Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Hornady Lok n Load vs Dillon 650 XL

Folks ,
Ive been thinking of buying a progressive press setup . I was all set to go with the 650 and a buddy just showed me his Hornady .He was loading 38 Spec. and it was going smoothly . He doesn't have a case feeder and I would purchase that with either press I decide on . Both have great service and cost isn't too far apart .

I like Varget for .223 and from what Ive read its a tough load on the 650 , the Horn. doesn't seem to have problems with extruded powder . Again that's what I read I have no first hand knowledge.

But I also load 38 / 357 - 44 mag -30-06 - and 22K Hornet , so I would like to be able to do it all on whatever press I purchase .

Can you shooters / reloaders please help me out here?

Thank you in advance for your time and help.
Semper Fi
Soup

I have a friend that used a LNL for several years and recently upgraded to a Dillon, planning on keeping the LNL as a backup or dedicate it to one caliber. After getting the Dillon he couldn't get rid of the LNL fast enough.

It is best to start where you would end up anyway and get the Dillon. The loaders and support is unmatched in the reloading industry. It just isn't any more simple than that...

I have two dedicated progressive presses

Never ever yearned for a Dillon 650

I do have a Dillon swag....but that's the only piece of blue I will probably own

I started with Dillon years before H came out.

I have no reason to want to switch.

I've loaded on a L/L given to a junior shooting program, there is no way I'd buy one with my own money over a Dillon.

Just my take.

I've got a LNL with the case feeder. I'm still fiddling with it to get it to reliably feed 222/223 cases. Its at about 95% right now, but that 5% can be frustrating. It is a nice press and I think a bit less expensive to get into additional calibers. A friend has a D650 and says it just runs and runs with no fiddling. If I were to do it over (and had the extra money) I'd go with the Dillon but I don't feel handicapped by the LNL.

Sub'd as this is on my short list as well.

I don't have experience with a LnL, but I do with an RCBS.

Thought of it as a nice setup....until I used a Dillon.

I don't use the RCBS unit anymore, and if I see a need to use a progressive, I will go straight to Dillon.

Does any thing meter Varget well ?

I"ve run enough Varget on a dillon and varget isn't real sensitive to powder charges, its worked fine over the years.

Of course I managed to have my dillon bar redone to be more accurate.

If you develop your load correctly a few tenths one way or another won't matter for mid range to short range, IE say 300 yards and less.

Oh yeah, as much as it amazes me, the cheap lee powder measure has done better on hard to meter powder, than anything else.. wouldn't believe cheap Lee was good for much of anything until I saw it for myself....

I have a LNL. I of course bought it because it was a good deal. Between Cabela's bucks and 500 bullets it was pretty cheap. It requires a little tinkering every now and then but I have pumped out a lot of bullets on it.

TTT

Rost, what have you done to your Dillon powder dispenser to make it work with Varget? Or have you adapted to an RCBS or similar powder dispenser?

My Dillon dispenser doesn't work acceptably with any stick powders I've tried, even the short grain stuff like Benchmark. If I'm loading with stick powders I put an RCBS dispenser on instead.

Everyone I've known that ran a Dillon has taper reamed the throat of the powder dispenser to better work with stick powders. I've not seen it done but it seems to be common knowledge so I'm sure there are instructions out there.

The problem mine has with stick powders isn't the powder funnel (the part people ream to prevent powder bridging) but the charge bar itself hanging up on the sticks of powder. An RCBS or whatever just cuts the sticks, but the Dillon doesn't have the force to do that, so it jams.

Varget and long extruded powders in general seem to be the problem .
Is anyone using a 650 in 223 with Varget and getting acceptable measures of powder ?
Soup

Dillon all the way.

Mine is ancient.. from the 80s IIRC. Its never had an issue with Varget or RL15. Bridging was more a worry than a few grains one way or the other, and I learned to wiggle or jiggle the handle at every top and bottom stroke IIRC.

Then, when we are about done shooting tons of ammo every year, I sent my bar off to be adapted to measure better and have a micrometer setting on the end also that could get you in the area quicker... thats was probably circa 2000 or just after. NO clue who did it.

Don't think I"ve loaded a round on the dillon since it came back.

And now that the server in the head is spinning a bit, I may recall putting stiffer springs on the bar or shortening them??? For a reason???