Press for 9mm?

jmccracken1214

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Looking for the best bang for the buck. I have been eyeing the lee pro1000, but someone has recommended Dillon... and the 550 is about the only one that’s close to what I would like to spend.

any suggestions for the best press to pump out accurate 9mm as quick as possible?

thanks
 
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I had a loadmaster that worked well. If I ever buy another press it’ll be a Dillon
 
Dillon. You are going to be spending lots of money on components and other stuff. The extra little bit of cost you might have to spend on a Dillon will fade to insignificance fairly soon.

edit: Get a good one in the beginning and you will not have to upgrade it later. I know, I know; Lots of people have loaded millions of good rounds on Lee or other brands. I am happy for them. I do hear lots of people saying that their next press will be a Dillon but rarely (almost never) hear anybody say that they are going to ditch their Dillon so they can upgrade to a Lee. Yes, I do have some Lee stuff that I use with good results. Get a Dillon and your next press, if needed, will probably be a more advanced Dillon. Just my opinion that is worth what you paid for it.
 
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I have only ever used Lee because that was my budget. If I could afford it I would go Dillon. Buy once cry once. My problem is I have too many other hobbies too.
 
I have the Hornady Lock n Load AP. It works great and once I get a session going I can do about 300+ an hour. If you want to see it I am happy to show you how it works.


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My vote is for the Dillon 550 or the new 750 if funds will allow. And this is coming from someone who is blessed enough to have a 550, 650 and a 1050.

There was someone trying to sell a used 550 a few weeks ago. Don’t hesitate to buy a used Dillon if you can.


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Looking for the best bang for the buck. I have been eyeing the lee pro1000, but someone has recommended Dillon... and the 550 is about the only one that’s close to what I would like to spend.

any suggestions for the best press to pump out accurate 9mm as quick as possible?

thanks

How many rounds are you shooting a year? Are you only reloading 9mm pistol ammo or are you going to be reloading rifle ammo as well? If you are only doing pistol I would get a Dillion Sq Deal. My understanding is that it is a true progressive vs the 550.

I load on a modified Lee Turret so take my advice with a grain of salt. ;)
 
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From the other replies. Mine will differ. But only a touch:D

My first press was/is a Dillon 550. All the blue fanboys are right, you can’t beat it for the price.

But then I also got a lee turrent press. Not near the production capability of the 550 but does a good job.

After reloading for a while. I have left my 550 setup for what I shoot most. .223/5.56. It cranks out nice/repeatable plinking loads Or even very accurate “nice” loads with absolute consistency.

I use the lee turrent press for 9mm. It does a fine job. Consistently consistent if you will. It takes a little more care and attention to load perfectly each time. But if you are diligent it is a darn good press. I even use it for my .308 “precision” loads. Not because it is better but because with proper attention it does the same job as my Dillon for way less cost.

You want awesome consistency with production when dialed in? Dillon.

Your ok with checking more often to make sure specs are maintained During production? I can’t fault the LEE. It’s my smaller batch go to. :)
 
How many rounds are you shooting a year? Are you only reloading 9mm pistol ammo or are you going to be reloading rifle ammo as well? If you are only doing pistol I would get a Dillion Sq Deal. My understanding is that it is a true progressive vs the 550.

I load on a modified Lee Turret so take my advice with a grain of salt. ;)
A few thousand.
I load 223 on a single stage currently and would love a faster way for that as well.
 
If that doesn’t really make sense. If you want to load a good bit of one particular caliber. Go Dillon. If you want to load a variety of calibers but not bunches. I find no fault with the LEE classic turrent.

I’ve done thousands of one/my main caliber on my 550 now. But use my LCT for Hundreds of rounds in other calibers.
 
A few thousand.
I load 223 on a single stage currently and would love a faster way for that as well.

Then a 550 or used 650.

That said I can knock out 200-250 round an hour on my Lee. I have turrets with powder drums for 9mm, 45 ACP, 380 auto, & 38 spl. I can change calibers in 5 minutes. I do use a Inline Fabrications case ejector system which helps speed up the process. If you are shooting less than 200 rounds a month a Lee turret setup would meet your needs for a lot less than a Dillon and only take an hour a month.

Eventually I will get a Dillon 650 for my 9mm reloading and use the Lee for other calibers which get shot less. I would have done it sooner but the price of factory ammo has been so low in 2018-2020 pre COVID that I have been shooting more factory as of late.
 
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I've had my Dillon about 30 years. It has paid for itself 10's of times. No questions asked lifetime guarantee. Anything breaks, they will replace it absolutely free. I wish they made cars.
 
