progressive and almost bought a Dillon. However, I studied the Lee and the Hornady - luckily. I went to a gun show and found a guy selling lots of powder at a great price and - a Hornady LNL AP. So I came home, watched all the videos on youtube and Hornady and got to work. I ordered a couple extra powder measure cylinders so I can have one for each powder charge (they are only ten bucks each), a powder cop, and a package of ten LNL widgets.
Then I proceded to degrease the press and dies with Hornady One Shot. Set the powder measure for 7.5 gr. Unique and took off. It's hard to describe the feeling of realizing I can fill 4 boxes of 44 Special in about 40 minutes. On top of that, I got 5 boxes of Hornady 185 gr. XTP slugs for my 45 Autos for $13 shipping.
So, I sold all the presses except the Rockchucker (for loading 577 NE) and relieved my loading bench considerably.
That, along with a couple tons of alloy and a four banger mold for 44's and 45's will make wet winter days almost fun. I just have to find the 'off' switch on The Interrupter - She Who Must Be Obeyed.
Now, if I can just get the Swedish Bikini Team to help me with sizing and casting, life will be so sweet.

I have had a series of Moves and with them a series of Dillon presses; a 550 RL from Idhao to Az. Another 550 in AK sold to a friend bought back and shipped to my Dad in AZ. A 650 in AK and moved back to AZ and a Square Deal B loaned to me by a friend to load him ammo:-) 20 years later & I finally find all these presses together at last! Settling down in Northern AZ with a dedicated reloading room, benches mounted with Dillon's and a Rock Chucker, just to keep the up starts in line.
The Square Deal is the dedicated 45 Colt the 650 does all things with small primers and one 550 is for Large pistol the other for 45 ACP, 243, 25-06,308, 30-06  rim cartridges... Life is good!

Started loading first in 1999 or so, a relative newbie, jumped in with a 650 and never looked back. Tool heads set up for everything from 22 hornet to 45/70,
22, 223, 5.56, 308, 762X39, 338 win mag, 340 wby, 45-70, 38/357, 9, 40, 44, 45 ACP&Colt, 454, probably missed one or two. I would say that the Dillon gives me little or no grief, changes calibers easily, and rapidly dumps piles of good quality ammo into the tray. I'm on the second rebuild, as parts do wear out, but I would rate it as "as good as any" even though I admit I have little experience with any of the others mentioned. 
Al
PS, Welcome, Simply Rugged Rob!
Thanks again for all the support. 

Rebuilt an old Dillon to mainly 550 specs some years back. Dillon has always been responsive to inquiries and helpful with replacement parts-as has RCBS. Had started with progressive presses with the old original Lee and moved onto an RCBS piggyback. Bought that rig in a pawn shop complete with Rockchucker and powder measure for $50.00. Still use the Rockchucker, among other presses,  and powder measure but have retired the piggy back portion. The lesson from all this for me was to keep the progressive as simple as possible mainly to avoid cascade catastrophes. No telling how many thousands of rounds have been loaded on the built up 55o.  The first cartridge loaded on the Dillon was 45 Colt.  Currently have a Co-ax,  Lyman turret press  and a Rockchucker set up plus the Dillon . Most of these presses came second hand and this set up allows me to work on several projects at one time.  Life is good in retirement!

I bought my first progressive from Dillon, a Square Deal B in .44 mag  and back then the price was like $175. It worked flawlessly for so many countless numbers of rounds. WOW. It was just unreal. I should have bought one for each handgun caliber I owned. Thank God I didn't. A few parts broke over the years and Dillon was all over it with excellent customer service.
 My loading space has grown less and less butI still load a bunch of calibers and a lot of rounds (CAS). In looking for a new press cartridge changeover ease and expense was important. I ended up with a Hornady Lock N' Load AP and have not regretted it for a second. Since I already had quality carbide dies for all calibers and the inserts and plates are affordable it was a great way to go. Setting the timing after a changeover can take a few minutes but Hornady's support team will walk you through and not get off the phone until you are all set to go. I have owned a few other progressive presses that I won't name but no longer own. "If ya can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".

Geez, Louise!  You guys are serious. I've just been using the same Rockchucker for over 30 years, nothing broken,  nothing worn out. One procedure one night, the next procedure another night type of deal. Went to a separate crimp die for a couple fragile rifle cartridges, like the .218 Bee, and a taper crimp for the .45 ACP;  and made a little dowel tool to help make .45 Colt shotshells using gas checks over 10 gr. of Unique and then over a full load of #12 shot,  and have been fine with being slow. But heading up on retirement,  you guys are causing me to think again. More time for shooting, ya know.  Thanks for the discussion info.

Amityslim;
I, too, used single presses for over 40 years; a Bonanza Co-ax and a ruckchucker. I always ogled the Dillons but never wanted to P.O. my wife by sinking so much money into add-on gizmos. I finally got a good deal on a L-N-L at a gunshow. Sold the Co-ax and nearly repaid myself. The only add-ons I have bought were the shell plates for 44 and 45 and a couple of extra powder measure inserts so I could change charges for each caliber without trial and error. Works like a charm. However, I had to upgrade my 44 and 45 molds to Lyman 4-holers to keep up with the shooting. Paod myself back for that by selling off single and double cavity molds that I don't need anymore. In addition, I gave up on my leaky old Lyman 45 sizer with $500 worth of dies and got a couple of Lee sizers that fit in my Rockchucker and liquid Alox. Damn, my shop gets dusty because I don't have to spend nearly as much time fiddling around reloading and casting.
Had to take up bass fushing to fill in the time.
 
Mike
 
 

Still have all that stuff set up on the bench. Today, after getting my Montana Gold 180gr. 40. cal bullets, knocked out a hundred 40 S&W rounds . Headed out for the range and chronographed loads in four different handguns.  Have another Lyman press that will be put on the bench. It is good to be able to work on several projects at one time. Wonder if I'm a firearms loony?

Went to change my Hornady LNL from 44 Spl to 45 Colt today. Everything went fine until I tried a new metering cylinder in the powder measure. I figured it would be the cat's pajamas to have a metering cylinder for each powder charge. Ha. After a bunch of tries complete with cussing, I measured the new cylinder. It's 0.003" oversize. So, I have to wait until Monday to give grief. I am sure they will make me whole, but I wasn't planning on spending half a day for a changeover. Ah, well.
But, on a bright note, here's my Civil War baby with its new caisson. Amish wheels and a cypress frame. It hasn't been so happy since 1864 when it went to the bottom of a Georgia river.
 

 

That's a good looking piece of artillery. Chris

And...it's fun to shoot. Half a pound of powder and a patched round ball. Range: 3200 yards. I have some videos on youtube under the name of kamasutraguy.
Mike

What are the boys putting in there, looks like pyrodex? I gotta get me one of those, bet my homemade bp would work great!