What presses and dies are you using and general equipment recommendations.

[Sticks]

You can get fairly accurate and consistent loads with a progressive, but there is significantly more QC in a singe stage, particularly when you are weighing each individual charge to be as consistent as possible. .1 grain of powder (if your charge thrower can stay that accurate) makes a hell of a difference at 400+ yards when you are trying to keep that sub MOA grouping going on, unless you found a velocity node that has the fluff room for that much discrepancy. EX - 27.3gr = 2460fps, 27.6gr = 2470 fps (normally 20-30 fps spread per .3 gr).

From my own experience on a progressive loading 5.56, the first 5 and the last 5 were the worst for inconsistencies in sizing, seating, and crimp since there were open slots on the shell plate, making a resistance and flex change.

[Randy99CL]

Looking at getting my first press and was leaning towards the Dillon 550C. Is there a reason most of you are doing single press for 6.5 grendel instead of progressive? I would mostly load 9mm, 5.56, and 6.5 grendel.

To me it's all about learning the basics, cost per round and precision. There is a lot to learn and everything has to be done precisely. Much better to do one at a time at first.
And unless you shoots hundreds of rounds a month you may never need a progressive press.

Instead of an initial investment of $600+ how about less than $200? Start with a Lee kit for $130 and add reloading manuals and a few other things you'll need. Later, if you get a prog press you'll still keep the Lee for small batches.
Grendel reloads cost at least 33 cents each so you're not saving a fortune anyway. On sale, powder is about 9.5c, primer 3.2c and bullets are .19 and up, mostly up.
Factory ammo is .70 (hard to find) to over a dollar each.

It's hard-to-impossible to make the most accurate ammo with a prog press. If you get serious about long-range accuracy you'll need a SS or turret press.

[bj139]

There are people that try reloading and are completely turned off by it and go back to buying factory ammo.
Best to try it first for cheap and see. If you keep it up you will have use for all the things you bought.

[mdewitt71]

Yep, I am all about the cost per round and an expensive press only raises my costs.
I do not buy match grade primers, and rarely buy new brass (had to for 6.5G) and use alot of 2nds from Sierra back door.
I have been doing fine for over 35 years with a Rock Chucker and about 7 years ago got a Lee 4 hole turret and am really liking that as well.

[Goebela3]

Think a Redding T7 would be good to learn on instead? Not looking to go cheap, I have heard a lot of negatives with Lee presses. Im a believer in buy once cry once.

[bj139]

The Redding T7 should be great. Having the dies adjusted and readily accessible saves a lot of time screwing and unscrewing dies.
I don't have a T7 so I am just going by what I have read. I have the Lee turret press and it works fine.

[mdewitt71]

Think a Redding T7 would be good to learn on instead? Not looking to go cheap, I have heard a lot of negatives with Lee presses. Im a believer in buy once cry once.

Nothing wrong with LEE... and if there is, they have a great warranty/ return policy (I have used it when I broke things from my own stupid-ness, they still took care of me).

It's like Ford or Chevy; there is always a hater.
T7 is very nice, I would of opted for that if I had not got a great deal on the Lee.
I am sure the Redding T7 will work for you if that is the route you want to go.

[Klem]

Looking at getting my first press and was leaning towards the Dillon 550C. Is there a reason most of you are doing single press for 6.5 Grendel instead of progressive? I would mostly load 9mm, 5.56, and 6.5 Grendel.

The reason the majority of gun owner don't use a retail progressive to load rifle rounds is they are not consistent enough for the precision required. What they are good for is speed and if that criterion is more important than where the bullet lands on the target then a progressive it is. In handguns the precision required is a lot less and typically handgunners shoot more rounds at short ranges. Progressive presses suit handgunners while single stage presses suit long gunners.

Part reason why progressives produce less accurate ammo is because of the inbuilt run-out. The axis of the die does not line up with the axis of the case, especially in small diameter rifle rounds. Regardless of calibre the dies are screwed into a block or frame at the top while the cases index off the circumference of the bottom disk. This means the axis of the case varies relative to the die depending on the calibre. Your case will likely go into the die on a slight angle instead of exactly lined up. This produces run-out, which in turn degrades precision.

For example, the Lee Loadmaster disks...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]11333[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]11334[/ATTACH]

Dillon is the same.

If you shoot a lot of 9mm then you need two presses; a single and a progressive. The good news is the single stage will last a lifetime. Lee gets a bad rap on this forum and I must say that my first progressive was a Lee Loadmaster which while cheap, needed constant tweaking and minor repairs. I gave up and threw it out at the end of several years and tens of thousands of handgun rds. The Dillon 650 I currently have has yet to fail. I only use the Dillon for handgun. The Lyman single stage I've had for years just 'keeps on keeping on', with the occasional spray of oil. I don't mind screwing in and out dies for rifle loading. You get pretty quick at it.

[LR1955]

Think a Redding T7 would be good to learn on instead? Not looking to go cheap, I have heard a lot of negatives with Lee presses. Im a believer in buy once cry once.