I may go the Dillon square route. It’s around $500 and just watched a guy load 100 rounds of 9mm, not rushing in 14 minutes.
The case feeder is a nice option on the 750, but the savings with the square would be good.

I think the Dillon Square Deal B would be just fine for 9mm but be aware, it will not load anything but straight-walled pistol calibers and that is why I didn’t mention it.


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I think the Dillon Square Deal B would be just fine for 9mm but be aware, it will not load anything but straight-walled pistol calibers and that is why I didn’t mention it.


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550 mag be better route, even without the auto indexing
 
A Dillon SDB is an excellent press for moderate production of pistol-only. If I had more bench space I would’ve kept mine but swapped it for a 650. The only downsides are no available case or bullet feeder, which is why I say great for moderate production.

Owning Lee, Hornady, and Dillon, I can attest to Dillon being well worth the extra cash.
 
I've had my Dillon about 30 years. It has paid for itself 10's of times. No questions asked lifetime guarantee. Anything breaks, they will replace it absolutely free. I wish they made cars.

Truth. My 550 used to live in the garage and I am afraid to admit I neglected it during a shooting hiatus. After turning into a ball of rust, I sent it to Dillon. I'm still not sure if they refurbed it or replaced it, the bill had a balance of $0.

This isn't true for all their gear though, my vib case cleaner quit on me and they wouldn't help on that one. I was able to resolder the lead going to the motor, but yeah... the warranty isnt all encompassing.
 
A Dillon SDB is an excellent press for moderate production of pistol-only. If I had more bench space I would’ve kept mine but swapped it for a 650. The only downsides are no available case or bullet feeder, which is why I say great for moderate production.

Owning Lee, Hornady, and Dillon, I can attest to Dillon being well worth the extra cash.

Actually, they do make a case feeder now for the 550. Dunno if it is the same one that the 650 uses though.


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I started with a 550 and don’t regret it. I also have a Lee Classic Turret that I use a lot. I do all my semi-auto Pistol calibers on the 550, as well as 223 plinking loads, but I do all my revolver and most rifle on my LCT.

With the LCT, I can comfortably load 200-250 rounds per hour with the auto-index enabled and using a press mounted powder measure. With the 550 I can do about double that.

The SDB is a great option for 9mm, in my opinion. Others have mentioned that it only does pistol calibers, but that isn’t the whole story. It only uses proprietary Dillon dies, so it only loads calibers that Dillon makes caliber conversions for. When comparing costs with other Dillon models, keep in mind that the caliber conversions for the SDB include the dies, where the conversions for the other models don’t include the dies, so converting calibers for the SDB is actually cheaper than the other models (last time I checked). The other model Dillon presses can use the standard 7/8” dies from other manufacturers, which is a plus for those. The 550 does not have auto-indexing, where all the other Dillon presses do have auto-indexing. I have not found the lack of auto-indexing to be a problem.

Another advantage of the 650-750 over the 550 is that the case feeder for the 550 only does pistol calibers. I think some have modified it for 223 or 300BO, though. Also, the extra station on the 650-750 is useful for bullet feeders or powder cops.
 
I would go Dillon 650/750. Auto index is a game changer and is a very versatile machine. Throw in a primer tube filler like the Primer Pro, or a Frankfort Arsenal VibraPrime and a bullet feeder and you have a mini ammo factory.
 
Actually, they do make a case feeder now for the 550. Dunno if it is the same one that the 650 uses though.


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Sorry I guess I didn’t write that the best possible way. I meant downsides for the SDB.
 
Dillon 550 any day of the week for a regular shooter. You can use it like a single stage or a progressive..... The square deal uses odd size dies which limits what cartridges you can load...but does cover most handgun rounds. The 550 uses common sizes, so later on if you want......you can load most any handgun or rifle cartridge. Its easy......to make 200 handgun rounds in an hour while taking your time.

The quick changeover kits for the 550 are awesome.....its literally a 5-10 minute changeover to what you were loading last.
 
I've been having problems with my Dillon Square Deal B so I called customer service they told me to send it back to them. I didn't want to do that but as I stated earlier I've had the machine for over 30 years and figured it'd be easy enough for them to just take care of it. They kept my press for about a week and today I got a brand new press delivered to my front door step. charge $0.00.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I’m set on Dillon... but just can’t decide on a 550c or a 750.
My mind says 750, but my money says 550!

There isn’t actually a huge difference in cost, but watching people load on the 550, seems decently quick. The 750 obviously seems 2x faster.

the 550 has me thinking might be better on my rifle loads that aren’t needing to be stupid accurate. Hmmm such a tough choice
 
Thanks for the help guys. I’m set on Dillon... but just can’t decide on a 550c or a 750.
My mind says 750, but my money says 550!

