Which press Dillion or Redding

[fetch]

Looking at the dillion 550 or the redding t-7. will be reloading 308 and 9 for the most part.

I have reloaded on a single stage press and the dillion xl650 but do not currently own a single stage. would I be shooting myself in the foot if i went with a press like mentioned above over a single stage?

 

[Broz]

I have a dillon 650XL and two T-7 Reddings. They are two different presses for differet purposes in my mind. The Dillon is about speed, we will use it for 45 acp and .223. These are rounds used for practice and varmint hunting.

The T-7 is a highly precision loading press that gives you the option to set up dies and leave them set with out removing them when switching dies or calibers. We use the T-7's for all of our long range precision rifle loads.

Jeff

 

[D.ID]

I have used my 550 for everything but have gravitated to single stage presses for long range loading.....My 550 is going back to mostly 45acp with a little 300 blackout mixed in. It certainly can be done on the progressive press but looses any advantage as I only do one stage per session on the big rifle's loads and the extruded stick powders I use do not meter well.

 

[tnshooter111]

I love my 550. It loads great quality ammo.

 

[D.ID]

The T7's shell holder is better suited than the dillon's, I have had the dillons 140 degree +/- ? slip off when trying to pull out when full length sizing magnums. That has never happened in the more traditional 180 degree + shell holder, That alone has lead to many stuck cases. love the dillon for smaller rounds but would go with the redding.

 

[teflonhunter]

Dillon 550 does a great job for me with pistol and precision rifle reloading. If you shot .45 instead of 9mm the shell plate would work for .308 Win.

 

[JeffVN]

My brother loads both his .45ACP, .308, and his 1,000 yard F-Class 284 Winchester Improved ammo on his 550B. His runout is minimal, and the precision ammo is just that.

He did mention that for his .308 and .284 Winchester:
He decaps with a universal decapper so that the primer pockets get clean.
sizing is done as a progressive;
He seats with the press like a single stage.

Jeffvn

 

[Bob J]

I have loaded 12 different calibers on my 550B for a number of years now.... Only problem I had was decapping with spent primers ending up on the floor with regularity and the crud typically associated with decapping ending up in my press and eventually gumming up the primer bar.... Now I decap/resize on a single stage as part of my brass prep and store my brass ready to load..... Since going that route have not had any significant problems.....