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Grizz, once again, I thank you for your candid response. I have been doing a lot of internet studying of the different systems, finding both good and bad about every one. I can say that the Lee and Dillon seem to have the least amount of negative remarks. There just hasn't been that much in the way of opinions on the Hornady system, however, I did find some negative statements this evening.

As I am still in the process of studying a reloading manual, it will be a while before I make the decision on type and brand. Although subject to change, I am presently leaning toward the Dillon 550 or 650, but, not ruling out the Lee. Heck, I may just decide to put the money in another weapon and continue to buy the factory stuff.

I will post my decision and the reasoning behind it......just in case anyone else is on the fence.

If you are going to go with Dillion, go with the 650. The extra station and the future flexibility will be appreciated when you expand your loading line.
It is very nice equipment. If money were not a concern, I would have gone Blue.

I'd like to just do a quick chime in on this:

I'm new to reloading (45 & 308) and I went through WEEKS of fussing over specs, options, and opinions regarding presses. I eventually went with a Hornady LNL progressive simply because reloading a number of pistol rounds on a single stage press would eventually become agonizingly slow. HOWEVER, I've been using it more as a single stage until I get comfy with it. For example:

- Grab 100 sorted and cleaned cases
- deprime/resize/check & clean primer pocket as necessary on all 100
- get the flare right on at least 3 cases in a row (using powderfunnels powder through expander add-on), then do all 100.
- prime all 100, checking every one from proper primer seating
- get at least 3 cases properly charged (I like being right in the middle of the charging range) and pull them over to the next stage.
- start the seating/crimping process (I use a VERY light crimp on the 45) on the 3 cases.
- do all 100 in the charging/seating/crimping process.
- Check every 10th round for charge/length

At the end of a 50-cartridge run, if all is kosher through the process, I then switch to a more progressive mode. At this point I still check every 10th round, but it's going a heck of a lot faster. I can do 150 rounds per hour once I start going progressive.

I still load the 308 in a single-stage fashion. Every stage gets done separately and checked before moving to the next step.

I've done about 200 or so rounds of 45ACP like this and every single one has gone bang. My newbie reloads are much more accurate than the original rounds. A guy at the range today challenged me to hit a silhouette plate (8" duck?) at 45 yards. Got it on the 3rd shot and all 7 shots were very close. I don't think I would had that good accuracy with store bought ammo.

I don't think you can go wrong with either the Hornady or Dillon. The Dillon is certainly a Cadillac with a Cadillac price. This was the main reason I didn't bother with it. Let us know how you and your ammo make out!

I had my first MAGTECH primer failure today. It was a good hard strike, deep indent, just no bang.
The round was a 9mm with Hornady 124g XTP bullets on board.