Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Let's start at the start

So, I have been reloading for shotguns since I was a kid, and for rifles since I was in my early twenties. But I have never reloaded for handguns.

Coincidentally, I have recently caught the 1911 bug, and have just about decided to jump in feet first for a lot of reasons, among them the fact that I live in Cali.

I'll take all the input I can. Almost bought a Dillon 550 in the Free Classifieds here last week, and may regret not having done so, but ...

OK, so what machine for the long haul?

I take it buying 1000 rounds of factory .45 ACP ammo and saving the brass is a plan with some merit.

What should a newbie know going into this?

XL650 or the new 750 extremely easy and fast, I can load 1000 9mm in 2 1/2- 3 hrs, I save a little loading 9mm even more loading 40!

The 550 is a great press for handgun bullets, especially 45 acp. I have been doing that on my 550 since 1995.

5 grains of Unique pushing a 230 grain bullet is a great plinking load.

Take your time adjusting the 550. Get it right the first time. Check often as you go to get a "feel" for the press, Soon enough you can tell when a primer hasn't been seated correctly.

The 550 is much more forgiving than the 650 for halting mid cycle and fixing anything that might have gone wrong. The 650 produces much more ammo but takes time to correct when something goes wrong, such as a flipped primer or a bad case in the bunch.

I have a 1" paintbrush and a toothbrush to brush away powder residue from the first station

Rick, 45ACP brass comes with either small or large primers. When scrounging used brass try not to mix them cause it will tie things up while reloading.

So...if a guy can tell when something's not right, and he's loading on a 650, could he just snag the screwed up cartridge at the end of its process and toss it, or is it just not always that simple? I've done ALL my loading single-stage and have no idea what it's like to run a progressive. Which also means I have a perfect record.

All ears here.

The 550 is a fantastic press. Easy to change calibers and will easily load 300 rounds an hour. How much do you shoot?

Have two Hornady progressives now, one old Projector and newer LnL. Mostly use them for shorter runs.
Mostly use a Dillon 1050 for .45acp. Lots of experienced loaders will tell you to remove all cases when you have a stoppage or think you have some issue. I don't do that, just make damn sure there are no undercharged or overcharged case and move on. I never had a 550 but I understand its manually indexed so it would seem to me it may have a shorter learning curve. Visually check the charges or use some kind of powder check die! Most all the violent troubles come from charging problems, squibs or overloads. And like I saw mentioned above keep it clean, especially the primer feed. Setting off 80 or 100 primers will get your attention, you probably already use PPE, its even more important with a progressive.

I do all my reloading with a RCBS Rockchucker press. It’s slower of course, but I get to look at each round several times. Being long retired, I don’t mind the extra time it takes,

I've had a XL650 for about 25 years, but it's been "mothballed" for about the last 12 years. Just set it up again, ran into problems while loading 38's and I've decided to 'hot rod' it with several "improvements" to the press, such as bearings instead of friction contacts. First run of 38's gave me a few bad loads but it's pretty easy to correct once you learn (or re-learn!) all the functions of the press and the 'fine' adjustments possible, and necessary. If I was looking for a progressive it would be the XL650. Their Lifetime Warranty is beyond good. Have some parts coming right now from just one quick phone call with a highly knowledgeable tech support agent.

Single stage guy here too. I don't load for volume, 50 in about 3 hours start to finish.
No help with a progressive from me.

You can remove any cartridge from the shell plate at any stage of the process. Problem is, that you many not know you have a flipped or high primer till the end of the loading process. You do have to pay attention to the process and check everything if you feel, or see, something unusual. I check all my rounds for high or flipped primers. Out of about 500 9X19's I had 5 or 6 high primers and one flipped. None so far on 38's so the 9's had to be 'operator error'.

I've never heard a person say I wish I hadn't bought a Dillon but have heard some regret not buying one.
I don't have a progressive but recommend getting a single stage if you don't have one.
Of the different brands of handgun brass I have loaded over the years I have found Remington's brass' mouths scallop so I usually avoid it. Their rifle brass is OK IME.