There isn’t actually a huge difference in cost, but watching people load on the 550, seems decently quick. The 750 obviously seems 2x faster.

the 550 has me thinking might be better on my rifle loads that aren’t needing to be stupid accurate. Hmmm such a tough choice

A question to ask.... how much handgun do you shoot per month and how much rifle do you shoot per month? If you shoot more than 1k per month of either, maybe the 650 is for you.
 
Rifle... not so much, due to no ranges super close. I try to go atleast once a month.

minding shoot a lot of pistols lately, due to saving what little 9mm I have left. I would def shoot a lot more though, Having the ability to load cheap.

the only reason the 750 stands out, is loading 223 with the shell feeder, but it would probably still go decently quick on the 550.
I’ve prepped and loaded right at 1000 rounds of plinking 223 with a Lyman powder measure and a single stage press. It took a while lol
 
Thanks for the help guys. I’m set on Dillon... but just can’t decide on a 550c or a 750.
My mind says 750, but my money says 550!

There isn’t actually a huge difference in cost, but watching people load on the 550, seems decently quick. The 750 obviously seems 2x faster.

the 550 has me thinking might be better on my rifle loads that aren’t needing to be stupid accurate. Hmmm such a tough choice

Did you read https://brianenos.com/dillon-2/ top to bottom?

If you want to do rifle in addition to pistol, I would go with 55Oc.
 
A question to ask.... how much handgun do you shoot per month and how much rifle do you shoot per month? If you shoot more than 1k per month of either, maybe the 650 is for you.
Fair... another way to look at it is, how much time do you mind spending reloading per month. I wouldn’t say I enjoy reloading, I enjoy having the ability to reload what I want, when I want, but I want to do it as efficiently as possible. This is why I have 2 progressives with budget case feeders.

I vote 750. If you’re on the fence, you won’t regret going with the step up.
 
Just priced them out, with dies from Dillon, caliber conversion to load 9mm and 357 with the extra powder hopper... 750 with the case feeder, of course.

Roughly what I got was
XL750- $1420-$1500
550C $993

hmmmmmmm
 
You will almost certainly end up with more than one press in the long run. I have a 550B, 650, and recently got a 1050. The 550 is definitely the easiest to run small batches, the easiest to switch calibers and primers, and the most forgiving of issues while in use (because there will be). I won't get rid of the 550, even with the other two (and a Co-ax).

If you want to produce a LOT of one or two calibers, especially if they both use large or both use small primers, and you know what you are doing, then a 750 (or 1050 in very large quantities) is a great choice. If you want to load up to 500 or so at a time of your most used caliber, and also want to occasionally load other calibers, the 550 is going to be better. I would also say the 550 is better for less experienced reloaders. Certainly it is possible to start on a 750 and do fine, but... it is harder to do small batches for load development, and auto index makes it MUCH harder to fix when things aren't going right, and setup is a little more finicky for the same reason.
 
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You will almost certainly end up with more than one press in the long run. I have a 550B, 650, and recently got a 1050. The 550 is definitely the easiest to run small batches, the easiest to switch calibers and primers, and the most forgiving of issues while in use (because there will be). I won't get rid of the 550, even with the other two (and a C0-ax).

If you want to produce a LOT of one or two calibers, especially if they both use large or both use small primers, and you know what you are doing, then a 750 (or 1050 in very large quantities) is a great choice. If you want to load up to 500 or so at a time of your most used caliber, and also want to occasionally load other calibers, the 550 is going to be better. I would also say the 550 is better for less experienced reloaders. Certainly it is possible to start on a 750 and do fine, but... it is harder to do small batches for load development, and auto index makes it MUCH harder to fix when things aren't going right, and setup is a little more finicky for the same reason.
Loading batches of 500 or so 9mm or 357 would be perfectly fine with me. Hell, if I loaded that twice a month, I’d be sitting pretty on a good chunk of ammo. With work and kids, there’s times when I won’t shoot at all for 4-8 weeks,

I want the 750 more, because it’s better, in certain ways. But deep down, I think the 550c will be just fine
 
Loading batches of 500 or so 9mm or 357 would be perfectly fine with me. Hell, if I loaded that twice a month, I’d be sitting pretty on a good chunk of ammo. With work and kids, there’s times when I won’t shoot at all for 4-8 weeks,

I want the 750 more, because it’s better, in certain ways. But deep down, I think the 550c will be just fine


If that's truly the case then yes the 550 is good to go. Its still a great machine and loading 500 in a sitting is no problem. Pull the trigger.
 
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