i have a hornady LNL progressive in .40 and .45acp, and am considering selling it and getting a 650 or a 1050. the frustration level is killing me. i’m not really too concerned whether i can put out 600 v.s. 1000 rds an hour but the RELIABILITY factor is everything. the LNL is a great machine but the shell plate is always too tite or too loose therefore it won’t index 100% of the time correctly therefore the primer seating is off about one in every 10 rds. if i tighten it w/the wrench its too hard to index and if i do it finger tite its becomes loose. can’t get the correct in between set for any length of time. i like the 2" post and the quick caliber change over and a lot of other features but damn!! i know lots of you guys are dillon fanatics but i’d rather hear from the occassional user that doesn’t “bleed blue” just has one and will tell me his honest opinion concerning the reliability factor. thanks!!
I am going to tell you that I have owned or currently own several Dillion presses. I have been reloading since I was a kid with my dad using a Lee Load All. That is the deal where you hammer the cases into the die. I have enjoyed using my Dillions since my first in 1992. Are they perfect? No. I have learned things about setting them up over the last 18 years. They have their own issues. But by and by the Dillions have accounted for upwards of 100K rounds of ammo. My father is still using the original Square Deal that I bought in 1992. That being said, I have alll kinds of reloading equipment. I like to use Lee dies for some things and Redding for other. The only important thing is that your equipment work for you. It is no different that the various types of kit that we all have. What runs great for you may not be my cup of tea.
Have you conctacted the help line? The folks at Hornady are good people that may be able to help you look for simple solutions to your problems with your Hornady. A shim here and a dab of Loc-Tite Blue may be able to save you some hair.
Do a google search. There are a lot of people that seem to be having similar issues with your press.
Dillon’s Priming systems are no model of perfection either. I’m at the point that I prime my brass as a separate operation for rifle… And I’m almost going that direction with pistol too.
yes i have contacted hornady techs. they are very friendly and sometimes helpful. issue there is that they want to solve one tiny piece of the puzzle as fast as they can (instead of the whole puzzle) and they have no problem then telling you " ok, i have other calls to answer, call me back if this didn’t fix it". i’m sure they do have other calles to answer, but i’m not there to BS and waste their time, either. like i said, frustrating. and in the 80’s i had owned dillon rl 1000, 550, and lots of their accessories. just wondering how they were presently. thanks for the feedback guys. and yes markm…the priming issue seems like it is always the biggest problem no matter what system you get.
I own a Dillon 650 and a 1050. I use the 650 exclusively for handgun loads and the 1050 exclusively for 223. The reason I splurged on the 1050 was for reloading brass with crimped primer pockets since the 1050 swagges them in a station. However, like the member above said, Dillon Machines are not perfect. My 650 runs for the most part trouble free. My 1050, that is another story!
Go with the Dillon. Their “No BS” warranty is worth it. I have heard numerous stories from friends who sent old machines that had been sitting around uncared for and getting them back refurbished in amazing condition.
I have been reloading for 20yrs.
I have used Lee single stages, Lee Pro 1000 and Loadmaster - .223, 9mm and .45
On the 9mm/,45 front I gave up on progressive priming as it does suck - decided to prime by hand and be done with it.
De-swagging crimped 5.56 was a pain as well priming, etc
The reason I splurged on the 1050 was for reloading brass with crimped primer pockets since the 1050 swagges
Like lwhazmat5, I decided to go with 1050 - this was the best bet for .225/5.56 - WOW! Has been awesome. Much better on auto priming. Loaded tons with it - invested in 9mm for it as well and was so impressed not just by volume but especially reliability - not having some complete failuer every 15 rounds or so. I can guess/measure failures in about 1 in ever 500 or so, if that.
Another Dillon fan here. I run a 1050 for small primer (.223), and a 650 for large.