I prefer the Dillon 550 but all of them are good. And with a cast iron warranty. I have called to tell them I wrecked a part out of negligence and got a part fast in the mail, NO CHARGE! I had intended on paying as it was my fault. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Morning Ric. I started loading for pistol calibers with a Dunbar press, then up graded to a RCBS, then a Bonanza Cp-Ax, Then a Dillon 300, then a Dillon Square Deal, then a Dillon 650, then I bought a second hand Dillon 450. I use a Square Deal for 45 acp, another Square Deal for 357, the 650 is for 45 Colt, the 450 I've not benched it yet and not sure what caliber it will be set up for. I can't shoot enough 45 acps in a week that I can't reload in a couple of hours, 300 to 500 rounds. I cast all of my own bullets using two Saeco four cavity molds. One week end will produce a years worth of 200 grain 45 acp bullets. Get a Star sizer luber and you'll be a happy man. My advice is get Square Deals for each pistol caliber you'll load for.
I use Winchester large rifle primers, buy them by the 50,000, I use Bullseye powder, 8 pounds, the powder charge for 200 grain cast bullets is 4.5 to 4.7 grains. You can use Unique, 6.5 grains for the same bullet. You are using two more grains of power to achieve the same result. Factory bullets Berries 200 grain copper plated bullets are excellent and Acme powder coated 200 grain are almost cheaper the what you can cast and lube your own. If you find an old S&W model 25 45 Auto Rim and / acp you'll have even more fun.
I set my machines up for one load and leave it there. My 357 Square Deal has not been changed in 20 years.
I've found 45acp brass at the range, gun shows, and bought some when I found a good buy. My minimum volume of 45 acp brass is some where around four 5 gallon buckets.

Good stuff. I use both. Best advice I can give is don’t try to learn on a progressive. The best way to find out what works and what doesn’t is to use a single stage for small batches. It allowed me to find what the best amount of sizing, belling, seating and taper/roll crimp to use in all my handguns.
After that setting up in a progressive and getting it to run properly is much easier. Start slow to get used to it and find a rhythm. Use of a powder check die is a must. Also have found that when using flake powders such as Unique I get a more consistent powder drop when a baffle is used in the powder measure especially a uni-flow.

I just bought a 650 and set it up from scratch for 45. No issues and pretty easy if you are at all mechanical. If you get the 650 (now the 750) you 100% want to get the case feed. With no case feed, you might as well get a 550. Something to think about....45 brass now comes in both large and small primer. If you order ammo for the brass, make sure you get the primer size of your choosing. Also, it is a pain to change primer sizes on the 660. If you plan on loading other small primers cartridges (.38/.357, 9, 5.56) on the Dillon, it may be easier to just use small primer .45 brass. I have tons of LP stuff, but I have considered selling it and buying SP brass. The good thing is, SP brass is cheaper. I may just buy another machine for SP cartridges. Bottom line, you can’t go wrong with any Dillon. One last thing, if all you care about is .45, a SDB is supposed to be a nice and inexpensive ‘set and forget’ press for a one caliber loader.

All of the Dillon machines are great. A word of caution, they all have a lot of leverage, which means you are putting a large amount of force into the process without realizing it. Pay attention! If something feels wrong STOP and look closely at each station before proceeding. You aren't likely to break something, but you can make a mess.

I have loaded thousands of .38Super, .40S&W and .45ACP on my 550. (USPSA shooter)

I've used and owned Diilon 550s and the Hornady AP. Both are great machines, however I like the Hornady best. It has five stations, works better with rifle rounds, primer set up is easier to work with and I like the Hornady powder measure set-up. Hornady has been the equal of Dillon on warranty. I reload about 20,000 rounds annually.

I've been reloading shotgun since 1966, rifle since 1968 and handgun since 1970 and was a commercial reloader for 15 years...

To me the best bang for the buck is the Dillon 550. Unless you are a 20K plus a year competition shooter a 550 will make all the ammo you need in a couple of hours. And yes, I had both the 1000B and a 650 for many years...they are now both gone but the 550 is still here.

The 550 is still a hands-on machine...with a 650 or 1000 you basically become part of the machine....the motor. Much prefer the manual indexing and manual bullet and case placing into the machine. There is just a lot more control.

Bob

If you are only going to load for handguns, a Dillon Square Deal B works just fine. I hear Mike Venturino has several of them.

Disads are that they do require unique dies and are likely a bit slower to switch calibers than the larger Dillons.

I bought a well used Dillon Square Deal B around 1993. Dillon told me to send the machine back to them in '95 when it developed some problems. They completely rebuilt the machine free of charge even though I didn't buy it new from them. 20 years later started having problems with the same machine. Dillon again completely rebuilt the machine free of charge. Think Hornady, RCBS or Ponsness would do that? You already know the basics and the nuances of reloading (how a primer going in should feel, ect,ect.). Probably not a bad time to advance to a progressive. But feel free to continue to load single stage. Some of my best "quiet times" were had doing that.

have two Dillon square deals for volume reloading, load 1000 .45 colts, switch over to .44mag load 1000 , switch etc etc

use a rcbs rock chucker if building high end loads

Sometimes you can but often there is a powder spill involved or a case dragging and jamming the system. Both are worse case scenarios and like my marriage, I have been in them.

