Progressive press.
- Thread starter MGD
- Start date
nun_hunter
Well-Known Member
Not sure if it's strictly a progressive press but I've got a Lyman T-Mag with three different turrets for different cartridges. Once set up properly I've found it in redibly accurate. I can swap the turrets around and there is no adjusting of dies, it just works every time.
The turrets aren't cheap (about £80 if you can find them) but it means a loading session, of priming, loading, crimping can be really quick even doing different cartridges. Likewise resizing, trimming etc can all be done together and quickly.
The turrets aren't cheap (about £80 if you can find them) but it means a loading session, of priming, loading, crimping can be really quick even doing different cartridges. Likewise resizing, trimming etc can all be done together and quickly.
Swedish
Well-Known Member
Dillon RL550C Machine No Conversion 14261 - Reloading UK
The Dillon RL550 is the most versatile reloading machine in the Dillon Precision Products line.
www.reloading.co.uk
I use a Lee progressive for the .38 and .357 and find it great. It makes constant loads for my LBR and Under leaver. I know of a mate using one for .223 and it’s great for that. Worth taking time to set it up properly and always have at least half full primer feed or it doesn’t push them down.
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
Hello. I have experience of the RCBS Green Machine, the RCBS 4x4 Auto, the Star, and the Dillon Square Deal and RL 550. I have no experience of the Lee Challenger type system!
Accuracy is down to consistency and ease of achieving that consistency. This consistency is about how well the individual stations "mate" (as it were) with the die that it services. In simple terms the more bulk you have in the base and in the carrousel the more likely (if the indexing system that turns that carrousel is well made) the press is to be accurate. Slop or nearly in nearly out doesn't give consistency just the same as a revolver that doesn't index its cylinder correctly and precisely in the the right place.
The Green Machine was an inline press. It was awful. CH got their inline press right and spot on the Auto Champ Mk IV for example. The Green Machine was a horror. Best thing about it was the big hole where the dies went so that you could run a rope through to use the thing as a boat anchor. It really was that bad!
The RCBS 4x4 Auto has a weakness in that the indexing is fine and is positive but that the rotation of the stations is effected by a rod and nylon washer. Nylon wears the rotation is no longer completed and the thing becomes a PITA. The device is NOT however a write off. Best thing to do with the RCBS 4x4 Auto is to strip out all the automatic functions (rotation - auto primer feeding - auto powder charging) and down convert it, as it were, to basic RCBS 4x$ configuration. To make it effectively a manual progressive. This is easily done.
Star Progressive. Once upon a time rated as the "Rolls Royce" of progressives. Manual or automatic convertible it is all old fashioned steel and brass. If it were a sub-machine gun it'd be a Lanchester to Lee's Challenger Sten. If that analogy makes sense. Heavy, solid, but needs special dies and very old school. Complete a joy and they never break nor bend. But if they arrive to you incomplete then sourcing the parts is like seeking the Holy Grail.
Dillon Square Deal and Dillon RL 550. These both sell well and sell well for a reason. But on the Square Deal the primer feed can be sometimes a bit temperamental. I had one in .44 Magnum and liked it a lot. The RL 550 my local shooting centre run six of them side by side. They have the quirks and foibles but once you work within that system they rarely let you down.
A TIP! PAY ATTENTION! THE BEST SYSTEMS USE CASE OPERATED POWDER CHARGING. THE WORST SYSTEMS USE POWDER CHARGING OPERATED BY A LINKAGE THAT IS DRIVE BY THE ROTATION OF THE PRESS SO DUMPS POWDER EVEN IF NO CASE IS UNDERNEATH THAT POWDER HOPPER.
That's why the Dillon's work and the Lee Challenger types work and why the RCBS 4x4 Auto is best when that rotation driven linkage is disconnected or replaced by a case operated mechanism. The "third way" is where the charging is operated by a fixed post on the press that actions the charging independent of there being a case present or of the rotation of the mechanism. The Star works by this "third way" and works well.
Last edited:
A good few years ago I used an RCBS piggyback that bolted to the top of a single stage press.it worked really well for pistol stuff up to .223 and it was great providing you concentrated and didn’t short stroke the handle. From memory it wouldn’t dump powder without a case and I used a lock out die that wouldn’t allow the case to proceed if there was no powder present. All I had to do was add a case and a bullet and work the handle. Bear in mind there is a lot happening very quickly and it’s easy to make a lot of crap ammo!! You will soon be good friends with your bullet puller 
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
They say on You Tube that the RCBS 2000 (there's one on SD Classifieds - not mine and nothing to do with me) is a reasonable thing too.
I dabble a little bit in progressives. It really depends on a lot of things. Equipment only gets you so far, and from there it's figuring out how to use that equipment (and at what speed) to get you what you want. Faster speeds = less consistency. Slower speeds, with attention to detail = Some pretty surprising consistency.
Similar threads