The 650 can be a little finicky, but nothing serious. The no BS warranty is for real - my electric case trimmer went down - elec tools only have a one year warranty. Dillon replaced the power supply and returned it for no charge, anyway.
1-800-223-4570 gets you real service.
I am curious about what kind of problems you guys are having with your Dillons. 
I have been running two 550’s and have had very little issues.
I load about a dozen different calibers, using both small and large pistol systems, and have tried Winchester, Federal, CCI, Wolf, and Magtech primers.
The Wolf primers are harder to seat and the Federals seem to be slightly out of round but the others run like butter.
ok, but lwazmat5 says his 1050 is “another story”. whats up w/that? if i had it to do all over again i think i would of bought the 1050 instead of the LNL just for the reliability issue but maybe not after what he is saying. and i am seriously considering selling the LNL and getting a 1050. although at this point i have about gotten the kinks worked out of the priming system. the electric case feeder, thats “another story” too. manually feeding the cases i have so far run over 500 rds. and counting in .40cal and the only issue was sometimes not manually getting the cases into the shell plate far enough. i am much more concerned w/ a reliable machine than a high rd. count but also want a time saver. guess its not to be. “u pays ur money and u takes ur chances”.
i am much more concerned w/ a reliable machine than a high rd. count
Then get the 550 - no auto case feed, fewer adjustments, fast change over. It’s about as fool proof as you can go and still be in a progressive.
I believe the 550B has an optional case feeder available for it now.
my 1050 is another story
The 1050 is a lot more labor intensive not only for changing calibers (I will buy another 1050 before ever worrying about this!) but also for everyday loading.
my 1050 came “adjusted” from the factory. However it was by no means good to go out of the box. The 1050 is a “commercial” loading machine according to Dillon. It is not covered by their warranty, but Dillon has been good with sending me parts for free when the machine got broken due to operator error! My problem with my machine was actually me. I learned how to reload on a single stage press. I purchased my 650 and 1050 together. This was the first experience I have had with auto indexing multi-station presses. I used my 650 for months before taking my 1050 out of the box. The 650 is a durable and relatively easy machine to operate (once you have all of your caliber conversions setup and have swapped them a few times!). When I assembled my 1050 and stated loading 223, I noticed that the 1050 was not nearly as forgiving as the 650, plus there is a lot more stations versus the 650 with every pull of the handle. I purchased and watched both instructional videos that were made for each machine as well.
I guess all I am really trying to say is that if you think you are going to buy a 1050 to start loading multiple calibers I would highly discourage you from doing that (I had that mindset initially and the Dillon Rep talked me out of it. At first I was thinking he just wanted to see me buy 2 machines but having them now both and seeing how labor intensive (most people say around 30 minutes to swap calibers) it is to change it over!)!
I hope this clarifies the subject a bit. My caffeine has not taken effect yet so sorry if this post is out there!
FWIW, I am extremely happy with both of my machines. The reason I purchased the 650 over the 550B was the fact that the 650 was auto indexing where the 550B is not (meaning with the 550 the operator has to manually turn the shell plate to each station unlike the 650 the operator pulls the handle and, voila!). Like I stated earlier, my decision to buy the 1050 was to load 223 only and to be able to turn out high volumes of rounds.
In summary it should be noted that I would have been happy with any Dillon Machine. My decisions for purchasing the 650 and the 1050 came down to the volume loading potential available with each machine. Trying to load 1 caliber on my 1050 can be frustrating! I believe if I would of purchased the 1050 with the expectations of having an universal, do all machine, I probably would of sold it by now! I am very grateful that I have both machines - 1 for pistol (650) and the other for 223 (1050). I still use my rockchucker for 22-250. 308, & 7.62X54 and am content with doing so.