The 650 is superior in rate of production IF ALL GOES WELL. I am a pessimist and worrier by nature, so I prefer the ease of cleaning up the mistakes I have made. Like Stan V said above, it is easier/faster to change calibers, and a little less expensive than the 650.
And even if the 650 snags, you can clean it and get back into production in (usually*) twenty minutes. The 550 you can do it in (usually*) five.


perhaps I have been too negative in mentioning the 650. The 650 really shines in mass production of pistol rounds when you the right load and components. If you like to concentrate on a seasons worth of ammo, the 650 could load a thousand rounds easily on one afternoon. The 550 is slightly better when you are often loading for multiple calibers,

Get the spare parts kit and a stuck case remover ahead of time. NOTE WELL: All screwups have been MY fault. The Dillon equipment made a good handloader out of me. Lots of rounds makes for lots of practice.

550 great all around machine, 650 even better. If you enjoy shooting a lot you can move up to Camdex.

My 650 runs very smooth and very few if any hiccups, I load between 6000-10,000 a year, and the more you use it you develop a feel for most issues, paying attention is a must, and learning the press comes with pulling the handle!

I can’t say it any better than Ranger Green.
If you are not a competition shooter, the RL550c is the most forgiving and still fast enough to crank out a nice pile of ammunition in a pretty short time.
Also, you can use the 550 as a single stage press if you want.

So just to start at the start...

If you have a single stage press you're ready to roll.

I was reloading handgun decades before progressives were even available, and while I do own several, I only bought them when I started to shoot competition.

Loading handgun, I can load 200rds an hour on my single stage, but my goal is to produce the most perfect ammo I can, regardless of how fast they pop out ...not in a race to fill the plastic bins.

One of the most frequently used tools on my loading bench is probably my Digital Calipers. My favorite tool on my bench is my RCBS Bench Mounted Priming Tool. It gives me absolute control over the priming process...it's over 50 years old and still works like new.

For 40, 45 or 9mm just buy some once fired brass and the rest of your components, for 10mm buy new Starline.

I love reloading, my friends have accused me of shooting just to reload. However I don't love it enough to live without progressive machines and my shoulder is not what it was when I started out hand loading in the mid 70's. IPSC pistol required lots of rounds and the RCBS RC was wearing me out. I was poor so I tried the Lee 1000 and was happy for a while then a Projector was acquired used. Some time after that I quit the pistols for HP rifle competition. I found another used Projector, used one for brass prep and loaded on the other. .308, .223 and later 6.5-08 in two flavors (.260 won't around yet). Got a RCBS ammo master thinking I wouldn't have to do caliber changes so much, it sucked for what I needed it for so it lived in a box for years until I gave it away. I thought for a long time the only way to make good LR ammo was on a single stage. Laziness on my part helped me realize that careful setup on a progressive made just as accurate ammo without so many pulls on the handle. My current wife likes to shoot and she surprised me with a Dillon 1050 birthday present several years ago, said she wanted us to shoot more and I shouldn't have to spend so much time in the shop so we could burn it all up in a few hours. Love that woman and I love that machne. We're not shooting as much right now due to some life/work issues but hoping that will change soon.
I still have the RC single stage and still use it on occasion, but the 3 progressives and one PW Metallic II get the most use by far.
If I had it to do over I'd probably get 550's instead of the Hornady's. I still have one of the Projectors, traded in the other for a LnL that was a giant pain to get running. They all have pros and cons but I think Dillon has better support than most. If I was younger and playing the pistol games I'd be coveting a MK7 Revolution.....

Damn, I still load all my handgun ammo on an old piggyback II mounted on a RC. Have another RC for rifle.

I almost got the piggy back when I bought that ammo master, was felling a little flush right then and wanted to keep the single stage free.
Wish I'd tried the piggy back instead.

First question to all progressive loaders is how many squibs have you had. I’ve been loading handguns since about 1965. No squibs yet. Knock on wood.
I load with a co-ax press. I use a Harrell’s measure over a digital scale. I weigh each charge.
I do every step in batches. I have large coffee cans full of sized and belled brass. It’s ready to be primed.
Add a little powder and seat a bullet. Hasbeen

My range bag in the early days of progressives and bullseye light loads always had a 45 and 38 caliber brass puffer poppers in it from Brownells along with a light mallet. Got wise and put a baffle in the measure and a powder checker die for flake powders. Gradually got away from the flakes to ball problem was solved.

