Dillon or Hornady

frogman68 · Feb 12, 2017

After 2+ years I am giving up on Lee. Their presses just dont seem to last (progressive) . Looking at either the Hornady Lock and Load "kit" or the Dillon XL650 . I dont like Kool Aid but reading the web it seems it depends if you drink Red or Blue on which is the best , do mostly 9 and 45 . Will one or the other give a better longevity without maintenance or repairs . I am just over 5k on the lee loadmaster and it has been replaced by lee once and was non progressive the last 25 rounds I loaded today tired of having to adjust or replace parts

tdt91 · Feb 12, 2017

Hopefully someone with both will sound off other wise you won't get a answer thats very helpful.

RRP II · Feb 12, 2017

I've been running a Dillion 650xl for four year without a single issue. I am only loading for a rifle at this point. I would not think twice about buying a Dillionagain.

BigRick · Feb 12, 2017

I had a hornady LnL. I have a dillion 650xl and will never get any other brand of progressive press!

Huckleberry · Feb 12, 2017

I went with Dillon 550 for their quality, customer service and No B.S. Lifetime Warranty even if you're not the original owner. Heck, you could buy a busted one at a yard sale and they'll refurbish the unit for the cost of replacement parts and shipping.

2nd Choice would be a RCBS Progressive because I always loved my Rock Chucker single stage and it seems they carried that quality over to their progressives to compete with Dillon.

Pinecone · Feb 12, 2017

I am a blue Kool Aid person.

I have had a 650 for about 23 years. Dillon still sends me parts for free when I need them. Including when it is my fault (lost locator pins). I load .45 ACP, .40 S&W, 9mm, and 5.56 on it now. I have the parts to start running 7.62 on it.

One review I saw, where the person bought and ran both, gave a slight edge to the Hornady, but said he would have been perfectly happy with Dillon.

BigDaddy · Feb 12, 2017

I think I read every Hornady post on the site and sent a couple of pm's. Some people were very happy but some had repetitive problems with Hornady. I went with Dillon 550 from Bob at Reloader-R or Maryland Reloader-R? Not sure if that's the name, but he is down near Waldorf. There are a few aftermarket tweaks and add-ons for Dillon. I think the micrometer powder adjustment is essential, unless you want to buy multiple powder measures for different calibers that you reload. Other than that, it works out of the box, as it should. I haven't had problems with the primer bar tracking or powder spillage when you turn the base. There are add on's for that if you do.

Like the guy looking for deals on suppressors, there are no deals on Dillon either unless you stumble on an estate sale.

DaemonAssassin · Feb 12, 2017

Get the Dillon.

Other than my own stupidity, mine has run flawlessly.

Cochise · Feb 12, 2017

Blue here

No experience with Hornady or the 650. I have had a 550B since the early 90's and have never needed the free parts.
I upgraded from a Lee Turret at the time. The quality difference was astonishing. The only Lee stuff I still have are their dies, hand primer and some shell holders for my single stage presses.
Also so much more user friendly.

5.56blaster · Feb 12, 2017

Dillon!

Boxiron1 · Feb 12, 2017

Dillon
I have the 650. I bought it used and have loaded 50,000 plus rounds.
It's still going strong.

atblis · Feb 12, 2017

When the LNL first came out there were a few advocates. Now that the LNL's flaws have become evident, the Dillon is clearly the better machine and you will find very few people recommending it over the XL650.

tdt91 · Feb 12, 2017

Okay, I run a LnL and have never used a Blue press. Hornady has that great warranty as well, even when it's your fault and you admit it. I've had some issues with priming but found that I just needed to clean things up a bit and all worked good again. I use it mostly for 9mm and when it advances to the next position sometimes a couple flakes of powder will jump out of the case. I don't know if that happens to a Dillon or not. If you get a Hornady I would recommend getting a powder measurer for each caliper you will be loading a lot of. It's just to much work to change everything out to a different caliber. I have one set up for 9 and one for .223, the rest I drop powder from a manual dropper after decapping, priming and expanding on the LnL. I have a good friend that runs a blue and I will check his operation out one day.

inkd · Feb 12, 2017

frogman68 said:
After 2+ years I am giving up on Lee. Their presses just dont seem to last (progressive) . Looking at either the Hornady Lock and Load "kit" or the Dillon XL650 . I dont like Kool Aid but reading the web it seems it depends if you drink Red or Blue on which is the best , do mostly 9 and 45 . Will one or the other give a better longevity without maintenance or repairs . I am just over 5k on the lee loadmaster and it has been replaced by lee once and was non progressive the last 25 rounds I loaded today tired of having to adjust or replace parts

Not sure where you are located at but here is a solid setup for the price.

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=206435

ground chuck · Feb 12, 2017

Been on the fence for over a year about reloading but narrowed it down to a dillion

deerassassin22 · Feb 12, 2017

Get a dillon

Caeb75 · Feb 12, 2017

Owned both, and also as a former reloading supply dealer I sold, set up, serviced and taught on both. There is a reason there is a Dillon 650 on a PW autodrive on my bench, and not a LnL.

StickShaker · Feb 13, 2017

I'm extremely happy with my Hornady LNL but have never used any Dillon products. The one thing I can say, the Hornady is not a very strong press. The turret is a larger diameter than Dillon which is nice for more working room and die placement but it has more overhang off the side of the ram which gives it a tendency to tilt when resizing the larger rifle cases. I would say .223 is about the biggest case I would resize with the Hornady but I do all of my rifle resizing on a single stage anyway so it's not an issue for me.

The Hornady powder measure is a beautiful piece of machine work and works well but I mothballed it for the Lee Autodrum. The Autodrum is sooooo much easier to use and switch between calibers and can be emptied of powder in a snap.

BenL · Feb 13, 2017

I have the 650 with thousands of rounds of 9mm, 40S&W, 45, and 5.56 through it (maybe 15-18K?) with no problems. One caveat with the Dillon: the powder measure can be finicky as to the powders that it can measure successfully. It has a tough time with extruded powders.

If you go with Dillon, order a spare parts kit to go with it; it comes in handy if something breaks. You just replace the broken part, call or email Dillon with what part broke, and they'll send you a replacement for free. If you have the spare parts kit, there's no down time. I'd also recommend the upgrade kit from "snowshooze" on Ebay; if you follow any Dillon forums, his stuff gets good reviews. I installed:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321399781658?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dillon-XL-650-SL900-Bearing-rotary-shell-plate-cam-follower-/222384485888?

and it's pretty amazing the difference it made; super smooth with no carrier jump at all. (I would occasionally get a few flecks of powder on the deck from the "jump" with certain calibers.)

I'd also strongly recommend the lighting kit from Inline Fabrication. It's great.

https://inlinefabrication.com/products/skylighttm-led-lighting-kit-for-the-dillon-650

Jmorrismetal · Feb 13, 2017

I have had the Lee Loadmaster a couple of LNL AP's and a couple 650's.

I rate them.

Dillon
Hornady
Lee

Dillon or Hornady

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