Bingo!!If you’re not to worried about how many rounds per hour you can produce, the 550 will probably work for you. I’m loading 10 calibers on mine, both pistol and rifle, I prime everything on the machine, the primer feed is pretty reliable,I’ve had very few problems,and most of those were because it needed cleaned up badly after loading a couple thousand rounds. Yes, you can get a case feeder, I checked into it once…It’s a no go if you also intend to use the machine to load rifle calibers, Dillon’s CS people were pretty honest, and told me it would be a PITA to remove it for loading rifle calibers so, I’ll pass… I’ve been using the 550 for 10-12yrs now, I loaded 10’s of thousands of rounds on it, so far, I haven’t broke anything on it, The shellplate stays adjusted, the primer feed works, and you can still put out a decent amount of ammo in a hour if you’re pressed for time, I can run off 100rnds of .45acp in about 17 minutes, and that includes stopping to weigh powder charges. So, really it’s not a bad machine, it may not have all the bells and whistles, But it’s alot simpler to set up and operate…
It does, but is supported for handguns only.
The 1050 is a lot more labor intensive not only for changing calibers (I will buy another 1050 before ever worrying about this!) but also for everyday loading.
my 1050 came “adjusted” from the factory. However it was by no means good to go out of the box. The 1050 is a “commercial” loading machine according to Dillon. It is not covered by their warranty, but Dillon has been good with sending me parts for free when the machine got broken due to operator error! My problem with my machine was actually me. I learned how to reload on a single stage press. I purchased my 650 and 1050 together. This was the first experience I have had with auto indexing multi-station presses. I used my 650 for months before taking my 1050 out of the box. The 650 is a durable and relatively easy machine to operate (once you have all of your caliber conversions setup and have swapped them a few times!). When I assembled my 1050 and stated loading 223, I noticed that the 1050 was not nearly as forgiving as the 650, plus there is a lot more stations versus the 650 with every pull of the handle. I purchased and watched both instructional videos that were made for each machine as well.
I guess all I am really trying to say is that if you think you are going to buy a 1050 to start loading multiple calibers I would highly discourage you from doing that (I had that mindset initially and the Dillon Rep talked me out of it. At first I was thinking he just wanted to see me buy 2 machines but having them now both and seeing how labor intensive (most people say around 30 minutes to swap calibers) it is to change it over!)!
I hope this clarifies the subject a bit. My caffeine has not taken effect yet so sorry if this post is out there!
Yes, this is basically the advice I give people. Leave your 1050 dedicated to whatever you do with the need of volume. For me that is also 223. It is great for that but I do not want to have to take it apart. Maybe in a year or two after making adjustments etc I will be more experienced with it. Use a 650 for everything else (in the long run it is also cheaper).
I use the 650 for 9mm, 40 S&W, high grain 223, 223 trimming, 6.8, blasting 308. I use the 1050 for 223 blasting ammo. I use the 550 for 308 accuracy, 44 mag, 45acp (I only shoot a small amount through a USP), 6.5x55, 480 ruger, 458 socom, etc.
I started with a 550 and only upgraded to a 650 when I moved and the 550 stayed behind and I was young and single and working as a SW contractor (== $$$ – wish I had that gig now). Eventually my 550s caught up with me. I got the 1050 to gain experience with it since I sell it but also to do volume 223. As an excuse 
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i thought the 1050 was the “do all-end all” machine. reliable, fast, sturdy etc etc. no?
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you say it is not good for multiple calibers as it is labor intensive to set up each caliber for. however-what if you but the interchangeable tool heads for it where you simply "plug in " the diff. caliber?
the only google searches i have been able to find show posts that are like 3-5 years old.
Unlike the 550 and 650, where you can remove two pins, slide a toolhead in, etc, the 1050 toolheads can be changed out but it is much more labor intensive. The changing of the shellplates is also more labor intensive (and you have to remove the toolhead first)
gottcha!
think maybe i’ll just stick w/my LNL and its minor glitches and 600-800 rds. and hour.
ALSO… anyone know of any CURRENT LNL forums/discussion groups? dammed if i can find em. course that don’t mean much.