One. My first progressive was a Lee 1000 and I let the powder level get too low once. A sharp RO stopped me from hurting myself or the gun. I had double hearing protection and in the heat of competition just racked the slide loading another round behind the then plugged barrel.
I thanked him profusely, packed my stuff and went home. Pulled the whole batch apart salvaging the components. Never let the measure get lower than half full since on any machine. Also added baffles on most of them. The 1050 has a powder check die and the others are setup so I can visually check the charges before seating. Some folks using progressives only choose powders that will overflow on a double charge but in my opinion the squib is the most likely failure. I'm not in such a hurry I can't stop and fill the hopper.

I recently bought a used SDB, but haven't set it up yet. My plan was to use it mostly for 45 ACP, but also 9mm at times. Have both caliber conversions for it.

How long does it take to reload 1000 rounds if you have everything ready to go and on stand-by?? Just curious.

For you multi press guys w/ a progressive.
What do you do on a screw up?

Say it primed ok, but a powder spill or something..

Do you pull it and finish it with a single stage?
Or hand charge it and reinsert into the progressive?


Thx

I just pull the primed case and use canned air to clean shell plate off ,set case aside and keep on loading, and at the end I finish all the primed cases, really not a big deal!

But Ive really never had a spill other than a few flakes that fly out of the case when shell plate indexes!

On my 650 it takes me 2 1/2 to 3 hours, so on a SDB I'm guessing 4 hours or a little more!

Thanks Ackleyfan.
So many mentions of screwups up the thread I figured I would see what people do.

Makes sense. Keep th machine running, get back in rhythm, clean up partials at the end.

Got it.

For the money I like the hornady progressive, I've had a rcbs 2000, and a Dillon 650, but I still have the hornady. I'm just getting back into using it after a move and some health issues. I've been testing some loads on my single stage but it's time to progressive some more 10mm. It's been about 2 years so we'll see if I still like it.

Bb

If I weighed each charge with handgun loads, I wouldn't be able to shoot half of the number of rounds I normally shoot. I can see that with absolute maximum charges, but with normal target and plinking loads, small variations aren't anything to be concerned about. Even competition loads for steel challenge, bowling pin shoots or IDPA don't require weighing each charge.

Years ago, in the 90's, wife really got into shooting, mostly rifles. Gave her a pistol for self defense and she took to it like a duck to water. I would load 50 rounds on a single stage press, take her to the range so she could shoot while I shot rifles and before I could finish setting up to fire the rifles she'd ask for more ammo! Bought a Dillon XL650 just to stay ahead of her. It made shooting a loading much more fun. Wife died 10 years ago and I quit loading pistols and have shot very little until recently. I've taken the Dillon out of mothballs and shooting weekly, about 200 rounds a session. No telling how many thousands of rounds I've loaded on it but in all the shooting out of multiple pistols I have NEVER had a squib load. I have the powder check system for each of the cartridges for which I load and I've never had the warning buzzer wake me up! It's pretty difficult to screw up. The only problem I've had has been with the occasional primer going in cockeyed, or flipped, but that's easy to catch on inspection. No telling how many rounds I've loaded on the Dillon but I'd guess in the tens of thousands. I've loaded for both 9X19 (Luger), 9X21, 38, 357, 41 mag, and 44 mag. Have yet to load any rifle cartridges and truly don't intend to, preferring to load them singly for "extreme" accuracy. Depending on the powders you use the Dillon powder drop system is quite accurate.

The 550 is best non-auto indexing progressive press to make double charges with. That said, if you learn how to double, and then manage your routine - you can crank out zillions of perfect rounds.

The SDB is an auto-indexing progress. It is very hard to cause a double (but it can be done). The SDB takes up less space on your bench and it comes setup for the caliber of choice.

I load 45acp on an SDB.

A great thread here!

Nothing wrong with the Dillon 550 machine, I had 2 until a few years ago. Saved setup time for sm vs lg primers. Lots of ways to save setup time, but never devoted a die set to each ctg I loaded, as I mostly deprimed and sized on single stage press. The Dillon can reliably produce match quality rifle ammunition and for sure match quality for handgun. It is great to crank out 300 .45acps an hour, just keep a few extra primer tubes ready to go and keep the powder measure near full. The priming stroke is very powerful. I have crushed a few primers over the years.

Never too worried about match pistol loads. For rifle though, I sure did all the brass prep tricks I knew. There was a thread over on one of the National Match boards about mods on the 550 for match loads. Mainly related to improving measure throw weight uniformity by smoothing the measure body funnel & throat.