GB:

I own a Redding T-7, a Bonnanza Co-Ax, a Dillon 450, a Hornady Lock N Load Auto Progressive, and a Lee single stage.

The only one that flexes and springs is the Lee so I use it for pulling bullets only. It is not a good single stage press. I have heard the old three hole Lee turret is not a bad press but I prefer to buy things that aren't made of plastic and pot metal.
If you are not looking to go cheap, don't. Not with reloading gear.

A T-7 is nothing more than a single stage press with a tool head. Most Turret presses are made so you can rotate the turret around and load one complete round at a time. The Redding is a big, heavy, press so you load one step at a time. This is probably good because then you can inspect at every step of the process. Ask guys who have progressives what they have to do if they find something wasn't set up right after loading a hundred or so rounds of ammo.

That said, if you want a very good single stage press, the Co Ax is your best choice in my opinion.

LR55

[bj139]

I agree with LR1955. The Co-Ax is the best. It has quick change dies as well.

[Klem]

I agree with LR1955. The Co-Ax is the best. It has quick change dies as well.

Thanks BJ, I'm sure he got the message the first time you said it.

[bj139]

Thanks BJ, I'm sure he got the message the first time you said it.

I searched through this thread and did not see where I said this before.

That's my answer, and I'm sticking to it.

Can't someone agree with another poster here?

[rwh]

I checked and I haven't said it yet. The co-ax is the best. Well, almost the best. Any well made single stage press is probably also the best and some of the turrets are pretty good too. I use a Redding big boss II and a co-ax with Redding competition dies. I do most of the work on the co-ax but seem to find a reason to stick a die in the Redding on occasion. I seat with a Wilson seater die with the micro adjustment top on an arbor press. I switched to the VLD seater stem for Berger 130gr bullets.

I tried the Hornady lock and load quick change system on my Redding and wasn't a fan. They were fine for resizing, but when seating the rubber o-ring in the hornady lock and load holder came into play since the pressure to seat wasn't enough to get a consistent amount of compression on the o-ring so I gave it up.

The quick change on the co-ax doesn't have this problem. I switched my co-ax to take a shell holder recently and so far I like it better with a shell holder than with the jaws.

[Goebela3]

Well I think I will be looking into the Co-AX now, looks like its about $40-50 more than the T7. Are you guys trimming the cases on your 6.5 brass?

[bj139]

I have been using a Lee breech lock hand press for bullet seating only and with the quick change bushings it is very convenient to change dies.
I have found it does not have enough rigidity for easy case forming but it does work even for that.
I may try to reload one case over and over with it at the shooting bench when the weather gets warmer.

[LR1955]

Well I think I will be looking into the Co-AX now, looks like its about $40-50 more than the T7. Are you guys trimming the cases on your 6.5 brass?

GB:

You won't go wrong with the Co Ax. That much most everyone here who owns a Co Ax will tell you.

I believe any reloader here trims their brass when the brass needs trimming.

There are a couple of threads on trimmers so you may want to run a search.

LR55

[Klem]

...Are you guys trimming the cases on your 6.5 brass?

Only when they need it, for all calibres.

SAAMI for this calibre is 1.520"
I trim all cases that exceed 1.525" back to around 1.516" (New Lapua are about 1.516")

[centerfire]

Part reason why progressives produce less accurate ammo is because of the inbuilt run-out.

Dillon is the same.

If you set up a 550B or XL650 correctly that is not true. The case indexes off of the face of the ram, not the shell plate. While I don't advocate loading precision on a XL650X because of how it auto advances, you can easily produce ammunition with minimal runout on a 550B. I use my XL650 to batch process precision cases and when it's all said and done I get about +/-.001 run out at the ogive. I deprime, size, and mandrel neck size on the XL650. A buddy of mine competes nationally in F Class and he uses a 550B exclusively. The Co-Ax is the best single stage though.

[Klem]

If you set up a 550B or XL650 correctly that is not true. The case indexes off of the face of the ram, not the shell plate...

I stand corrected...

The Dillon 650 does have 'calibre' specific' locator pins (Part #11) which will line the case up with the generic top plate die axes. There's no other reason why they would have different pins for different calibres. The Lee Loadmaster does not however. 650 Parts list here;
https://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/650_Pg_52.pdf

My pins are for 9mm and I see they are stamped '3').
[ATTACH=CONFIG]11347[/ATTACH]

Thanks for setting me straight Centrefire.

Klem

[Jakal]

You can do every process on a Dillon 550b as a single stage if you want, do it all the time. It comes in handy building charge ladders.

Then you can run 500 rounds progressive in about 2 hours. It's all in the setup of the press. And if its correct, you can turn out very accurate ammo with low deviance. Most of my loads continually turn out sub-10 ES and SD's. If I do my part right, cloverleafs.

I use benchrest techniques for the AR but realize it ain't a benchrest rifle. If I can pop off 5 rounds just as soon as I get back on target and they are sub-moa, good enough for me. I don't need to shoot bugholes but the tighter the better.

I view my AR's as fighting tools first, then hunting, then paperpunchers. So for what I do, the Dillon 550b is excellent. Others may have different priorities.