I learned handloading on a Lee Loader as a kid and then with a Lyman 310 tool. Bought a Lyman All-American turret press back in the mid-70s which expedited my loading times a great deal. Still have the press updated years ago to accept RCBS type shellholders. I also use a Lee auto-prime to feel-seat primers; and for rifles, will usually uniform the primer pocket with a Sinclair carbide tool and broach the flash hole with RCBS tool. Using Starline brass for handguns, have rarely even seen a primer pocket that needed uniforming.

A Redding turret press would be the way I'd go if not totally sold on a progressive machine. Lots of die positions and extra turrets available. Turret press is very fast . The Redding machine allows a handgun setup and rifle setup on one turret. If you get a Dillon machine, be sure to buy the stand accessory, and if you're going to reload 1x fired mil brass, their #600 primer pocket swaging machine is a godsend for processing hundreds of cases. I did try their gizmo for adapting Redding/RCBS powder measures and had no luck at all with it. The Dillon powder measure is excellent.

Might want to think about Starline's +P or .45 Super brass if you intend to load full-house loads. Their Super brass is really some strongly built stuff and costs maybe a buck more per hundred. Don't have to run Super loads to benefit from the superior strength.

Pretty much what me and my buddy did many years ago. Bought 1K 9mm and 1K 45 Auto, shot it up and saved the brass. We split the cost of an LnL. It was cheaper and came with free bullets. No other reason and we didn’t know much to be perfectly honest.
First of all, I find loading those two cartridges to be the easiest and most enjoyable of any handgun or rifle cartridge to reload for. If I had to start over I wouldn’t get stuck on red, green or blue. But, I would not ever go back to single stage reloading, period. I would not buy a 4 hole press and I would not ever manually index. I like to size, expand, drop powder, seat and crimp all in separate stations. I have tried the combinations and hated them all to be frank. That’s where a 4 hole press won’t work. I like to use small amounts of fast powders so I definitely want to know that no matter what happens, that press is going to index forward. Not if, but when something goes awry on my progressive, I pull all the cases, fix the problem and then reset the cases. No matter what, I double check the powder weight.
Something to consider, you can always start running your progressive press one case at a time until you really get the hang of it. It’s still blows away single stage reloading in terms of speed and offers all the precision you could hope for in a handgun. Just a thought. The 45 Auto is the perfect reason to get a progressive press and start reloading IMHO.

You can load 200 round in a afternoon with your dingle stage.

I load all my hand gun loads on a Square Deal B. 9mm, 38, .357, 45ACP, 44 Sp, 44Mag.With 44 mag. I found it easier to size first on a single stage.Betwen9mmand,357, I have probably run 35,900 + thru it. I have quick change tool head for every caliber. Center fire rifle I use my RCBS Rockchucker.

With the Square Deal you can retrieve any round from any station if you think you have a screw up.I think the bigger /more expensive machines are an over kill for handguns.300 rounds per hour is easy.Once you get setup , one can do 400/hour

I have loaded on Dillon presses, and were I to go high-volume and a single chambering, I'd buy one. I ended up buying a Hornady LNL a few years ago, mainly because:

1) Price.
2) Ease and cost of changeovers
3) I wasn't going to do high volume (with automatic bullet and brass feeding)

I went from 50 rounds an hour on my Rockchucker to 200 rounds an hour, and that was what wanted. I now load 45 ACP, 357 Mag, 9mm and 223 REM on the Hornady LNL AP and do everything else on the Rockchucker.

If faced with your case, here is what I'd do.

1) Buy 500 rounds of whatever you want, and save the brass. That will hold you until you've got the loading down pat.
2) Buy a Hornady LNL AP, a Powder Cop die, and a Lee 45 ACP die set with the Factory Crimp Die.
3) Set up the press as follows:
Station 1: Size and decap
Station 2: Powder with a PTX (powder through expander) insert
Station 3: Powder Cop
Station 4: Bullet Seating
Station 5: Factory Crimp
4) Buy 1000 rounds of once-fired brass
5) Buy a bunch of Berry Plated Bullets of a type that will cycle through your pistol

If you price out what I just lined out, you'll find you are significantly under what Dillon is asking. The real kicker is when you go to your second chambering-- the cost of changeover, is much higher with a Dillon and requires more work. I'm also a big fan of the Lee Factory Crimp Die, and I could not find a better place for it than at Station 5 on the Hornady LNL AP.

Have fun. I can do 200 rounds of 45 ACP at a sitting, and that does me just fine. I'll load a bunch on a Saturday, do the changeover to some other chambering on Sunday, and have it ready for 200 rounds of whatever the next weekend.

Now, let me also say that my experience with Hornady LNL AP has not been perfect, but I can still attribute most of the trouble to the nut holding the handle.